1.31.21 // Acts 1:8 The Power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:8-9 declares the last words of Jesus, before He ascended back into heaven, leaving us with the promise of the Holy Spirit as well as a commission to share the Gospel. Pastor Lance differentiates how the Holy Spirit can be with us, in us, and upon us. He reminds us that this world is not where we belong, but that something about this world pulls on us, and makes us comfortable with thinking of it as our home. Pastor Lance reminds us that if we allow God's agenda to shape our life, we will experience true freedom. He encourages believers to focus on reality, on the Kingdom, rather than focusing on that which is passing away. While the Holy Spirit must fight for our attention, we have allowed ourselves to become distracted. Only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit's dynamite power can we hope to effect change in this dying world and draw others into right relationship with the Lord. God's people are called to make sacrifices, and throughout history, they have. Now, it's our turn, Pastor Lance asserts. The Holy Spirit wants to use humble, surrendered, teachable lives, but we must invite His presence for that to occur. Our lives, as Christians, must display the inner reality of Christ...and of what we are saying about Him to others. Hypocrisy will not win others to Jesus, but passion, truth, conviction, and a life that looks more like Jesus every day. The Gospel is a simple message, but the demand upon its messengers could cost them their lives. Are we willing to live in that reality, and still preach and live the Word? For over 2,000 years, Christians refused to sit back in the comfort of their homes when death came knocking, when persecution loomed...they saw their mission through to the end. Will we be the same?