Eric: We're in a series because we love series at this church.
Uh, I've learned this every time I'm up here it's a series.
Um, and it's a series of Thanksgiving and so this time we are thankful for God and
in today's lessons we're talking about being thankful for God for his spirit.
And so we're looking at God's spirit and what he's done for us.
And I've been thinking about this for a bit.
There's a lot of amazing people in the Bible, and I love studying out the
Bible and trying to learn from people.
And I've always thought, what would I ask people?
I was thinking about what I would ask people in the Bible when
I got to see them in heaven.
Like, what would I want to say to Moses?
I go, Hey, Moses, what was it like seeing the burning bush?
What was that like?
You know, what was it like seeing the presence of God?
You know, what would it be like to talk to Elijah and go, when, when
you, when you called down fire from heaven and God said it, were
you like, I hope he sends it soon.
You know, like, you know, like, you know, it's not going to work.
Well, if it comes two days late, like what were you afraid?
Were you nervous?
Or if I asked David, when you faced Goliath, how tall was he actually?
You know, and how short were you and, and what was that like?
And how fearful were you in going out there?
Well, what's interesting is I think they would have a question for all of
us, and that would be this, what was it like to have the Holy Spirit in you?
What was that like?
You know, what, how, how could you actually get to walk with God
in dwelling God is raised in me.
I don't want to be the one who's being killed.
Don't.
I don't want to be the one who's dying for you.
I've been raised, I've been left by my own fault.
Oh God, I'm sorry, I don't want to be the one who's dying.
I'm sorry, I don't want to be the one who's dying father.
for it.
In Romans, it says God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who's been given to us.
And that word poured out, it's like an overflowing of it.
God's love is overflowing in us through God's Spirit.
And I think, man, how often do I acknowledge that?
that I get to live a life where God's Spirit lives in me.
Recently the campus has been in a series because our church loves series.
And the campus series has been, are you a fan or are you a follower of Christ?
So that's what we've been studying out in the campus ministry.
And the campus ministry is gone today, if you notice.
They're, they're up serving South Orange County.
But this is what we've been looking at.
Are you really a fan of Jesus or are you a follower of Jesus?
And in this study, what we looked at in one of the topics was, are
we empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Are we living a life where the Holy Spirit is what's driving us versus ourselves?
And I think some of us, this is what Christianity can
feel like, paddling upstream.
It's a constant just, oh, I'm gonna make it.
I'm gonna get there.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna get it.
Versus having the wind in our sails.
It doesn't mean that we don't have rough seas at times.
But it doesn't mean that we're doing it all on our own.
And the way I was explaining it to them was the Holy Spirit's
kind of like gas in a car.
Without gas in the car, it's not gonna get much.
But that doesn't mean you're not gonna go up hills and down valleys.
It's not gonna get windy at times.
But you're not having to go it alone.
Versus some of us where it feels like this is every mile of our Christianity.
And we're just pushing this along.
And this is why we get worn out.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty.
And a lot of us, we try to do it by our power, and we try to do it by our might.
And we miss the biggest component, God's spirit.
I did an experiment with them.
And I was going to do it with Marcel and Karina.
I thought, Marcel called me up last week, I thought I'll do the same to him.
But for the sake of time, I won't.
But, what I had done, was I had given a weight, actually a
couple, to a couple campus kids.
One is a campus kid that works at all time, Lawrence.
That kid's, that kid's a monster.
And the other weight I gave, ten pounds, not much, was to Lorena.
And I think ten pounds is probably like one tenth of her weight.
And all I had them do was hold the weight out like this for as long as they could.
Exactly.
I know.
I just did it for a moment.
I'm like, ooh, shouldn't have done that.
But, this is, I think, what are Christians like.
You know, if you ask me to serve in kids kingdom once, got it.
Not a problem.
I can do that.
You know, you ask me to come be in a Bible study, yep, I can do that.
But the day to day.
Living it out.
Starts to wear on us.
Except there's a trick.
Because Lawrence was like this, struggling.
But I was helping Lorraine to hold it.
And Lawrence looked over like, Wait, that's cheating.
Right.
But that's the Holy Spirit for us.
I still have to hold it.
But the Spirit is helping us.
It's a spotter.
And I think for many of us this is, can become, and I'm looking around, campus
is gone, teens are gone, there's a mature crowd in this room, and I'm with you.
I'm a few days away from being 30 years old a disciple, and so
I know what it is to be here.
Going, man, I gotta be righteous again today on the freeway?
Oh, I mean, I could do it one day out of the week, but all five?
Come on.
You don't, these same drivers are there every week.
I see them.
And this is what our Christianity tries to feel like and not like this Because we
get worn out Why because it's by our power
It's by our might and we're not using a spirit
Second Corinthians 4 8 through 9 we are hard pressed on every side But
not crushed Perplexed but not in despair Persecuted, but not abandoned.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
Why were they able to endure so much?
Because God's Spirit was with them.
They relied on God's Spirit.
And I think if we are trying to do this on our own, when we're pressed
on every side, we get crushed.
When we are perplexed, we get crushed.
We start to become despaired.
When we get persecuted, we feel abandoned.
And unfortunately, for some of our brothers and sisters over
the years, when they were struck down, they were destroyed.
Why?
Because they lost the thought of God's spirit is what gets us through.
And that's it.
It's always going to be God's spirit.
If we're trying to do this alone, we're missing a big part of
what God has called us to be.
And this gift is just that.
It's a gift.
Jesus knows how hard Christianity is.
Because he lived it to the fullest.
But he didn't do it alone.
He gave us the Spirit, and he said, when he was gone, I'll give you
something even greater than me.
The Advocate will come.
I am the vine.
You are the branches.
If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can do nothing.
There's one very important word in there.
If.
One of the most powerful words in the Bible.
If you remain in me.
Well, how do I know?
Am I really remaining?
If.
When hardship happens, where do you first turn?
When that difficult moment comes, is it the first call to the spouse?
If.
It's the first call to God.
When victories happen, where do you first turn?
Is it the first moment to, I can't wait to celebrate, or is it, I
can't wait to celebrate with God?
Where do we turn?
You will bear much fruit, but the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness.
Faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
This is the fruit.
And if I look around and I see many of you, I've walked with many
of you a long time in the faith.
And I've seen you grow in your patience.
I've seen you grow in your joy.
I've seen you grow in your forbearance.
I've seen you grow in your gentleness and your self control.
And if you're going, Man, yeah, but it's been hard.
This is the gift.
We've been given a gift, and that gift is being revealed in many of you.
God is good, and he knows what we need.
I was also thinking about this question here, is if you're not being led by the
Holy Spirit, then what's leading you?
What is leading you?
And I think this is a popular book, Seven Rules of Self Reliance.
This is our culture.
And again, I work with your campus students.
I know we all want them to be self reliant.
I'm not saying we don't want them to all be self reliant.
But, they should first be God reliant.
First.
We should focus on that.
How do we become God reliant and not just self reliant?
So are we following the Spirit?
Or are we the masters of our universe?
And I think if you want to test that out, if you're Holy Spirit empowered, you will
see the fact that you constantly rely on God's strength to get you through things.
You'll notice it.
You'll pray through it.
You'll wrestle with it.
Versus just trying to rely on your own.
If you're Holy Spirit empowered, you'll admit weakness.
You don't need to come every moment and go, man, I got it all under control.
You can admit weakness.
You can go, man, I'm, I'm struggling this.
And I'm not saying back in the day we used to admit weakness,
like I'm terrible person.
Just, I'm, you know, but look how awesome I am.
No, you know, back in the day, I know that there was moments there where we
would share like, man, I used to struggle with pride and you know, ha ha ha.
No, we admit it, man.
I struggle with this and I want help.
I need help.
First is the pride that can zoom in our lives and we act
like we got all under control.
When we're Holy Spirit empowered, we surrender to God.
Not by my will, but by yours.
God, I'll let you take control.
Versus me trying to do it myself.
You know, someone's not doing well, I'll handle it.
Versus, let me pray.
One of the best lessons I ever learned, one of the first people I
ever mentored in the faith, was a guy by the name of Kazunori Anazawa.
Thank you.
Love Kos.
We started the Bible with him.
He only spoke Japanese, very little English.
Almost every other word we were looking up in a Japanese to English dictionary.
They were the longest studies I've ever been a part of.
And I remember going and praying with him, and he would go to pray, and he's like,
hey, do you mind if I pray in Japanese?
And what am I gonna say?
No.
God only speaks English, you know, Of course, pray Japanese, but he would
start praying in Japanese, and I'm like, I have no idea what he's talking about.
I have no idea what he's saying.
How am I going to help him?
And he would just pray in Japanese, and he would get done.
He goes, that was so much better.
I feel good.
Amen.
See you next week.
It was such a learning curve.
It's not an issue of, I've got to take care of it.
I've just got to lead him to God.
And let God do it.
When you're Holy Spirit empowered, there's a confidence in God.
There's, God's going to handle this.
We just had an election.
And people are, some people are celebrating and some
people are in despair.
But we're Christians.
We have a confidence in God.
It doesn't matter which side won.
Because we already know the side that has won.
God has.
God's won.
It doesn't matter.
The political party.
Thank you.
It matters who our faith is in.
Versus that fear of failure that we can have.
Ooh, should I, should I go out and take a step of faith?
Ah, but what if I mess up?
What if I can't succeed?
Who are you trusting in?
There's a peace and perseverance when you see people who are Holy Spirit empowered.
They might be going through the most difficult moments.
But there's something about someone who's really in touch with God's spirit.
You see it.
They might be going through some of the most heartache, but they're
persevere and they're at peace.
Because they have a faith in God and God's spirit's taking
them versus anxiety and burnout.
And I've definitely been on both sides of this.
Where I just feel like man, I can't go another step.
But that's because I'm trying to walk alone and not with, not with God.
Holy Spirit, lasting impact.
Life long.
You know, I, I, I was doing Kids Kingdom.
And John Orr walks in and, and, you know, I'm doing Kids Kingdom
with him and I'm giving him a hug.
Uh, John Orr was one of the first people I ever reached out to that got baptized.
And he's still here today.
And many of us have had lasting impact on lives.
Because God's Spirit has enabled that.
Versus the temporary benefits of not doing it.
Of living in the world.
And finally, I thought of this, an eternal perspective.
When you are Holy Spirit empowered, you have an eternal perspective.
You see past the momentary troubles.
Where death is not the end, but a beginning.
Versus just that temporary, short term perspective.
We have to put the quarter in, you see it for a moment, and then it's gone.
But we can see greater depths.
Thank God for His Spirit.
Thank God that He enables us to live this life.
Because we cannot do it alone.
And we were never meant to.
I am the vine.
You are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can do nothing.
And I think for us, as we look at God's spirit, are we really living that?
Or are we attending a church?
And then we just feel burnout from all the things, all the functions
of a church versus living a life as a Christian in God's kingdom.
And I think those are two different things.
I've attended church many a times before becoming a disciple.
I've gone to many church functions many a times before I was a disciple.
I want to be a part of God's kingdom, not a part of a church.
I don't want to go to a church function.
I want to have a lasting impact on people's lives.
That is done through God's Spirit.
So how do we cultivate this?
Basics.
Let's start with daily surrender through prayer and his word.
Basics.
If you're like, man, I feel like I've been out of touch a little bit.
I feel like I've just been kind of going through the motions.
I feel like I'm just kind of working through it.
And again, I'm looking at a mature crowd.
I know that season of life.
I know it.
I've been there.
We're just, week after week, I'm just kind of getting it up.
What am I doing now?
Going back.
That daily surrender through prayer and his word, not just daily reading.
Not just daily prayer, daily surrender.
God, what do you want from me today?
What do you want me to learn?
Obey the Spirit.
Obey it.
We've all been there.
We're walking by and someone's passing us and we're like,
Oh, I should share my faith.
Ah, but I got a bunch of other things to do.
When those moments come, treat it as God's Spirit.
Say something.
Hey, you know, I just, I just, for some reason I feel like I need to talk to you.
Take those opportunities, stop passing them over.
When those temptations come, fight to resist.
Obey God's spirit.
God's spirit is telling you, hey, don't go there.
Don't give in.
Confess and repent.
I'm sure there's many of us that have sat there and go, no, I got something
that I've kind of been holding onto maybe with another brother and sister
in this, in this fellowship, maybe with someone in the family, Or maybe
it's just something you're internally going through, that you're just
trying to work through on your own.
No, confess it.
And work to repent.
Serve.
Find ways to serve.
And then take bold steps.
Obey God's Spirit.
We were never spent, we were never expected to just sit in a pew.
Or sit in an aisle.
Take bold steps of faith.
And lastly, stay unified with the Christian church.
Stay unified with the Christian community.
God's spirit enables us to be unified together.
It allows us to function together.
We weren't meant to walk this alone.
As we head into communion, I want you to think of a couple
of scriptures in Corinthians.
It says,
But all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
For we were all baptized by one spirit, so as to form one body.
Whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, we were all given one spirit to drink.
One spirit.
We all are here unified by God's spirit.
One spirit.
One body.
His church.
Together.
We sit very separate, but we're actually one.
And when we drink, the one spirit to drink.
It reflects this, is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks
a participation in the blood of Christ.
It is not the bread that we break, a participation in the body of
Christ, because there is one love.
Because who, uh, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
When we take communion, we, we feel like we all take it a little separately, we
all open a little cup, all drink it.
But in reality, we drink it together.
And we eat it together.
Why?
Because we're living this Christian life together.
The ups and downs, the goods and the bads, we share them together.
And it was always meant to be that way.
Because we've been given God's Spirit.
God has never been alone.
It's a concept to think about.
God's never been alone.
He's a triune God.
He doesn't expect us to be alone either.
We're here in a community, and we have God's Spirit.
So as we take communion, And we think of this time of what to be grateful for.
Be grateful that God said, you know what?
I love you so much.
I want a part of myself living in you because that's how much I love you.
Cause I'm going to walk with you forever and someday you'll be
reunited with me again for eternity.
Let's pray.
Father, as we come before you, we are grateful to know
that you love us so, so much.
So much that you've given us a part of yourself.
That Jesus himself says, uh, one will come greater than me.
And that is your spirit that lives inside of us.
And that, God, we are not to do this Christian life alone.
We're not meant to.
But here we are with our brothers and sisters.
And you say, with two or more gathered, there you are.
And here you are, God.
You're with all of us.
Because you love us so much.
so much.
Thank you, God, that the spirit we drink is the one that unites us and doesn't
divide us, is the one that helps us propel us forward and doesn't hold us back.
It's the spirit that ultimately unites us with you and allows us to have
your love poured out into us because we are so precious in your sight.
Help us live this out.
Day to day as we, as we push through knowing God that we might be
perplexed, we might feel persecuted, but we will never be destroyed
because God, we walk with you.
Father, thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your body and
your blood to sacrifice, but most importantly to rise again.
And we thank you in your son's name.
Amen.