Pentecost Sunday

There'll be an area set up in the corner, and you can see with balloons and so on. Make your way over there. Well, as we have said several times this morning, it's Pentecost Sunday. Interestingly, that's probably fallen off the radar screen of most of our calendars. If I hadn't said that, or John hadn't said it, how many of us would have known it? Pentecost was the second festival that the Jews held during the year, of three major festivals. The festival of the spring harvest. It's when the people would gather together from all over the country, and bring an offering to the Lord, a firstfruits offering, to thank God for His blessing on their life. Folks, I'll tell you, the Lord expects of us faithfulness in giving thanks. I mean, that's what Pentecost was all about. But it just so happened that on that day, or that season, that week-long festival, that's when the Lord told those disciples to wait in the upper room for the promise from Heaven, the Holy Spirit. And so, the Holy Spirit came down upon the church on that particular season, or in that season, when Pentecost had assembled the people from all over the region. And what it did was to unite the people. And if you remember in Acts chapter 2, I won't read it, but you remember the story, the people gathered in the supper room, and the Holy Spirit fell, and there were, as it says in Scripture, signs that a visible manifestation had taken place. It said flames sort of appeared over people's heads. I mean, I don't know quite what that would even look like. I mean, if you look down the aisle and you saw a flame over someone's head, would you get a little bit, wow. If you heard a sound like a mighty rushing wind, where is that coming from? And you see, then people began, the Bible says, to praise God in languages they didn't know. And that's a whole other discussion we won't get into today, but just to say this, here's the important point. Pentecost is the birthday of the church. It's the day the church was born. It's the day that the harvest began for the church, because on that day, people were so stirred. Peter stood up and preached a sermon and told them it was Christ, the Christ that they crucified, who had now given the Holy Spirit as He had promised. And then the people said, what must we do to be saved? And he said, what? Repent and be baptized. And that began the church, and 3,000 were added to the church on that one single day. But here's the thing. So that's a wonderful event in history, and here we are nearly 2,000 years later. What does Pentecost mean today? It just means this, that today is an appropriate day for us to refocus on that same empowerment, that same gift of the Holy Spirit. And here at North Way, we are unapologetic about believing that that same Holy Spirit is here today to do the same kind of things He did throughout the life of the church, recorded in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. He's here to heal and to restore and to reconcile. He's here to give new hope and new vision and new dreams. He's here today in this place. We're going to minister a song to you. Greg Stewart's going to come right now and share a song. And it's very important. Lots of times songs grip us because of the melody. This song has very powerful words, images. It might even help you to close your eyes and just listen to the words as Greg sings because they're words about what the Holy Spirit is here to do today. And when something is sung that you need in your life, maybe it's comfort. Maybe it's healing. Maybe it's the dryness in your soul needs water. Listen as Greg sings this. And I want to mention one last thing that maybe will bring this into focus. This is a great song. You're going to love this arrangement. But for those of you who've, everything I've said today, you knew all this 30 years ago because you were in the charismatic movement. Let me just reinforce the fact that God wants to do something new in you today. This song was written by Belen Gloria Gaither, who you would probably know if you've been around for a period of time. And yet, it's still contemporary. It still has a message for us today. Let's pray. Lord, we ask right now in the name of Jesus that you'd minister to us by your Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Come in this place. Come like a spring in the desert. Come to the withered of soul. Let your sweet healing power touch me and make me whole. Come Holy Spirit, I need you now Come Holy Spirit, I pray Come in your strength and your power Come in your own gentle way Come in your own gentle way A couple Sundays ago, I shared after we had sung a particular song called I Come to the Cross. I had shared from myself that I was going through a situation at my work and how that had affected me and how I had begun to doubt God's presence in that particular situation. But I'm here to say today that within a week, that whole situation has turned around. Not only did I get two job offers from the same company, but it is a promotion for me. And God may not work that quick with you, but one thing I learned through this whole process, if I could leave one thing with you, is to let go and let God. God is moving by His Spirit. There's a new song we're going to teach you. And the words are, God is moving by His Spirit. He's moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders in when God moved it. Move, O Lord, in me. We're going to sing it once, and then after that, I want you to join in with us. God is moving by His Spirit. Moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders in when God moved it. Move, O Lord, in me. Why don't you stand and sing with us. God is moving by His Spirit. I know He's moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders in when God moved it. Move, O Lord, in me. Come on, let's sing it one more time. God is moving. By His Spirit. He's moving. Moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders. Signs and wonders in when God moved it. Move, O Lord, in me. Move, O Lord, in me. I come to the cross seeking mercy and grace. I come to the cross where you died in my place. Out of my weakness and into your strength. Humbly, I come to the cross. I come to the cross seeking mercy and grace. I come to the cross where you died in my place. Out of my weakness and into your strength. Humbly, I come to the cross. Your arms are open. You call me by name. You welcome this child that was lost. You pay the price for my guilt and my shame. Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come to the cross. I come to the cross seeking mercy and grace. I come to the cross where you died in my place. Out of my weakness and into your strength. Jesus, I come to the cross. Jesus, I come. Oh, Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come to the cross. When I survey the hundreds' cross. On which the Prince of Glory died. My riches gained, I crowned but lost. And for contempt all, all my pride. Worth of all and of nature fine. That were a present but too small. Not so amazing, so divine. Deepens my soul, my life, my all. Jesus, I come. Oh, Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come to the cross. God is moving by His Spirit. He's moving, moving on all the earth. Signs and wonders, holy are through Him. Move, O Lord, in me. Move, O Lord, in me. Move, O Lord, in me. Lord, we so need you here today. Lord, only you can look inside of our hearts and know what work has to be done. Only you know, Lord, in detail the pain that some of us have felt. The rejection, the hurt. Lord, only you know the depths of despair some of us have looked into this week. Lord, we need you today. We need you to touch our lives. To impart strength and grace and power to us, Lord. To be able to love those who don't love us. To restore, O God, our hopes. To touch our bodies today, Lord, where medicine has failed or we just don't seem to be getting better. Lord, we need you in so many ways. Move in this place, Lord. Do signs and wonders, Lord, that only you would receive the glory. Friend, if you're here today with our heads are bowed and no one's really looking around at all. But you need the Lord to touch you this morning. Would you just lift your hand to God and say, Lord, I need that touch in my spirit right now. All around the room, let's just be honest with the Lord. Say, I need that touch in my life. Lord, you know what it is. You know, O God. Thank you, Lord. A very strong impression from the Lord. I want to follow. That's all I want to do, just to give the Lord an opportunity. I have an impression that the Lord wants us just to believe in a special way for his spirit. To touch families today. Marriages and families. Marriages and families. And I want us to sing the chorus a couple more times. If you're here today and you just would be honest and say, Holy Spirit, I need you to touch my marriage, my family, my home. And I need it, Lord. I need that touch so much that I'm willing just to step out and say, touch me, Holy Spirit. We're going to sing it. I want you to come forward right here. Elders, if you'll come right now, just let people come into the presence of the Lord. Let's sing that chorus. Listen, you come. Right now, the Lord is saying, if you'll come, I will pour out grace upon your homes. Let's sing it. He shines and wonders, when God's moving, move the Lord in me. The Lord is moving. The Lord is moving. You came forward and you just looked at the Lord and lift your heart and say, I'm here, Lord, touch me now. And His Word will reign in all the earth Silent and wondrous When the Newborn Newborn boy in me True God is moving Light is spreading His reign is on the earth Silent and wondrous When the Newborn Newborn boy in me Newborn boy in me His reign is on the earth Silent and wondrous When the Newborn Newborn boy in me Newborn boy in me God is moving Light is spreading Moving in all the earth Silent and wondrous When the Newborn Newborn boy in me God is moving Light is spreading Moving in all the earth Silent and wondrous When the Newborn Newborn boy in me Newborn boy in me Let's join hands throughout the congregation All of us if you would please Touch someone just let your hands join together You know as a church There is so much that God wants to do And the enemy of our souls Wages war against us I want us to do something that I don't believe I've ever done before At least not to my recollection I want us to make a declaration This morning of what we're trusting God's spirit to do In our midst by his presence And I'll need you to make a little room in front of the overhead So we can flash this on here I'd like everyone to look up And I want us to declare this together This is our declaration on this Pentecost Sunday And I want you to lift your voice For your life this is you speaking to God And us as part of a corporate body This is our declaration Let's make it together In the name of Jesus Christ I receive all the promises of God Which are yes and amen in him May the Holy Spirit make me healthy and strong In body, mind and spirit To move in faith and expectancy And may God's angels be with me To protect me and keep me May my heart be humble and receptive to others And to the things of God and not to the world May God's grace be upon my home That it may be a sanctuary of rest and renewal A haven of peace Where sounds of joy and laughter grace its walls And where love and unconditional acceptance of others is consistent May God give me success and blessing in my business And places of labor As I acknowledge him and obey his word in my giving And may God give me spiritual strength To overcome the evil one As I fulfill my dreams and visions May God's goodness and mercy follow me All the days of my life I am blessed in Jesus' name Say it again I am blessed in Jesus' name Praise the name of the Lord Yes, God Go ahead, Lord, we give you praise Let's sing it once again He's moving today Moving on Signs and wonders Signs and wonders When God's moving Move, oh Lord Let's do it one more time, God He's moving God is moving God is moving Moving on I know he's moving on The earth Signs and wonders Signs and wonders When God's moving Move, oh Lord Move, oh Lord He's moving on Moving on He's moving on He's moving on Please be seated for a quiet moment, please Wednesday evening, 35 people were water baptized 35 people Are any of you here this morning who were baptized? Would you stand? We just want to bless God and thank you for your faith Who were baptized this Wednesday night? Praise God Let's go ahead God is moving In the lives of people who are open to his spirit You know, right now, I just I'm not sure what the Lord wants to do I just know he wants to move We go week by week at North Way And very faithfully seek to Present God's word to you And opportunities for you to Open your life to him But, you know, in the end It's the Lord that has to do the touching We can't manufacture We can't make it happen He's got to be the one that does it And right now, I just want him to be Sort of in control Of his church That's a good thing, isn't it? Just wait on the Lord a moment Lord Lord Oh, bring us back Lord Lord, I want to confess this morning that It is sometimes very difficult To really do what I would sense you want us to do And I just want to confess, Lord And bring before you and this congregation My own sense of inadequacy My own sense of not being able, Lord To hold everything together To not be able to be what I need to be To many of the people in this church Lord, these wonderful people that you've called together Who have a heart for you Who want to serve you Lord, I confess to you that I am Easily distracted from the things that matter the most And pulled in so many directions, Lord That I sometimes Forget that you're the one That I must listen to first Holy Spirit Bring your glory into this place Into this people Lord Move whatever you need to move, Lord Move it out of the way, out of our lives Lord, move it out of my line of sight Between you and me Move by your Spirit, Lord Amen There's someone that the Lord is nudging to come And testify as to what he's done in your life What he's calling perhaps you to do To give your life more fully to him Maybe you're a leader in the church Maybe you're not The Lord is saying today Come to share Maybe what you have to share would encourage others To follow your step I'm sensing that one of the elders Or a couple of the elders may have Just a nudging from the Spirit right now To come as well You come This is fun Thank you I'm so happy for this moment Unfortunately, my family's out of town They've not experienced this with me Can I ask you all to turn around And see the two gentlemen up there I'd suspect the height of that is about 22 feet This coming August Will be the anniversary of a day That I fell 25 feet From scaffolding And during this time we just had this morning I've wanted to share this So many times with you folks That prior to that fall I was not saved We had a healing service here Helping October of 96, I believe it was And I was sitting right about where the Sollys are And what was really interesting to me During that time with the Lord Was Jay, prior to the healing prayers and all Jay basically said Come before the Lord as an individual Your heart to His heart And confess to Him, obviously What you need to confess But part two of that statement was To Just thank Him How much time we got? I just need a little ice break Okay, I'm back So I got on my knees and I just basically thanked the Lord Once for not letting me die When I fell I landed feet first on concrete And shattered my left heel My right When I landed my ankle fused So it only moves front and back And it doesn't go left to right So I can't play football and make left turns And broke a rib in my back And all kinds of fun stuff So I had lots and lots of pain And I came to that healing service And it was during the evening And if I can only share with you What that meant My left rib has not given me Really hardly any pain whatsoever From that time forward I went home that evening And I used to run track and cross country And That was, I guess, again 14 years after the accident And I just ran and ran and ran It was great And One of the things that came out of that was I believe it was a lesson that was taught Weeks thereafter was To Just believe And to have the faith And while I was running All I kept saying was I believe and I accept I believe and I accept And I would just say to all of you I can go on and on and on about I documented the whole thing And I wanted to come up And meet with Jay and say Hey, let's, you know, talk about this Let me give my testimony But I just kept waiting and waiting and waiting This was the time this morning In closing, I wish that I got all your attention now This is great I wish all of you would give Jay or whoever gives A call to your life That you would Have eye contact That you would run out of your seats Not walk, not do this That's what I did I gave eye contact with Jay And I was kind of sitting away in the back one day But you need to do that You need to turn your life over to him He'll fix you up Don't hold these things in your heart Release them Give them over to him He'll take care of you He's a big dad And he can handle all your troubles Jay, I appreciate your confession before us James says that we're to confess our sins to one another And to pray for one another I just appreciate the pastor doing that And I wanted to encourage us as a congregation To follow the response Which is to pray for one another when that happens I'd like to pray for Pastor Jay And I need to confess in my own heart A spirit of criticism A spirit of judgment That I'm struggling against And I would appreciate your prayers for that And I think forgiveness is the theme As we prayed up front There was just a succession of people Needing to have forgiveness worked in their lives So can we pray for that person? Amen Father, I thank you for men and women That give their lives to serve, Father God And Lord, we lift them up That their sufficiency would be of you And that there would be a peace And a forgiveness in their heart For every failing father For every shortcoming that comes In their effort to serve In their effort to obey, Father God And Lord, all through this congregation now Father, would your spirit fall And well up forgiveness in our heart For those that have betrayed us, Lord For those that have failed us, Father For those that we've put expectations on That they couldn't meet, Father God Lord, for every hurt, Father For every offense, real or imaginary Lord, we just allow your spirit now, Father And we cry out for your spirit To help us to forgive, Father God We forgive those, Lord We forgive them because you've forgiven us, Father God We ask for this in Jesus' name Amen One of our elders, Dennis Riley, has shared And I I appreciate Dennis' focus I believe that is very right John? You'd think that other guy was nervous He hasn't seen anything yet During the week, I had an opportunity To share with our cell group that I'm in A scripture that God just I was passing through And I found this scripture And it just really spoke to my heart I shared it with our cell group And I think it may have something To do with today, too It's from Joel It's 2, 12, and 13 Even now, declares the Lord Return to me with all your heart With fasting, weeping, and mourning Rend your heart, not your garments Return to the Lord your God For he is gracious and compassionate Slow to anger and abounding in love And relents from sending calamity I know that's what God spoke to my life That, to return Don't, you know The other guy spoke about You know, giving a half-hearted commitment God wants all of our heart All of our life Everything One hundred percent Nothing less And we are obligated to do nothing less When you compare this to him on the cross There really is no comparison If I tie those things together I hear the Lord saying to us We need to confess our faults We need to give forgiveness We need to come to him As the first love of our lives We need to be restored in our passion For him above everything else Friends, I'll tell you We can hear that But it takes the Holy Spirit To make that happen in me And in a church of this size There's so many ways That we just get distracted We get pulled away We look at people instead of God And yet the Lord is right here before us He's right here today Oh Lord, renew our passion for you Touch us, God Lord, we try so hard We fall so far Oh Lord Lord, restore to us the joy of our salvation Some years ago we sang a chorus You can almost see The holiness as I look up from this place We said that was the Spirit of God Moving here amongst his people Let's stand and just sing that together once again Spirit of God, I see you in this place today I can almost see Your holiness As I look around this place With my hands raised up To receive your love I can see you on each face Spirit of God, lift me up Spirit of God, lift me up Fill me again with your love Spirit of God Spirit of God, lift me up Spirit of God, lift me up Fill me again with your love Sweet Spirit of God Once again, I can almost see I can almost see Your holiness As I look around this place With my hands raised up To receive your love I can see you on each face Spirit of God, lift me up Spirit of God, lift me up Fill me again with your love Sweet Spirit of God Spirit of God, lift me up Spirit of God, lift me up Fill me again with your love Sweet Spirit of God Oh, fill me again with your love Sweet Spirit of God The Lord would say to us today that He desires, He yearns to fill us with His Spirit. The Lord says to us that we must present to Him a vessel that's been cleansed by His blood, by confession of our sin, by acknowledgement that we need Him. And I don't know where you are today in your journey. Maybe God has really blessed you and you're just moving right down the groove and doing great and I praise God for you. But if you're here today and you're sensing like I am, just a certain sense of unworthiness, a distance, out of sync kind of thing with the Lord and you want to say, Lord, just show me what I need to get right in my life. And maybe you even know what it is and if you know what it is and friend, right now, it's the Spirit's moment in your life saying to you, don't play games. You know it, I know it. Just get it out. Just confess it. Get it out. So that He might fill you. And let me just by the raising of your hand say right now, Lord, I make confession of my sin. I say, Lord, cleanse me that I might be prepared to receive a fresh provision of your Spirit. Thank you, Lord. Oh God, see our hearts, see our hands, Lord. Lord, I do not want to be part of a place that isn't open totally to what you want to do. God, I don't want to be part of a place that just goes through motions and trust that in the end it will all work out. But Lord, we want to be wholeheartedly given to you. And if the world doesn't understand that, Lord, then we pray, bless them, that we're going to go on with God. We're going to go on, Lord, in the fullness of what you've provided for us. Move, oh God, by your Spirit. Is there anyone else that God would just lead to come and lead us in a moment of confession before we close today? All through the service this morning, the Lord has been really speaking to me a word of common sense. But what he wants us to know is that he is not a God of common sense. We've had prayer for people this morning for healings, for family. You know, we all go through situations that we say, Lord, this doesn't make sense. But you know what God wants us to know? That walking in faith does not make sense. If you look at Christ's ministry, it seems as though it didn't make sense. He came and walked on this earth. Sometimes the disciples, they just didn't understand what he did. And dying on the cross and then being raised from the dead after three days does not make sense. And as Jay prayed that we come to him today, to the Lord, and give our all. But walking in faith, when you give your all, it will not make sense. I just really sense that I want to pray for people that are believing for things that don't make sense. I stand here on this platform this morning and I'm praying for something that doesn't make sense. A healing for my eyes that God, only God can do because man can't do it. And it doesn't make sense in the physical. But in the spiritual, God can do anything. And I just really have a burden to pray for people this morning that in your life you're going through something that just doesn't make sense. But you know what? That's the walk of faith. And the word of God says all things work together for good to those who love you. Love Him. And you may not understand it, but God has a purpose. And Lord, I just pray this morning. I pray for every single person in this place in their life. Things do not make sense, Lord, but that's the walk of faith. And I pray, I plead the blood of Christ over every situation for healings that people are just crying out to the Lord that do not make sense. But Lord, we know that you make sense and you have the power, the power by your Holy Spirit to do the impossible. Things that do not look possible, you have the power to do it. And Lord, I just pray for every situation, family, children, healing. Lord God, we pour out your blood over all these situations and we praise you and thank you that you make sense. In our physical eyes, sometimes it doesn't make sense. But Lord, we praise you for every situation and know that you love us and you have total, total, just the love of a father for his children and you want the best for us. And Lord, we just praise you for every situation. Thank you Lord. Praise God. Now we're going to collide here with some things. Let's be seated for a second. I want to just, we have a couple, three people and then we're going to have to end just simply because those lights can only, will start coming on and the kids will be coming through the barricades. Let's just come up if you can come and share one at a time here and then we'll prepare to wrap up. The prayer that Alan prayed was for me and I realized that as he was praying. I've had multiple things happen to me over the past 11 years. Things that wouldn't fill notebooks and none of which made any sense at all. But as we were praying earlier, the Lord was speaking to my heart that there are people here who are saying I'm in the desert Lord and all I hear is I don't even hear you whispering in the desert. And I'm here to tell you that if you can quiet yourself before the Lord by His grace and it's only by His grace that you can be quiet before Him. That He will shout to your heart. Because I know from personal experience that that's what happened to me. And bit by bit, little by little I'm learning to trust Him. And it's really hard sometimes. It really is hard. But by His grace and it's only by His grace do we ever make it through the tough times. Do you like it? I know. I know you do. You forgot your name tag on Marcia. I was late. Another honest confession. I guess the biggest thing that I wanted to say is that God is faithful. I was around during the charismatic movement and I was a part of these big things happening. And I kept looking for the big things. And I got mad at the church and I got mad at God and I got mad at everybody. And I hardened.