Embracing God's Fire: Boldly Sharing Our Faith
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for those early believers the experience with God that experience with God it wasn't limited to an hour a week this was an everyday practice a consistent patient sometimes slow sometimes hurry up and wait practice of belief and faith and for those 120 that consistent practice of belief and faith led them to this life changing moment in an upper room they weren't there because they just didn't have anything else to do everything in their life led up to that moment and that was an experience that wouldn't stay in a room but it was going to go much farther than that in fact that spiritual moment drew in thousands of people on that first day and how many billions after enter [01:10:25] (57 seconds)
now for those of you who love god but you're just a little afraid of what to say i want you to to say be strong be courageous here okay don't be afraid to speak of what god has done for you those 120 people they weren't too different from us okay they still had issues with confidence they still had issues with not knowing what to say and when to say it they still had issues thinking they're not smart enough or educated enough they still had issues with self worth they had issues with fear the spirit will give you the words to say and the opportunities in which to say them so i encourage you to pray that god gives you the opportunity and that we recognize it and that we are not going so fast that we don't have the time or the space to experience it pray that the strength and the courage of god will speak and flow through you pray and watch the fire spread [01:12:01] (67 seconds)
But I can also, you know, talk about how God keeps his promises and how he's been faithful to me and how he's forgiven me and how he takes care of my family. Even in those moments whenever we may not really deserve it. But God's still there surrounding us. He's still there with love and support and wisdom. Even through the difficulty. Even through the sicknesses. Even through the cancer. Through the loss of loved ones. God is our rock. I can talk about that. There are experiences that I can't help but speak about. [00:54:57] (32 seconds)
When was the last time you've been in one of those moments? Positive. So, what does this mean, they asked? It means that God has just come to live with His people. God's changed addresses. He set up shop. He's settled in. He's got a new zip code. He's unpacking boxes. Whatever you want to say. He's here to stay, and so was the fire. Now, these people, they've been waiting for the gift that Jesus had promised, and they were baptized, and immersed, and consumed by the Holy Spirit of God. [01:05:45] (37 seconds)
These people were telling others, this is what happened. The Spirit moved, and from there, people began to speak. They weren't simply sharing information from the Bible, or trying to get people to buy into something that they were selling. They had a spiritual experience. They had seen something they could not rationally explain. And when you have something like that happen to you, it's like there's this fire burning inside of you. You have to speak. And the fire is real. I mean, look way back at the prophet Jeremiah, when God called him to speak. He's a younger guy, younger fellow. He really didn't really want to do this. [01:02:21] (47 seconds)
In Luke 24, whenever Jesus is speaking to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn't really know who it was that was talking to him, but when they finally realized who it was, when their eyes are opened, they said to each other, Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road? And explained the scriptures to us? And within the hour, they were on their way back to Jerusalem. Listen, when people speak from their experience with the living God, the fire will spread. I promise you. [01:03:40] (41 seconds)
But it doesn't really matter what kind of experience you have that you try to share. Just know, if you're trying to share an experience, the dark one will always try to diminish it. Okay, some, however, made fun of them and said, no, they've had too much wine. When you put the light, the truth, and the love of God into the world, even a little bit is too much for Satan to endure, so he's going to try to lessen your story. He's going to try to lessen your experience. He's going to try to lessen and diminish you. Don't be discouraged by that. [01:06:23] (40 seconds)
Going back to that just for a second. The leaders have been interrogating Peter and John because they are talking. They cannot help but speak, right? They're just talking. They're telling people the stories. They're sharing their experiences. And this is what it says. Then they called the men again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, which is right in the eyes of God? To listen to you or to listen to him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help but speaking about what we have seen and heard. [00:55:59] (33 seconds)
for those early believers the experience with God that experience with God it wasn't limited to an hour a week this was an everyday practice a consistent patient sometimes slow sometimes hurry up and wait practice of belief and faith and for those 120 that consistent practice of belief and faith led them to this life changing moment in an upper room they weren't there because they just didn't have anything else to do everything in their life led up to that moment and that was an experience that wouldn't stay in a room but it was going to go much farther than that in fact that spiritual moment drew in thousands of people on that first day and how many billions after enter [01:10:25] (57 seconds)
Filled the whole house where they were sitting. Now from our last couple of lessons, we've heard the Hebrew word for spirit, ruach. And the Greek word, pneuma. We talked about how that means spirit, wind, and breath. We talked about how when God created the world, how he did it through his spoken word. And how when you speak, you can feel it. You can hear it. There's a lot going on there. So when God spoke, his spirit was released. And in this moment, it's as if God is speaking. His spirit is being released. And you just hear this sound. They can't quite explain. [00:58:41] (42 seconds)
You know, Peter could have said, ah, yeah, let's just calm down. Let's close the door. No, Peter did not get discouraged. His response was simple. It was truthful, and it was inspired by God and pretty factual. Fellow Jews and all you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk. It's only nine in the morning. I love that. It's one of my favorite lines of Scripture. And that, my friends, is how Peter began his most famous sermon. [01:07:03] (31 seconds)
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now for those of you who love god but you're just a little afraid of what to say i want you to to say be strong be courageous here okay don't be afraid to speak of what god has done for you those 120 people they weren't too different from us okay they still had issues with confidence they still had issues with not knowing what to say and when to say it they still had issues thinking they're not smart enough or educated enough they still had issues with self worth they had issues with fear the spirit will give you the words to say and the opportunities in which to say them so i encourage you to pray that god gives you the opportunity and that we recognize it and that we are not going so fast that we don't have the time or the space to experience it pray that the strength and the courage of god will speak and flow through you pray and watch the fire spread [01:12:01] (67 seconds)
But I can also, you know, talk about how God keeps his promises and how he's been faithful to me and how he's forgiven me and how he takes care of my family. Even in those moments whenever we may not really deserve it. But God's still there surrounding us. He's still there with love and support and wisdom. Even through the difficulty. Even through the sicknesses. Even through the cancer. Through the loss of loved ones. God is our rock. I can talk about that. There are experiences that I can't help but speak about. [00:54:57] (32 seconds)
When was the last time you've been in one of those moments? Positive. So, what does this mean, they asked? It means that God has just come to live with His people. God's changed addresses. He set up shop. He's settled in. He's got a new zip code. He's unpacking boxes. Whatever you want to say. He's here to stay, and so was the fire. Now, these people, they've been waiting for the gift that Jesus had promised, and they were baptized, and immersed, and consumed by the Holy Spirit of God. [01:05:45] (37 seconds)
These people were telling others, this is what happened. The Spirit moved, and from there, people began to speak. They weren't simply sharing information from the Bible, or trying to get people to buy into something that they were selling. They had a spiritual experience. They had seen something they could not rationally explain. And when you have something like that happen to you, it's like there's this fire burning inside of you. You have to speak. And the fire is real. I mean, look way back at the prophet Jeremiah, when God called him to speak. He's a younger guy, younger fellow. He really didn't really want to do this. [01:02:21] (47 seconds)
In Luke 24, whenever Jesus is speaking to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn't really know who it was that was talking to him, but when they finally realized who it was, when their eyes are opened, they said to each other, Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road? And explained the scriptures to us? And within the hour, they were on their way back to Jerusalem. Listen, when people speak from their experience with the living God, the fire will spread. I promise you. [01:03:40] (41 seconds)
But it doesn't really matter what kind of experience you have that you try to share. Just know, if you're trying to share an experience, the dark one will always try to diminish it. Okay, some, however, made fun of them and said, no, they've had too much wine. When you put the light, the truth, and the love of God into the world, even a little bit is too much for Satan to endure, so he's going to try to lessen your story. He's going to try to lessen your experience. He's going to try to lessen and diminish you. Don't be discouraged by that. [01:06:23] (40 seconds)
Going back to that just for a second. The leaders have been interrogating Peter and John because they are talking. They cannot help but speak, right? They're just talking. They're telling people the stories. They're sharing their experiences. And this is what it says. Then they called the men again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, which is right in the eyes of God? To listen to you or to listen to him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help but speaking about what we have seen and heard. [00:55:59] (33 seconds)
for those early believers the experience with God that experience with God it wasn't limited to an hour a week this was an everyday practice a consistent patient sometimes slow sometimes hurry up and wait practice of belief and faith and for those 120 that consistent practice of belief and faith led them to this life changing moment in an upper room they weren't there because they just didn't have anything else to do everything in their life led up to that moment and that was an experience that wouldn't stay in a room but it was going to go much farther than that in fact that spiritual moment drew in thousands of people on that first day and how many billions after enter [01:10:25] (57 seconds)
Filled the whole house where they were sitting. Now from our last couple of lessons, we've heard the Hebrew word for spirit, ruach. And the Greek word, pneuma. We talked about how that means spirit, wind, and breath. We talked about how when God created the world, how he did it through his spoken word. And how when you speak, you can feel it. You can hear it. There's a lot going on there. So when God spoke, his spirit was released. And in this moment, it's as if God is speaking. His spirit is being released. And you just hear this sound. They can't quite explain. [00:58:41] (42 seconds)
You know, Peter could have said, ah, yeah, let's just calm down. Let's close the door. No, Peter did not get discouraged. His response was simple. It was truthful, and it was inspired by God and pretty factual. Fellow Jews and all you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk. It's only nine in the morning. I love that. It's one of my favorite lines of Scripture. And that, my friends, is how Peter began his most famous sermon. [01:07:03] (31 seconds)
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