Afraid to Courageous

You can receive the Holy Spirit as your seal of salvation, as your mark of being saved, and you can be baptized with the Holy Spirit almost immediately. But we do believe that they are two different things. But for some people, it can take years. You can be saved and for whatever reason you're not baptized with the Holy Spirit straight away. Maybe you're resistant to it. We'll unpack that in a moment. Maybe you're in a you you were saved in a denomination where perhaps they don't even they don't embrace baptism with the Holy Spirit as much as we do as a Pentecostal denomination. But we believe we believe it is subsequent to salvation. The timeline is flexible. [00:14:04] (46 seconds)  #SealAndBaptism

What a change. Peter goes from this man who could have been accused of being coward to this courageous preacher on Pentecost Sunday. He went from denier to proclaimer. He suddenly something happened. There was a catalyst in his life that changed how he approached everything. And that is what we're remembering today. That catalyst, what happened on Pentecost Sunday as we call it, is what we are remembering today. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit. [00:09:48] (42 seconds)  #PentecostTransformation

In that prayer, we acknowledge that we've messed up. We say sorry. We ask God to help us to turn away from sin. That's called repentance. Repentance means turning away. We acknowledge that God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross. That was the punishment that we deserved. That he took that punishment and paid the price for our sins. And that he defeated death and rose again three days later. And for those of us that believe that in calling his name, we can be sure that we have eternal life. [00:26:18] (46 seconds)  #RepentAndBelieve

And you will know if you haven't been baptized, that's what we're gonna pray for you in a moment to be baptized. If you have been, we're gonna pray for you to be refilled with the Holy Spirit. We don't believe it's a one and done moment that you can be topped up, you can be refreshed with the Holy Spirit. I know that there are times where I've just cried out to her, come and fill me afresh because I'm feeling spiritually exhausted. This world needs Christians that are filled with the Holy Spirit. [00:19:05] (38 seconds)  #RefilledWithHolySpirit

But that isn't how it ends. You see, we know that Jesus defeated the death and rose again and restored Peter. We're not gonna look at the verses, but if you wanna note them down, it's John 21 verses 15 to 19. We see an encounter between Jesus and Peter where Jesus restores him out of his grace, of his love for Peter and says, you will go on to lead the church. A picture for all of us that it doesn't matter how much we think we've blown it. Jesus God loves each one of us. [00:07:19] (46 seconds)  #RestoredByGrace

You would know if you've been baptized with the Holy Spirit, but it brings that power to you, that boldness, that courageousness. As we were praying had the the prayer meeting before the service this morning and Nikki shared I know a number of you use the is it Lectio Bible app? If Barbara wasn't out on Kingdom Kids, I'm sure she would have leapt up now and she's a real advocate for the Lecto Bible. And one of the prayers at the end of that, so we spoke about being courageous. And that's what the world needs right now, isn't it? We need Holy Spirit. The world needs Holy Spirit empowered courageous Christians to step out, empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring about change. [00:18:09] (57 seconds)  #SpiritEmpoweredCourage

That power, baptism in the Holy Spirit is still available for each of us today. It wasn't a one time thing back then. It's still there today. I said I was gonna say still haven't moved too far. I think I've still come. I wanna unpack just a few little truths this morning. Baptism with the Holy Spirit is separate to when we receive the Holy Spirit of salvation. Everybody who has called upon the the name of the Lord, who's accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior is sealed with the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:12:36] (41 seconds)  #HolySpiritBaptismToday

You need to be stepping out in the power of the Holy Spirit. The one caveat to being baptized in the Holy Spirit is that you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And can I tell you, as much as this may get me in trouble later, the best decision I made in my entire life was not marrying my good lady, although that is a very close second? Second is good. I didn't mention the dog. Third. So you're you're above the dog. For those of you who know, I have it. I can just love Poppy the dog. But the very best decision I made was to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. [00:20:37] (57 seconds)  #StepOutInHolySpirit