Naturally Supernatural // Supernatural // Part 2

Summer is a busy and crazy time for many people, so CLC has created pop-up summer groups to introduce people to Life Groups without a lot of pressure.

Today is Summer Kickoff, and there will be walking tacos after the service. There is also new summer merch in the lobby, sign-ups, games in the patio, and walking tacos outside the kids' entrance. On the first Wednesday of summer, there will be a Block Party in the Park parking lot with a dunk tank and Pastor hurling insults at those who think they have aim.

Today, we are in part two of our series, Supernatural, looking at the Holy Spirit and what it means to be naturally supernatural. The Holy Spirit enables us to have a supernatural existence, and he does so many amazing things. He helps us resist temptation, gives us direction and guidance, corrects us when we're wrong, comforts us when we're hurting, and helps us in our prayer life. He also brings spiritual gifts and helps develop the spiritual Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, setting us apart from the rest of the world.

If the Holy Spirit left your life, how long would it take for you to realize it? That's a heavy question, right? It might be a red flag in our lives, so I want you to wrestle with that question over the next few minutes, hours, weeks, months, and years.

But first, what I want to do today is get a little nerdy with you. CLC is a charismatic church, which means that theologically we are continuationists. This means that when we read the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit doing some incredible things, and as continuationists, we believe that he continues to do those same things, including the charismatic gifts of the Spirit that we read in First Corinthians 12, such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, healings, and miracles.

On the other side of this argument are cessationists, who believe that those same gifts have ceased. In simplest terms, as a charismatic, that means that we don't tell the Holy Spirit what he can and cannot do in us, through us, and in the world.

The Bible is now completed, and it is our guide. This is the concept of cessationism. There is a dilemma for us to decide, as both sides can use scripture to prove their stance. As a charismatic church, I believe that the Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit continues to this day. However, I have seen some charismatic churches go too far and abandon scripture to chase after feelings. This is why some people call them charismaniacs.

If Paul were alive today, he would be writing letters to some charismatic churches to bring order and correction. We should not throw out the baby with the bathwater, but fix the bad behavior. We are charismatic, not crazy, creepy, or weird. We believe that if you read the Bible without bias, you would also be charismatic.

Jesus' last words to us before he ascended to heaven were to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, and then he said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So Jesus is telling us to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then he's telling us to go and be his witnesses. I think that the fruit of the Spirit is what helps us to be his witnesses.

Welcome to CLC, everybody! A multicultural, non-denominational, charismatic church that puts a high emphasis on the Word of God and on the full ministry of the Holy Spirit. It seems crazy to me to box up the Holy Spirit and put him off to the side and say, "I'm good, thanks. That stuff is really cool to read about, but I don't want to experience it." Such a boring way of following a supernatural God!

With all that said, why would you ever want to do that? The Bible talks so much about the Holy Spirit and how amazing He is in our lives and these incredible gifts. There's so much teaching in scripture about it, so why would we get the teaching if He's not going to keep doing it? That's kind of my stance.

Now, as we try and unpack this idea today, there is a danger. I really wanted to be able to bring, especially on Summer Kickoff, a fun, light-hearted message like, "Hey, let's have a good time!" But God really pushed me to correct an issue, so I feel like I have to do that today.

The issue I want to address is when a charismatic is desiring the gifts without developing the fruit, and it becomes destructive. When you chase the gift without the fruit, you hurt yourself or others. I think that's why we've seen a lot of abuses in charismatic churches.

Don't get me wrong, desiring the gifts is a good thing. I can even defend that scripturally. Paul tells us that you should be desiring these gifts. But, with that said, next week Pastor Chris is going to lay out for us what it means to actually walk in those gifts of the Spirit on a regular basis, not just something you do at church, but something you do at work, at home, and in the neighborhood. It's going to be awesome!

Desiring the gifts is great, but I think that when we chase after the gift without the fruit, we destroy something.

So, I would put more emphasis on developing the fruit of the Spirit in your life. You would be a better Christian, a better disciple, and even a better human being if you just kind of flip this around. John 15:8 says, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples."

The fruit that Jesus is telling us to bear covers a lot of different things, but I think that one of the fruits that He's talking about is the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus' last words to us before He ascended to heaven were to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, and then He said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

So, Jesus is telling us to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then He's telling us to go and be His witnesses. I think that the fruit of the Spirit is what helps us to be His witnesses.

Jesus told his disciples that the world will know they are his disciples if they love one another. But what is love? It is a fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit is what marks us as Jesus's disciples.

In First Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the nine charismatic gifts. These gifts are given to each person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ. The gifts are for the common good and not for personal gain.

The nine gifts are: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the ability to perform miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

The Fruit of the Spirit is different from the gifts of the Spirit. Everyone is expected to have all nine of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We all need the Holy Spirit to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The gifts of the Spirit are given for the purpose of ministry, while the fruit of the Spirit is given to develop Christ-like character. This list should remind us of Jesus, and as we develop these things, we are developing Christ-like character.

John Wooden said, "Talent will get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." This is the natural version of the supernatural idea that your gift will get you in the room, but it's your character that will keep you there.

The danger is when a charismatic has a gift but no fruit. They can speak in tongues, prophesy, and work miracles, but if they don't have the fruit of kindness, love, patience, and self-control, they can end up hurting themselves or others.

This message came from a place of grief. Watching a documentary about a church, it was obvious that there was a gift with no fruit, no character. We don't want to be in a place where we have people chasing after gifts but no character, no fruit. We need to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives more than the gift.

Don't let your gift take you somewhere your character can't keep you. Sometimes we chase after the gifts because they seem so much more impressive than the fruit of the Spirit. We think that the gifts are supernatural, like when someone has a word of knowledge for somebody or lays hands on them and they are healed.

But the fruit of the Spirit is the supernatural expression of those qualities. It is an anointed version, a super-sized version of those qualities.

Mark 11 tells the story of Jesus being hungry and noticing a fig tree in full leaf a little way off. He went to see if he could find any figs, but there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Jesus then said to the tree, "May no one ever eat your fruit again." This sounds like a nothing statement, but he was cursing the tree. Later on in the story, Jesus comes back and the tree is dead. Jesus killed the tree with his words.

At first, this story didn't make sense to me. It's not the tree's fault that it didn't have fruit, and it's not even the season for fruit. But then I realized that Jesus is God, and he created seasons, so if anyone is to blame for the tree not having fruit, it is Jesus.

Something sparked in me the last time I read this story, and I wanted to share it with you. The Holy Spirit asked me a question, and it changed everything for me. I can't say that this is why this passage is in the Bible, but it sparked something in me that I wanted to share.

Jesus expects us to bear fruit out of season, even when it isn't the right time. This is the supernatural gift of the Fruit of the Spirit. For example, when you lose your job but still have joy, when you have patience with your children even when they are pushing your buttons, when you have the self-control to say no to temptation, or when you respond to someone with love despite them betraying you. Jesus expects us to bear this fruit out of season.

So how do we get this supernatural fruit of the Spirit? The answer is simple: if you want more fruit, you need more Holy Spirit. You need to walk with the Holy Spirit more than you walk without him, and give him room to cultivate the fruit in your life.

Inviting the Holy Spirit in is not enough; you need to make room for him. This is why one of the values at CLC is to make room for the Spirit. We need to make room for the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives. This can be done by reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping regularly.

However, there is something deeper that needs to be done. We need to remove the things that are already crowding our lives. It is like a garden that needs to be cleaned up before something can be planted.

Paul talks about this duality of man in his letters. There is the flesh and the spirit, and they are constantly fighting each other. He gives us the fruit of the Spirit to show us what happens when we follow the Spirit. But before he gives us the fruit, he says that when we follow the desires of our sinful nature, the results are very clear.

He then lists out what happens when we follow the flesh, such as sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins.

Paul talks about the list of sins that can kill us, such as envy, selfish ambition, sexual immorality, and idolatry. He goes on to say that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. To get this stuff out of our lives, we need to get rid of the weeds that are choking out the fruit of the Spirit.

There is a story of two wolves, one good and one bad, that are constantly at war with each other. The one that wins is the one that is fed the most. To be naturally supernatural, we need to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives and make room for him. We need to follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives and allow him to lead us to being naturally supernatural. That is the beautiful gift Jesus has given us.

When somebody is abusing you, it can be hard to stay faithful and loving. But when people in your life see you developing this fruit out of season, they take notice. They will come to you and ask how you can be so calm, loving, kind, and gentle.

The best part about the fruit is that it's not just for your benefit; it's for the world. You don't see a tree eating its own fruit because the fruit is for the people around it. When you develop the fruit, your family reaps the benefit of joy in your home, your co-workers reap the benefit of peace in the workplace, and your neighbor reaps the benefit of your kindness.

As you develop the fruit, you are becoming more like Christ, and the world is becoming a better place.

But in order to have this fruit, you must have Jesus. John 15:4 says, "Stay joined to me and I'll stay joined to you. No branch can produce fruit alone; it must stay connected to the vine. It is the same with you; you cannot produce fruit alone. You must stay joined to me, I'm the vine and you're the branches. If you stay joined to me and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit."

Sin separates us from God, and the wages of sin is death. You can't produce fruit outside of a relationship with God.

But Jesus came on a cross and gave up his life to pay the price for our sin. Three days after his death, he walked out of the tomb, and we have a chance to be reconnected with God. So who wants that in their life? Fruit out of season? Yeah, I'm glad you're on board with that.

He prophesied he would be proved that he was who he claimed to be and that everything that he said was true. Jesus walked, prophesied his own death and resurrection, and then pulled it off.

Scripture says that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's the process in which we get reunited and reconnected to our Heavenly Father.

That confession that Jesus is Lord is simply surrendering your life and your will and your desires to him, saying you're in control, not me. That belief in your heart is a statement of faith, saying I believe. It's not about the things that you do; it's about what he's already done. When you put your faith in him, that's when you're reconnected.

At the end of the service, if you know you're not connected to God, a prayer was led. There's nothing special about this prayer; there's no magic words. It's really a belief in your heart and profession that says, "Jesus, you are Lord of my life, and I'm going to live that out."

It's a statement of faith from our hearts that in our hearts we believe. It's about putting your faith in him and on the cross and in the empty tomb in his Resurrection.

If you prayed that prayer, you can text the word "life" to the number or scan the QR code. We want to connect with you and help you walk this out. This is not a finish line; it's a starting line. There's so much more that God wants to do in you and through you and in your life. We just really believe that we can help you walk.

Today I want to encourage you to take the next step if you have prayed with us recently. I want to get connected with you and help you walk this thing out.

I asked a question earlier: if the Holy Spirit left you, how long would it take until you realized it? I think the longer it takes is an indication that you have not been walking with Him. I want to know the moment He leaves. I don't want to be like Samson, waking up thinking I can still beat up these guys, but the Spirit of God had already left me.

To close out this service, I invite you to invite the Holy Spirit more into your life. Maybe that means putting into practice some of the things we talked about a couple of weeks ago when we talked about faith in your free time. Or maybe you need to do some gardening and get rid of some stuff that's been choking out the Fruit of the Spirit.

We do that by repentance and asking Jesus to forgive us and give us the strength and courage to remove the things that need to be removed.

Let's worship together.

1. "I'm gonna put my faith and my trust in you and on the cross and in the empty tomb in your Resurrection." #FaithInJesus [ 36:31]
2. "Who wants that in their life, fruit out of season? But you can't have one without the other. Stay joined to Jesus." #StayWithJesus [ 32:32]
3. "Envy, selfish ambition listed right alongside sexual immorality and idolatry. This stuff will kill us too if we've allowed some weeds to grow in the soil that the Holy Spirit is trying to plant fruit in." #SpiritualWeeds [ 28:16]
4. "Each one of us is given a gift, sometimes maybe two or even three because they kind of work together. But by and large, you're given a gift." #SpiritualGifts [ 14:20]
5. "Dear Jesus, I need you. I know that I've been separated from God and I need to be reconnected. So today, I'm making Jesus the Lord Of My Life." #ReconnectWithGod [ 36:31]