Speaker 1 0:00

Hi there , thanks for listening to this episode of the Goodly Talks podcast . Let's jump in .

Speaker 2 0:05

Well , if you were here last week , this fine piece of Canadian engineering , she taught us all about the goodness of God , and what I was supposed to do but forgot to do was actually share with you why she was sharing on the goodness of God . And the reason she was going to be doing that is , you know , we're a new church and we asked the Lord what are we going to talk about ? And it actually goes back further than that Last year in January , when the Lord began speaking to agency about starting a church , which is somewhat ironic , right , start a church in a city that actually has more churches than coffee shops . So we're like , lord , why does Nashville need another church ? And what do you want this church to be about , and what do you want the focus and what do you want it to look like ? And so last year I actually looked at my journal and I found , on January , the 9th of last year , I felt like the Lord told me hey , the thing about Goodly we didn't know it was going to be called Goodly at that point .

Speaker 2 1:01

But the thing about this church , alan , is there's four pillars that it's going to rest on . So I was like , oh , tell me more . And he said , the first pillar is all about the goodness of God , and that's what AJ shared about , and my job last week at introducing was hey , aj is starting a series all about the pillars and the foundations of what we think God's going to be building here at Goodly . But the first thing was the goodness of God . Now , everything else you're going to hear about , these other three pillars are really just a subset of the goodness of God , because he's just good and he's kind and everything he does comes from his goodness , for example . The next one is the majesty of Christ . Oh , what a savior we serve . I mean , how amazing is the Lord Jesus Christ . He's just incredible . And , of course , jesus is an outflow of the goodness of God , for God so loved the world that he sent Jesus . Jesus is the most perfect demonstration of God's goodness .

Speaker 2 1:59

And then there's this topic of the promise of the Spirit . God was pleased to send Jesus to die for us , and Jesus was pleased to go back to heaven so that he could send the Holy Spirit . And the Holy Spirit is amazing . The Holy Spirit is kind and he's good . He's never going to leave us , he never forsakes us . He tells us about things that are going to happen . He speaks to us , he guides us , he convicts the world . The Holy Spirit is incredible .

Speaker 2 2:25

And yet in my experience , at least some of the churches I've been at we've not quite known what to do with the Holy Spirit , kind of like that awkward uncle at Family Gatherings that you're forced to go say hi to but then you stay away from because you're not quite sure what their deal is . And so the church that I grew up in , of course we loved the Holy Spirit , third person of the Trinity , and so we honor and we revere the Holy Spirit with them . We'll never speak about him again . And so my experience is I wasn't really sure what the Holy Spirit was , or who he was , or if he even was a who and . But the promise of the Spirit is absolutely a manifestation of the goodness of God .

Speaker 2 3:05

And then , finally , this pillar all about the equipping of all believers . You know , we were never supposed to come to church to be entertained . We were supposed to come to be equipped , equipped to build the kingdom , equipped to have amazing relationships , equipped to excel in our jobs , equipped to have answers to questions that our neighbors and our friends and our family might ask us . The church was about a center for equipping , about how we raise healthy children and demonstrate the kingdom of God and all the areas that we live in . So , as we were thinking , what are we going to share ? Like we're going to open the doors in a couple of weeks , what are we going to talk about ? We remembered this , but the problem is not really a problem slight scheduling issue On pillar four .

Speaker 2 3:54

It happens to be a very important day on the Christian calendar . It happens to be Easter , and if ever there was a day to talk about the majesty of Christ , it would be Easter Sunday . Amen , and I'm not even one of those people that sticks to a calendar , but that one would seem like a mess . So here's what we wanted to do . We want to just swap things around . So we will , I promise , talk about the majesty of Christ , but we're going to do it on Easter Sunday and all that means is we're just going to bump some stuff up , which means today we get to look at the Scriptures to see all this thing about the promise of the Spirit .

Speaker 2 4:32

If you're excited , say I'm excited . Oh , I feel that . Hallelujah , let's start with Jesus . Oh , the words of Jesus . You know , as is my want . I'm doing a you know , a Bible reading plan using the Robert Murray McShane reading plan . Today I'm in John 8 . And anytime there's red letters , there's just so much life . And so I want to read to you a passage from John 7, .

Speaker 2 4:56

Actually , this is Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit . He says this on the last day of the feast , the great day , jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts , let him come to me and drink . Whoever believes in me , as the Scriptures has said , out of his heart will flow rivers of living water . Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive , for as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified . Do you ever read the words of Jesus and think that Jesus could have done with a copywriter ?

Speaker 2 5:37

Don't mean to be rude , don't mean to be blasphemous , but , like the chapter before , this is John 6 , and Jesus , without any description or explanation , just casually mentions to a group of people hey , unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood , you're going to have no part of me . And everybody starts freaking out , rightly , and start moving away , and it's almost like you need somebody to go . Hey , jesus , we know what you mean . You're talking about a future thing called communion , but you're freaking these people out and maybe just explain it . Nope , he didn't . And this is another example of Jesus just being cryptic . Now forget for a minute that you live in America and you've read the Bible and you've been in church before .

Speaker 2 6:16

Imagine you're at this great festival , this huge tradition , and it's the last and it's the greatest day , and some guy just stands up and shouts he's not even on the MC schedule , right ? He just interrupts everything and says hey , if anyone thirsts , come to me and let him drink . And so you might be forgiven for thinking maybe this guy's just a vendor , you know ? Like , seriously , what are you going to make of it ? Like , is he just selling drinks at a festival ? And he goes on and he says whoever believes in me , as the Scripture is said , out of his heart will flow rivers of living water . And that's all that John's gospel says . He says no explanation , just thank you , ladies and gentlemen , I'll be here all week , right ? That's it .

Speaker 2 7:00

And if you keep reading , the people start fighting about the thing that he just said . It's almost like he's causing confusion . Some want to arrest Jesus , others thought he was a prophet . My point is this part here nobody else knew . This part was just added for our benefit . So , as readers , we now know what he was talking about . Oh , he's talking about the Holy Spirit . The disciples didn't even know what he was talking about , so we've got this little advantage here . So let me read a little bit more . This is where Jesus moves from being cryptic and just speaking what we know he's talking about , but nobody else did to him telling plainly the disciples about the Holy Spirit .

Speaker 2 7:47

We're going to go to John 16 in a minute . But , jesus , the context here is you've got to read the preceding verses . Jesus has been telling his disciples like guys , it's going to level with you . Things are going to get really , really rough . You're about to be made outcasts . People are going to start talking about killing you . Worse , the people who want to kill you are going to think that they're doing God's will and PS . I'm about to leave you .

Speaker 2 8:12

There's a lot of bad news , good news situation and as good news is this verse 7 , but I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away , for if I do not go away , the helper will not come to you , but if I go . I will send him to you Now . Without a shadow of a doubt , the helper there is the Holy Spirit . If you keep reading in the chapter , jesus refers to him as the Holy Spirit . But Jesus is saying and this is going to be hard for them to wrap their head around , guys , it's better for you that I leave . And I'm sure the disciples are like nope , nope , nope . We all did a survey . We think you should stay , because they've been with them , they've seen miraculous things and the disciples have only known Jesus . They've never known the Holy Spirit . And again , remember the advantage we have reading the story . We know how everything goes . The disciples don't . So they're left , confused as to what's happening .

Speaker 2 9:13

All right , last passage . This is from John's Gospel , john 20, . Again , the context is Jesus has now been crucified , he's been raised from the dead . The disciples don't know it . Some of the women in their group are saying oh , no , no , he's been raised from the dead . And they're like no , we don't think so . So they're hiding , they're scared , the doors are locked , they're scared of what the Jewish leaders are going to do . And then verse 19 , it says this Jesus came and stood among them and he said peace , be with you . And after he said this , he showed them his hands and his side , and the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord and with that he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit . Now let's stop and just recap what we've done .

Speaker 2 10:02

We started reading this thread that goes all the way through John's Gospel , goes actually all the way through the New Testament , where Jesus tells the readers about the Holy Spirit who's going to be coming after he dies . Everyone who believes in Jesus is going to receive the Holy Spirit . It's beautiful . Then we read the passage where Jesus comes out and he tells the disciples hey , the Holy Spirit's coming , but I have to go away in order for him to be here and you're going to receive the Holy Spirit . And then we read that actually happening , the reason that Jesus said came true , and so it's all tied up . It's nice and it's neat and we're done . Except we're really not , because one to three is what I believed for 24 years of my Christian life . I didn't know there was anything more . But then we get to Acts 2 , and something seemingly that wasn't mentioned before happens . Let's look at Acts 2 together .

Speaker 2 11:06

When the day of Pentecost came , they , that's the disciples , were all together in one place . Suddenly , a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house . Where they were sitting , they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them , and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them . Well , this is somewhat different , isn't it ? They're all filled with the Holy Spirit . My question is why did they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit when they'd already received Him ? The answer to this question is vital , because all Christians are born of the spirit . Everybody who's given their life to Jesus has been born again of the spirit . Jesus tells us this in John 3 , verse 5 . He says no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he's born of water , born naturally , and born of the spirit , born supernaturally . And so all Christians are born of the spirit , but not all are filled with the spirit . But I would like to add , they can and they should be .

Speaker 2 12:23

Now , part of the reason that the church doesn't know what to do with the Holy Spirit is we think it's enough to have received the Holy Spirit , but as we'll see in Acts 2 , that's not the case . We actually need to be filled by him too , and , to make matters worse , there's lots of confusion about what that even means , and so you find that there tends to be two extremes regarding the theology of the Holy Spirit . On the one side the side that I grew up in cessationist theology says you know , acts 2 is required to start the church , but once the church was up and running , we didn't really need the Holy Spirit anymore . So we don't need signs and wonders , we don't need speaking tongues , we don't need the Holy Spirit to leave us because we have the Word of God . That's one very faulty theology . And then , way over here in the charismatic Pentecostal world , you have some really unhelpful theologies about the Holy Spirit too , and what's happened is there's a lot of confusion about it . And what my encouragement is , scripture shows us a really simple pattern , and I think when you see it you'll be like that makes total sense . And we see that pattern first established by Jesus , then followed by the disciples , and then you see it happening in the lives of all the new believers in the New Testament . So you're ready for a quick survey ? We're doing a New Testament Bible study tonight . Y'all you ready for that ? All right , here we go .

Speaker 2 13:59

Jesus was quite literally born of the Spirit . Look chapter 1 , verse 34 , describes the conversation where poor Mary suddenly has a syngelic visitation and the angel is like you're about to be pregnant . And she's like , well , how's that going to happen ? And the angel answered the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you , so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God . So I don't think anybody here would question that . Did Jesus have the Holy Spirit ? Of course he did . Well then , alan , how was he filled with the Holy Spirit ? Well , this is fascinating .

Speaker 2 14:38

If you go to look chapter 3 , find out what happens at his baptism . It says when all the people were being baptized , jesus was baptized too . And as he was praying , heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form , like a dove , and our voice came from heaven . You are my Son , whom I love , and with you I'm well pleased . And if we keep reading , we get this long genealogy about the history of Jesus . And do you know what's written immediately after Jesus' baptism ? Look chapter 4 , verse 1 , jesus , full of the Holy Spirit , returned from Jordan and Jesus got filled at his baptism .

Speaker 2 15:22

Now you might be asking why would he need to be filled with the Holy Spirit ? Why would he need the Holy Spirit to descend on him when he was born of the Spirit ? Because Jesus was modeling for us life , lived in devotion to the Father . Now the disciples we don't need to do a study because we already did it . You know how . In John 20 , verse 22, . Jesus comes to them , breathes on them and says receive the Holy Spirit . And yet we also see in Acts 2 where they go on to be filled with the Holy Spirit .

Speaker 2 15:55

But what's interesting is , if you keep reading in the book of Acts , you see the same pattern happen to believers . For example , in Acts 8 , verse 5 , we read the story about Philip the Evangelist going to the city in Samaria . He's preaching the word and it says here there's great joy in the city , verse 12, . The people believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ . They were baptized , both men and women . So Philip preaches the gospel , the people believe they're baptized . We would call them what Christians ? We'd call them believers . Right , this is amazing . Great revival Word preached , people respond , people get saved , they're baptized . This is amazing Verse 14 , when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God , they sent Peter and John to them . And this is curious in verse 15 , when they arrived , they prayed for them . They might receive the Holy Spirit , because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them . They'd simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus . Then Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit . The same pattern these believers had the Holy Spirit . You can't get saved without the Holy Spirit . But along come the apostles and they're just like they pray for them . In this case , they placed their hands on them and these people got a filling of the Holy Spirit .

Speaker 2 17:24

Let me give you one other example In Acts 19, . This is the apostle Paul . He's at Corinth . He says he took the road through the interior and he arrived at Ephesus and there he found some disciples and asked them did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed ? Now , that's an odd question to ask , isn't it ? It's an odd question to ask a believer hey , did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed ? I remember , as I'll tell you in a minute my testimony . I remember being asked that question like well , how dare you Like I'm a wash in the blood . You know I'm a Christian and I got saved when I was seven and I know the Bible and , yes , I have the Holy Spirit , because you can't get saved without Him In your face . I rest my case . But this is Paul asking the same question .

Speaker 2 18:05

And they said we haven't even heard there's a Holy Spirit . So Paul asked and what baptism did you receive ? John's baptism , they replied . And Paul said John's baptism was one of repentance and he told the people to believe in the one coming after him , that is , in Jesus . And on hearing this , they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus . So again , similar thing . Paul comes along , finds some believers , asks if they've received the Holy Spirit . They said they haven't . They get baptized , they'd be saved . But look what happens in Acts 19 , verse 6 . It says this when Paul placed his hands on them , the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied . It's the same pattern we've been watching Christians born of the Spirit being filled with the Holy Spirit .

Speaker 2 19:01

Now let me tell you my story about how these two things happened . I got saved or I got born again when I was seven years old . I know , I know . So when I was seven I was raised in this beautiful really you're taking photos of that , thank you . I was raised in a beautiful Christian home with parents Though they were cessationists . They absolutely loved the Word of God . But I was saved . I knew what it meant to turn my life to Jesus when I was seven and I lived that way until one day some friends of mine invited me to a kind of church I'd never normally go to . It was a weird church and I knew it was weird because when I got there people were raising their hands in worship . I'd never seen that before and I was confused . It's like , do these people only need to go to the bathroom ? Do they all have questions Like what is going on ? I didn't know .

Speaker 2 19:48

And in the middle of the service the pastor asked this weird question I'd never heard before . He said is there anyone here who hasn't received the baptism of the Holy Spirit ? And I was like that's a weird way of saying it . And my friends who brought me were like Alan , have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit ? And I was like yes , they were like you have . I was like I have been baptized and I have the Holy Spirit . And they're like no , that's different . Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit ? I was like I have been baptized and I have the Holy Spirit , and you flaky weirdos will not get any of that on me , right ? And they're like why don't you just go forward for prayer ? So I go forward for prayer , the gentleman prays for me and nothing really happens . I go back to my seat .

Speaker 2 20:27

The man is finishing preaching and he stops and he looks at me and he points at me and says you , sir , you really need prayer . And he comes out and he lays hands on me , he prays for me and , with no hint of exaggeration , my life absolutely changed . I was saved at seven , but I met the Holy Spirit at 24 . Are you saying you didn't have the Holy Spirit before ? No , of course I had the Holy Spirit . In fact , I remember hearing about this thing and I remember asking some elders in my church and I remember them telling me don't you go looking for a second blessing , you have everything you need . And I was like right , right , you are . But here's what I found out , and I want to be emphatic about this I wasn't a lesser Christian for the 17 years before the experience , but I did have a lesser experience of Christianity for those 17 years . Being filled with the Holy Spirit changed my life .

Speaker 2 21:27

My 14 year old daughter , who always on a Saturday , is like Daddy , what are you preaching on tomorrow ? And I give her a dry run of the sermon and she was like how did your life change , daddy ? And I was like well , honey , daddy was a monster . Like I was miserable , like I was filled with darkness and depression and despair . I was going to church and I was witnessing and I was doing everything right , but my heart was just in despair . If I came to your house and you were playing worship music in the background , I would turn it off because I couldn't stand to be around it . That's usually a good sign that something's going on under the surface . Like I do not want the worship and the adoration of Jesus here . That only belongs in the church . Let's turn that off , right . I said Daddy had a bleak outlook . Daddy was miserable , daddy was suicidal , daddy was lost , daddy was in the throes of despair and depression . And I met the Holy Spirit . And here's what's curious I didn't think anything had changed , but everybody around me was like what happened to you ? What happened to me ?

Speaker 2 22:27

Indeed , now , a Bible study like this , the one that we've just done , albeit brief , along with a testimony , it begs two questions . And the first question you might be wondering is well , how do I know if I've been filled with the Holy Spirit ? The most common answer to that , the one that is unfortunately quite sloppy biblically speaking , is that speaking in tongues is the sign that you've been baptized with the Holy Spirit . Remember I was talking over here . There's some unhelpful theology . This would be one of them , and the reason I say that is I'd almost agree with that . But I've got two remarks I'd like to make in response to that answer . Of the five times in the book of Acts mentioning people , believers , being filled with the Holy Spirit , only three of them ever refer to speaking in tongues . There are other signs that accompany the baptism of the Holy Spirit , the filling of the Holy Spirit , the filling of the Holy Spirit . So , biblically , we want to be careful and not be dogmatic that it has to be tongues , and I'll give you my other objection to that is I was absolutely , without a shadow of a doubt , filled with the Holy Spirit that night I remember .

Speaker 2 23:40

I remember going home and thinking that was the weirdest church I've ever been to . But not just that . I remember having an appetite for the Word of God . I remember hungering . I remember that was when I would begin to hear the Lord speak to me , which again sounds very grandiose , but it was so natural I almost didn't notice it . I started praying out loud . I would start meeting people and when I'd meet them I'd know things about them , but I had no way of knowing about them and I used to be so weird because I used to test them out . I'd be like so you're L4 , okay . And they'd be like how do you know I have back pain in my L4 ? I don't know . I'm just trying this thing out where I hear from God , and they're like well , I don't know which one's weirder that you know about my L4 , or that you think you hear from God . But growing up as a closeted charismatic and a cessationist church , it's a wild adventure .

Speaker 2 24:29

But here's why I say I was sure I was filled with the Holy Spirit , but I did not speak in tongues for maybe six or seven months after . I think I probably could have . I didn't know how to do it . Nobody ever taught me about it . I just thought , like from all the testimonies I would read , you'd just be like and then the Holy Spirit would rush through you and you start speaking a different language . That is not what happened to me , and I'll tell you my left-brained approach to learning to speak in tongues another time . But my point is , if we mandate that it must be tongues , I think we sow confusion when the scripture isn't as clear . That makes sense . The second question that we might ask after how do I know if I've been filled with the Holy Spirit , is how can I be filled with the Holy Spirit ? Well , biblically speaking , there's no prescribed way In both Jesus' case that there's baptism , or the disciples in Acts 2 , the Holy Spirit just descended on them sovereignly .

Speaker 2 25:27

The church , the age is from . They had a prayer meeting , or they had a meeting on January 20th . That was Thursday night , 1994 . And a man , a minister , called Randy Clark , just got up , closed the meeting and he just said well , holy Spirit , would you come and just like that ? I'm not sure if there was a rushing wind , but the Holy Spirit just flattened the whole place and our friend Mary Audrey Raycroft was doing a Bible study in the next room and she heard all this commotion and when she opened the door she couldn't see anybody . She was like has everyone been raptured ? Like what's happened ? But she didn't realize everybody was on the floor in awe . Everybody in the seats were just on the floor . That all happened sovereignly . So I like sovereign stuff , but in my case and in others in scripture , like we read about tonight , I was simply prayed for . Someone prayed for me . I wasn't even willing to receive . I didn't even have a good theology . It took me two years to work out what had happened to me . So you call them Jehovah's sneaky for a reason .

Speaker 2 26:24

The Holy Spirit would love to work in a numerous amount of ways , whether sovereignly or just by laying on of hands , and in a moment we're going to pray for anyone who would like to be filled with the Holy Spirit . Don't worry , you're not under any pressure . We don't do snake handling till week three . Okay , so just relax . But I'm serious , you do not have to be prayed for if you would not like to be prayed for . Here's what I would like to see . And if I go back over here to this camp here , I don't know if this has been your experience , but if you've had this experience , I'm sorry . Aj and I have both had this experience .

Speaker 2 26:57

Sometimes , in the exuberance of others who've been filled with the Holy Spirit , perhaps even in their immaturity , there's an excitement for you to receive what they've received and along with that excitement comes some sort of pressure . Have you ever had someone try and coach you how , to speak in tongues , shoot a bottle of Honda ? Just say , shoot a bottle of Honda , but I drive a Toyota . That will work too . Just say that and people are like pressuring you . I don't think that helps . I don't think that helps .

Speaker 2 27:24

Can I just say that what I've learned about the kingdom is that the kingdom is at ease . Do not fear little flock . It's my good pleasure to give you the kingdom . That's what Jesus said . It's easily accessible . The kingdom of God belongs to children such as these . If we go down in our children's ministry , you'll see the kids not stressing about being childlike . They just are .

Speaker 2 27:47

So really , to receive the Holy Spirit , there's not much to do . There's just one condition , and being relaxed isn't even one of them . Before I tell you the condition , let's look at this verse . It's beautiful , it's Luke 11 and it's Jesus speaking . He says which of you fathers . If your son asks for a fish , will give him a snake instead , or if he asks for an egg , will give him a scorpion . If you then , though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children , how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him ? The father wants you to be filled with a precious Holy Spirit . Jesus was excited to send you the Holy Spirit , and really , the only one condition that needs to be met to receive the Holy Spirit is what we read in our very first verse , in John 7 , verse 39 .

Speaker 2 28:46

Now , this he had said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive . So the only condition to receive the Holy Spirit is that you believe in Jesus . It's for those who've put their faith and their trust in Jesus . And it got me wondering . Before we pray for everyone to be filled with the Holy Spirit , or everyone who would like to be prayed for , I want to make sure that , first of all , everyone's put their faith in Jesus . And it got me wondering even more . It's such a quaint phrase to put your faith in Jesus . What does it even mean ? Right now , you're putting your faith in the chairs that you're sitting on and , having sat on some of these chairs , you're exercising tremendous faith Because some of them have seen better days . Let me just tell you , but it's worked . You have put your faith in these chairs to hold you up . You've placed your trust in them . You've exercised by doing something and it's worked . And putting your faith in Jesus is the same thing .

Speaker 2 29:54

Remember what Jesus , remember what AJ . I get the two of them confused an awful lot . Their character is so remarkably similar . Remember what AJ said last week about Jesus' job description in John 10.10 ? That the thief only comes to kill , steal and destroy . That's the enemy's job description . But Jesus is that I've come , that you may have life , and life to the fool . And the number one thing that gets in the way of us having life to the fool is sin .

Speaker 2 30:24

It's amazing to me that the disciples who had received the Holy Spirit were hiding in a room , fearful of what the Jewish leaders would do to them . Remember that Jesus appeared to them and said receive the Holy Spirit . There's some timidity about it , but once they're filled with the Holy Spirit , look at what Peter is saying to the same people . He said this repent and be baptized , every one of you , in the name of Jesus Christ , for the forgiveness of your sins , and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit . To get rid of our sin , all we need to do is confess that we have them and ask that Jesus would forgive us for having them , and only then can we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit . So here's what I want to do before we pray for anybody .

Speaker 2 31:15

If you're in that situation where you haven't put your faith in Jesus , you haven't trusted in Jesus , that you recognize there's stuff in my life that is wrong . There's things I think , there's things I do , there's things I say the Bible calls that sin and Jesus would be happy to take it away from you tonight , and all you have to do is just say I would like that , and so , if that's , you , wave at me . No one's going to judge you . Everyone's going to be excited . Now is not the time to scratch your head . I love it . It is my guess that people who are coming to a church for a new time have a relationship with Jesus , and I hope that's the case . So I'm glad that everyone has had their sins forgiven and we've just met the first criteria .

Speaker 2 31:56

That needs to be filled . Again , to be very clear , every single one of you , you have the Holy Spirit . You were born of the Spirit . What we're going to ask the Lord to do is to fill us , and if you're sitting there going well , I've already been filled . I've got news for you , you and I . We leak Right In Acts 2 , the disciples got filled .

Speaker 2 32:24

If you agree with that , say amen . But look two chapters later , after they've been filled with the Holy Spirit , they meet together and ask God to do signs and wonders through the name of Jesus . And look what it says in Acts 4 , verse 31 . After they prayed , the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly . Though they were all previously filled , they got filled again . So here endeth my speaking portion of tonight .

Speaker 2 32:59

But what I would like to do is just create space in the most casual of ways for people to receive more of the Holy Spirit . So why don't we just close our eyes for a second ? If you'd prefer to keep your eyes open and that makes you feel safer , I'm totally happy with that . But close our eyes if you're comfortable with that Holy Spirit . I thank you that you delight in your children . Lord , you delight to be among us and so , holy Spirit , I ask that right now you would just begin to increase your presence in this room . I thank you that you're here with us , lord . I thank you that we can't be saved without you . And yet we know you love to fill us . And so , lord , just as we're waiting , would you just make your presence known . Would you just come and begin to stir hearts , lord ? Just stir up hunger in our hearts for more of you .

Speaker 2 34:09

If you're up at the front , you're welcome to stay at the front , just receiving . There's no problem there . We have a ministry team as well who are going to make their way up to the front here and again . Where you are is fine , stay where you are . But if you would like to receive prayer for anything , if you'd like prayer for a miracle , for a healing , for a blessing , for a job , if there's anything you would like to receive prayer for , our team here would love to pray for you .

Speaker 2 34:32

Just come and see Victoria over here . So probably easy is just to come over here , see Victoria , and she'll make sure that you get prayed for by one of our team . We also have a question desk out in the lobby if you would have any questions you want answered . If you want to learn anything more about the church , please stop by there . Agey and I will be hanging around praying for people . We'd love to meet you If we haven't met you yet and have an opportunity to say hi to you . But thanks for being here . We're not kicking you out . You don't have to rush off . We've got plenty of time . But just linger in this presence or come up for prayer or chat with some people and just make the space yours to just connect with God and with other people , and we'll hopefully see you next week . Thanks for being here .

Speaker 1 35:13

Thanks for listening today . If you liked what you heard , swing by the website to learn more about our church . You'll find us at goodlychurch , and if you want more episodes delivered to your podcast app each week , be sure to subscribe .