1 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:05,880 I am. I grew up in a decade called the 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:07,800 90s. I grew up in a nation called 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,040 Zimbabwe. And because time is short, I 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,720 want to get to the the crux of what I believe God's want to do 5 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,520 here tonight. But I just have to start with 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,720 this narrative that has just shaped me in a real special way. 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,800 In the 90s, we had those desks at school. 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,760 I don't know if you remember them, those desks where you lift 9 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,480 them up. Inside them was your world, your 10 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,360 space case, your textbooks, your, your typics, your, your 11 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:31,640 rulers, your, your sports equipment for late in the day. 12 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,600 That was your domain. But what would happen yearly at 13 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,480 our at our at our school was on Valentine's Day, the girls would 14 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,360 would spend all morning working on their cards for their secret 15 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,280 admirers. The boys would go and play 16 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,120 soccer and pretend that they didn't really care about what 17 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,120 was happening inside. But we really did care. 18 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,600 We really did. But up to this moment every 19 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,120 year, this this occasion would happen on Valentine's Day. 20 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,360 And Gabe Phillips, the young whippersnapper sporting a bowl 21 00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:00,000 haircut courtesy of Sue Phillips's mom, was was 04/11 in 22 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,200 Valentine's Day. Cards on these moments. 23 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:02,680 Yeah. Thank you. 24 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,040 You're a beautiful audience. Thank you. 25 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,200 Thank you for that. Ah, but the year was 1999, and 26 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,960 there was something different in there because this year there 27 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,600 was something that was a little bit different that was going on. 28 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,040 I remember this day as if it was yesterday as I came in 29 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,040 nonchalantly after break time trying to pretend I didn't care 30 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,280 what had happened. And everyone was excited. 31 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,520 And who would have got a secret admirer's car from that day? 32 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,960 But I opened up my desk, trying to get my textbook for the next 33 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,080 lesson. But as I opened that desk, 34 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,120 inside that desk, there was something inside it that hadn't 35 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,440 been there before break time. And all of a sudden, my heart 36 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:36,640 started to be a little bit faster. 37 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,200 My palms grew sweaty. My knees grew weak. 38 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:47,200 Feasting on Mama's spaghetti. In this moment, as I, as I got 39 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,000 this letter out that said to my secret admirer, I started to I 40 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,800 started to dream of who the future Mrs. Phillips would be. 41 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,120 The lucky lady. They'll get all of this. 42 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,400 I didn't even open up and know who it was yet, but I started to 43 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,800 dream about that wedding day. We'd be being married on the 44 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,680 beach. I would have ridden bareback on 45 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,120 the shirt off on the bear on the bareback. 46 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,640 Try that again. Just rewind the tape. 47 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,560 Shirt off on a horse. Let's just go with that one. 48 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,520 Muscles rippling my flowing red locks in the wind. 49 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,360 We'd get married, we'd have 20 red headed children with form a 50 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,120 band and tour the world. And I, I was there in my head. 51 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,200 And as I was about to open up and find out who this delightful 52 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,080 lucky woman would be. As I was about to read and find 53 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,680 out, a girl came up to me with a horror looking, horror stricken 54 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,840 face on a on a look on her face and she said sorry, wrong desk. 55 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:51,880 And I've come all the way from Cape Town to find healing here 56 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,560 tonight from that moment. So thank you for allowing me to 57 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,560 get that off my chest. But actually it's become a bit 58 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,320 of a, a metaphor for what God I believe is doing not only in my 59 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,120 life, but actually in the body of Christ. 60 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,040 Because I believe the enemy has stolen too much from his people, 61 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,000 that the promises of God have been delivered into our lives 62 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,760 about the hope of future, that God wants to use us. 63 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:15,960 But it feels like Monday morning comes and the enemy's just 64 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,000 waiting to tap you on the shoulder and say, sorry, wrong 65 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,040 desk, sorry, not you, sorry, not you, not in the season, all 66 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:23,760 those other people, but not for you. 67 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,360 But I believe that things are about to change because the 68 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,520 enemy may have left us empty hopes, empty dreams, empty 69 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,400 religion, empty futures. But tonight I want to deposit my 70 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,360 thesis for you and I is that God loves to fill empty things. 71 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,600 God loves to fill empty things. So I love you to stand to your 72 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,560 feet very quickly because I love to read one verse of Scripture. 73 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,000 And I ask you to stand because I believe I want to shift the 74 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,120 posture in this room from being 1 of spectators to being 75 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,720 participators. I'm not here trying to entertain 76 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:55,400 you. I'm inviting you to step into 77 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,360 the more that God has for you. The verse of Scripture says 78 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,560 this. You shall receive power when the 79 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,960 Holy Spirit comes upon you. I'm going to count to 3 and I'd 80 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:05,800 love us to read that out loud, 123. 81 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,760 You shall receive power. The Holy Spirit comes upon you. 82 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,640 You do it one more time, you shall receive. 83 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,400 Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon. 84 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,120 You. I love that verse because it 85 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,720 says you shall receive doesn't say earn, doesn't say achieve, 86 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,840 doesn't say measure up to, doesn't say graduate into. 87 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:27,040 It says receive. This is power. 88 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,120 Power life changing, earth shattering, demon chasing, sin 89 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:37,480 destroying resurrection power. When doesn't say, if doesn't 90 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,920 say, maybe says when says. When The Holy Spirit, the very 91 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,600 presence of Jesus, the very promise of heaven coming to 92 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:51,560 earth, comes upon you, makes his home in you, his residence in 93 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,000 you. Stumbling, fumbling, bumbling, 94 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:59,320 apologetic, apoplectic, forgetful You, the Holy Spirit 95 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,280 wants to come upon us because God fills empty things. 96 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,080 So let's pray tonight, Father, I thank you. 97 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,040 Tonight, as in our best human attempts, we assemble the dry 98 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,560 kindling of Your Word. I asked now would you come and 99 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,360 do what only you can do, and pour out your fire so we'll 100 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,720 never be the same? Ask this in the mighty name of 101 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:20,560 Jesus, Amen. Amen. 102 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,480 Before you sit, can you high 55 people around you and tell them 103 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,480 God loves to fill empty things. Say God loves to fill empty 104 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:36,960 things, and then you can take your seats. 105 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,280 And I love you just to tell the neighbor that you did not, that 106 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:44,960 you ignored resolutely earlier. Tell them Gabe might have had 107 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,440 the wrong disk, but I've definitely got the right seat. 108 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:49,040 Tell them that. Tell them that quickly. 109 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:50,880 Come on, encourage your neighbor. 110 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,080 In the next three to four hours, I want to baptize you. 111 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:08,200 Sorry, How long have I got? In a sense, in the best attempt 112 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,960 I can, I want to baptize us in the revelation of the Holy 113 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,600 Spirit and the best place I want to know the way it starts is in 114 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,720 Genesis chapter 1, which tells us that God created the heavens 115 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,000 of the earth and the earth was dark, formless, and empty. 116 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,240 Dark, formless and empty Sounds a lot like the Man United trophy 117 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:36,000 cabinet. Cheers, I'll drink to that dark, 118 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,360 formless and empty. But the script, the scripture 119 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:41,240 doesn't stop there. It says, but the Holy Spirit was 120 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,520 hovering or was coming upon the deep. 121 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,720 What I'd love to draw your attention to today is that word 122 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:47,960 hovering. The word come upon in the 123 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,360 original language. That word come upon in Genesis 124 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,760 chapter 1 is the same root word that's used in Acts chapter one 125 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,480 verse 8 that we've just read when Jesus promises that the 126 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,200 Holy Spirit will come upon you and I divinely linked is the 127 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,640 story of creation and impartation. 128 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,960 What God did there in in Genesis chapter 1 is divinely linked to 129 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,760 what Jesus is 1 promising to do to you and I in X one verse 8. 130 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,920 It is so radical because we are told in the creative narrative 131 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,400 that God created the heavens, the earth out of nothing. 132 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,000 The Latin word is ex neilio, meaning he had no other raw 133 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,880 materials to do it. He did not have a DIY kit. 134 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,520 He did not have a create the world in seven days kit. 135 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,160 He just had the power of his word. 136 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,840 He spoke it and the world obeyed. 137 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,760 I don't know what you think about creation and I don't 138 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,440 definitely don't believe in The Big Bang, but I believe when God 139 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,200 spoke in the world obeyed, there was a Big Bang as He said, let 140 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,320 there be light, Light said, yes Sir, where do you want me? 141 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,960 Everything as he said by the word of his powers, He just 142 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,400 spoke it into being. From the macro to the micro, 143 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,080 everything exploded into life. There was a boom in heaven as 144 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:59,560 everything was created. Everything created by His word. 145 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,080 Day one, day 2, day three, day four, day 5. 146 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,640 But then day six he changes tact and he creates man in his own 147 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:06,720 image. And this time it's a little 148 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,920 different. He's not creating it from afar, 149 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,280 speaking powerfully into the ethos. 150 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,960 No, he is in this moment. He starts to do something a 151 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,280 little different. He changes tact and he's he 152 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,680 bends down low into the dust of the earth and he gets down low 153 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,840 and he starts to fashion for himself humanity, The first 154 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,640 human Adam, beautifully designed by his hands, closed up close 155 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,520 and personal and intimate. He created this beautiful 156 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,480 picture of Adam in this moment. And if I can make a quick aside, 157 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,280 my thoughts is that Adam was a redhead. 158 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,720 If that doesn't fit your theology, you will be corrected 159 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:41,600 in heaven. It's fine. 160 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,800 We can agree to disagree, but I love this reality as he created 161 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,000 Adam in this moment up close and personal. 162 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,120 I just think of this moment as Adam's lying there in the dust 163 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,720 of the earth. And in that moment we told in 164 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,160 Scripture that the father came close and he breathed his spirit 165 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,720 into Adam and he became a life giving spirit. 166 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,600 He became a prisoner. And as as the breath of God that 167 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,200 this, this holy intimate kiss came upon him as the breath of 168 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:12,160 God entered in the first face that Adam saw was not a God far 169 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,880 off, was not a God of thunderbolts and lightning, 170 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,320 very, very frightening. The first face he saw was a God 171 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,440 who'd come close to kiss him and breathe the spirit into him. 172 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,840 And and that word there we of of a God who comes closer to kiss 173 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,320 the word proscenaeo, the word of a, a God that is not drawing 174 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,360 away or pulling back, but a God who's drawing near in intimate 175 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,080 fashion to you and I. And he was showing us in this 176 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,360 moment fashioned out of the dirt that we were made to know him, 177 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,080 made to know him in this intimate way. 178 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,600 A narrative that is just so deep in my heart, I felt to share it 179 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:47,880 again. Tonight was a story about a 180 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,640 couple a little while ago, a couple years ago, jumped on a 181 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,640 plane with my friend Wayne Bathurst. 182 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,080 We were heading up to Joburg, got into C10B and 10C and as we 183 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,560 were so excited about this trip. As I sat down and got my podcast 184 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,320 in, looked at the menu and was deciding of, of, of what 185 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,040 property I need to sell to be able to afford the, the Pringles 186 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,200 and Coke combo. As I sat there and I was so 187 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,960 excited to be in my seat, you know, 10 C so excited. 188 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,920 I saw a gentleman come in the plane who was looking like he 189 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,480 wasn't very excited to be on the plane. 190 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,800 He was a man triple my size. He was a man wearing a very 191 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,080 tight vest. He had a skull on his face, a 192 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,120 bald head. And I, I just knew he knew 193 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,000 business meant business. And as he stormed down the 194 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,000 aisle, his eyes were fixed on me. 195 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:32,760 You know, those paintings where the eyes just follow, you know, 196 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,280 And I actually looked around and he kept his eyes on me and he 197 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:36,880 was coming down the aisle towards me. 198 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,920 He put his bag on the ground and said, you're in my seat. 199 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,840 I am from Zimbabwe, as we've spoken about already. 200 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,360 And Zimbabweans apologize for apologizing. 201 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,120 So I just said sorry. I didn't argue. 202 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:50,840 I just said sorry. I got the seat belt out. 203 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:51,920 I said, this is yours. I'm done. 204 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:53,760 I'm actually going to go sit in the toilet at the back. 205 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:54,920 You have it all. It's yours. 206 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,200 But before this place, this whole thing could finish, he was 207 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,160 sitting in my seat. He was slamming his bag up. 208 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,520 And where my bag had been, my friend Wayne Bathurst, cool as a 209 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,720 cucumber, hadn't been flummoxed one bit. 210 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:08,760 He just was examining our tickets. 211 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,640 Gabe Phillips, Wayne Bathurst 10B10C He looked over at this 212 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,520 guy's ticket and he said, hey buddy, your ticket says gate 213 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,720 C10. That's your gate, not your seat. 214 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,680 Back of the plane, buddy. And in that moment I was like, 215 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:26,120 yeah, don't write. You are back of the plane, 216 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,880 buddy. You've never seen a big man just 217 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,440 go all all the gums and teeth. And I'm so sorry. 218 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,440 I'm so embarrassed that he slung all the way to the back and I 219 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,960 looked out and I declared Pringles for everybody in the 220 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,200 plane as I sat down in my rightful seat. 221 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,760 It's a reminder to me that I want to challenge us in this 222 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,160 moment that actually what has unseated us from this intimacy 223 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,240 and authority that God has got for us that many of us have. 224 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,920 We've we've we know this narrative maybe well, but we've 225 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,120 allowed allowed the voice of the enemy to accuse us to intimidate 226 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,120 us, to challenge us to say you're in my seat and push us 227 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,160 out of our seat because he is the enemy will say, I know what 228 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,000 you did last summer. Forget that. 229 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,040 I know what you did last night. And we give up our seat of 230 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,800 intimacy and authority and we pull away from this God who's 231 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,400 drawing near to us, but we turn away because he, we, we feel 232 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,400 like we've been intimidated out of our rightful seat. 233 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,840 But I want to tell you, maybe you feel disqualified from the 234 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,960 intimacy of God. Maybe you think you've run so 235 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,320 far. I tell you tonight his grace 236 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,920 goes further still. He is still the God who's coming 237 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,880 forward towards you, to embrace you, to breathe the Spirit upon 238 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:29,320 you. Why? 239 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:32,080 Because God loves to fill empty things. 240 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,640 So we see this in creation. Then we Fast forward all the way 241 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,720 to the New Testament in Luke chapter 1 and the narrative of 242 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:42,880 the incarnation where God became man. 243 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,560 And Luke chapter 1. It's on the back of 400 years of 244 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,200 silence, 400 years of a people who living with the prophecies 245 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,000 and the promises that God will come. 246 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,400 He will send a deliverer, but have just traded one enemy and 247 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,200 one oppressor for another. First the Egyptians, then the 248 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,360 Babylonians, then the Syrians, and now it's the Romans. 249 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,240 It feels like one wrong desk moment after another. 250 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,160 They just can't catch a break. They can't move forward until 251 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,560 Luke chapter 1 opens where God steps into humanity in the most 252 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,960 unreasonable way. He comes to a place called 253 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,520 Nazareth. And the name Nazareth literally 254 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,680 means separated, meaning that it was, it was separated from the, 255 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,280 the, the life of God, the, the, the life of, of, of, of all 256 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,640 reality was separated. And God steps into that space, 257 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,480 into that domain. And he comes to the most 258 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,840 unlikely people, the most unlikely person, a lady called 259 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:40,880 Mary, who in this moment she's met by an Angel named Gabriel. 260 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,880 It's lovely to be here. My name's Gabriel, if we haven't 261 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,680 met yet. But Gabriel steps into the story 262 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,560 and he tells Mary, you're going to bear a child. 263 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,720 And not just any child, you're going to bear the Messiah. 264 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,440 And Mary answers this question and says, how can this be? 265 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:56,760 I am a virgin. In a sense. 266 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,040 She's saying, wrong desk. This is I'm not the right person 267 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:00,880 for this. Why? 268 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,080 Because in every shape and form, her womb was barren. 269 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,000 Her womb was a virgin womb. Her womb was dark, formless and 270 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,200 empty. But we're told that Gabriel says 271 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:12,840 to the Holy Spirit, this is how it will happen. 272 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,640 The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most 273 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,520 High shall over shadow you. Those words the Holy Spirit 274 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,920 shall come upon you are the exact same root words that we 275 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,520 find in Genesis ones when the Holy Spirit came upon the deep. 276 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,080 And it's the same words that we find in Acts One verse 8 when it 277 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,760 says the Holy Spirit shall come upon you. 278 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,480 This is God's modus operandi. This is how he works. 279 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,560 And he is saying to Mary that Mary, you are made to carry the 280 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,200 very presence of God. And likewise he's saying it to 281 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:41,480 you. And I afresh today that we were 282 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,320 made to carry the presence of God. 283 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,120 This came into stark reality for me a number of years ago when I 284 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,640 was at a student camp. And I was at the student camp 285 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,720 and it was a night of just life and God is moving and God is 286 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,960 doing amazing things. And as we were worshipping, I 287 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,000 looked to the left of me and there was a lady lying flat on 288 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,800 her face just weeping. And as this was happening, I 289 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,960 suddenly felt just the still small voice of God inside saying 290 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,040 that woman is is crying because she cannot have a baby. 291 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,600 Now, Please note, I said this was a student camp. 292 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,640 So I in that moment just said, get behind me, Satan. 293 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,440 There's no way that I'm going to go and pray and prophecy a baby 294 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,040 over somebody at a student camp. These are all single people. 295 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,160 This is just not the thing. I'm like, maybe I had too much 296 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:23,720 pizza last night. I'm not too sure. 297 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,200 Try to put it behind me. But the more we worship, the 298 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,240 more this this woman is crying because she cannot have a baby. 299 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,040 So I thought the responsible thing to do would go to the guy 300 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,840 leading the camp. And I went up to him. 301 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,280 I said, Hey, listen, I'm just going to tell this to you. 302 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,320 So I've been obedient. And then I can step back. 303 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,040 You can tell me I've missed it and I'm OK with that. 304 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:42,920 I said to him, hey, listen, I just felt this. 305 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:44,840 I felt I need to go pray for this lady because I I think 306 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:46,480 she's crying because she's kind of a baby, but I don't know. 307 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,720 As I finished explaining, this man lifted his eyes up and he 308 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,280 was weeping. He said, that's my wife. 309 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,760 We're the only married couple here and we've been striding to 310 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,120 fall pregnant for a long time. Please go pray for her. 311 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,840 In that moment I went cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, 312 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,400 cool, cool, cool, cool. I went over with my friend, a 313 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,200 guy called Richard Gordon, and went to this lady and we started 314 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:09,360 to pray. I thought, what, what prayer do 315 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,880 you pray? And we just started to pray the 316 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,440 one prayer we knew. Roll the way the stone Lazarus 317 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,280 come out. Roll the way the stone Lazarus 318 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,400 come out. And we left that camp and we 319 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:19,720 felt OK. We were obedient. 320 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,600 Just over a week later, I was at a coffee shop with friends and 321 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,120 my phone rang with a number I didn't know. 322 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,880 I answered it and this name, this, this, this voice came and 323 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,640 said, hey, it's me, Mark. I'm the guy that was leading 324 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,280 that camp. And I just, I've got your number 325 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,080 because I felt I needed to phone you and tell you that We took 326 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,480 that moment as a moment of faith and something shifted on us. 327 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,640 So we went and we went to see the doctors and we've been told 328 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,800 that against all odds, we've fallen pregnant. 329 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:53,880 Come on, come on. At that moment, I put the phone 330 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,720 down and I shouted out loud at the coffee shop. 331 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:04,599 I made Candice Vinplitzen pregnant, and we've been working 332 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:06,560 together with that couple leading a church in Cape Town 333 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:08,240 for the last decade. But we're not that kind of 334 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:09,240 church. Just thought I'd let you know. 335 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,280 But I remember leaving the coffee shop going. 336 00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:15,319 I got the power. I'm like. 337 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:16,640 Who needs a baby? You need a baby. 338 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:17,440 You need a baby. Who needs a? 339 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,720 Baby name's Gabriel. It's like the Oprah show. 340 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:25,160 You want a baby, but amidst all the joking, I want to tell you 341 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,880 this is how God works. That God is not looking for 342 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,600 palaces, He's looking for mangers. 343 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,680 He's not looking for people with a pedigree. 344 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,800 He's looking for people with accessibility. 345 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:38,160 And maybe you've dropped your purpose. 346 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,840 God loves to fill empty things. Start in creation. 347 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,360 We go to incarnation. Then we go to John chapter 19 348 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:48,720 and 20, this idea of Jesus death and then his subsequent 349 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,200 resurrection. But we told that Jesus declared 350 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,880 it is finished and he gave up his spirit. 351 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,920 And what seemed like loss and devastation was this moment of 352 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,080 huge, huge brokenness as disciples lost sight as their 353 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,120 their hope, their Messiah, the one they pledged their 354 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:04,560 allegiance to. Now he's crucified and felt like 355 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,000 wrong disc. We gave everything for the sky, 356 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,920 but now what what? It feels like we've been missed 357 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,640 again. Another one rose up, but now has 358 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,520 been crucified. Where do we go from here? 359 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,800 And I think about that Holy Saturday, we told of a man named 360 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,920 Joseph of Arimathea, and he was walking and we told that he took 361 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,800 the body of Jesus found from the cross and he walked all the way. 362 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,280 He walked all the way to a tomb carrying that body. 363 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:28,880 But as he was carrying that body, it wasn't just a dead body 364 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:34,840 or symbolic of dead dreams, symbolic of the dead hope of a 365 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,320 of, of humanity, the dead hope of a people. 366 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,840 And I can think about that. I think there's so many people 367 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,120 today, maybe even in this auditorium, who are walking 368 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,000 around carrying dead bodies, maybe not literally, but 369 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,280 metaphorically carrying dead relationships, carrying dead 370 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,200 businesses, dead dreams, dead promises, dead futures. 371 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,920 Just reminded me of a, a narrative in our family that's 372 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,960 so dear to us. Five decades ago, my, my mum's 373 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:03,120 dad, the patriarch of our family, was cruelly struck with 374 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,000 cancer. And this big man, this wonderful 375 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,160 man started to wither away before her very eyes. 376 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,520 And she nursed him in his last, his last days to his dying 377 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,720 breath. And he died on the 16th of 378 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,040 March, 5 decades ago. And this was devastating as this 379 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,600 was the man that was supposed to walk her down the aisle. 380 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,440 This was the man that's supposed to see her raise kids, the the 381 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,800 man that was supposed to see her whole life unfold before her, 382 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,520 but cruelly snatched away by this terrible disease. 383 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,880 Just about a decade later, her brother went to England to play 384 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,120 county cricket. And one night they got a phone 385 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,840 call from the police in England to tell them that actually, 386 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,080 unfortunately and cruelly, David, her brother Simon was, 387 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,240 was murdered by somebody, a drunkard in the night was 388 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,200 murdered and he died. He passed away. 389 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,440 That phone call that you hope you never receive in the death 390 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,160 of night. And he died, as chance would 391 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,400 have it, on the 16th of March. And then two decades later in 392 00:19:55,400 --> 00:20:00,040 1997, my dad's mum went on a trip from Zimbabwe to Durban and 393 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,440 we got another phone call saying she's gone missing. 394 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,760 And then we found out that she had been involved in a in a head 395 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,600 on collision and she had lost her life and died in this car 396 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,400 crash. And she died on the 16th of 397 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,600 March. And all of a sudden the family 398 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,440 got caught up in some super spiritual and superstitious 399 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,920 realities where it was almost like, beware, beware the ides of 400 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,840 March. And every March would come and 401 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,640 just this, this sadness and, and cloud would come upon the whole 402 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,600 family of what was what, what couldn't, should have been, 403 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,560 could have been, might have been, but had been cruelly 404 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:32,000 snatched away in these different moments. 405 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,640 And it was this heartbreaking reality of what do we do with 406 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,280 this moment? And that was all the way until 407 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,280 the year of 2017 when my daughter was born. 408 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,640 And my daughter wasn't born on the 15th of March. 409 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:48,480 She wasn't born on the 17th of March. 410 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,040 But I believe by the divine orchestration of a father, she 411 00:20:52,040 --> 00:21:02,120 was born on the 16th of March. We named her Olivia Grace. 412 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,000 Olivia is the derivative of the word olive, which means peace 413 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,200 and grace is God's undeserved kindness. 414 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,480 And I remember the moment, taking this little girl into my 415 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,360 into my grand's arms, who was in her late 90s, who lived with 416 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:16,200 decades of pain and hurt and devastation of that day. 417 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,920 And in the sense we put peace and grace in her hands, we say, 418 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:21,800 God, would you restore what the enemy has stolen? 419 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,760 And tonight I don't have a little baby to put in her hand. 420 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,080 But I tell you, there's a king who comes and says, I've got 421 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,360 peace and grace for you. And I know there are dates in 422 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:31,600 this room that have horrified you. 423 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,040 There are dates and days in this room where maybe when your 424 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,280 spouse left you, when those words you, there were those 425 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,840 words you said were said to you, the words that you spoke in 426 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,200 anger, the day you went back to the bottle, the day that you 427 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:44,680 made that decision that wreaked your life. 428 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,320 I tell you categorically today, there is no date that the Father 429 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,880 cannot redeem. There is no date the Father 430 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,040 cannot redeem. I tell you the same spirit that 431 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,760 raised Jesus from the dead now lives in you and me. 432 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,560 So I tell you, you think depression, death, 433 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,480 disappointment has had the final say. 434 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,640 Maybe it's left you empty. You feel like there's such a 435 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,760 deep hole and a deep black inside your being. 436 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,360 I tell you today, God loves to fill empty things. 437 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,520 And then we go to the final place in this journey is Acts 438 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,840 chapter 2. Scripture tells us as the 439 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,520 disciples on the back of this promise, God saying, I'll pour 440 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,720 out my spirit and wait for me. Spirit's coming, you shall 441 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:29,200 receive power and the spirit comes upon you. 442 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,200 In Acts chapter 2, it starts in verse one. 443 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:36,000 It says suddenly, suddenly, wasn't this great build up? 444 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,280 Wasn't it had everything lined up and everything perfect to see 445 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,120 it. Suddenly a violent wind blew 446 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:42,960 through the place blowing away the old, blowing away all the 447 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,680 other things of religion and other notions of how this might 448 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:47,240 work out. Blew it away and then told 449 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,000 instantly tongues that appear, look like fire appeared on their 450 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,560 heads. And it was this radical moment. 451 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,400 But it was a radical moment that was meant not just to for them 452 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,040 to stay in the upper room. The fire fell to take them out 453 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,520 of the upper room, to take them onto the streets. 454 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,160 Why? Because God says I love to fill 455 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,920 empty things. He doesn't want to just fill 456 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:05,480 buildings. He wants to fill cities. 457 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,800 He wants to fill cities. And in that moment, a man named 458 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,880 Peter, a very empty man, a very man, a man a few days later, you 459 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,000 could have described him as dark, formless and empty, 460 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,040 nowhere to go. But the Spirit of God comes upon 461 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:23,240 that man, and that man stands up and he preaches the first gospel 462 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,440 sermon. And we're told that 3000 people 463 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,720 were saved on the back of that, and the church was birthed in 464 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,600 that day. And I love the fact that we have 465 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,360 to understand this and grapple with this reality because I 466 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:37,720 think too many of us live with this idea of TGIF. 467 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,800 Thank God it's Friday. We're all living for the 468 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,280 weekend. As the great prophet of our 469 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,200 nation, Gareth Cliff declared every week it's the weekend, 470 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,280 baby. But my greater fear is that most 471 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,920 of the church live with TGIS. Thank God it's Sunday. 472 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,160 Oh, I just need a this was just what I needed to make it through 473 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:58,600 this week. Here comes Monday. 474 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:03,920 Oh, Sunday. I need pray. 475 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,280 I need, I need a prophecy. I need something because I'm 476 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,000 going to a dark, formless, empty space and I I don't know what to 477 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:10,440 do. Please, brother, pray for me. 478 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:11,360 I've got a week. Here we go. 479 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,200 Hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil. 480 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:16,960 I made it back. Oh, thank God it's Sunday. 481 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,320 But actually when, when we get the spirit of the living God 482 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,760 inside of us, we become the only people on the face of the planet 483 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,480 to become TGIM. Thank God it's Monday. 484 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:29,040 Let me edit. Let me edit. 485 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,120 Can I have the band up right now? 486 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,200 Because this is the reality. You might be here today, 487 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,200 tonight, and you're saying, Gabe, it's easy for you to say. 488 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,240 You're standing with a microphone. 489 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:39,080 You're about to have a keyboard playing behind you. 490 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,640 That's going to make everything you say 10 times more holy. 491 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,600 It's easy. But you don't know about me. 492 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:47,880 You say, Gabe, you don't know about my life. 493 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,920 That sounds great for you with the microphone and people 494 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:51,920 listening. But I'm I'm just somebody who 495 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,960 makes coffee for a living. I'll say I don't know. 496 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,120 You're not just a barista. When the Spirit of God comes 497 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,160 upon you become a bean revivalist. 498 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:06,640 You go. No, no, no, Gabe. 499 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,280 But Gabe, I'm just a teacher. No, I'm not just a teacher. 500 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,240 You're going where even angels fear to tread you. 501 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,520 You're sitting in an outpost on the edge of hell. 502 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,640 Some schools more literally than metaphorically. 503 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,480 But you're going to dark, formless, empty lives have been 504 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,680 left, left alone by families, left alone by society. 505 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,920 And you're going, actually, I'm going to go there to the places 506 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,040 because God loves to fill empty things. 507 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,120 You say I'm just, I'm just a real estate agent. 508 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:34,840 I go, no, you're not. You're a secret agent sitting 509 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,200 behind the enemy lines, and you start to have a theology that 510 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:40,440 God loves to fill empty things. You say, why are you selling? 511 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:42,160 Well, actually, my life is empty. 512 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,280 Everything's broken. My husband just left me. 513 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,040 I have to sell. And you go, oh, God loves to 514 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,720 fill empty things. That's why I'm here. 515 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,240 Things start to change when you start to understand this 516 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,560 reality. So I tell you today, are you 517 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:54,720 dry? Are you weary? 518 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:56,880 Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? 519 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:03,680 I even ask, are you empty? The greatest pneumatology I've 520 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,040 ever encountered, and the very nature of God is that He loves. 521 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,840 He loves. He loves to fill empty things. 522 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:22,770 Can we stand to our feet? I just love this. 523 00:26:22,770 --> 00:26:26,170 As we recap very quickly, we see the narrative starts in 524 00:26:26,170 --> 00:26:27,810 creation. Boom. 525 00:26:27,810 --> 00:26:30,250 As God breathes His life, calls us into intimacy. 526 00:26:31,130 --> 00:26:34,930 We see His work in impartation where He puts a spirit into 527 00:26:34,930 --> 00:26:38,320 Mary's womb. Then we see in resurrection we 528 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,080 call Jesus out of the dead, the dead. 529 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,920 The same spirit that that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. 530 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,120 Then we see it poured out in impartation. 531 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:51,040 Or as I like to say it, this is how God works from the boom to 532 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,440 the womb, to the tomb and into the upper room. 533 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,160 And now to you. Why? 534 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,080 Because Acts one verse 8 says you shall receive, not earn, not 535 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,560 work for, not measure up for, not graduate into. 536 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,320 You shall receive power, power, life changing, earth shattering, 537 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,240 sin destroying resurrection power. 538 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,320 When, when not, if not, maybe not. 539 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:21,640 Oh, if we get all our ducks in a row? 540 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,440 No, when the Holy Spirit, the very presence of Jesus comes 541 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,680 upon, makes us home in you stumbling, fumbling, bumbling, 542 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:34,600 apologetic, apathetic you. Our job is just to respond to 543 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:36,920 Him so every eye closed. Can you lift your hands to Him 544 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:41,560 tonight? Jesus, we are so grateful that 545 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,880 you are here with us. I've preached a word. 546 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,160 I've done all the best I can, but now I ask for the Spirit of 547 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,440 God to fall upon this place. Would you come into hearts that 548 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,880 are feeling dark, formless, and empty? 549 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,920 Would you come right now into marriages that are dark, 550 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,640 formless, and empty? Would you come upon emotions 551 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,200 that are dark, formless, and empty? 552 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,040 Would you come upon habits that are dark, formless, and empty? 553 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,720 Would you come upon lives that are dark, formless, and empty? 554 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,400 Right now we, Jesus, we come and we say, will you fill us up? 555 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,600 Because this is not on us. This is on you. 556 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,440 You, God, love to fill empty things. 557 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:26,440 You love to fill empty things. I believe Jesus is saying to us 558 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,400 tonight that he's wanting to fix, takes our gaze away from 559 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,720 the empty desk and fix it on the empty tomb. 560 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,120 A God who keeps his promises, a God who fills his promises. 561 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:42,400 And we're told the way this happens is that Jesus said in 562 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,680 Philippians 2, says that he took on the nature of a servant, not 563 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,480 counting equality of God with God, something to be grasped. 564 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,320 But he took on the nature of a servant and he poured himself 565 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,200 out. We're told that Jesus poured 566 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,200 himself out. He poured himself out, He poured 567 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,200 himself out. And I want to tell you on 568 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,640 Pentecost Sunday that the Father is pouring out the Spirit upon 569 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,640 all flesh. He is not holding back. 570 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,320 He is not reluctant, He's not in recession. 571 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,000 He is wanting to pour His Spirit out in the fresh way. 572 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,560 And he's saying, are you hungry? Are you thirsty? 573 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:13,440 Are you desperate? Are you empty? 574 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,840 Come to me and I will fill you right now in this place. 575 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,680 Can you start to lift your voice, Lift your voice, lift 576 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,520 your voice and ask Him. Ask, ask and you shall receive. 577 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,480 Knock and the door will be open. Seek and you'll find. 578 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,800 Because how much more will the Father give us the Holy Spirit 579 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,000 if we ask? And I pray right now in this 580 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,720 room that you're blowing through this place, Holy Spirit, with a 581 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,400 fresh touch, a fresh touch. Come Holy Spirit, Come Holy 582 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:42,560 Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. 583 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:44,240 Come, Holy Spirit.