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So great to be with you this 
morning and also we are being 

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joined by Hemel and Hatfield as 
well. 

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So can we give them a cheer? 
Hey guys, looking good this 

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morning. 
And yeah, just want to reiterate

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that those two get to know us 
events. 

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Please check your diary. 
And if you are free, we would 

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absolutely love it if you would 
come and just hear a little bit 

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more about us and hopefully we 
can get to know you a little bit

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better as well. 
And can I just say a massive 

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thank you from Chuck and I 
because you guys have made us 

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feel so unbelievably welcome. 
Thank you for your prayers, your

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encouragement, your love, your 
support. 

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It is meant so much to us and 
honestly, this church already 

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feels like home. 
And so thank you, thank you, 

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thank you. 
OK, so last week, Chuck launched

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our new series where we're in 
the book of Acts, which is an 

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amazing account of how a group 
of ordinary people, people with 

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the same fears and doubts and 
insecurities and limitations, 

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just like you and I, changed the
world. 

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And this book is the living, 
breathing oxygen of God. 

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So when we read these pages, we 
aren't just looking back at what

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God did, but actually we are 
looking and longing with 

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anticipation for what God will 
do today in and through us. 

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Because we believe that 
everything that is in God's Word

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is readily available for us 
today. 

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The same Holy Spirit that 
ignited the early church is not 

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only living in you, but he's 
moving in this room, and he's 

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also moving in the rooms of 
Hatfield and Hemel as well. 

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The manifest presence of God is 
with us, and He is longing to 

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move in power. 
So before we read our passage 

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this morning, let me just 
quickly recap. 

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Let me set the scene. 
So Jesus has suffered. 

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He's died on the cross. 
On the third day, he rose again.

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And so for the next 40 days, he 
walked the earth, proving he was

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physically alive, healing 
hearts, bringing, restoring 

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hope, and preparing his friends,
his disciples, for a mission 

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that seemed impossible. 
But then he gives them this 

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promise and he tells them, don't
go yet. 

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Wait, because power is coming. 
So we're going to read today. 

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We're in Acts chapter 1, and 
we're going to read verses 4 to 

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8. 
And I'm going to read it to you 

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in my best voice possible. 
OK. 

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So on one occasion while he was 
eating with them, this is Jesus.

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He gave them his disciples this 
command. 

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Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait
for the gift my father promised,

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which you've heard me speak 
about. 

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For John baptized with water. 
But in a few days you will be 

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baptized with the Holy Spirit. 
Then they gathered around him 

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and asked him, Lord, are you at 
this time going to restore the 

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Kingdom to Israel? 
He said to them, It's not for 

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you to know the times or dates. 
The Father has by his own 

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authority, set by his own 
authority, but you will receive 

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power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you, and you will be my 

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witnesses in Jerusalem and in 
all Judea and Samaria and to the

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ends of the earth. 
Amen. 

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Amen. 
So when our kids were young we 

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would take them every year 
pretty much to France for a 

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summer holiday. 
There was sunshine, which is 

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very important when you live in 
the North East of Scotland. 

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There we stayed in a mobile home
on a big campsite so there's 

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water shoots, swimming pools and
it was such a wonderful time 

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together. 
And I remember 1 particular 

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holiday where we had just come 
back from the supermarket and we

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had bought a whole bunch of 
shopping and everyone was 

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hangry. 
And so I was busy preparing the 

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lunch and Chuck decided in his 
wisdom, it would be a good idea 

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to take the coke bottle that we 
had just purchased and put it in

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the freezer to cool down so we 
could have a cool drink with our

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lunch. 
The problem was that Chuck 

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didn't tell anyone he'd done 
that. 

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Fast forward to about 3:00 in 
the morning and we were woken up

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with what I can only describe as
a massive bang. 

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It sounded like a gun had gone 
off in the caravan. 

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We both sat bolt upright in bed,
absolutely petrified. 

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And I'm like pushing him going 
you go and he's like no, you go.

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And I'm like, no, you go. 
And so eventually he gets out of

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bed and he opens the bedroom 
door and to his horror, he sees 

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the carnage in front of him. 
They're shattered glass and 

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plastic and frozen coke all over
the kitchen and living room 

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floor, all up the walls and 
dripping from the ceiling. 

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And as he turned, he saw the big
fridge freezer door wide open 

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and the freezer drawer had a 
lovely shaped Coke bottle hole 

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where like a rocket it had 
surged out of the freezer 

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drawer, propelling the freezer 
door to open and then explode 

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all over the kitchen and living 
room in that caravan. 

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The point is, we completely 
underestimated the power that 

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Coke bottle contained, and we 
will do the same unless we 

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encounter the Holy Spirit for 
ourselves. 

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You see, it's not enough to hear
stories about the Holy Spirit. 

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It's not enough to read about 
the work of the Holy Spirit. 

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It's not enough to look at other
people's encounters of the Holy 

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Spirit. 
We have to personally encounter 

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the Presence and the power of 
the Holy Spirit for ourselves. 

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And in verse 8, Jesus, he 
promises his disciples and you 

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will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon you. 

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If this promise is for us today,
which it is, then how do we get 

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it? 
How do we get it? 

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Firstly, we need to recognise 
it's not about you. 

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Now, we might think that the 
disciples, they were like a 

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special forces group of Saints, 
you know, that they live this 

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incredibly faithful and fruitful
life that where they were 

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consecrated and they just 
followed Jesus around and it 

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would, they just did life 
perfectly with him for three 

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years. 
But in so many ways, we couldn't

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be further from the truth 
because these were broken 

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people. 
These were people that had 

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severely let Jesus down. 
Peter had denied not knowing 

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Jesus three times. 
Not only that he wasn't a 

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follower of Jesus, but that he 
didn't even know Jesus. 

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And what did the rest of the 
disciples do? 

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They ran. 
They fled. 

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You couldn't see them for dust. 
Yet in the face of their 

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failure, Jesus, he still 
promises them power. 

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Now, I think this can be hard 
sometimes for us to get our 

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heads around, but we really need
to allow this truth to sink into

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the very core of who we are. 
Friends, God's power is a gift. 

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It's a gift. 
He's giving it to you. 

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You haven't earned it. 
He's given it to you. 

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You don't deserve it. 
He's given it to you. 

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Knowing and experiencing the 
power of God in our lives isn't 

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about what we know. 
It isn't about how long we've 

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been walking with Jesus. 
It isn't even about how closely 

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we've been walking with Jesus. 
It's actually utterly scandalous

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that God is giving us his power 
as a gift. 

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And if you and I were to unwrap 
that gift and to examine it, we 

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discover something even more 
incredible, that the power of 

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God has a name. 
The gift that Jesus is promising

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in verse 4 is explained as the 
Holy Spirit in verse 5. 

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The gift that God is giving us 
is not some abstract force like 

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Star Wars. 
You know, like may the force be 

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with you. 
God is giving us himself. 

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The power of God is the the 
presence of God, the deeply 

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personal presence of God 
dwelling within us. 

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His power is a gift. 
And what a gift it is, this gift

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of the Holy Spirit. 
Friends, it's not a good conduct

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medal. 
It's a vast outpouring of grace 

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and if we want a fresh and 
personal encounter with the Holy

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Spirit, we have to let go of the
notion that somehow it's all 

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tied up with our performance. 
You see, the Kingdom of God 

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works in the opposite direction 
to the rest of the world, if you

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like. 
It's the upside down way. 

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It's like a snow globe that 
that's fullness and beauty can 

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only be seen when it's turned on
its head and it's fully shaken. 

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You see the world has its own 
beatitudes, but Jesus turns that

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on its head. 
The world says blessed are the 

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go getters. 
The Kingdom of God says blessed 

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are the peacemakers. 
The world says blessed are the 

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powerful. 
The Kingdom of God says blessed 

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are the meek. 
The world says blessed are those

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who are desperate for success. 
The Kingdom of God says blessed 

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are those who hunger and thirst 
for righteousness. 

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The world says work hard to earn
it. 

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Jesus says wait and receive it. 
Verse 4, do not leave Jerusalem,

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but wait for the gift my Father 
promised, which you've heard me 

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speak about. 
In other words, wait for the 

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Holy Spirit as a gift to be 
received, just as I have 

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promised you. 
And this is the posture that we 

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embrace when we invite the power
of the Holy Spirit to come, 

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whether we're at home, whether 
we're at work, whether we're 

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studying, whether we're in a 
versa group or whether we're 

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here in church. 
You see, the power of the Holy 

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Spirit is not a luxury in our 
lives. 

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He's a necessity for every part 
of our life. 

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If I want a great marriage or to
be a great parent or to thrive 

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as a single person. 
If I want to bring purpose and 

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integrity to my workplace, If I 
want to lead an awesome Verso 

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group or I have the time of my 
life in university, the power of

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God is the essential components 
of that life. 

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When the world says strive, 
Jesus simply asks that we wait, 

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wait and receive the gift, which
is his power. 

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So if the first point is it's 
not about you, the second point 

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is the most beautiful part of 
the gospel. 

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But this promise, it is for you.
Sometimes we can hear it's not 

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about you and it can make us 
feel small, right? 

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But in the Kingdom of God, it's 
not about you. 

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It's actually the best possible 
news. 

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Why? 
Because it's a gift. 

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It's a gift and not a reward. 
And there is no one in the room 

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who is disqualified from 
receiving his gift. 

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Jesus looked at his disciples, 
this group of failures, these 

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doubters, these runaways, and he
said this is for you. 

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And he's saying the exact same 
thing to us today. 

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It is for you. 
If you feel spiritually dry and 

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you feel like you've got 
absolutely nothing left to give,

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it is for you. 
If you've been a Christian for 

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40 plus years, but you know you 
have never truly encountered the

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Holy Spirit, the power of the 
Holy Spirit for yourself, it is 

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for you. 
If you're in need of physical or

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emotional healing. 
It is for you if you feel 

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overlooked, quiet, or just plain
ordinary. 

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Because God loves to put His 
extraordinary power into 

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00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:04,200
ordinary vessels. 
You see, the Holy Spirit is not 

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00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,080
a corporate power. 
That's only for the churches, 

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00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:13,360
like one big organization. 
He's a personal counsellor meant

195
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:18,560
for you and me. 
And when Jesus says in verse 8 

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00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:24,320
you will receive power, the word
for you there, it isn't just a 

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general group of people. 
He's looking at each of us. 

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00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,160
He's saying that the same power 
that raised him out of the 

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00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:38,640
grave, a bit like that power 
that made that Coke bottle surge

200
00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,840
out of the freezer and explode 
everywhere, wants to come and 

201
00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:50,840
fill you a hole afresh today. 
He wants to come and empower our

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00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,600
lives. 
You see, the world tells us to 

203
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,960
fill yourself up. 
Fill, fill, fill. 

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00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,920
It tells us to find more 
strength, more grit, more hurry,

205
00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:01,800
more busy. 
Do, do, do. 

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00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:10,320
But Jesus, he looks at our empty
cup and he says, let me fill it.

207
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,720
Let me fill it. 
And the beauty of this gift is 

208
00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,400
it's not for the perfect version
of us. 

209
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,840
You know, the perfect version 
that we may try to present on a 

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00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,640
Sunday morning is for the real 
you. 

211
00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:30,640
And it's for the real me, you 
that feels anxious in the middle

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00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,240
of the night or at 3:00 in the 
morning. 

213
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,880
It's for you that feels 
overwhelmed in the office. 

214
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,720
It's for you where you're just 
desperately worried about your 

215
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,680
grandkids. 
It's for you where you feel so 

216
00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,880
unbelievably lonely and 
isolated. 

217
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,400
Do you know and love Jesus here 
today? 

218
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,200
You have a birthright to the 
power of God. 

219
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,240
You have a birthright. 
Let that just sink in. 

220
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,680
You have a birthright to the 
power of God. 

221
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,280
And so, friends, that means we 
don't have to beg for it, we 

222
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,360
don't have to haggle for it, and
we certainly don't need to feel 

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00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:15,920
enough to receive it. 
All we have to do is ask for it,

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00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:22,560
wait and receive it. 
I heard this story once about 

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this young guy and he had a 
really strange relationship with

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his whole family, but he was 
pretty much restrained from his 

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granddad. 
And his granddad passed away and

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he got a call from the lawyer 
and he said there's a reading of

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the will and you need to come. 
And the guy really didn't want 

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to go. 
He felt a lot of shame. 

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And also he just thought, well, 
I know I'm not going to receive 

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anything from the will. 
Or if I do, it'll be a pittance.

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And it'd be based upon that. 
I clean up my mess. 

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I get my act together. 
But anyway, he turns up and he 

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goes to the lawyers. 
And there he is. 

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And he's at the back of the room
with his head down and his arms 

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crossed, not wanting to be 
there. 

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And to his surprise, the lawyer 
reads out these words. 

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He says to my grandson, I 
believe the entirety of my 

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estate, not because he earned it
and not because he was always 

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there, but simply because he is 
mine. 

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The key is in the top drawer of 
my desk. 

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And so this young man, he goes 
to his granddad's house, and he 

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feels like an imposter in the 
home. 

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He goes there, He finds the 
study. 

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It's so dusty. 
It's smelly. 

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It's not been used for a really 
long time. 

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00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,480
And he finds the death drawer. 
And he opens up the drawer and 

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he sees the key. 
And next to the key, there's a 

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little handwritten note from his
granddad. 

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And it says, I know about the 
mess. 

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00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,920
I know about the mistakes. 
I didn't leave this to the 

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00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:55,760
version of you I wished you 
were. 

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00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,400
I left it to the grandson I 
love. 

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00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:03,320
Stop trying to pay me back and 
just live in the house, friends.

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That's exactly how the Holy 
Spirit works. 

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00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,520
Some of us are standing in the 
hallway of the Kingdom and we're

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00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,560
trying to clean ourselves up 
before we can come to the Lord 

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00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:19,080
and ask Him for His power. 
Maybe we think we have to pay 

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him back by better behaviour, 
more Sunday morning holiness. 

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But Jesus is standing there with
the key to His Father's 

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treasure. 
We don't have to be enough 

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because the gift giver is more 
than enough. 

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00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,360
So if the first point is that 
it's not about you and the 

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second point is but it is for 
you, the final truth is that 

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this promise is also for the 
rest of the world. 

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Verse 8, Jesus says you will 
receive power when my Holy 

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Spirit comes upon you, and you 
will be my witnesses in 

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Jerusalem and in all Judea and 
Samaria and to the ends of the 

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world. 
You see, the Holy Spirit is our 

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00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,880
fuel for mission. 
And this mission, it is so much 

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00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,440
bigger than us. 
It's bigger. 

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It's way bigger than our 
comfort. 

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00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,840
It's bigger than our skill set. 
It's bigger than our own 

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00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,280
personal preferences. 
If we only did what we felt 

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00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,160
comfortable doing or what was in
our skill set, then we wouldn't 

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00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,880
need the Holy Spirit, would we? 
Because we'd be totally fine by 

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00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,160
ourselves. 
But Jesus? 

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00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:40,640
He is calling us to live a life 
that is naturally impossible. 

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00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:46,320
To be everyday people going 
about our everyday lives, but 

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00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,720
people who carry the power of 
Jesus. 

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00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,800
And so when we step out and we 
move in that power, other people

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00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,520
see it, other people experience 
it. 

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00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,960
And what happens is we see the 
Kingdom of God breaking in and 

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00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:05,720
breaking through. 
A while back now, one of my 

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00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,240
friends phoned me and said, 
could you come and pray for me? 

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00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,440
And she'd been to see a medium. 
She wasn't a Christian. 

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00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,280
And since the moment she saw a 
medium. 

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00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:22,320
As things started going wrong in
her house and in her, she wasn't

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00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,680
able to sleep. 
The heating system was on the 

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00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,640
blink all the time. 
Even though they had a new 

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00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,200
heating system put in the TV 
that was a new TV kept wouldn't 

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00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,600
work when they wanted it to and 
they would come on in the middle

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00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,200
of the night when she was at 
home by herself. 

295
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,480
She would hear people walking 
around upstairs and she felt 

296
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,880
like one time there was like her
a coldness that came over her 

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00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,480
cheek and somebody brushing her 
cheek, but no one was there. 

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00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,400
And she felt A hardness towards 
her family that she'd never 

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00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,680
experienced before. 
And so she said to me, could you

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00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,720
come and pray? 
So I went round there and 

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00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,760
started laying hands on the 
radiators and the walls and all 

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00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:04,640
of that. 
And then I said to her, can I 

303
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,720
pray for you? 
And she was like, OK, so we just

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00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,920
sat on the couch and I started 
to pray for her. 

305
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,800
And she said, as we started to 
pray, she said, I feel like 

306
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,000
there's this noose around my 
neck and it's getting tighter 

307
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,760
and tighter. 
And her face was so pinched and 

308
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,200
white. 
And she you could see that she 

309
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,280
was struggling to breathe. 
She said, I can't breathe 

310
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,600
properly. 
And I said to her, do you want 

311
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,040
to tell Jesus how sorry you are 
for what you've done? 

312
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,480
And she said yes. 
And so she told Jesus how sorry 

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00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,920
she was. 
And then I said, do you want to 

314
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,120
renounce everything that that 
medium has spoken what's going 

315
00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,360
to happen over your life, and 
give that to Jesus? 

316
00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:49,760
And she said, yes, I would. 
And as soon as she did that, she

317
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,200
said, I can see Jesus. 
And she said, he's got this 

318
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,440
massive pair of shears and he 
just came and he just cut that 

319
00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,880
rope. 
And she went, I can breathe. 

320
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,680
And all of a sudden her face 
went from being like tall and 

321
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:09,880
white and just hardly able to 
breathe to this peace that just 

322
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,000
came over. 
And she had this lovely glow. 

323
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,840
And I said, just take some time 
to be with Jesus. 

324
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,360
Just stay there with Jesus. 
This is your time. 

325
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,440
And she just sat there for a 
long time and she just kept 

326
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,000
saying, it's amazing. 
It's amazing. 

327
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,600
It's amazing. 
Then all of a sudden she jumps 

328
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,440
up and she goes, it's gone and 
then she runs over to the 

329
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,880
radiator that maybe like 45 
minutes earlier was not working 

330
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,360
and it's boiling hot. 
She's going, the radiator isn't 

331
00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:41,840
working. 
Then she gets the remote 

332
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,000
control. 
She's trying to turn the TV on, 

333
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,600
but the TV did not come on. 
So lay hands on the TV in the 

334
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,680
name of Jesus, command ye to 
work. 

335
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:58,360
TV started to work that day. 
My friend experienced the 

336
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:04,600
incredible power of Jesus in 
her, in her body, in her 

337
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:10,880
emotions and also in our house. 
And she had absolutely no doubt 

338
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:16,240
how vast and big and awesome 
Jesus power is. 

339
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,960
And a few days later, she gave a
commitment to Jesus. 

340
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,440
Friends, I don't need to tell 
you that there is a world out 

341
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,240
there that is desperate for the 
power of God. 

342
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,840
They're desperate for what we 
have. 

343
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,880
St. 
Albans, Hatfield, Hemel, Luton, 

344
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:48,960
Harpington, Watford, London is 
in desperate need for the power 

345
00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,520
of God. 
Your friends, your adult 

346
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,520
children, your cycling buddy, 
your running buddy, the person 

347
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,280
you meet in the library or at 
the school gates, or your 

348
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:03,840
crafting group are in desperate 
need for the power of Jesus. 

349
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:10,600
The world says look out for #1 
the Kingdom says, I have filled 

350
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:15,760
you so that you can pour out. 
We're not just a church 

351
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:21,720
gathering in some buildings. 
We're a people on a mission out 

352
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,560
there in the world. 
And so we need the genuine 

353
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:30,880
explosive resurrection power of 
God to fill us. 

354
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:37,160
And all we have to do is wait 
for the Holy Spirit as a gift to

355
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,520
be received, just as He's 
promised you.