1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,560 You've probably guessed we're going to start with a video clip 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,360 comes from a movie, one of my favorite movies called Chariots 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,200 of Fire. If you haven't seen it, I really 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,200 encourage you to watch it. It's free on YouTube. 5 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:11,840 You can watch the whole movie on YouTube. 6 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,520 Even if you don't have a YouTube subscription, you can watch it 7 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:20,480 on YouTube. And it's a true story of Eric 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,120 Little, who was a missionary to China and an athlete. 9 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,600 He played rugby and he was a track star. 10 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:30,720 And we're going to watch 2 clips from that. 11 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,440 Both are pretty short and they're both races. 12 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,040 And the first one that just is a setup is it's a quarter mile 13 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,400 race. And at this point in his life, 14 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,760 Eric is not only training for the mission field, he's also 15 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,280 training for the Olympics. He wants to compete in the 1924 16 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,000 Summer Olympics for the United Kingdom. 17 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,080 And, and this is a a race that is building up to that. 18 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:58,560 What you see is a dramatization, of course, but it really 19 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,920 happened. So let's take a look at Eric 20 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,680 Little running his race here. At this point I showed a clip 21 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,240 from the movie Chariots of Fire. The scene is of 1/4 mile race in 22 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,640 which Eric Little is not down early in the race but comes back 23 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,000 to win. I didn't include the audio here 24 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,960 because the clip is mostly visual and the audio alone 25 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:20,920 wouldn't have added anything. Now back to the sermon. 26 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,800 Finish this clip with the same question that John finished the 27 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,280 scripture reading with, which is what does this mean? 28 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,480 On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and, and all of 29 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,280 the folks, the Jewish folks from all over different parts of the 30 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,680 world were there in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. 31 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,160 Pentecost was a Jewish celebration before it was a 32 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,320 Christian celebration and they heard the gospel being shared, 33 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:49,040 each one in their own native language and they asked what 34 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:53,200 does this mean? We see Eric Little running a 35 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,200 very courageous quarter mile race in which he's knocked down 36 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,120 toward the beginning and comes all the way back to win. 37 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,160 And, and it's worth asking, when we're talking about the Holy 38 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:03,440 Spirit, what, what does this mean? 39 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:04,480 What does this have to do with it? 40 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,400 I'm going to bring it all together as we go here today. 41 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,800 But what I want to talk about very first is the fact that you 42 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,000 get this is our last Sunday on the Living the Easter Life 43 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:20,240 series and, and the Easter life is, is a life, not only a life 44 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,720 turned upside down, it's a life of service. 45 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,480 It's a life of love. It's a life empowered by the 46 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:32,920 Holy Spirit, a life empowered. But in this day and age, we have 47 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:37,720 to be clear when we talk about being empowered, about having 48 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:39,960 power, because there are a lot of different ways to look at 49 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,280 this concept of power. There's a lot of ways of talking 50 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,000 about being empowered. And the way that that's used in 51 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,360 the book of Acts, the way that it's used in the New Testament 52 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:54,640 is very specific and the best, the best way to explain it, I 53 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,200 believe. Apologize in advance, because 54 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,520 once again, Star Wars. All right, this time Star Wars. 55 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:06,240 By contrast, I love Star Wars. Star Wars movies are wonderful. 56 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:07,840 Some of my favorite movies of all time. 57 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,960 All right, But the Holy Spirit is not the Force. 58 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,720 The Force in Star Wars is this. Well, in the first few movies it 59 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,840 was a mystical, mysterious thing, and then it became 60 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,600 midichlorians. We're going to stick with the 61 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,720 mystical, mysterious, but either way, this force is a force 62 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,600 that's out there in the universe that some people, Jedi and or 63 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:33,640 Sith can access and they can control and use the force to 64 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,000 accomplish things they want to accomplish. 65 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:41,000 Whether that's good or whether that's bad, they can do, you 66 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:42,720 know, they move things with their mind. 67 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,880 They can run fast, they can jump far. 68 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,200 They can extend their lives. They can they can do all sorts 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,200 of things that they want to do. They use the force to do that 70 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,800 and to do things that no one else can do. 71 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,400 And that's one kind of power that is not the Holy Spirit. 72 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,160 That is not empowerment of the. Now again, I'm not trashing Star 73 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,400 Wars. This is just, you know, 74 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:10,720 definition. By contrast, 'cause we need to 75 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,440 see what it is. It means when Jesus said the 76 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,720 Holy Spirit will come on you and you will receive power. 77 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,040 The Holy Spirit will fall on you and you will receive power. 78 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,200 What's he talking about? He's not talking about the force 79 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,120 with the force. Jedi's control the force and 80 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,000 they use it to do what they want to do. 81 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,000 When Jesus said the Holy Spirit will fall on you and you will 82 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,040 receive power, he meant that the Holy Spirit will empower us to 83 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:43,400 do what God wants us to do, which is very different, very 84 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,920 different. It's not as if God is giving us 85 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,680 a, a, a power up, a big power boost and that that increases 86 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,080 our health points and our experience points and, and our, 87 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,880 and our, and our fighting and our defense points so that we 88 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,320 can go out and accomplish our goals in life and do great and 89 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,560 wonderful and marvelous things with the power and the help of 90 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:06,760 the Holy Spirit. That would make the Holy Spirit 91 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,880 our personal assistant. And the Holy Spirit is, is 92 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,320 definitely not our personal assistant. 93 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,480 The Holy Spirit empowers us to do what God wants. 94 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,760 Let's take a look at what Jesus himself said. 95 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,000 So the first passage here is from Luke. 96 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,040 It's on Resurrection Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead. 97 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,160 He travels to Emmaus, talks with some folks on the way there. 98 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,440 Then he comes back to Jerusalem and meets with his followers 99 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,120 that they're still in the upper room. 100 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,720 This is men and women gathered together in the upper room. 101 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,520 Resurrection Sunday still here. They've just heard the rumors 102 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,320 that Jesus might be alive. Some of the women have seen him. 103 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:46,760 Some of the disciples have seen him. 104 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,440 And now Jesus shows up and talks to him all face to face. 105 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,600 And one of the things he says to them is this. 106 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,680 Jesus says repentance for forgiveness of sins will be 107 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,840 proclaimed in his name. That is his own name, Jesus name 108 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,480 to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem. 109 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,400 The good news, the good news is forgiveness of sins is available 110 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,840 to all through repentance. That good news is going to be 111 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:16,280 shared starting here in Jerusalem where we all are at 112 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:21,080 this moment, and then to the ends of the earth several weeks 113 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,280 later. On the day that Jesus ascends 114 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:27,040 into the heaven, he's once again meeting with his disciples, this 115 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,160 time out in the countryside, up on a hill. 116 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,360 And again it's men, it's women. It's not just the original 12 117 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,480 who are now 11 because Judas is dead now. 118 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,440 It's a larger group, about 120 folks or so, male and female, 119 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,120 young and old, educated, uneducated. 120 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,880 And Jesus says to them at that point, right before He ascends 121 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,840 into heaven, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has 122 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:56,760 come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and to 123 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:01,200 the ends of the earth. Now he adds 2 locations between 124 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,680 that Judea and Samaria. But I want you to see the 125 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,800 parallel between what He said on Resurrection Sunday and what He 126 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,280 said on Ascension Day. You will be my witnesses. 127 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,280 You will proclaim good news starting right where you are and 128 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,840 to the ends of the earth. Now we need to remember who 129 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,000 Jesus was talking to. These were not highly educated 130 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,240 people. These were regular folks, 131 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,280 working class folks. The men would have had a limited 132 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,600 education. The women would almost certainly 133 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,840 have had even less education because of the way their society 134 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,440 was structured at that time. So they knew Hebrew. 135 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:43,080 They knew Aramaic, which is very similar to Hebrew, and they, 136 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,520 probably most of them, or at least some of them knew how to 137 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:51,840 speak or understand Greek. But ends of the Earth, there's 138 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,280 lots of languages to the ends of the earth. 139 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:59,200 Lots of languages, all of they knew because Israel is a very 140 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,000 the real one of the reasons why the nation of Israel gets 141 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,080 conquered by 1 empire after another for the past thousands 142 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,760 and thousands of years is it's, it is strategically located. 143 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,200 It is the crossroads and, and, and an intersection for great 144 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,680 civilizations, particularly great civilizations of that day 145 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,080 and that age. Now we're obviously discounting 146 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,640 the great civilizations that existed in what we now call the 147 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,600 Americas because they're on the other side of the world and 148 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,360 unknown to the folks in Israel at the time of the writing of 149 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,360 the Gospels. But, but they would have known 150 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,440 and experienced and encountered people from India traveling 151 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,280 through their land down to Africa, might have even known 152 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,320 some folks and encountered some folks from China. 153 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,280 They certainly would have encountered folks from Rome and 154 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,480 other parts of Europe and folks from the great civilizations of 155 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,640 of Africa at that time, Egypt and Ethiopia traveling N up into 156 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,480 other parts of the world. They would have known the 157 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,000 different that there were these all these different languages, 158 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,560 all of these different types of people with all these different 159 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,240 customs and all of these different cultures. 160 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:08,720 And they're supposed to be witnesses to everyone, to the 161 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,880 ends of the earth. We're just folks. 162 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:18,080 On top of that, traveling was expensive and extraordinarily 163 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:23,400 time consuming. What we can do, we can fly to 164 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:29,480 Europe in a day now, as opposed to spending months on a ship and 165 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,760 it would have taken weeks or months to get to the ends of the 166 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,280 earth, just the ends of the earth that they knew about, not 167 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,520 to mention the ends of the earth that they didn't know about. 168 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,040 Where were they going to get the money for that? 169 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,040 Where were they going to get the time for that? 170 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:49,280 How could they possibly be a witness to folks whose language 171 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,520 they didn't speak and who didn't speak their language? 172 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,680 How could this be possible? How can we do this? 173 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,840 Jesus has set us an impossible task. 174 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,560 But then Pentecost came. Let's see what happened on 175 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:06,800 Pentecost. It's the same exact parallel in 176 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,560 microcosm. It's in microcosm. 177 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,280 And then all of them were filled with and all of them is again, 178 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,240 it's men, it's women, it's young, it's old, it's educated, 179 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,440 it's uneducated. Gathered together in the upper 180 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,160 room where I believe we're told about 120 folks were there. 181 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,280 It was a big room where it was tight. 182 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:27,120 I one of those two, I hope they had their deodorant. 183 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,440 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak 184 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,920 in other tongues, other languages as the Spirit enabled 185 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:36,360 them. Now they were staying in 186 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,760 Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 187 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,240 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in 188 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,720 bewilderment because each one heard their own language being 189 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,520 spoken. The Holy Spirit came and these 190 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,360 regular folks started telling the good news of the story of 191 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,000 Jesus Christ, and people from all over the world heard the 192 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,760 good news in their own language and Jesus disciples could go. 193 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:13,480 The Holy Spirit came with power so that we could do the work 194 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,000 that God has given us to do in microcosm right here. 195 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,600 We've got a sampling of the world right here in Jerusalem 196 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:20,360 with us. Now. 197 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,440 How much harder can it be for us to get to the ends of the earth? 198 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,440 But however hard it is, we already know that the Holy 199 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,120 Spirit will give us the power to do it. 200 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:35,160 The Holy Spirit came to empower them to do the work that God had 201 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,000 for them to do, to do the service that God had for them to 202 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,800 do. The Holy Spirit empowers us to 203 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,080 do what God wants, not what we want. 204 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,960 The Holy Spirit did not come so that we could live our best 205 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,360 lives now. The Holy Spirit did not come so 206 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,960 that we could fulfill our personal dreams and ambitions. 207 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,440 The Holy Spirit did not descend upon us so that we could. 208 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,600 We could be great or wonderful or mighty or awesome or popular 209 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,280 or any of those things. The Holy Spirit descended upon 210 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:10,040 the Church so that we could do what God wants us to do and will 211 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,720 empower us to do that always and everywhere. 212 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,520 The Holy Spirit, however, does not empower everyone to do 213 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:23,920 exactly the same thing. The Holy Spirit is empowered in 214 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:26,280 play. The piano. 215 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:28,440 Absolutely. Yeah. 216 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:34,320 Not me, not me, not me. I tried my my piano teacher 217 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,640 moved out of state after teaching me for six months. 218 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,600 I too choose to believe those two things are not related. 219 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,480 But you never know. The Holy Spirit does not empower 220 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,240 us all to do exactly the same thing. 221 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,240 And This is why I want to talk about this ordinary, 222 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,120 extraordinary example of Eric Little. 223 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,800 Extraordinary, because what Eric Little did was extraordinary. 224 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,920 And by his own words, his own explicit acknowledgement, he was 225 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,960 empowered to do that by the Spirit of God. 226 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,440 Ordinary, because this is what God offers all of us. 227 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,280 Ordinary, extraordinary. I, I, I get struck with that 228 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,200 ever. You know that you're a unique 229 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:11,960 individual, right? You've ever heard that you're a 230 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:13,560 unique, you're a unique individual. 231 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,760 You're, you're a unique, No one in the world has ever been like 232 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,720 you. You are a unique individual just 233 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,760 like everyone else, right? It's extraordinary, but it's 234 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,000 also ordinary because everyone's extraordinary. 235 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,680 And so it's an ordinary thing to be extraordinary. 236 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,840 And this is what Eric Little is for us, an example of ordinary 237 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,040 extraordinary. Eric Little was in training. 238 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,240 He had been spent time in mission field already. 239 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,840 He was in more training and his sister thought he needed to give 240 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,480 up all of this silly sports stuff and just focus on the work 241 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,720 that God had called him to do to be a missionary to the people of 242 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,080 China and in the course of their time. 243 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,880 And we see it in the movie where Eric is talking to his sister. 244 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,480 He's explaining to her why he's still running and why he's doing 245 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,440 what he's doing. And we're going to hear an echo 246 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,960 of that in his mind as we watch the next clip. 247 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,760 We're going to hear Eric Little's voice restating some 248 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,560 things he said earlier in the movie earlier in his life and, 249 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:15,280 and, and what Eric did. Well, let's just watch and then 250 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:16,840 we'll then we'll talk about it together. 251 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,440 This is the 1924 Olympics. The story is long and it's 252 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,400 complex. I encourage you to watch it. 253 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,560 Eric qualified for the 100m race for the Olympics. 254 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,240 He's now, instead of running the 100 meters, he's running the 400 255 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,040 meters in the Olympics. He's already, this is, you know, 256 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:38,200 old days they were, they were not as gracious then as they are 257 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,000 now. He's running the medal round. 258 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,320 He's already run 2 heats the same day. 259 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,280 They didn't wait a day between heats. 260 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,600 He's run 2 heats already that day. 261 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,120 He's running another 400 meter heat for the medal round. 262 00:14:52,320 --> 00:15:13,200 And this is what happens. What's the deal with this guy, 263 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:14,280 little coach? Your problem. 264 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,560 No problem. He's a flyer. 265 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,640 He's had two races today already. 266 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,080 He'll die. Just swing along, you guys and 267 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,640 wait. After 300 meters, rigor mortis 268 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,920 sets in. You'll pull him in on a rope, 269 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,480 John. Canada. 270 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,800 Canada. #4 good. Luck. 271 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,680 Watch out for a little. Coach, there's no problem. 272 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,720 He's got something to prove, something personal, something 273 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,600 guys like Coach will never understand me in years. 274 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:08,800 Says in the old book, He that honors me, I will honour good 275 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:40,430 luck, Pacsun shows. So where does the power come 276 00:16:40,430 --> 00:16:44,070 from to see the race to its end from within? 277 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,680 Jenny, I believe God made me for a purpose. 278 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:16,599 He also made me fast and when I run I feel his pleasure. 279 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,520 There are two things that Little says that we hear in his 280 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:52,000 reflections as he's running that race. 1 is, is that where does 281 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,680 the power come to run the race? And here we hear it just says it 282 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,920 comes from within. But earlier, as he's talking 283 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:02,640 about the race and comparing the life of faith to the race, the 284 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,880 full quotation as he's quoting himself here is that it comes 285 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,320 from within. It comes from God within us, and 286 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,960 he explicitly identifies the powers coming from God. 287 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,400 And then as he's talking to his sister, he's trying to get him 288 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,040 to give up this silly athletic stuff and and settle down and 289 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,560 get about the work that God has given him as a missionary. 290 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,560 He says God has made me for a purpose. 291 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,720 God has made me for China. I believe that. 292 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:30,400 But God has also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his 293 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,720 pleasure. My question this morning is, 294 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,360 what do you do that lets you feel God's pleasure? 295 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,880 What is it in your life that when you do it, you feel God's 296 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:48,080 pleasure? That's what Eric that was part 297 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,120 of his understanding of how the Holy Spirit worked within him, 298 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,280 of God working through him that he could feel. 299 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,360 Eric did not win that race because of his running form. 300 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,800 His brilliant running form, that how they show him in the movie, 301 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,720 is how he ran. He would at some point in the 302 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,440 race, turn his head back, close his eyes and flail his arms. 303 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,680 I can tell you, I don't know if anyone's ever run track. 304 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,840 I was never on a track team. I can. 305 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,240 I will bet my next 10 paychecks that there's no track coach in 306 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,080 the world that will tell one of their athletes to imitate Eric 307 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,280 Little's running style. But he won a gold medal at the 308 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:29,560 Olympics, not because he was a brilliant athlete, but because 309 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,000 he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. 310 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,480 And he knew it was the Holy Spirit because when he ran, he 311 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,800 could feel God's pleasure. What is it that you do that when 312 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,880 you do it, you feel God's pleasure, whatever that is, do 313 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:50,080 that and keep doing that. Whatever else anyone may say 314 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,800 around you about it, that thing that when you do that, you're 315 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,720 going. I just got his. 316 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,000 Keep doing that and it's going to be different for different 317 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,280 folks. For some folks it might be 318 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,280 sports, some athletic or or some music, some other types of art, 319 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,200 some maybe teaching, some healing, some, you know, working 320 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,160 with children, some building, some growings. 321 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:19,280 Whatever it is, whatever it is, find that thing, if you don't 322 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,320 know it already, that when you do it, you feel God's pleasure 323 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,160 and keep doing that. Keep doing that. 324 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,360 That's God working in you. That's God working through you 325 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:37,000 and empowering you to do what God wants you to do. 326 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,440 Now God calls different people to do different things, so it's 327 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,640 going to be different. Don't make someone else do what 328 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,280 you may give just because you feel God's pleasure. 329 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,680 Don't make other people do that same thing just 'cause it makes 330 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,880 you feel God's pleasure. Let them do their thing where 331 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,880 they feel God's pleasure. You do yours, the Holy Spirit 332 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,960 will empower you to do whatever God calls you to do. 333 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:02,960 Whatever that thing is, God will give you the power to do it. 334 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:08,040 Now there are some things that are common the Holy Spirit does 335 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,600 in everyone that is a follower of Jesus, everyone that will 336 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,240 receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will empower and 337 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,800 produce certain things in all folks. 338 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,000 We hear that in Galatians. Paul says this, the fruit, the 339 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,560 Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. 340 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,440 This is for everyone. Lovejoy, peace, patience, 341 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,280 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and 342 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,920 self-control. There is no law against these 343 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,400 things. In fact, I would argue that when 344 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,640 you encounter these in your own life or in the life of someone 345 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,680 else, wherever you encounter those, that is God working in 346 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,200 you. That is God working in that 347 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,280 person. That is a sign of the Holy 348 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,920 Spirit in their lives. When you meet someone and you 349 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,520 know what, this person, I just feel the love. 350 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,800 I just know it. They're or they just bring peace 351 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:59,000 into every situation that they enter into, or my goodness, they 352 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,960 are so good even when it costs them greatly or they are 353 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,320 faithful. They're faithful day in and day 354 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,400 out. All of these kinds of things. 355 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,240 When we see them in another, that's evidence of the Holy 356 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,120 Spirit in their life producing that fruit. 357 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,520 Now there's some things on the flip side of that that means 358 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,360 that we won't encounter, that we won't see growing us or 359 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,560 continuing to grow in US, or things that that we need to sort 360 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,000 of, well, as Paul says, crucify in US. 361 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:34,080 Let's not become conceited. Let's not provoke one another. 362 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,440 We're jealous of one another, conceit, pride, jealousy. 363 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,200 These things wreak havoc in the world around us. 364 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:45,080 That provoking one another, that is very that's online. 365 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,840 The trolling that happens, the rage baiting, the click bait I 366 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,920 used. I used to play those games. 367 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,240 I this is one of those parts of my life that I'm ashamed of. 368 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,240 But I, I long before the Internet, I enjoyed rage baiting 369 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:00,480 people. Oh, I love to say things that 370 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,640 would make people mad. Oh, and I, I could, I could 371 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,400 figure out what would make people mad and I would find the 372 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,440 right button and I would press it and I just watch them go and 373 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,640 I loved it. Not good. 374 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,680 That's not God. That wasn't God working through 375 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,880 me. And by the grace of God, I 376 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:21,760 believe I do less of that, significantly less than I used 377 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:23,440 to, and less and less all the time. 378 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,800 Since we're living by the Spirit, Paul says we need to 379 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,160 follow the spirits leading in every part of our lives. 380 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,640 Whatever we're doing, we do it with love. 381 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:42,320 Whatever we're doing, we do it with gentleness, with kindness, 382 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,360 with patience, with self-control, trusting that God 383 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:49,040 will bring joy into it, even into hard tasks, even in the 384 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,040 difficult tasks, even in the painful tasks, There can be joy 385 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,760 found in those things. I want to give you a personal 386 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,960 example as I'm wrapping things up here, and this is from Amy 387 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,160 and my, from our own life. And, and we might know how many 388 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,200 of you know already. I think I've shared before that 389 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,720 Amy's mom, her name was Phyllis, lived with us for three years 390 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,680 with Alzheimer's and then for the final year for life. 391 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,160 We, we moved Phyllis into an assisted living center because 392 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:21,960 the, IT became her needs became more than we could manage on our 393 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:23,640 own. It was just beyond our skill and 394 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,160 our abilities, but she lived with us. 395 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,040 And I'm going to tell you a little bit about Phyllis. 396 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,360 And and Phyllis would not be mad if she were here. 397 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,200 Phyllis was a too much information kind of person for 398 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,320 as all the years I knew her. You could have a 15 minute 399 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,440 conversation with Phyllis and you would know things about her 400 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,480 that only your doctor knows about you. 401 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,640 She was very happy to share about her own life. 402 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,040 So I don't think she will mind me sharing these. 403 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,080 Phyllis was hard to get along with before she got Alzheimer's. 404 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,360 And, and there was a point and, and, and even I were just 405 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:01,520 talking about this the other day in our lives. 406 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,640 We're in our dealings with Phyllis and in her dealings with 407 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,160 us and with our kids. And we looked at each other 408 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,720 after one of those interactions and we said together in perfect 409 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,160 agreement, she will never live with us. 410 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,160 Whatever happens to her in her old age, she will never live in 411 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,640 our house. And, and then we also remember 412 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,960 both of us vividly, the day we were sitting and talking with 413 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:31,000 Phyllis and the evidence of the Alzheimer's was undeniable. 414 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:36,920 And at that moment we looked at each other and we said she needs 415 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,400 to move in with us as soon as possible. 416 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,080 And we meant it. And that was not our will. 417 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,280 That was not our determination. That was the Holy Spirit. 418 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,120 And the Holy Spirit empowered us and enabled us to care for her 419 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,880 for three years. She had some health issues, 420 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:59,440 including an an ostomy bag that when you forget how to take care 421 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,560 of your own ostomy bag, things get tough. 422 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:06,800 And Amy cleaned up after her mother time after time after 423 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,920 time. And, and, and it was hard for 424 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,400 me. It was harder for Amy, But God 425 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,840 gave us what we needed to do that, as long as we needed to do 426 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,000 that. And one of the things, and Amy 427 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:27,280 will tell you the same thing, that that throughout that 428 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,680 process, we felt the power and the pleasure of God. 429 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,920 We knew beyond the doubt that taking care of Amy's mom was 430 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,120 exactly what God wanted us to be doing. 431 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,760 Whatever else was going on in our lives at that time. 432 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,920 And again, it's not because we are good people. 433 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,760 We, our decision was never, we'll never do this. 434 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:56,560 And God said, shut up, do what you're told and I'll help. 435 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,600 And we did what God said and God helped. 436 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,120 And we felt through the heartache, through the pain, 437 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,120 through the tears, through the struggle, we felt the pleasure 438 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:12,040 of God as we cared for Phyllis. And by the way, God wasn't doing 439 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,520 that for our benefit. Phyllis had been through a lot 440 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,480 in her life and had suffered a lot in her life and and she was 441 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,000 far from perfect, just like I'm far from perfect. 442 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,720 But I'm convinced that God put that in Amy and I to honor 443 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,160 Phyllis for her faithfulness to him throughout her life and 444 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:36,240 through her struggles to give her family to live with for as 445 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,360 long as possible. At the end, not to honor us, but 446 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:46,040 to honor her, God gave us that. The Holy Spirit empowered us to 447 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:51,160 do what God asked us to do, and what God asked us to do at that 448 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:57,720 point was to care for Phyllis. That's a life empowered by the 449 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,440 Spirit. I can't say that I live every 450 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,560 aspect of my life in this way. What part of what was noticeable 451 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:09,760 about those four years with Phyllis's disease was that that 452 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,600 how much I don't hollow the Holy Spirit and a lot, it's a lot. 453 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:20,800 I'm just like, I've got a long way to go, but I've tasted it. 454 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,800 Like the psalmist says, I've seen that the Lord is good. 455 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:30,120 And I'm not unique in this. Amy's not unique in this. 456 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,080 This is the promise God makes all of us. 457 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,360 Be about the work that I've given you to do and I'll give 458 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:42,240 you the power to do it and you will experience my joy, my 459 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,000 pleasure, as you do the work I've given you to do in Jesus 460 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,880 name, Amen. Amen.