What if your prayer life could transform your entire relationship with God? Join us as we explore the depths of meaningful, intimate conversations with Christ in "Deepening Your Relationship Through Prayer." We'll reflect on the importance of daily communication with Jesus and challenge the superficiality that often creeps into our spiritual practices. Through personal stories and relatable examples, we'll dive into how intentional prayer can reshape your spiritual journey and bring you closer to God.
Ever considered the real power behind your words? In "The Power of the Tongue," we unpack how neglecting prayer can lead to negative self-talk and distance us from divine guidance. With scriptural insights from 2 Corinthians and Acts, we highlight the freedom found in Christ and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We'll delve into how our words can either uplift or harm, urging you to seek the Holy Spirit's empowerment for a Christ-centered life and to reflect His love in every interaction.
Finally, in "The Power of the Holy Spirit," we emphasize embodying Christ-like behavior even in challenging moments. We'll share personal stories and teachings from 1 Corinthians, illustrating the pursuit of love and spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. By understanding the dual nature of prayer and the orderly conduct of spiritual gifts, you'll learn how these practices can deepen your faith and connection with God. We wrap up with a heartfelt prayer of blessing, empowering you to live out God's love daily and embrace the Holy Spirit's transformative power in your life and community. Tune in and be inspired to strengthen your faith and relationship with God.
Cornerstone https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/
Follow Jesus https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/follow-jesus
Life Groups https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/life-groups
What if your prayer life could transform your entire relationship with God? Join us as we explore the depths of meaningful, intimate conversations with Christ in "Deepening Your Relationship Through Prayer." We'll reflect on the importance of daily communication with Jesus and challenge the superficiality that often creeps into our spiritual practices. Through personal stories and relatable examples, we'll dive into how intentional prayer can reshape your spiritual journey and bring you closer to God.
Ever considered the real power behind your words? In "The Power of the Tongue," we unpack how neglecting prayer can lead to negative self-talk and distance us from divine guidance. With scriptural insights from 2 Corinthians and Acts, we highlight the freedom found in Christ and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We'll delve into how our words can either uplift or harm, urging you to seek the Holy Spirit's empowerment for a Christ-centered life and to reflect His love in every interaction.
Finally, in "The Power of the Holy Spirit," we emphasize embodying Christ-like behavior even in challenging moments. We'll share personal stories and teachings from 1 Corinthians, illustrating the pursuit of love and spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. By understanding the dual nature of prayer and the orderly conduct of spiritual gifts, you'll learn how these practices can deepen your faith and connection with God. We wrap up with a heartfelt prayer of blessing, empowering you to live out God's love daily and embrace the Holy Spirit's transformative power in your life and community. Tune in and be inspired to strengthen your faith and relationship with God.
Cornerstone https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/
Follow Jesus https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/follow-jesus
Life Groups https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/life-groups
The question this morning is what are you praying for?
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What are you praying for?
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You know we think about prayer and we're talking about this idea of connecting with God.
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It really is on us, in the relationship. I mean, after all, jesus has come and he's come all the way to us. He's the one that came and emptied himself of glory to come down in human form to live this life and become a sacrifice for us. He's come all the way to our doorstep and it's about that last 10%, whether or not we say yes to him. And so many times we wonder about this idea with prayer, because it comes out of a relationship, it's a communication with the living God, and since that's true, then it's about us. And how much are we gonna give in that relationship? Are we gonna be those that spend every day with Christ and go deep with him, or are we gonna keep it on surface level?
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How many people have been guilty of? You know, you maybe forget your morning time, maybe get thrown off by something, so you don't have your time of prayer in the morning. So you get busy and you're running. You're rushing and so you don't have your time of prayer in the morning, so you get busy and you're running, you're rushing, and you kind of jump in the car and right before you go you're like God bless everything in today, amen. Anybody ever been there? I am the only one raising a hand. I'm gonna try over here where there are not liars. No, now, all of us, man, we've been in that thing where it's like, man, we need God today, and you get rushed or maybe you don't, you forget that part and you don't get all the way into traffic on the 101 or the I-10 and then you start praying to the Lord. How many people know what I'm talking about and so you know. And then we wonder sometimes, when you never, we treat Jesus that way, why we don't have that intimacy with him. You know, because we kind of see treat Jesus like sup Jesus, sup Jesus, why we don't have that intimacy with him. You know because we kind of see treat Jesus like what's up Jesus, what's up Jesus, but never draw near to Jesus, never have the tight communication with him, never the personal time with Jesus. You know what I mean. And in fact some people don't even have that. They don't even have the say what's up Jesus version. They have the I'm not gonna talk to Jesus at all. I kind of know Jesus. I'll kind of say that he's there until I get in a really bad trouble that I can't fix. And then I'll be like, dear Jesus, hey, help me fix my thing From a distance when, friends, it's not him that's backed away from you, it's you that's backed away from him.
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And we think about this idea with prayer and about how it comes to the idea of the heart. Friends, it comes to our hearts and in what is in your heart. What are you communicating to him? What does your relationship say to God? And many times, the way that we talk with the Lord, if we're not spending time with him, then the things that are coming out of our own mouth towards ourselves are not that great because it's not things that come from him. So the things in our heart actually become something that belittles us ourselves, and so we end up having these things that the things that we're saying to ourself are also not a good thing. So not only do we not have a relationship with him and our prayer life is not active with him, but then we also are saying things to ourselves which cuts us down even further. Friends, whenever you ask these questions and you put it together, you have to start understanding that it can't be just us that does this. We need God's help in the process, and that's what it's about, with the Holy Spirit and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for living for Christ. Friends, we say what do you pray about, friends? We want to be those that pray in the Spirit. Would you say amen to that Pray in the Spirit?
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Now, we've been talking about this theme called holy, and we know that God is holy and none of us are, and so we collectively here at Cornerstone very much have that value. We know that none of us is perfect. All of us are in need of a savior, and if we haven't met, my name is Jay Celeste and I. It's such a privilege to serve here with a great team, and it's a blessing to have you with us, and so we're in this process together. All of us are walking after Christ. None of us have arrived, and so we use this imagery of walking with Jesus and we use it all the time so that people understand what we're about. We are followers of Christ going where he's leading us to go. None of us have got there. All of us are still on that journey. We want to be more like Jesus. We see that through loving God and making disciples and reaching the world. It's who we are, it's what we're doing and how we're doing it. It's why we meet throughout the week in life groups is that we wanna connect, grow and serve to be more like him, to be intentional in our doing for him. Amen, all right.
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So we've been talking about these pieces of scripture and looking at what holy means, and we talked about, out of 2 Corinthians 3.17, this verse for this theme. It says now, the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Friends, this is so true For any of us that have ever experienced any kind of spiritual in chains or spiritual pain and spiritual separation from the Holy God, then we know that there is freedom found in Jesus Christ, only in Jesus Christ. And we've tried all sorts of other things to fill that gap with substance or relationships or escapades, or buying stuff or whatever it is, and it's always empty. It's always a hole, because none of those things will be the thing that makes you complete. Only Jesus will make you complete. And so when we see this, we understand that our freedom alone is found in Christ, because he alone is the holy sacrifice on our behalf.
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Today we continue in our series and finalize it today with looking to the word of God in Acts 2, verse 16 and 17. If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone, I encourage you to turn there and highlight it so you can take a look at it later. It says this but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel and in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall see visions, and your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. Lord, we thank you for your word today. Lord, we thank you for your word today. We pray over it, asking, lord, for you to open every heart, every mind to respond to you. Holy Spirit, as you breathe upon this word, that you would make it alive in us, transformative. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Well, it's interesting as we start talking about holy, because there's this piece in scripture that talks about the tongue, and it talks about how the tongue can be a vile weapon of a thing. How many people know what I'm saying it can cut, it can say things, it can do all sorts of evil and all sorts of harm. And it talks about in the Bible how much the tongue has to do with something. And I was thinking about this and just the imagery of it it talks about here in Proverbs 18, it says death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. Think about that. Life and death and the power of the tongue. It's we can speak life or we can speak death, and it has this crazy amount of effect on others. Man, we were at the zoo not too long ago and we were feeding the giraffes and they had this crazy wicked long tongue. How many people know what I'm talking about? The giraffe has this crazy tongue and I was trying to feed the giraffe and just trying to make out with my hand. I'm like easy, easy, calm, calm down. You know it's going for it.
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And that's many times how we are and the way we say things. We cut on others and we degrade others and we criticize others and we do things like that. And many times you know there was this phrase when we were kids sticks and stones will hurt my bones, but words will never hurt me. And that was like the extra generation and the millennial generation. We kind of would say that at school and you know, because we thought you know, man, we had real bullying, because they used to beat us up, put us in a trash can you know what I mean? And we thought, like the kids nowadays, like they don't really suffer that way, until we heard about the invention of the internet and people say very vile things whenever they're detached behind a keyboard or on their phone, and we hear about kids getting bullied and they every bit experience the same pain that we experienced getting pushed down or knocked down. They experienced with the words that are cutting into their soul. We know that words hurt. We know that words can build up or tear down.
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We know this and it talks about it in scripture, thousands of years before there was a smartphone. And it talks about those who love to do this. Man, they eat it up. What does it say? It says death and life are the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits. It's like they can't get enough of it, like this is something that makes them feel okay, because they don't feel okay inside, so they're pushing this out on others. You think about this and you think about how crazy the tongue is. Look at this gentleman right here. He looks normal and then he doesn't look normal at all. And so you can understand the power of the tongue in just one situation.
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James 3 says it like this so also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire. The word of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, as set on fire by hell, for every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of a deadly poison, continues and it says with it we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers. These things ought not be so. You ever had your mouth get you in trouble, you know.
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So the other day we took a couple days away and had some time at the amusement parks in California and we were hanging out with our family and my kids. My two oldest came back from youth camp, had a powerful time with God, and then they got over to us and we had this time with our family and my kids. My two oldest came back from youth camp, had a powerful time with God, and then they got over to us and we had this time at the parks together and we were those rope drop people that run from the morning to the very bitter end, like that's what we do, and so we're going and we're going. It was a great time. We're hanging out, having some good family moments together, but by the end two, how many people know you're a little bit weary. A little weary, you've ran through all the sugar. It's ran out of your system and so we're doing the things and you know we're staying hydrated. We're Phoenicians, we're staying hydrated, but that means that with tiny bladders in our family, that means you have seen every bathroom and the whole park.
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How many people know what I'm saying? You take the map, you open it up, I draw the annexation of Puerto Rico routes and you do the dotted lines and we're like we need to do this and block and we're going to get over to this bathroom and so we go to this show. It's at the end of the night, there's water and all this stuff and it's kind of cold, kind of chilly. You know they actually have coldness and we just melt, but they have this thing and my youngest is like I gotta go to the bathroom. Like, can you hold it? It took us forever to get to this spot so you can see this, and so she holds it, and so that means as soon as it lets out, all the thousands of people are also headed in the same direction and my mission is to get my little girl to the bathroom. How many people know I'm saying so? I'm like ready to run the option to do the thing, whatever I can do to get them there.
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Well, simultaneously, this park also had like a grad event for graduates, which was cool for them, but it means that they were going to go stay into the night and the rest of us had to get out. Well, I'm trying to get to a bathroom and everywhere I went there was someone with an official flashlight and an outfit telling me keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. Can't go this way, can't go this way. I'm like the bathroom is this way. I know where the bathroom is. They're like keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. Well, there's like first one Okay, you're okay. The second one all right, this is annoying. There's bathrooms, I need to use the bathroom.
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The third one was a little bit snotty and, friends, all the things that I had put under the blood of Jesus, all of them, every bit of them, all the words and everything that was ever there in my vocabulary, suddenly was here on a plate in front of my mouth and I had all sorts of colorful things that I wanted to tell this individual about. What I thought about them blocking my little girl from using the restroom and I thought about how could your terrible family raise such an evil person to block my little girl? And I wanted to berate their intelligence and the reason that they have this job. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And all these things were there in front of my mouth and I wanted to say all of them. And the Holy Spirit is like you, better shut up. And the Holy Spirit's like you, better shut up. My kids are on the cameras, man. They could tell you I was hot, I was up the neck. I was like, ah, and I was wearing a Cornerstone Christian Center hat.
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I mean, I've been lying all day like just like singing hymns and like having a good time. Man, we've been sharing with people the night before about faith and stuff, all sorts of good stuff. None of that counts. It matters of what are you going to do in the moment. And I looked at them deeply and I shut my mouth and I turned and went and found another bathroom. Now we had to kind of maim some people to get to the bathroom. No, it was fine, she made it, just fine.
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But, friends, it's about that moment on how we treat other people. That's the thing that Christ talks about. It's why we talk about to be more like Jesus. Is that? The idea is not about when everything is hunky-dory and all in good. It's. What are you gonna do when it's not that way? Are you gonna listen to the Holy Spirit when he tells you to shut up and not say those things? Are you gonna listen to him when he talks about building others up and forgiving an enemy or someone that hurt you? Are you gonna be willing to forgive the way he forgives you? Friends, it's hard work, but if we listen to the Holy Spirit, we won't have regrets.
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And here's the thing that person they don't know they're not going to see this sermon. They don't know who I am. They didn't know that I was a pastor of a church, you know. But I'll tell you this, they would have felt a certain way about someone berating them for doing something that some supervisor told them to do. And how often in our lives are we running into each other with our priority and their priority? And we're running into each other and we're so angry that we can't get our way. So we berate everyone in front of us. The Lord, help us that we would be different than that. And here's the thing we know that we can't tame the tongue. It says so in the Bible. But what we can know is that the Holy Spirit can work through us and in our lives so that we can tame the tongue, with his help to do it. Change our vocabulary, change the things we're saying. Speak life and not death. Hold back the venomous things we want to say. Here's the thing.
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I still had to repent for, the things that were in my heart. I wanted to say you know what I mean, because they still got to hear. They might not have come out, but I still got to hear. So I still had to say Lord, I'm so sorry. Help me be more like you. Friends, what are you praying for? What kind of change are you praying for in your life? Let me encourage you in this that you would pray full of the Spirit of God. Pray in the Spirit, let him pray in and through your life. Amen.
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The Holy Spirit comes and he descends upon the early church we talked about it earlier in Acts 2-4, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. I love this. Each one of them had their. The Holy Spirit was praying through them and in that first moment they were speaking other languages, of people that knew that language. So they were local boys. They're there out of Galilee and other places and so they're local. And all these other people had come for the festival and they've come from different countries. They themselves Jews and from other places, and they're listening to these local guys declaring the wonders of God in their own home and heart language.
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From that first moment of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, god wanted everyone to know about what he was doing, and he wanted to use us to be empowered to take that message to other people. What a powerful image, what a powerful thing. That's what that praying was about is. They were praying. The Holy Spirit was praying in and through them so that it could reach to other people. See, that's what he wants to do in you today. That's what he wants to do in me today is that we would be those transformed, having that time with the Spirit that every day he's using us for his glory, for his purposes.
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It says it like this in Acts 2, 16 and 17. See Peter he had been the one that denied Christ at crucifixion, and then Jesus, after he came back to life, he went and restored Peter back into place. He restored Peter back into place and he was the leader there of the disciples. And so, as they were there in the upper room and they were praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had instructed him, he was given boldness and something started to transform in his heart. He stood up on that day and he preached a sermon that over 3,000 people gave their heart to Jesus.
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In one day, the same guy that wouldn't acknowledge that he was with Jesus to people around a fire, was now standing in front of people declaring the wonders of God. And he says this. He says, and this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel and in the last days, it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall see dreams. Friends, this is what I want for my family. I know it's what you want for yours.
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As we pray with our kids at night or as we pray with our families, it's our intentionality that it's not just our relationship with God. We want them to have their own relationship with God, and not just our children, but our grandchildren and on and on, as the Lord should give it to us, because that is the real thing that's going to carry them in their life. I can give them wisdom, I could give them other things, but guess what? None of that is going to be the same, as them have a relationship with the living God themselves. That is the difference. That's what the Holy Spirit does is that he pours himself out on all people everywhere and that each one of us would have that moment with the living God, and that's a transformation that we want to see.
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It continues here. It says even all my male and female servants in those days I shall pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy, when we say yes to God, that we are those who are serving Christ. He's saying that he will pour out his spirit on us, that we would prophesy the word of God. It means using the power of the Holy Spirit, as he gives us that gift, to proclaim who he is and to prophesy those things. Think about drawing near to the Lord. That's what those moments are about. It's about having that moment with God, where you're. You were saying Lord, pour yourself out upon me. I want to draw near to you. I'm not happy with yesterday's experience. I want today's experience. I want the new thing you want to do in and through my life.
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And here's the thing about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You know some churches they might say, well, yeah, we saw that the. You know the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost was for the early church in that day and now it's gone with the disciples. But, friends, I don't see that here in Scripture. In fact, it continues forward and becomes a pattern throughout the book of Acts and through the New Testament. And so we see this thing going and growing and going and growing on. It even says this that picks up here in Acts 10. Going and growing on. It even says this that picks up here in Acts 10.
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While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, and the believers among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. And Peter declared can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? This is a momentous occasion, friends, because this was the marker that the Holy Spirit said listen, anyone who believes in Jesus, I will pour myself out upon them. It was no longer just about the Jewish people. We love the Jewish people. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but we are thankful that it also. We have been grafted in faith into the family of Christ to be the children of God, co-heirs with Christ, from this moment here.
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For those of us, like myself, who are not Jewish or not 100% Jewish if that's you in the room, this includes you that on this day, by faith, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. All of them were then baptized, following and identifying as Christ followers. Though they were not Jews, they, by faith, were included into the family of God. What was the marker? The baptism in the Holy Spirit. Friends, let me encourage you in this, that you would press into what God has for you, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the same way, paul, after he had his whole radical conversion to Christ and spent time with the Holy Spirit out in the desert, it said that he was sent out and they had their missionary journeys. That happened and we've talked about that. Before Paul himself, he began to pray over those who would come to faith and saw people experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts 19.6 says that when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and began to speak in tongues and prophesying.
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Friends, that's what we want to see. Is that the word of God, the action of God, happening in and through our lives? And that's what's happening here by the power of the Holy Spirit? You can think about this imagery as we draw near to God in our prayer time, that we would be those that ask the Lord to pour himself out upon us, say, holy Spirit, I want more of you in my life. I want you to guide me, direct me, fill me up to overflowing, baptize me with your spirit.
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But not just that, but any spiritual gift that you'd want to give to me, that you would give it to me so I can use it for your glory and friends. That's what it's about. It's not about for you to make you special or holier than thou. Friends, you're not holy. You know how. I know there is one, his name's Jesus. You ain't him. So there you go. All of us are sanctified by him. So that's how it works. So all of us, those gifts, have been given by the Holy Spirit. So it doesn't make us more holy than someone else. What it makes us is available to him and say, yes, I want to be used by you. And then we lean into him and have the spirit work in and through our lives into maturity, from immaturity to mature things of the spirit of God. How many people would know what I'm talking about? And so that's what we want. We want more of that, friends. We ask that question what are you praying for? Then? We need to be those that want to be filled and praying in the spirit. What we're praying for is spiritual gifts to be using the gifts that God gives us for his glory.
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Now 1 Corinthians 14 starts unpacking the use of gifts within the gathering. Now, this is what we call our gathering, it's our church services, but that terminology is more like hey, this is something this building is having, it's our church services, but that terminology is more like hey, this is something this building is having. And that's not how it works. We, the people, are the church. This happens to be the church gathering facility. You know what I'm saying, and so that's the difference here. So it's saying when you gather, then you need to allow those spiritual gifts to work in this way. And it talks about what we should be pursuing.
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It picks up here in 1 Corinthians 14, paul writing to the church at Corinth Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy, for one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God, and no one understands him, but that utters mysteries in the spirit. This is interesting because he's saying in the gathering, the thing that builds up another is actually prophecy, the word of prophecy, but what it also shows us is the other side, the use and the meaning, the reason that the Holy Spirit is inside of us and praying through us. And the concept is this that it builds up our faith. It builds us up spiritually, and so that's why he, later in this book, says I pray in tongues more, more than you all is that he is someone who, in his quiet time, in his prayer time, even amongst the others, is praying in the spirit, so the spirit can pray through him. Friends, I could tell you, as I pray for people many times I don't know what to pray, and so I'll pray in the spirit, because the spirit knows what needs to be said, the spirit knows it needs to happen, and so we pray in the Spirit. For that reason it picks up and continues.
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In verse two and three it says, as it said, for the one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God, and no one understands him, but he utters mystery in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation. And so that's the concept is that we would be those that not just be satisfied with being baptized in the Holy Spirit, but ask the Holy Spirit to pour out the rest of the gifts that he would have for us to participate in, that we would be those that prophesy and encourage and build others up a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge and other things that would be there available, each one of us pressing into what God wants to do in and through our lives. He himself says this here in verse 14 and 15,. What am I to do? I also pray with my spirit, but I also pray with my mind also. I sing praise with my spirit, but I sing praise with my mind also. This is Paul, who is the church planter extraordinaire of all time, telling us that we need to be those who are praying in the spirit and praying with the mind of Christ Both of those things interchangeably praying to the Lord with our mind and with our words, and praying in the spirit to be built up in our most holy faith. Friends, this is what we're encouraged to do. He says in verse 26,. What then, brothers, when you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. That's what we do here in this house.
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It might be a little different than some churches you've been a part of or attended is that you know from time to time we'll have a word that comes forward and it's not just pop up out of something and we've seen that as abuses in the church before and interrupting what's already going on and saying that's the will of God. God is an orderly God. How do people know? The demons are in the sound equipment. Let's re-say that God is an orderly God and he will not interrupt himself.
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And so what we have seen is that those who are known amongst the body submit a word and, as the person who's in charge of the gathering of the service will then see if that word, as a test, would be for the mass, and if it is, that's a good thing. Sometimes it's a great word, but maybe not for that moment of what's happening. Other times that word is for the person giving the word. None of those things are wrong. In fact, someone not having a word for that moment there's nothing wrong with that. That is the test. That's why people bring that word forward and let me encourage you in this that if God is working with you in that, come and talk to us as you're part of it, that maybe that word is for a larger amount, and that might be something that you do in fear and trembling. Good, because the responsibility is that that we do so in fear and trembling the same as those who are the ones responsible is great fear and trembling because we need to hold those things as sacred, because this is what the Lord would say for the body of the church.
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Friends, here's the thing it's much easier to say no to all this stuff, to make it clean and just do a presentation and that's it. But I'll tell you this it wasn't a clean presentation that changed my life. It was the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of Christ forgiving me, that transformed my life out of a mess that I had run to to the person I am today and the person that I'm becoming. As I say more, I want to be more like Jesus. That's the same thing I want for you is that you would experience a deeper level of the power of the Holy Spirit of God in your life, that you would have that Spirit of God with you so that you can be guided by him, directed by him for his purposes. Would you say yes to that? Amen, friends, when we ask that question again what are you praying for? Friends, I encourage you that you would pray for an encounter with the living God, pray for a baptism in the Holy Spirit, that you would pray in the Spirit Today, as we come to this altar, we do so with intentionality.
Speaker 1:
We serve a holy God and he loves us very much. He loved us so much that he abandoned heaven and he came down to be the ultimate sacrifice for all people, for all time. Maybe you're here and you're here to support a friend who's getting baptized, or maybe you're here and you got invited with somebody, or maybe you just came because you were drawn here. Friends, today is your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. You have to answer the question of have you embraced Jesus? Each one of us has to answer that question for ourselves. No one can answer it for you. See, for us, the symbol of the cross is one of freedom. It's one of transformation. It's one where he loved us so much that he took my sin, my mistake, my vile and evilness. He took all of those things and he paid for it upon the cross. My sin was nailed on that cross and he paid for it once and for all, for all people. Your sin is there as well and that we have that opportunity to embrace that sacrifice for our lives. And we do so by faith, saying Jesus, I believe you are who you say you are. I invite you into my heart and life. That you would transform me, that I will live a life that's after you, that you would be the Lord and Savior of my life. It says it like this, the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. It says because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Speaker 1:
Friends, today is your day of decision. It's your opportunity to invite Christ into your heart and life. I'm gonna ask if you're here in the room, if you just stand right where you're at and just bow your head. If you're online, you prepare your heart for what God wants to do in you. Friends, we've been praying for you before you ever got here today that you'd be making this kind of decision today to follow Jesus. Maybe you're here. You've never made a decision to follow Jesus today or before. Today is your opportunity to do so. Or maybe you have made a decision in the past but then you walked away from actively living for God. Today is an opportunity to recommit your heart and life to him.
Speaker 1:
I'm gonna ask, as heads are bowed here in the room, if you just raise your hand right where you're at and say pastor, that's me, I wanna make that decision to follow Jesus. Today. I wanna make the decision. I see your hand that's there. I see that hand that's there. I see your hand that's there. I see that hand that's there. I see the hand that's there. I see your hand, friends, I see your hand over there. Thank you, lord, for these that are making a decision to follow Jesus today. Friends, online, we see your hands making a decision to follow Jesus. Thank you, lord, for all these hands of these people making a decision for you today.
Speaker 1:
Friends, I'm gonna ask if everyone in the room would just pray this. Pray this prayer with me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name, I pray Amen, amen. Friends, we rejoice in you making a decision to follow Jesus today. Wow, praise the Lord. If you're here in the room, we want to put some materials into your hand At the end of the service. If you just go back towards our prayer banner, we want to put some materials in your hand At the end of the service. If you just go back towards our prayer banner, we want to put some materials in your hand. Just have you be successful and make that decision to follow Christ For all of us.
Speaker 1:
We have this opportunity to come to this altar, and here's the thing about it that's amazing is that none of us are perfect. All of us need Jesus. All of us need more of the Holy Spirit. So no one's making a thought about you, whether or not you come. You know, if you come down, is there nothing? Oh, this person? No, no, no, they're not paying attention to you. They got their own thing in their own head going on. We all need more of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:
Let me encourage you in this, especially you, faithful servant of God, that we leak out the Spirit of God and that we need to be being refilled with the presence of God. So we open up this altar to us today, and we're gonna do so during this song. We're just gonna pray with you in agreeance of prayer that the Holy Spirit baptize you afresh and anew, or maybe for the first time, or maybe he pours out himself on you and gives you the gifts of things that would encourage the church in each one of these ways that we would seek a deeper level with him. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you how you move in and through our lives. We thank you for this word and, lord, how you challenge us, lord, to tame the tongue, and we know that we can't do it.
Speaker 1:
It is your work in our lives that does these things, lord. We want to be those that speak life and truth and hope. We don't want to cut down, we don't want to do any of those kind of things, lord. We want to be those full of the Spirit of God building up others around us. So, lord, we come to this altar today, lord, asking for an impartation, a new experience in who you are. Lord, that you pour yourself out upon us and in us and through us. Lord, that we would live and do so as a part of you, full of the spirit of God. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 2:
We are celebrating with those who have been water baptized today, so if you see them on your way out, just give them a hug and congratulations. We rejoice with them for taking that next step, and it's not too late for you. If you want to be baptized in water, we'll just come do it right now. So we have towels, that's all you need, and so just let us know. But we are having a luncheon for all of those who are on the SERP teams as leaders, so we will meet you shortly after this over in the multi.
Speaker 1:
Before we go, I pray this blessing over us today. Before we go, I pray this blessing over us today the Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. God, you would empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.
