Moving Forward (Pentecost Sunday 2024)

John 16:7-14 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (8) And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: (9) about sin, because they do not believe in me; (10) about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; (11) about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. (12) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (13) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (14) He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Watch on YouTube link listed below ….Sermon starts at 29 minute mark

https://youtu.be/PYo0QYomuXY?si=zLx0JFcjOACckCV8

Now you might look at the text today and see that it is a pre-crucifixion text that is being used for Pentecost Sunday. That may seem out of place to use for the text of a sermon on Pentecost. However, if you look at what Jesus is saying, you see that what he says here to His disciples is most fitting for Pentecost and beyond.

Why? The reason why is because we see how Jesus that He is sending the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us into all truth, now and for what is to come. That is a very important thing to know because it shapes everything that we are called to do for the forwarding of the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (Acts 17:30, John 16:8) and pursues us with the prevenient grace of God that goes before a sinner calling them to repent (Luke 13:3 – 5) and be baptized (Luke 3:16). The Holy Spirt baptizes us and unites us in the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12), regenerates us (John 3:3-8 and Titus 3:5), seals us Ephesians 1:13, 4:30 & 2 Corinthians 1:22), indwells in us (John 14:17), speaks through us to our adversaries (Matthew 10:20), guides us to the truth of the Gospel (John 16:13) and even intercedes for us when we don’t know how to pray (Romans 8:26). We are to a computer what the Holy Spirit is to an operating system.

As we know Pentecost is about the birthday of the Church. Our marching orders for the Kingdom following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ are to be Spirit filled, Spirit fed and Spirit led as we go and make disciples! Anything and everything that is not in harmony with that mission is both a distraction and destructive because it invites us to deviate from that mission.

Today we want to focus on obstacles and navigation.

OBSTACLES

How many of you like obstacles?

I doubt that anyone enthusiastically raised their hand for that question. That first question raises a second question. That question is “Why is it that we don’t like obstacles?” I am sure that we could develop a list with a myriad (meaning ten thousand) of reasons.

What would each list most likely label?

? Obstructions of some kind

? Wokeism of some kind

? Setbacks of some kind

? Opposition of some kind

? Morale destroyers of some kind

? Discouragers of some kind

? Uncertainties of some kind

? Pessimism of some kind

How will you respond to obstacles on your list? Would you receive your obstacles with defeat or with challenges to overcome?

1) Famous People:

1. After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, a 1933 memo from the MGM testing director said: “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

2. An expert said of famous football coach Vince Lombardi: “He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation.”

3. Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was advised by her family to find work as a servant or seamstress.

4. Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.

5. The teacher of famous opera singer Enrico Caruso said Caruso had no voice at all and could not sing.

6. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper for lacking ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

7. Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s 10,000 word story about a soaring seagull before Macmillan finally published it in 1970. By 1975, Jonathan Livingston Seagull had sold more than seven million copies in the U.S. alone.”