Intro: When you met Jesus Christ was your life changed?
2 Corinthians 5.17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Romans 12.11,12 be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior your world should have turned upside down. Jesus says that we become new creatures, KJV a new creation. You should have become something that never existed before!! Didn’t your plans, priorities and purpose for living change?
If you really met Jesus Christ in a personal way you final destination changed.
Maybe your vocabulary changed, your temper, your attitude, and your activities.
How did it happen? If you have changed taken a 180-degree turn (which biblically is called repentance) it was by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Why do we receive this power through the Holy Spirit? My conviction is that we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit to be world changers!!
We will look at The Unlimited Power of God and with that power comes the Unmistakable Responsibility of the Children of God
Acts 1.8 (read)
I. Unlimited Power of God
A) The Holy Spirit fills us.
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit Comes upon you;”
The Holy Spirit of God comes into our lives to take up residence. Again and again throughout Luke’s letter it says that those who believed on Jesus Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit. The holy presence of God makes your heart his house.
Realize what this means. The very power of God to create is living in you. The Spirit that hovered over the waters of the deep in Genesis 1 has invaded your heart. The mighty east wind that divided the Red Sea. The Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead is in your heart.
So answer this question is you heart hot for God? Does God control your heart?
Does the mind of God move your heart?
The Holy Spirit fills us with the Love of God (God is Love)
The Holy Spirit fills us with the Word of God (He teaches us all truth) John 14.26,
Psalm 119.133 “Establish my footsteps in your word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.”
The Holy Spirit fills us with the Will of God
Ephesians 5.18 contrasts being filled with wine and being filled with the Spirit of God. The whole idea as here is to be completely controlled by the Spirit of God. When you are under the spirits control and command you will be able to say things you never thought possible (Tina witnessing) You will be able to do things you thought impossible.
We know however from God’s word that “With God all things are possible”
B) The Holy Spirit fuels us.
To live the life of a Christian requires energy from the Almighty God. Power is defined as the capacity or ability to do something.
Without the fuel of the Spirit we would be like an Oak in the desert. Spiritually we would be dried up. The filling of the Spirit gives us access to the Living water of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit fuels us to serve God. It fuels us to serve others. If you are not fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit it is my conviction that you will have no desire to serve God.
We are filled and fueled by the Spirit so that we can fulfill our great responsibility.
Spiderman: Uncle Ben “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.”
Jesus Christ: Luke 12.48 “from everyone who has been given much, much will be required.”
Transition: We receive the Holy Spirit of God and His power to be God’s Witnesses of His good news.
II. Unmistakable Responsibility of the Children of God
Acts 1.8 “and you shall be my witnesses”
This verse challenges us to be witnesses to the entire world.
A) All called to be witnesses
If you pay close attention as you read through acts you will see the call to witness is not limited to any select group of people.
The call to witness spreads from the apostles to the 120 believers in the Upper Room on through out Acts and up to us.
The apostles and the rest of the followers of Christ became world changes. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we also are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are empowered to be world changers.
The sad fact today is that many Christians are content to let “others” change the world for Christ.
-- As Southern Baptists we have some 10,000 missionaries who have answered the call to be world changers. Approximately 5,000 of these serve right here in the United States and Canada.
Make no mistake God has called us all to be on mission for Him. One of the multiple ways we can be involved in that call is to support our missionaries. We do that through our offerings this time of the year Annie Armstrong.
We can be on mission by praying for Missionaries
We can be on mission by supporting our Missionaries
We can be on mission by volunteering as missionaries
We can be on mission by answering God’s call to be a permanent missionary.
We can be on mission by walking to our neighbor and sharing the love of God.
Regardless of how we are involved we must realize our great responsibility as Children of God.
If we accept our responsibility before God through His unlimited power we can change our world.
How can Appalachia, WalStreet, and the area surrounding Perche Baptist Church have any connection what so ever?
The lostness of the People who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ is one and the same.
God has called us to take His love to all people. He has given us His Spirit in order that we would have unlimited power for the Unmistakable task of changing our world.
Annie Armstrong was called indefatigable. She never tired of serving God and serving People. In 1893 because of her belief in the powerful hand of God to change lives and our world she wrote over 18,000 letters many by hand.
She was the driving force in founding the lottie Moon Christmas offering, she is the namesake of our Easter offering.
How was she able to make such an impact?
She believed the word of God. She believed in the Power of God. She realized her responsibility before God.
Luke 19.10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Jesus came to change the world, and the lives of the people in it.
In the next couple of weeks you have the opportunity to support changing our world through the Annie Armstrong Easter offering. Supporting God called men and women sharing His love with people in United States and Canada.
Maybe God has called you to volunteer for short-term missions, maybe God has called you to give your life as a full time missionary for life. Perhaps you are to encourage someone to move toward the Mission field.
Beyond that maybe you are the mission field, someone seeking the love of God. I would love to tell you what Jesus did for me and what He will do for you.
Conclusion: God gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to be His witnesses. Not to go out and once in a while witness but to have a lifestyle of sharing His love.
My challenge to you Perche is to become a missionary in your community.
Challenge: Pick one person you know who does not come to church and make them your mission.
Pray for them every day from now until Easter Sunday. Invite them and wait for God to work in their life.
