OVERFLOW IV // Pastor Robby Emery // April 6, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up?
Free Church so good to see you.
Thank you, ethan, for leadingthe team this morning.
There you go.
It might be me.
Thank you guys.
Thank you, ethan for leadingthe team this morning on the
news.
Come on, give it up for Ethan,one of our great leaders in our

(00:22):
church here.
Thank you for the energy andeffort you put into making every
week happen.
Easter just two weeks away,easter's on 420.
Jesus is going to be high andlifted up and the church said

(00:53):
amen.
I love free church.
Come on, if you can't laugh inchurch, where can you laugh at
right, if you can't have fun inchurch?
My man's got a lion's hoodie on.
Give it up for him.
On the right side, a lion'shoodie on.
Welcome to church, sir, gladyou're here.
I better get the biggest amenfrom that hoodie tonight.
Amen.

(01:16):
We've been talking about thisoverflow right, overflow of just
the blessings of God.
The overflow of it's alwaysbeen about the overflow.
Jesus is always preaching aboutthe overflow of that.
That.
It's always been about theoverflow.
Jesus is always preaching aboutthe overflow.
He never wanted anyone just tohave enough, just just enough.
He wanted to have an overflow.
He wanted you to have more thanenough, an abundance of what
you can do, abundance of joy,abundance of faith, abundance of

(01:40):
so that it wouldn't just staywith us, it would be for others.
Even when, even when the forothers, even when the church
began, even when the churchstarted, it was for the purpose
of an overflow.
It wasn't just to stay with the500 initially saw Jesus, or the
120 that stuck it out for the10 days.
It was to be for those who arefar off.

(02:01):
That's what the promise was.
It's for your children and toall those who are far off.
So the overflow is when we getsomething here to take it for
those who are far off.
That's what the promise was.
It's for your children and toall those who are far off.
So the overflow is when we getsomething here to take it where
we go next, it's always the planof God.
The Bible says that a merryheart does good like a medicine
and that when we come to church,man, if you get joy, you get a
merry heart.
It does more for you thananything you can get at CBS.

(02:22):
A merry heart is good like amedicine.
So, hey, I hope you laugh today, I hope you lean in today,
because I know it'd make you awhole lot better.
Our pastor preached last week.
He talked about that the Lordgives seed to the sower.
That if I will put into action,if I'll do something, if I'll
take what God has given me andsow it, that God's going to
continue to allow those thingsto stay in there.

(02:45):
I mean, there's pipes runningall through this building, water
pipes running all through thisbuilding, and you open up one of
those water pipes, though thewater may be not flowing at that
moment, the pipe will be wetbecause the water flows.
And we are to be conduits orpipes of the blessings of God,
because, you know, I don't haveto worry about not having

(03:05):
blessing because I'm allowingblessing to flow.
I'll always have the blessingsof God saturating my soul.
I'll always have the cause.
I'm going to be a conduit of it, cause if you're no longer a
conduit of it, if you're nolonger a river, you become a
reservoir and as long as waterstays still, it becomes stagnant
.
Then it becomes unhealthy.
That's the problem with wateracross the globe.

(03:29):
It's because water's notflowing, they tend to go back to
the well that doesn't flow withfresh water and they end up
getting something a disease fromthe stagnant water that grows
on it.
And so God says I don't want mypeople to be stagnant.
When people come to you, I wantthem to get fresh water, water
that's alive water, that givesthem life to their soul.
So I need this to flow throughme, a constant flow.

(03:54):
And so when we give, when wegive of our time and our talent
and our resources, when we givethat we're never more like God.
For God so loved the world thathe gave you Right.
God, for God so loved the worldthat he gave Right.
You can't be like God and bestingy.
You can't be like God and notwilling to give.
That's the love language ofheaven, for God so loved the

(04:16):
world that he gave.
And we have to understand thatthe ability to give or the
willingness to give is not aboutan amount, is not ever about an
amount.
It's about an attitude.
Right, because it doesn'tmatter how much I give or the
increase in that I give If Igive it with the wrong attitude,

(04:37):
for God loves a Cheer.
There you go, you're good,you're reading your Bible,
congratulations.
But like it's more than justwords.
God says no, I want this to getreading your Bible,
congratulations.
But like it's more than just.
It's more than just words.
God says no, I want this to getin your heart, and if you do it
with the right attitude, you doit from a great place.
You do it from the place thatI've placed.
Put you in a place of blessing,not for a blessing but to be a
blessing, as our pastor preachedlast week that God's going to

(05:00):
do something, and so I trulybelieve that our misconceptions
of God keep us away from himmore than our mistakes.
Our misconceptions Like if wedon't have the right mindset, if
we don't have the rightattitude we don't have our
misconceptions will keep us awayfrom the things of God, not our
mistakes.
It's the way we think.

(05:23):
Because you can think about thisthere's two men in the Bible
we're coming up on ResurrectionSunday and there's two men in
the Bible that, towards the endof Jesus' time is that they made
the exact same mistake, both ofthem, one's named Judas, the
other name's Peter.
Same mistake Judas denied God,denied Jesus, betrayed him.

(05:46):
How many people know a guynamed Judas?
I don't know any of them.
I don't know a guy named Judas.
If you do, stay away, don't lethim do your taxes.
Anyways, Just kidding.
Anybody know a person namedPeter.
You know a person named Peter.
You know a person named Peter.

(06:07):
You heard him.
Yeah.
Yeah, if not Spider-Man, stickwith it.
But, like Judas, betrayed Jesus.
He sold him 30 piece, turnedhim over, walked away from him.
After seeing all the miracles,after seeing everything that

(06:27):
Jesus has done, after seeing theway here Jesus preached,
bringing people close, judas wasa part of all that and he
betrayed Jesus.
And then Simon Peter Same thing.
Even Jesus called Simon PeterSatan.
He called Judas friend.
Even Jesus called Simon PeterSatan.
He called Judas friend.

(06:49):
But Simon Peter denied Jesus tohis face, turned and walked
away from him to cuss at people.
But the Bible says that he madehis way back to Jesus.
He was one of the first peopleto claim the resurrection of
Jesus, one of the first ones towitness an empty tomb.

(07:11):
And here's the story.
You read it Judas always calledJesus Rabbi.
Judas always saw Jesus as justa teacher.
Where Simon Peter called Jesus,lord Judas recognized him as a
a teacher.
Where Simon Peter called Jesus,lord Judas recognized him as a
good teacher.
Simon Peter recognized him asthe Resurrector of his soul.

(07:32):
And if we just have an idea ofJesus as a good teacher and he
never becomes Lord.
We'll never realize that when Ido make a mistake, I can come
back and I can be restored and Ican have a calling and a
ministry beyond that.
Because the alternative is,judas, that I go take my own
life, that I go do what I wantto do under my own timing.

(07:55):
And I'm telling you today I'mgoing to talk to you about the
overflow of the Holy Spirit andwhat I need you to do is remove
all the misconceptions, move allthose and lean into what God's
going to talk to you today,because I know that the Holy
Spirit is alive and is real andis powerful and is for us today

(08:22):
and if you can see it today, ifyou can receive it it today.
The bible says that we're to bewitnesses and I'm telling you
for the next two weeks, if wecan be those witnesses in our
community, more people will cometo easter service because you
invite them.
Eight out of ten people willcome.
That odds are great.
Come on, roll with that.
For the next two weeks, let'spack these two services on
easter sund Sunday and let's seewhat God does.

(08:44):
God provides his spirit inabundance so we can be
overflowing with the fruit ofthe spirit for others.
God provides his spirit inabundance so we can be

(09:09):
overflowing with the fruit ofthe spirit for others.
I wanna stand with you and readthese two verses of scripture
we're gonna pray.
I'm gonna preach.
I have the incredible privilegeof preaching about the Holy
Spirit today and the fruit andgifts of the Holy Spirit.
The unfortunate thing is I have25 minutes to do it in.

(09:32):
I need 25 days.
I do so.
See you tomorrow.
No, just kidding Gosh.
You guys came in.
You guys ready to roll today?
Come on, acts, chapter 19.
Thank you, just kidding Gosh.
You guys came in.
You guys ready to roll today?
Come on, acts, chapter 19.
Thank you, pastor Chuck.

(09:52):
How many love our pastors, ourpastors?
Thank you, pastor.
I love Pastor Chuck.
He is, he's a leader, he's avoice in my life, he's a friend
too.
He's a friend and I thank he'sa friend too.
He's a friend and I thank Godto have friends like Pastor
Chuck.
And we just sat down with Ibrought my son with me, silas,

(10:12):
on the front row.
We sat down at a restaurantlast night with our sons and we
watched basketball.
I mean, we were done eatinglong before the game was over.
We were watching basketball andI'll just say say the last
shall be first, because when westarted our bracket on the first
day I was losing.
But guess who's winning now?

(10:33):
Come on, I do have the Gatorswinning it all, but yeah, so
we'll see what happens.
So me and my wife are tied.
Both two teams are in.
I have the Gators winning itall, but yeah, so we'll see what
happens.
So me and my wife are tied.
Both two teams are in.
I have the Gators winning, shehas the Cougars winning, so
we'll see what happens.
We got a little side bet goingon.

(10:55):
It's just between us.
Acts, chapter 19.
I'm sorry, acts, chapter 19,verse number one.
It says while Apollos was atCorinth, paul took the road
through the interior and arrivedat Ephesus.
There he found some disciplesand asked them did you receive

(11:19):
the Holy Spirit when youbelieved?
They answered what a lot ofpeople say today no, we've not
even heard.
There's a Holy Spirit.
So let's remove anymisconceptions.
We all have mistakes.

(11:40):
And for the next few minutes,help me preach what I believe
God wants to share with us aboutthe Holy Spirit.
And for the next few minutes,help me preach what I believe
God wants to share with us aboutthe Holy Spirit and I believe
over the next two weeks, thefruit and gifts that can come
from even just a few minuteslistening about the Holy Spirit

(12:01):
will be far better beneficialfor those in your life than
anything else you could givethem.
Let's pray, god, I love you.
I thank you for our churchtoday.
God, Thank you for what we feelin this place.
God, it's not just about showingup on Sunday.
It's the preparation fromMonday through Saturday, that
the energy and effort and thetime and all that's gone into it
, God, to make this place ahouse of worship, to entertain
your power and entertain yourpresence in this place, so lives

(12:22):
can change in just a fewminutes.
God, this is a delivery room ofnew life.
This is a delivery room of somuch potential.
This is a delivery room ofpromises that have been burning
and just growing inside of somany people here today.
So I pray the Holy Spirit wouldjust saturate us and allow
what's in us, god, to come outinto this world and help make a

(12:44):
difference in the lives of thosewe love the most.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen, amen, high five, twopeople as you're seated, so I

(13:12):
believe most people haveunderstanding of God, the father
.
Right, because you have one,you have a father.
We preach, you know, everySunday we preach about Jesus
Christ, the son of God.
But very few people have anunderstanding about the Holy
Spirit and what he's doing.
But I do believe that it'sgrowing.
I do believe more and more,really wanna be about the Holy
Spirit and understand the HolySpirit and not misunderstand it

(13:34):
or not allow what I don't knowto keep me from moving in what I
do know.
In Genesis, the very beginning,we find the Holy Spirit.
Most people don't see this.
If you've ever.
We find the Holy Spirit.
Most people don't see this.
If you've ever wondered aboutthe phrase Holy Spirit, it helps
us start at the beginning.
In the Greek it's the word ruach, the Spirit of God.

(13:57):
So in Genesis 1, verse 1, inthe beginning, god created the
heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless andempty and darkness was over the
surface of the deep and theRuach of God was hovering over
the waters.
The spirit of God was hoveringover the waters.
In the Hebrew, ruach or in theNew Testament Greek, the pneuma.

(14:19):
It's the same.
It's the spirit of God and whatwe find here is that the spirit
of God was hovering over chaos.
The spirit of God startedhovering over something that was
without form, something thatwas erratic, something that
wasn't working well.
And when the Spirit of Godhovered, that Spirit brought
wholeness, that Spirit broughtoneness.

(14:42):
That Spirit brought somethingbetter than what it was already.
When God's Spirit comes overchaos, it corrects it, and so
here's what we have today.
We have a lot of people who arewalking this world chaotically,
walking this world in darkness,and it's only the spirit of God,

(15:02):
it's only the Holy Spiritthat's going to bring comfort in
the middle of our chaos.
In the middle of our chaos,god's spirit Ruach in Hebrew
hovers over, signaling thepotential to bring life and
beauty.
It refers to God's personalpresence, but it's also the
Hebrew word for wind.

(15:23):
It's the same or breath, orrepresenting energy and vitality
.
That's what that word means.
That means that word ispowerful.
When you know the Holy Spiritand understand the role in your
life, it will seem like a windin your sails, some of your
Christian life.
You feel like you're paddlingor rowing hard and the whole

(15:44):
thing seems like work.
Maybe you just need arelationship with the Holy
Spirit.
I'll say this and it's not inmy notes.
But when we started our churchin 2016, we had to pull a
26-foot trailer totally stockedfull of stuff for a church.
So literally, our church was ina 26-foot trailer.

(16:04):
I bought a truck or I leased atruck initially to pull this
trailer.
Yeah, that truck didn't work.
It was like a S10.
No, it's not gonna pull thistrailer.
Yeah, that truck didn't work.
It was like a S10.
No, it's not gonna pull thattrailer.
So I had to go actually buy.
I had to go get a Ford F250,two ton, be able to pull this
trailer.
This is a big truck, massive,four wheel.

(16:24):
It should be able to move ahouse.
Right, this is what it wasdoing.
It snows in our neighborhood inRoyal Oak.
Big pile of snow everywhere.
School's out and everyone'strying to get out of their
driveways.
I got my big truck, no problem.
I can't get out of my driveway.
There is Honda Civics goingdown my street and I can't even

(16:47):
get out of my driveway.
I have the biggest truck in theneighborhood and it's stuck.
I finally get it moving out ofthe driveway, but it gets stuck
in the street because you knowhow they come over and plow.
They plow you in your drivewayyou have a pile this big and
it's all ice.
Finally I slammed through that.
But I get stuck in the streetand people are literally people
are digging out my truck and theneighbors are and they're like

(17:08):
why are you stuck?
I said I have no idea why I'mstuck.
I'm looking in the manual.
I got it on four-wheel drive.
I got everything.
I'm stuck.
I finally look in the manual.
I'm like there's wheel locks onmy truck and I have to go out
there and I have to turn them toget it to operate in four-wheel

(17:28):
drive.
Here's the thing A lot of youhave the Holy Spirit in you.
It's just not active.
You're stuck.
It's there.
You're like why am I stuck?
Everyone's like I don't knowwhy you're stuck.
Why are you stuck?
I'm trying to dig you out.
You should be able to move downthe road, just like I'm moving
down the road, but the HolySpirit is not active in your

(17:48):
life.
When we leave this buildingtoday, we're going to get hit
with the wind.
Right, you're going to get hitwith the wind.
When you walk out here we're inthe windy city it's going to
hit you right in the face.
You're not going to see it.
You can't see it, but it'spowerful and real.

(18:10):
Just because you can't seesomething doesn't mean it's not
there.
You do this every day, hopefullymultiple times a day, first
thing I do when I leave thisplace hey, truth, why do you do

(18:36):
that, robbie?
Well, because I'm told there'ssome invisible things on my
hands, things that I cannot see.
And well, you can't see them.
Why would you wash your hands?
Why would you do that?
Well, because I know that if myhands, what's on my hands?
I know there's germs.
I can't see them, but I knowthey're there, I know they're
alive and real, and I know thatthe transference of germs can

(18:58):
also cause somebody to be sick,or myself to be sick, and I
don't want to go have lunch whenI have germs on my hands.
So I'm going to wash the germsoff my hands.
You see, you're like, but youcan't see.
But you're doing, you believeit in your heart, you know it to
be true and today, when youleave here, I want you to know
that the Holy Spirit is real,that the Holy Spirit is true,

(19:19):
and you operate your life insuch a manner.
Maybe let me just show you thishere.
You got those slides for me,the first slide there.
You ever see this.
You ever see Baskin-Robbins?
Yeah, you know whatBaskin-Robbins is known for, how
many flavors 31,.

(19:40):
Do you see the 31 in the B&R?
Oh, yeah, yeah, hey, guess what?
It's been there forever.
It's always there.
You just didn't know it until Itold you the Holy Spirit's
there Next, throw the next oneup.

(20:01):
Throw the next one up.
You know this one, right?
Amazon.
Oh, you see the little arrow.
It means because we haveeverything from A to Z.
Oh, you see the little arrow.
It means because we haveeverything from A to Z.
Oh, yeah, you wonder why.
It's because I have everythingfrom A to Z.
Is there another one?

(20:23):
Maybe there's another one?
Oh, you know that one, right?
You know the arrow and the X,the EX, you know the arrow means
we're moving forward.
You seen that one before.
Oh, you can't see the E and theX.
The EX, you know the arrowmeans we're moving forward.
You've seen that one before.
Oh, you can't see the E and theX.
You can't see the arrow.
Some of you are coming tochurch for the first time, like

(20:46):
you're going to be tellingpeople more about these slides
than you about to sermon.
Put a scripture up there orsomething.

(21:07):
In the biblical narrative, god'sRuach empowers individuals for
specific tasks.
For example, joseph receivesthe ability to interpret dreams.
That only comes from God'sRuach, from God's spirit.
Bezalel gains artistic skillsand begins to build furniture

(21:27):
for the holiest of holies, thetabernacle.
Prophets attain insight intohistorical events from God's
perspective.
That is only by the spirit ofGod.
This empowerment illustratesthe spirit's role in fostering
creativity, wisdom and prophecy.
So we have to know that God'sspirit, we look at it in the
wind.
Wind is unseen, it'sunpredictable, it's powerful and

(21:52):
it's refreshing as a storyprogresses.
Despite the good world Godcreated, god's spirit created
the world, and the humanwrongdoings begin to displace
some things, begin to messthings up, begin to throw the
world into this upside down wayof doing things.

(22:14):
And so the theme of empowerment,transformation, continues with
Jesus, whose baptism marks thebeginning of new creation,
jesus's life and teachings andresurrection seen the acts of
power of God by the spirit ofGod.
So the same spirit that raisedChrist from the dead lives in
you.
So, after Jesus's death, hisfollowers received the Holy

(22:36):
Spirit.
He says hey, I've got to go,but I'm not leaving you without
help, I'm sending a comforter,which is the Holy Spirit.
Okay, I'm going to get in thisand that Holy Spirit is going to
be with you always, even though, as God manifests in the flesh,
I'm still limited in the humanform.
But when I go away, thecomforter's coming, the holy

(22:59):
spirit, and he's going to giveyou this deuteronomy power,
ultimately to be witnesses,ultimately to share the gospel,
only to tell others about me.
That's the initial part.
The second part is eternal life, and then everything else in
between.
We're going to talk a littleabout it.
So, ultimately, I get the power, I'm going to be a witness, and

(23:21):
then I'm going to go to heaven.
And that's not the end, though.
There's a lot of stuff inbetween that we have to talk
about, and so this is whatbegins, this, this, this part of
the Holy Spirit.
The word baptism is used withthe Holy Spirit.
In fact, in some places in theBible it's called baptism in the
Holy Spirit or baptism with theHoly Spirit.
This doesn't mean gettingsubmerged with water, though

(23:45):
that is baptism.
The word baptism, biblical text, means to be immersed in.
So initially, we're baptized inthe body of Christ.
You come in here, we say Pastor, chuck and I we do this at the
end of service If you'd like togive your life to Christ.
I want you to raise your hand.
We welcome you to the family ofChrist.
The Bible says that you cannotdo that without the help of the

(24:05):
Holy Spirit, that the HolySpirit reveals that to you, and
so that is the initial baptism.
That is a gift that is free.
That is something you cannot do.
That is what Jesus Christfinished on the cross.
He did that for you.
Nothing you've done.
So here's I'm coming to church.
I'm filled up.
That is the spirit of Godliving inside of me.

(24:26):
I'm littering Spirit of Godliving inside of me.
This is it.
This is you.
You are filled.
You're here today.
Jesus is your savior.
You have the Holy Spirit insideof you.
The Holy Spirit is with youtoday.
Okay.
Now the second part is is thatthe Bible says in 1 Corinthians
12 and 13, for you're allbaptized, got it.

(24:48):
We're all baptized by onespirit into one body.
Get it.
We're all baptized by onespirit into one body.
Get it.
Okay, we're there.
That's what I just said.
And then Galatians 3 and 26,.
For all sons of God, throughfaith in Christ Jesus, for all
of you who were baptized,immersed into Christ, have
clothed.
You've put on something.
You've done something more thanjust add a belief system, more
than just going to church.
This is a part of who you are.

(25:09):
You have clothed yourself withChrist.
You wear him every day.
That's your first step in yourspiritual journey.
Is that initial yes to him Areal, authentic, passionate
relationship with God?
Water baptism is a separateexperience from your salvation
experience.
So, in other words, you don'thave to be water baptized to be

(25:29):
saved, but those who acceptedhis message were baptized.
Jesus was baptized.
Why not you?
I can't walk on water, I can'tturn water into wine, but I can
be baptized like Jesus was.

(25:51):
And it's a public declaration ofthe private decision.
Because here's what Acts 2.41says those who accepted his
message were baptized.
Matthew 10.32.
Why is it important to be waterbaptized?
Whoever acknowledges me beforemen, I will also acknowledge
before my father in heaven.
So why is the publicdeclaration so important?

(26:14):
Is because jesus going like hey, look at what this guy did,
this is awesome.
Look at he's going public.
He shared me with othersthrough water baptism, and it's
baptism in the holy spirit.
So we have to get this.
So so, initial baptism, secondbaptism being baptized in water,

(26:36):
then this one baptism in theHoly Spirit.
Remember, the disciplesreceived the Holy Spirit when
they got saved.
But I want you to go toJerusalem and wait, because I'm
going to immerse you in it.
This is you Holy Spirit.
But if I take this same glassand I throw it into a swimming

(26:56):
pool, that's the differencebeing immersed in the Holy
Spirit.
Being immersed in the HolySpirit, Not just being filled,
but being immersed in the HolySpirit.
And that's what God wants forall of us.
I think I give you my life,jesus.
I say yes to you.
You're my Lord and Savior andthe Holy Spirit's in me.

(27:18):
And I've been water baptized.
And if you've not been waterbaptized, that needs to be your
next step, that needs to bewhere you go next, and then you
need to be immersed in the HolySpirit.
I need to be immersed in theoverflow of the Holy Spirit.
I want to be immersed becausethere's so much benefit if I am
immersed into the Holy Spirit.
Can we track him?
Are we good Pastor Matthew?

(27:39):
It's another experience wherehe clothes you or immerses you
in his power.
I can show you tons of places,but for the sake of time I'll
show you one.
Remember they're preaching allover the place.
Philip went down to a city inSamaria Acts 8,.
Acts 8, verse 5, and proclaimedChrist there.
Bible says but when theybelieved first baptism, you
believed.

(27:59):
You believed Jesus Christ,philip, as he preached the good
news of the kingdom of God.
In the name of Jesus Christ,they were baptized in water,
both men and women.
When the apostles can you on?
When the apostles in Jerusalemheard that revival's going on,
they're having church on Sunday,samaria accepted the word of
God.
They sent Peter and John tothem.
Now here.
When they arrived, they prayedfor them that they might receive

(28:21):
the Spirit, because the HolySpirit had not yet come on any
of them.
Keep reading this is still thesame story.
They had simply been baptizedinto the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John placedtheir hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit.
The overflowing power of theHoly Spirit is in our lives to
produce two things.

(28:41):
Why do I need to be immersed inthe Holy Spirit?
Why do I need to be immersed inthe Holy Spirit?
Why, and I want you to knowit's a gift.
All you have to do is God.
I want to be immersed in yourHoly Spirit why, and I want you
to know, it's a gift.
All you have to do is God, Iwant to be immersed in your Holy
Spirit.
And the Bible says if you ask,he will do it.
Because he explains it this wayIf you ask your father, who is
an earthly man, to give you agift, he'll give you that gift,

(29:05):
right.
If you ask for a bread, does hegive you a rock.
You ask for an egg, does hegive you a serpent?
No, then how much more doesyour heavenly father in heaven
know how to give you good giftswhen you ask?
And so when you ask, he will doit.
When you, I want to be immersedin your spirit, then he will do
it.
And the reason why he wants todo that is because here's what
happens he gives you two thingsNumber one is the fruit of the

(29:27):
spirit and number two is thegifts of the spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit andnumber two is the gifts of the
Spirit.
Gifts is one, not all, maybemore than one.
Fruit of the Spirit is all, notjust one.
You missed that, didn't you?
A lot of you are like I got joy, but that long-suffering thing

(29:47):
I ain't got that.
That would be me showing up toyour house.
You asked me to bring a fruitsalad.
And I walk into your house witha fruit salad and there's just
apples in it.
You're like what is going on?
But some of you are walkingaround this world with just one
of the fruit of the Spirit, andit's wrong.
You're supposed to produce allof them, all of them, all the

(30:10):
fruit of the Spirit, all thefruit of the spirit, all the
fruit of the spirit.
And we're going to get there.
I told you this is a lot, man.
Imagine walking down an openroad lined with fruit trees on
either side.
The sun is bright, the road isdusty.
You see a bursting with right,delicious fruit.
Some branches hang so low withthe abundance that the fruit
falls right into the hands ofthe travelers passing by.
Yet other trees stand barren,no fruit at at all, their leaves

(30:32):
green but offering nothing tohungry passersby.
And some trees have fruit, butit's rotten and foul, dropping
useless to the ground.
So let me say this we shouldproduce the fruit of the Spirit,
we should produce that in ourlives, that should be produced
when we're submerged in theSpirit of God, that the fruit
should be produced and that thefruit should be produced, and

(30:55):
that the fruit of the spirit,this joy or long suffering,
we're going to get impatience,all these things that the fruit
of the spirit is never meant foryou.
The fruit was never meant forthe tree.
The fruit was meant for someonepassing by.
The fruit's not meant for you.
The fruit is meant for yourcoworker.
The fruit's not meant for you.
The fruit is meant for yourcoworker.

(31:16):
The fruit is meant for yourfamily members yet to come to
church.
The fruit is meant for someoneelse.
And so if that's true, then Ihave to make sure that I'm
standing next to a tree that'sactually producing fruit.
Some of you are standing nextto trees that don't have any
fruit and you're wondering whyyou don't have any joy.
Because they don't.
It was never meant for the tree, it was always meant for the

(31:45):
passerby.
So the Bible begins to talk tous about these trees, about how
we're this tree, and then hetalks about trees that don't
bear fruit.
He just tosses them away, and Idon't want God to ever throw me
away because I'm not bearingfruit, because I have this
incredible opportunity to bearfruit, because I'm immersed in
the Holy Spirit, and if I'm notbearing fruit, that means I'm

(32:07):
immersed in something else.
Let me just say this If I takea cucumber and I plunge it into
pickle juice and I leave itthere for five seconds, does it
turn into a pickle?
No, it has to be immersed for along time.
Some of you are just barely dipit in, some of you just barely
hanging on.
I'm telling you you got to beimmersed in this, you got to go
all in deep, you got to go intothe overflow of him.

(32:28):
So overflow will come from you.
The prophet Joel said this.
He said it shall come to passafterward that I'll pour out my
spirit on all flesh and yoursons and daughters shall
prophesy.
Your old men shall dream dreams.
Your young men shall seevisions, even the male and

(32:48):
female servants.
In those days I will pour outmy spirit.
Everyone's going to receivethis.
It's not just for a few, thisis for everybody.
This is Joel speaking back.
I understand prophets had it.
I understand certain people hadit, but no, there's going to
come a time that it's going tobe for everybody.
It doesn't matter what regionyou come from, it doesn't matter
what gender you are.
It's for everybody.
And I'm telling you today it'snot for a guy with a microphone

(33:09):
standing on a stage, it's notfor Ben and Priscilla leading us
in worship, it's not for PastorMatthew or Pastor Chuck.
No, this is for everybody.
The Holy Spirit is for you.
The Holy Spirit needs to dwellin you for the sake of humanity,
to be poured out on all people.
This was a revolutionarystatement.
This was something that was sofar beyond their mind of

(33:29):
thinking.
And so, after Joel, we fastforward 800 years to the morning
.
In Jerusalem and around AD 33,the son of God, jesus Christ,
has died for our sins, risenfrom the grave before ascending
to heaven, he told his discipleswait for the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
They waited and prayed, about120 of them together, not
knowing exactly what to expect.
Then, during the Jewishfestival of Pentecost, the

(33:51):
promise of Joel came burstinginto fulfillment.
50 days after the resurrection,about one week after Jesus',
ascension, his disciples aregathered in an upper room early
in the morning.
Perhaps they're singing psalms,discussing Joel's prophecy,
wondering when it will happen.
Suddenly they hear it.
The Bible says the sound of hisrushing in the upper room early
in the morning.
Perhaps they're singing psalms,discussing Joel's prophecy,
wondering when it will happen.
Suddenly they hear it.
The Bible says the sound of hisrushing, mighty From heaven.

(34:12):
It fills the entire house.
Tongues of fire appear on eachof them.
A holy windstorm shakes thehouse.
You see fire on your friends,but not burning them, it's
igniting something within them.
The scripture says in Acts 2when the day of Pentecost
arrived, they were all togetherin one place and suddenly there
came a sound from heaven as of arushing mighty wind and it

(34:33):
filled all the house where theywere sitting and divided tongues
as the fire appeared on themand resting on each of them, and
they were all filled with theHoly Spirit and began to speak
in tongues as the Spirit gavethem utterance.
This first evidence of a giftof the Holy Spirit was them
speaking in tongues, manylanguages.
People gathered all aroundbegan to hear the impossible.
They wouldn't have missed it.

(34:53):
They heard this loud wind.
They began to see, they beganto partake, began to look on at
what was happening.
This astounding thing.
He was ordinary, and GalileanDisciples are speaking in many
languages, the native tongues ofthe visitors, parthian,
egyptian, roman, more.
Each listener hears God beingpraised in their own tongue.

(35:14):
It's beautiful chaos.
Some are amazed, some areperplexed, some are skeptical
and got jokes.
Oh, they're just drunk.
That's nine o'clock in themorning it's the third hour of
the day.
They were drunk on somethingnew, a new wine.

(35:35):
No, I'm gonna stay here long,but, man, you ever see somebody
who's drunk?
You know they're drunk, man.
They're bold, they're outgoing,they're generous Everybody gets

(36:00):
one.
I think there's a correlationthere, there's something if we
get drunk on the right thing,that we'll be a little more bold
, A little more outgoing, alittle more generous.
Anyways, the Holy Spirit hasfilled Simon Peter with holy
boldness, begins to speak to thepeople, begins to preach this

(36:22):
message.
Remember didn't allow hismisconceptions of God, didn't
have a misconception, didn'tallow his mistake to keep him
from God.
He had the right mindset of whoGod was and was able to fulfill
the prophecy of Joel and preachthe message in Acts.
And this is what he uttered tothe prophet Joel.
It's what Simon Peter said, andon the last days it shall be

(36:43):
God declares that I'll pour outmy spirit on all flesh and your
sons and daughters shallprophesy.
God's spirit was nowoverflowing freely.
You see, it was limited.
In the Old Testament, fewpeople would have the spirit of
God upon them.
But now the spirit of God isfor all of us and people can
experience the mighty miracleworks of God.
And on the day of Pentecost,peter continued to preach the

(37:04):
scriptures of the crowd was cutto the heart and cried out
brothers, what shall we do?
Peter's reply how we receivethis gift of the spirit
personally.
He replied repent, turn fromyour sin, but, more importantly,
turn to God.
See, people, don't preach thatenough.
It's not just about turningaway from something, it's about
turning to somebody.
He says and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the giviness of yoursins, and you will receive the

(37:25):
gift of the Holy Spirit.
Remember, it's a gift.
It's a gift of the Holy Spirit.
You don't have to beg for it.
You don't beg for a gift.
It's a gift.
It's free for you.
You just have to receive it.
Receive the Holy Spirit.
God's not going to bust downthe door of your life to come
invade it.
No, god, I want you in.
I want the Holy Spirit tosaturate every part of my being.

(37:46):
I wanna operate in ways that Ionly can operate through you, oh
God.
So the Spirit of God is like ariver of living water, and that
Spirit of living water will flowinto the garden of our life and
produce those fruits that weall need.
The fruits are found inGalatians, chapter five.
Can I read them?
But the fruit of the spirit islove, joy, peace, patience,

(38:07):
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness for everybody.
Self-control Somebody like Ijust don't have any self-control
.
It's fruit of the spirit.
It's all the fruit, it'severything that's in there.
That's what you get when yousubmerge yourself into the Holy
Spirit.

(38:27):
That's what should be producingout of our lives, this
life-giving fruit that comesfrom God, the life-giving fruit
that every one of these, everyone of these declaratives, every
one of these words, every oneof these things this world needs
now more than ever.
Those nine attributes, don't youknow?
Those nine attributes are thecharacter of Christ.

(38:49):
Why do you think they're there?
That's the character of Christ.
The Holy Spirit is building thecharacter of Christ in all of
us.
With the keys he come.
The nine quality Paul lists canbe grouped as follows Love, joy,
peace.
These reflect our heartcentered on God and trust in his

(39:11):
goodness.
If you're taking notes, takenotes now.
Love, joy and peace reflect theheart centered on God, patience
, kindness and goodness.
These flow out in how we treatothers with grace, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.
These mark a life of integrityand self-mastery under God, love

(39:31):
, joy and peace, patientkindness and goodness.
What a beautiful harvest thisis.
It's never meant for the tree,it's meant for others, this
hungry, hurting world.
So the Spirit producesChrist-like character in us for

(39:55):
the sake of others.
That's not all.
The Spirit also distributesgifts to believers Special
abilities to serve and build upothers.
If the fruit is about who we'rebecoming character, gifts are
about God's work through usministry.
Both are crucial, meant tocomplement each other.

(40:16):
So the gifts of the Spirit.
The apostle teaches us there'smany gifts of the Spirit, only
close to 27 gifts of the Spirit.
Now, there are varieties ofgifts, 1 Corinthians 12 says,
but the same spirit.
And there are varieties ofservice, but the same Lord.
And there are varieties ofactivities, but in the same God
who empowers them all andeveryone.
To each is given themanifestation of the spirit for

(40:37):
the common good.
Again, any time the gift of thespirit is evident, whether it's
speaking in tongues, the giftsof prophecy, gifts of healing,
there's gifts of generosity thatgo beyond.
There's these gifts Anytime.
That gift is made, evident inany situation, and it merely

(40:58):
goes against the gift if itbrings a spotlight to the one
performing the gift, goesagainst the gift If it brings A
spotlight to the one performingthe gift, because the gifts were
always to honor God and shine aspotlight on him.
But if my gift in some way Isspotlighting me, it's not right.
I'm telling you that A lot ofpeople are being used in the

(41:19):
gifts and they're getting theglory, not God.
God gets the glory for thegifts shown, for the common good
on me is not common good on Godis common good.
So the fruit of the Spirit isfor others to be nourished by
our character.
The gifts of the Spirit forothers be helped by our service.

(41:41):
Don't get it miss.
This is so important.
The fruit of the Spirit is forothers to be nourished by our
service.
Don't get it.
This is so important.
The fruit of the spirit is forothers to be nourished by our
character.
The gifts are for service.
Paul lists include gifts likewisdom, knowledge, faith,
healing, miracles, prophecy,discernment, tongues and

(42:03):
interpretation of tongues.
Gifts you should have all thefruit, but you might not have
more than one gift.
You may have 10 gifts, I don'tknow, and those gifts may not
always be active.
You may not always be speakingin tongues and you might not

(42:24):
want to do that.
When you're checking out atTarget.
It'd be weird.
Let me just say this the HolySpirit isn't weird, you are.
The Bible says the spirit of theprophet is subject to the
prophet.
That means that I'm in controlof it, and so we need both.
We need the fruit and the gifts.

(42:45):
We need them both.
Some Christian might just chasegifts and neglect the fruit.
Here's what happens.
It results in a powerfulministry moments, but broken
character.
Others emphasize fruit butignore gifts, resulting in
loving people but maybe notstepping into the power of God
that offers to serve and reachothers.

(43:06):
We need both.
So here let me show you this.
This is.
I wrote this out this week, soI think you got another graphic
right.
Ethan, please have that graphic.
It's like the most importantgraphic, okay, so it's kind of
oversized, I don't know if youcan shrink it, but all right,

(43:29):
there's scriptures above it.
So the left side is the leftside you're looking at is fruit,
the right side is gifts.
So here we go, and thescriptures above it just show
where these are.
About being Christ-likecharacter, developing us, about
doing abilities for ministrygiven to us.
Go ahead, take pictures, listen, grows gradually as we bide in
Christ, like fruit in a garden,give instantly, as the Spirit
wills, like tools for a task.

(43:50):
Are we good?
We tracking?
All right For all believers,every Christian to exhibit all
the fruit increasingly variesamong believers.
We don't all have the samegifts, thank God, meant to bless
others through our attitude andbehavior?
Meant to serve others throughour actions and roles?

(44:12):
Why is it so important that I'mimmersed into the Holy Spirit?
Is that I need this fruit toform in my life so I can build
and help others?
Why do I need to be immersed inthe Holy Spirit?
So the gifts of God can beactive in my life, so I can
serve and help others.
The keys can come if they want.

(44:37):
He's coming.
All right, there he is.
I want them to know.
I'm closing.
I may not be done, but I'mclosing so you can see how fruit
and gifts are together.
Right, we good.
There's clarity in that.
We got that.
We need both the Spirit'scharacter and his power.
The Spirit's character, fruitsof the Spirit, the power, the
gifts of the Spirit.
Without the other, we'reincomplete.

(44:59):
You're destined to live asupernatural life, not a natural
one.
Numerous times in scripturewe're encouraged to find
fulfillment in Christ and theHoly Spirit, not from common
things or cultural things, butfrom holy things, embrace the
person of the Holy Spirit.
So here's what we have to do weall have to remove the barriers

(45:20):
that are in the way.
Number one remove the barriers.
Remove all barriers in yourlife.
God has more steps in yourspiritual journey, but it'll be
you you that'll keep it fromhappening.
God has a lot for you.
Some of you need to be waterbaptized.
Some of you need healing inyour marriage.

(45:41):
Some of you need to take stepsin your spiritual journey.
Some of you need to step intoand maybe spiritual journey.
Some of you need to step intoand maybe be a part of a connect
group, a small group.
Some of you need to join theserve team there's.
So we put up barriers in ourlife and God's saying if you'll
just remove that, there's somuch more I have for you.
See, I think a lot of people, alot of people, have gifts.
They just never know it.

(46:02):
Have gifts they just never knowit.
They didn't discover it.
You're stuck in snow and you'vegot a four-wheel drive truck
that can pull a trailer andyou're stuck.
Well, how do I find that?
I got my manual out and beganto read how to do it, began to
read it, began to discover it.
I actually had somebody who hadthe same truck out.
He says, hey, let me find yourmail.

(46:22):
Started helping me with mytruck.
See, some of you are stuck andthe reason why you're stuck is
you're not in the manual and youdidn't go find somebody who's
already seen the evidence of thegifts of God work in their life
to help you discover yours.
Amen, remove the barriers.

(46:47):
Simon Peter says repent, changeyour mind, change your heart,
change your direction.
Growing up my pastor would tellme this.
He said in the Australian armythey would say a word we, when
we're marching in our army, wesay about face, right, our
military, the Australian Army,they don't say about face, they
say repent.

(47:08):
That's the word they use.
Walk in a different direction.
Want to change your direction?
Be baptized, every one of youin the name of Jesus Christ, for
the forgiveness of your sins.
Get all that stuff out of theway and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and yourchildren.

(47:30):
To all who are far off, eventhe many, the Lord, our God,
shall call the second.
You can do it.
You can do this.
Request the gift of the HolySpirit.
God, I just, I wanna besaturated in the Holy Spirit.

(47:52):
I wanna be immersed in it.
If you pray Holy Spirit,whatever you have for me is good
.
I want I immersed in it.
If you pray Holy Spirit,whatever you have for me is good
.
I want I'll take it all.
Trust that everything that Godhas for you is good.
Don't filter through it.
Don't filter through it, god, Ijust give it all.

(48:18):
Don't talk yourself out on whatGod wants to give you.
I don't want normalChristianity, I want
supernatural Christianity.
Normal's not enough.
Normal's what the world does.
I want supernatural.
Don't filter it through.
Well, I don't get it, or thatseems weird, or that seems
strange.
Why does that happen?
Just say, lord, if you havesomething for me, I'll take it.
It's a good gift, I promise.

(48:45):
And finally, number threereceive him.
Or one more receive him byfaith.
There's a prophecy in Ezekiel.
Let me just walk you through it.
There's a prophecy in Ezekieland the Bible says that he's a
man with a measuring line in hishand.
He measured 1,000 cubits andthen it threw water.

(49:06):
Here's what happened, and youcan follow through along as I'm
going.
Just know that I'm telling thestory and they can see it on the
screen.
I'm not gonna read it, it'dtake too long.
The Bible says there's watersand they're not ankle deep Right
here I don't know if you'veever been to the pool or the
ocean or anything you just go onankle deep, the waves are

(49:28):
crashing, you're in the water,but you're not submerged.
You're just at your ankles andjust barely wet.
You can feel the temperature ofthe water, but the water's not
controlling you.
Then it goes up to I believeit's the knees.

(49:50):
Right, it goes up to the knees.
What is that like?
I'm halfway in.
Even the prophecy in Revelationtalks about being halfway in,
halfway out.
This, this, this, this.
I'm good here.
This is in God.
Oh, this is up here.

(50:15):
I go to church on Sunday, but Istill like to party on Friday.
These are Jesus's.
This is to the waist right Nowfor some.
You know that's everything.
You know.

(50:35):
I'm giving you my future, I'mgiving you this, but I still
want to control things.
I still want to control alittle bit.
I still want to have my handson those things.

(50:56):
And finally he measured to ariver that he could not cross.
All of a sudden, he's submergedtotally into the water.
And I'll tell you this.
There's some of you that yourankle your knee, your waist, but
God says I want you to betotally submerged in this.

(51:17):
It gives us a beautiful pictureof what it feels like to go in
all in a spiritual journey.
I'm inviting you to take moresteps to worship more freely, to
start serving, to get waterbaptized, to step into things of
God.
I'm inviting you on thisjourney.
Without faith, it is impossibleto please God.

(51:38):
Ultimately, you remove thebarriers, you request the Holy
Spirit and you receive it byfaith, so that you can finally
relate to him daily.
I pray that the Holy Spiritwill overflow in your life.

(51:59):
Stand with me this morning.