Uncaged (Week 3): Freedom in Empowerment (Teaching Only)

welcome everybody great to have you here with us today and as always want to say a big welcome to our locations grateful to have each of you guys with us to Central Summerlin and sunrise Mountain Southern Highlands to those in the Kingman family and those who are joining us in our partnership with God behind bars in different prison facilities those who are watching online thank you guys well hey we had some excitement at the Wilhite house this week we have this eleven and a half year old bulldog named Roxy and if you've been around central I've talked about her a lot over the years absolutely love this dog sort of although she's getting older now and she's slowing down and she can't really see much anymore and she can't really hear very well anymore and she's having some incontinence issues if you know what I'm talking about right now and it's just like one thing after another right but but we love her so she goes out in the backyard and we we moved a few years ago bought an older house and had a pool so we never had a pool before but she was fine you know like there's water everything's fine you know I always feel like a pool you know like the kids will swim in it to get right anyway money pit and it needs to be replastered but that's a whole other conversation she's out by the pool hanging out and all of a sudden we hear this splash Roxy the 11 and a half year old bulldog fell into the pool now your dog falls into the pool and that's probably okay for a few minutes because they can like doggy paddle right you know and they keep their head up and all that but if you've ever seen a bulldog that ain't happening man a bulldog falls in the pool and it's like straight down like a rock like it's over and so I kind of hear this splash I'm in the kitchen and I hear the splash and I doesn't even register to me what's happening and then all of a sudden Lori's sitting in the backyard talking on the phone I hear her scream she throws her phone and runs and jumps in the pool leather jacket and all the whole deal right grabs Roxy she can't get her out of the pool that was kind of funny when I cuz I'm like did Lori just jump in the pool is that what I just heard so so I walk around the corner you know I kind of look in the backyard and and you know Lori's it takes everything she's got to keep Roxy's head above water you know and she can't she can't get her up out of the pool so I come over and get down on my knees and we finally get Roxy up on the ledge it was our Baywatch moment right there here's a picture of Lori right after this happened she's soaking wet you can't even tell but actually her clothes are totally wet but look at Roxy like I don't think she has any idea what happened to her this week I think she's like I don't know I was walking along then it was wet and then I was saved because that's what happens to me and Here I am like she's just sort of Roxy you know I don't know but I was thinking about that image because you know how terrible it would have been if she would have drowned right there and the pool I mean I'm like we're gonna had to sell this house you know the kids would never get in that pool again I wouldn't have to replaster it that'd be awesome but you know like like seriously in the next house no pool people but like it would have been absolutely tragic and I think about life because there's a lot of times in our lives where we just feel like we're going underwater you know where we feel like we're we're drowning you know we can't some of you may be there right now with school you just feel like with all the papers and tests and all the responsibilities and things it just feels overwhelming some of you may feel that way with work I feel that way as it relates to political ads right now can just put us out of our misery right you know like all this stuff flying around all this stress all this pressure it could just feel like you know you're going under you're barely keeping your head above water or you're sinking and sometimes when we're overwhelmed the temptation for me and I think for many of us is to just try and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps is to try and you know do whatever we can do in our own strength to get up out of that situation but the good news today is that God promises to help us and he promises to work in our hearts and in our lives we've been in this series we kicked off called uncaged looking at some of the top promise of God in the Bible and he's made many of them but one of the amazing promises of God is simply this he says I will send my spirit we have the resource of God's Spirit available to us today each one of us you're not alone even if you're drowning if you're going underwater you're not alone and God can help you in that moment if you'll allow him to in fact let's look at what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit John chapter 14 Jesus is talking to his followers he's getting he's kind of preparing them because he's about to face betrayal and crucifixion and then resurrection and he's kind of getting them ready for what's happening and they're gonna be overwhelmed in that season so they're gonna feel like they're going under in that season and here's how he kind of sets it up check this out when we get to the red word I will bring this up on the screen read it out loud here with me but John chapter 14 beginning in verse 16 Jesus says this I will ask the Father and He will give you another what advocate you see that you an advocate who will never leave you that's a cool that's cool statement he'll never leave you he's the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth the world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him but you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you know I will not abandon you as orphans I will come to you so Jesus is telling them in this moment look I'm gonna go away but he's in in fact right before this he actually makes this statement he says it's better if I go away because if I go away then the Spirit will come and so we have an advocate turn the person next to you say I have an advocate you have an advocate now that's a very rich word some translations translate that word as a the comforter the encourage ER the helper the advocate one of my favorite ways of understanding the Holy Spirit is the the history of that word advocate goes all the way back to wealthy families in the ancient world and some of these families were wealthy enough to have an attorney on a retainer for the family okay so any legal matters come up any issues come up right you just got this attorney on retainer always available who then comes and represents you as your what advocate and that's the idea Jesus says the Holy Spirit is our advocate always on retainer if you will always there available in our lives to help us so we may go through seasons where we feel like we're drowning we may feel like we're overwhelmed we may even feel like we're alone but it's the Holy Spirit that leads us into truth and it's God's Spirit that can help us in those moments in fact one of the things I've noticed in my whole life about God and I wish it wasn't true I've just experienced this many of you have experienced this sometimes God allows me to find myself in a situation where I feel overwhelmed because it's precisely in that moment when I realize that I need His Spirit and I lean on him in his spirit and I find a strength that I didn't know I had before I don't like being in that situation right but sometimes I find myself in that situation and I can't tell you when I find myself in that situation I look around and I go oh yeah I see what God's doing because I don't I'm like God where are you what are you doing to me but sometimes in the middle of it or looking back later you realize God's moving and working even there to provide help for you and your life I believe we can move from being overwhelmed to being overflowing by depending on God's Spirit on a daily basis in our lives he's the helper he's the Advocate he's the encourage ER and he's available to you today so I want to talk to you about how we can live in the promise of God's Spirit first let's just talk about how we can receive the Spirit's help in our life how we can receive the spirits help I hope you all had a good Halloween I don't know if you trick-or-treat it or you got lots of candy or you carved pumpkins I'm not sure kind of what your family tradition is a lot of people carve pumpkins of scary things like this one right here the typical jack-o'-lantern pumpkin you know scary pumpkin other people started to take this a little further in car Pumpkins of things that actually frightened them in their life check this next pumpkin out that's a low battery charge pumpkin you ever wake up and you see that on your phone and now that's scary in the morning alright here's another one this one represents student loans that's scary every month right here's another one this is scary when the check engine light comes on you want to talk about fear here it is when we talk about the Holy Spirit I think you know some of us that's a little bit of a frightening topic you know people don't really always know what to do with that the old King James version of the Bible used to translate Holy Spirit as Holy Ghost which in and of itself is kind of spooky right when you think of I remember as a kid being like the Holy what you know like Casper the Friendly Ghost he's not a bad ghost he's a good ghost like what's up with the ghost language and conversation and we can get you know sometimes a little bit freaked out by the Holy Spirit sometimes we can be a little bit of afraid of like if I really surrender to God and really allow God's Spirit to move and work in my life you know what if he's gonna call me to go to some foreign land as a missionary or you know what if he's gonna you know make me take these steps in my personal life that I don't I don't want to take and we we can live with fear because we're afraid that surrender is gonna lead us to doing all these things that we don't want to do and I just want to encourage you today that surrender to God's Spirit is not something we should be afraid about it actually will lead to the life that you and I really want it'll lead to the life that we really want I'll show you what I mean before we're done today as we look to the Bible together but it will lead to a life that's filled with good things that we ultimately desire in our lives so God's Spirit is available his spirit is powerful it's not something we should be afraid of it's something we should welcome in our heart and in our lives in fact I went through the New Testament of the Bible and just wrote down all the different things that the Bible says God's Spirit does in our lives so we're gonna just fly over the New Testament the latter part of the Bible at 50,000 feet and I'm gonna kind of read to you all the things the Bible says the holy spirit does it says the Holy Spirit empowers you to love he reveals the deep things of God he enables you to declare Jesus is Lord he distributes gifts to those who believe he unifies the church he brings freedom he gives you access to the Father he strengthens you with power in your inner being he makes you righteous and holy he sets you apart as a child of God and builds you in the person you are meant to become he empowers you to speak God's good news to others he gives you the energy to accomplish things that matter he helps you understand and recall the teachings of Jesus he leads and directs you and serving God he comforts you builds you with joy fills you with hope gives you discernment compels you to act pours the love of God into your heart helps you in your weakness prays for you when you don't know how to pray and pleads your case before God he's your advocate your helper your defense attorney a down payment on heaven the presence and power of God living within you promising to complete the work that Jesus began in you on the day that you believed that's what the Holy Spirit does and that's a lot right that's a lot now when we talk about the Holy Spirit we're talking about a person and you know some people think into the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost and we sort of talk about the Holy Spirit like an it but the New Testament writers speak of the Holy Spirit as a person in personal language theologians in the Christian faith believers and thinkers for years have talked about God is Father Son and Holy Spirit there's one God in three persons and so when we talk about the Holy Spirit we're not talking about it we're talking about him it's it's God you know and his representation in our heart and in our lives as we follow him in faith and God's Spirit can move and work to help us in fact his spirit and many of our lives has already been moving and working in powerful ways listen to this Ephesians chapter 1 beginning in verse 13 we get to the read word will read it out together loud out loud together fusions 1:13 it says it's in Christ that you once you heard the truth and believed it this message of your salvation found yourselves home free so he's saying look many of you some of you are not yet followers of Jesus and I'm thrilled that you're here and I believe one day you will be a follower of Jesus many of you are followers of Jesus and you've already crossed that line of faith but look at what the Bible's saying it's saying look when you heard the truth and you believed it you found yourselves home free look at this sign sealed and delivered by who the Holy Spirit it's the Holy Spirit who was working in us even before we understood what God's Spirit was doing it says this signet from God is the first one installment on what's coming a reminder that we'll get everything God's plan for us a praising and glorious life so the Holy Spirit is like a downpayment on heaven if you will it's like the first payment right we talked in week 1 of this teaching series about how God's presence is really the greatest promise throughout the Bible and His Spirit is his presence in our lives not only today but ultimately in heaven and so even now we have the down payment on that promise ultimately coming to fulfillment and so we can receive the spirits help and in fact we already have received the spirits help in many many ways in our hearts and in our lives and so in your life in my life this week my challenge to you is to think about what it means when you're overwhelmed when situations feel you know incredibly difficult to lean into the spirit in your life and to derive power and strengths from God and who he is I know in my life I want a powerful passage for me it was always Ephesians 5:18 it says don't be drunk with wine hello but which is not so much a prohibition against alcohol but it's an it's an illustration about influence because here's what it says don't be drunk with wine because when you're drunk with wine what happens well you know you're under the influence of something else right you know you can make dumb choices people can put lampshades on their head dance on tables at parties and do things the next morning they're like oh man what did I you know bosses don't be drunk with wine instead he says be filled with the spirit so the illustration is you and I choose what we're going to allow to influence us right and he's saying allow God's Spirit to influence you come under the influence of the Holy Spirit now there's some things that we can do to come under that influence right just like there's some things that you could do to get drunk right open a bottle drink you got to do some things you don't just like wake up be like oh no I'm just drunk and this is Paul's illustration right fusions 5 mrs. Paul's illustration it's the same principle with the Holy Spirit there's some things that you and I can do to come under the influence of the Holy Spirit to receive the spirits help in our lives now on the one hand we just read in Ephesians chapter 1 that the Spirit is a downpayment in our lives that even as we started to believe and started that spiritual journey and came to a place of faith that God's Spirit was already working in our lives and already doing much of that work in our lives which is awesome so we are already influenced by the Holy Spirit and when you become a follower of Jesus I believe you have God's Spirit within you and you're sealed the Bible talks about the sealing abroad spirit you're marked with God's Spirit and he's with you through the very end but Paul also talks about being filled so even though you're sealed by the Spirit you still have to daily regularly be filled by the spirit come under the influence of the Spirit I'll just talk you through how I do this in my life and it's a constant challenge but for me I'll daily will ask the Holy Spirit to fill me just it's a little prayer that I say you know just Holy Spirit fill me you know I often pray this prayer even before I get up to speak you know fill me sometimes when I'm really stressed out there in the day I will just stop and open my hand like this and I don't make a big deal about it nobody else needs to see it you know you're at work you can just sort of turn around but it's just a reminder alike just give that to God let that go surrender to what God's doing in this and even if you don't understand it God I'm just I'm letting go of that I'm giving that to you yes more not want to come drowning so I'm gonna give you that wait another thing that I do is you know I listen to music Paul and Ephesians chapter 5 he talks about he says don't get drunk with a wine instead be filled with the Holy Spirit and then he then he gives us this list of things that we can do that help us not only be filled but come under the influence of the Holy Spirit and the list is this he says sing hot songs and hymns to one another in other words sing worship music why don't we come together at church and we sing and we worship it we get filled right we get filled back up so we can go back into the week and face all the challenges that we have to face and so that's one way that we can come under the influence of the Holy Spirit he says give thanks to God so I find that on a regular basis I have to stop and in my own life just give thanks to God for what he's doing focus on what he's already done in my life focus on the many gifts of people and love and relationships that he's given to me in my life and that's the way we come under the influence of the Spirit and so wherever you're at if you're overwhelmed this week just pause and realize you're not alone you have an advocate and a helper who is with you who can do all kinds of things in your heart and in your life if you'll just depend on him and surrender to him so we we want to receive the spirits help second principle is this respect the spirits guidance respect the spirits of guidance so I've started I'm like I'm four months in doing strength training and I don't know if you've ever done any strength training but I'm talking like God and I couldn't find the time to go to the gym I do most of this stuff before the Sun comes up right it's like really early which is not the best time to be lifting heavy weights but um I got a squat rack and I got a barbell and I got some plates and I found this company that does online strength training I don't know if you ever it's a new world we live in people so what I mean is I have this set routine that the trainer sends me and you know I go through these workouts and then the last set I have to record on my phone and video it and then I have to send it back you know and so every one of my way and the reason I do that is because then the trainer comments on my form and all of this and coaches me to have good form which you know you need when you start lifting heavier weights right so so I'm doing this thing called the squat like like three days a week for the last four months now I don't have you ever done the squat but I'm just gonna come and do the squat for you right here you know you get your get your feet about like this you got a barbell on your back right with some weight and then the whole idea is you go down and then you go up I blow my pants out next service that won't be good so no problem right now but you get a couple hundred pounds on your back that starts to get heavy you know like if the first it was fine I'm like oh this is cool I'm doing strength training and I'm old it's not cool anymore man I'm like four months in now I'm doing deadlifts with hundreds of pounds this hurts it's brutal I get in there and I'm like oh I hate this maybe I'll just let myself go I don't want to do this maybe I don't care about being healthy maybe it doesn't matter right you're just yeah anyway you ever been there like I'll take you deep into my self-talk it's really scary down in there right on what I don't but I keep getting up I keep doing it but my trainer keeps coming along and and I have to send these videos off and then she sends me back comments and she nitpicks every single thing I do and she tells me your feet aren't wide enough apart your stance isn't right that's why you're on your toes I'm like I'm not on my toes then I have to go back and watch the video yep I'm on my toes and so you know like you're not going deep enough I'm four months in doing the squat three days a week and I'm a squat idiot I still can't do it perfectly but I keep leaning into her she's actually great I really like her I should probably watch this message hi Alexis gee she's always pushing me to go further and to do better and so I listened to I respect her guidance because first of all she can squat way more than I can and she can deadlift way more than I can I respect her guidance because by respecting her guidance I believe it will have a positive impact and influence on my life mostly I think and I think the Holy Spirit wants to come along in our lives and not just be a resource of strength when we're tired and exhausted but also a trainer if will respect the spirits guidance in our life if we'll lean into where the Spirit is nudging us and leaning us in our life we can experience more of just a sense of the reality of God every day in our lives in fact look at what Galatians chapter 5 verse 25 says Paul writes these words he says if we live by the spirit let us also keep in one keep his step you see that so it's like we're already living by the spirit we've been signed sealed and delivered by the spirit God's Spirit helped bring us to salvation God's spirits already moving and working in our life but notice we're also supposed to keep in step with the spirit we got to walk with the spirit we got a surrender to the spirit and be open to what God's Spirit would have us do and how he would have us live then he says let us not become conceited provoking one another instead or in being one another so we've got to respect the spirits guidance in our life and that's not something to fear maybe you're having a conversation with somebody and maybe you just sense that you know God is guiding this conversation I had a friend of mine pastor Tim Scott in San Diego longtime friend of mine dear friend he's telling me this story it's amazing story I got to share with you this last week he says he'd gone with some business leaders to Jordan and in the midst of this business trip several years ago they got an audience with King Abdullah whoa so they're sitting with the King there's an interpreter and they're going around introducing themselves he said when he walks in and he looks at King Abdullah he looks exactly exactly like his father had passed away so he's getting emotional he's choking up because it's like oh my gosh no it's just like my dad so he's sitting there they go around the table and and he says you know the first person says I'm so-and-so and I represent the President of the United States of America and everybody represented somebody right I'm so-and-so and I represent this business I'm so-and-so and I represent right they get to him and he's planning on saying you know I'm Tim and I represent this business I'm kind of just coming along for the ride and in this moment he said he doesn't know what came over him he just said I'm Tim Scott by the way the president King Abdullah is Muslim he says I'm Tim Scott and I represent the king of the universe Jesus Christ can you make it and he said he had that moment of like dude what are you doing like outside of himself like shut your mouth oh my gosh just said that to the king and he said the whole room everybody's like uh what just happened down there you know like what is going on and he felt that pressure but he was getting emotional because he reminded him of his dad and so the King says to the interpreter to him he says why why is he becoming emotional so Tim reaches in his wallet pulls out a picture of his dad gives it to the interpreter who takes it over to the king the King looks at his dad and smiles realizes they look exactly like each other gets up goes over to Tim hugs him embraces him kisses him on both cheeks and they have a 30-minute conversation just he and the King through that interpreter King Abdullah Azzam tell me about your father tell me about your faith tell me about your background tell me about your life and he said all these other leaders sat there and listened to this whole thing happen and then it was over and they left sometimes God's Spirit can move in our lives in big dramatic way right you just use you ever been in a conversation and said something and you're like oh I can't believe I just said that I don't mean in a bad way and all of a sudden you sense there's something bigger than you going on but then many times when the Spirit works in our lives it's very subtle all right it's not always so direct those those stories are few and far between but they're awesome right but they're few and far between many of the stories in our lives would be simple and subtle the Hebrew word for spirit Rulon it's fascinating word because it could be translated wind or breath those are two very different things right like the wind is unbridled power and strength if you've ever been outside when you know we get certain winds in our area that just come through and it's unbelievable right gusts that flip 18-wheelers over on their side and blow all your backyard furniture into your neighbor's yard you know you're just like run for the win that shakes the windows wind is untamed and unbridled and powerful and strong and that's the spirit sometimes he moves in our lives in very powerful ways like that but it's also breath breath is intimate right we breathe thousands of times a day we've been sitting here breathing in and out in and out of we're not even aware that it's happening and I think the picture is appropriate God is both wind power strength you can't always see him but you see the the effects of him moving but he's also breath he's present he's imminent within us and as we follow him he he dwells within us and he works sometimes in very subtle ways in our hearts and in our lives he's moving he's working and here's the end result of God's Spirit if we'll respect his guidance Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 says the Holy Spirit produces this kind of what fruit it's kind of fruit in our lives love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control there is no law against these things it's one of my favorite verses and I think it's one of my favorite verses because I think it's what we all really want I mean who doesn't want love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness self-control who doesn't want that stuff this is why I say if if you sense God as guiding you or leading you in your life follow his leading you don't have to be afraid because what it's gonna result in is a life that you really want a life build with love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness self-control so maybe this week you'll find yourself in a conversation and you'll sense God just sort of nudging you like you know share your story share what I've done in your life and you know I have to make a choice you know in that moment do I do I go with that is it appropriate and and if so sometimes you just got to push through it take the risk and step out or maybe you'll have an opportunity to help somebody to be generous to somebody this week and you sense God just nudging you to do that and surrender to his spirit respect his guidance in your life and remember it's gonna lead to love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness self-control maybe you be in a conversation with somebody and you know there's some things that get thrown around and some accusations made and you want to be defensive and you want to come right back at them and you're kind of gearing up and you've got your argument you're you're watching their lips move while they talk but you're building your counter-argument in your mind the whole time right come on somebody and you're thinking like oh yeah yeah just keep just keep doing this because I'm about to back it up right but instead you just sense the Holy Spirit nudging you like that's not gonna you you may win that battle but you're gonna lose the war that's not the way that's not the way and so you keep your mouth shut and you allow that moment God to do what he wants to do there's a lot of ways we can follow the Spirit's guidance in our life and I'll be the first to tell you that what we're talking about is a little bit subjective and it's it's a mystery it's hard like this is a hard message when I was working on I'm like how do I really talk about God spirits work in people's lives without weirding them out and at the same time you know acknowledging that this is a mystery and it's you know sometimes it's hard to know what God is leading us to do and that's true for me and for all of us but I hang on to the promise I have an advocate I hang on to the promise God's Spirit he's around me like my breath he's powerful like the wind and more and I can lean into him for help for encouragement for comfort in my life so every day I'm just saying God fill me with your spirit when I get stressed out I open my hand god I give all this stuff to you I depend on you I'm following you when I sense that God's nudging me hey Chad you need to walk walk a little more slowly you need to listen to somebody who's hurting then I'm gonna lean into that and I've learned like lean into that let God move in that sometimes I've made leadership decisions that don't always make sense on paper right but you just sense this is what God is leading us to do we want to be a people and we want to be a church that is open to the leading of God's Spirit in our lives right this is God's church I'll tell you all is bright is an awesome initiative and that initiative is really all about blessing kids this holiday season and I remember several years ago when we began to dream about what that could be like I just remember kind of looking at it on paper I remember we were at a time as a church where the season we were in things were really tight financially in our own world and I wasn't sure how we could afford to be generous you know what I'm talking about but as a church we made the commitment in the decision it's not about us rights about helping others it's about helping kids it's about helping incarcerated families kids who may not have Christmas and being a part of that and it's been one of the most amazing ministries that we've done I'm so excited about helping like 15,000 kids this year and I've learned the question as a church isn't can we afford it it's just not the right question it's as God calling us to do it because if God's calling us to do it what's the cliche where God guides God provides right where God leads you God will take care of it he always does so in your life however God is leading you this this week hang on to that promise he's there to help he's leading you to the life you really want respect his guidance receive his help follow his leading in your life and you'll produce the fruit of the Spirit maybe you're here maybe you've never crossed the line of faith in your life if that's where you're at I'd love to give you an opportunity to just receive Christ into your life begin that spiritual journey and to realize that even now if you since God is tapping you on the shoulder his spirit is already at work in your heart and in your so I knocked ask everybody to bow their heads and close their eyes and if you'd like to become a follower of Jesus you can begin that journey by repeating this prayer after me say dear God I thank you for loving me they give her sending Jesus into the world I believe he died on the cross for my sins believe he rose again forgive me for my sins give me the gift of eternal life help me face the challenges that I'm up against God I surrender my life to you in Christ's name friends with every head bowed and every eye closed if that's your prayer today just like to ask you to slip your hand in the air just to acknowledge but you're gonna follow God today in your life you're surrendering to him today just slip your hand in the air and reach out to him [Music] God we thank you for each person reaching out to you experiencing your love and your goodness in their heart and life pray that your spirit will fill them with love and joy and peace forgiveness and God we thank you for the promise but you're always with us but you do not leave us as orphans that you never abandon us we give you thanks for each of these individuals today in Christ's name Amen

Channel: Central Church

Views: 1,781

Rating: 4.7647057 out of 5

Keywords: central online, central church, central henderson, jud wilhite, uncaged, series, worship, message, faith, believe, service, drew bodine, christian sagum, central live

Id: tRVUwjpuufQ

Length: 35min 10sec (2110 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 04 2018