Pentecost 2017: the Spirit Filled Life: Message 1

Pentecost 2017: The Spirit Filled Life: Message 1

Sermon Outline:A Heavenly Breeze

Topic: The Holy Spirit

Main Point:The Holy Spirit is God’s heavenly breath, giving and sustaining our life and He is here to help us.

Intended Response:Pray for more of awareness and openness of the Holy Spirit in our life.

Introduction

One night, a man named Nicodemus came and spoke to Jesus. In his conversation, he linked the power of God, the signs Jesus did, with the presence of God. Jesus then replies by comparing the Holy Spirit to the wind.

A conversation about the weather

Nicodemus links the power of God with the presence of God.

To be part of God’s kingdom, we must be born again of the Spirit.

Point One:Jesus likens the characteristics of the Holy Spirit to those of the wind.

Understanding the Holy Spirit

He is God

He is the Breath of God

He is the wind of heaven bringing life

He is the Sustainer of life

Point Two: God the Holy Spirit is the giver and sustainer of life.

Why should we want grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit?

He empowers us as God’s people

He guides and teaches us

He comforts us

He helps us face any situation through His peace

Point Three:The Holy Spirit helps us in every situation

Teaching Illustrations and props:

This sermon uses the illustration of wind throughout. You may want to consider setting up a fan to illustrate how items respond to the breeze they create.

There is a great animated clip on the Holy Spirit you can access from

Version without subtitles:

Version with subtitles:

Salvo Studios has also created a fantastic:

More resources for this sermon, including PowerPoint slides are available at

Pentecost 2017: The Spirit Filled Life: Message 1

Sermon Transcript: A Heavenly Breeze

Introduction:

Good morning everyone, it’s great that we can all gather together and worship God as a church family.

Have you ever been in a conversation and you didn’treally know the person? If I am in a situation like that I often find myself reaching for a few standard lines “What do you do for a living?” “Do you follow the footy at all – what’s your team?” “Do you have any kids (would you like to take mine)?”

And of course, the good old faithful “How’s the weather been lately: it’s been so hot”, or “it’s been so cold”, or “it’s been blowing a gale out there – the wind is so strong!”

Insert personal story of being out in the wind

Example: The other night, I was woken up by the wind howling through our neighbourhood. The next day, there were trees blown over, leaves everywhere – and I remember thinking, ‘wow, wind can be so powerful at times’.

Transition

Today we were are going to be looking at a conversation recorded in the Bible between Jesus and a spiritual leader called Nicodemus.If you would like to open your Bibles to John 3:1…

As you are turning there, just by way of background, Nicodemus was part of a religious group called the Pharisees. These were people who were very strict on how people were to obey God’s written Law.

They regarded themselves as spiritually superior to others, and would question anyone who taught on spiritual matters in order to trip them up and find faults with what they were saying.

We read…

John 3:1-6

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

A conversation about the weather

When they met, Nicodemus was trying to get his head around what Jesus was doing and teaching. Notice what he said to Jesus

“…we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you doing if God were not with him” (Jn 3:2).

Now the Pharisees didn’t trust Jesus – in fact, they eventually had him arrested and tried for blasphemy (claiming to be the Son of God) – but Nicodemus was open to God…

He acknowledged Jesus has been sent by God,
He acknowledged that Jesus could do miraculous signs, and…
He acknowledged that God is with Jesus.
Later in John 7:50 Nicodemus stands up for Jesus,
And in John 19:39 we see him carefully wrap Jesus body after He had died on the cross,

In this conversation, Nicodemus links the power of God, the signs Jesus did, with the presence of God. If Jesus could do all these remarkable things, surely God was with Him.

Jesus then responds by talking about the weather. Actually, He begins by talking about the kingdom of God and if Nicodemus truly wants in then he will need to be born of the Spirit.

Then Jesus uses an element of the weather to explain what He means…

“…the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”(Jn 3:8).

Here, Jesus likens the characteristics of the Holy Spirit to those of the wind.

Point 1: Jesus likens the characteristics of the Holy Spirit to those of the wind.

Transition

And this is a really good illustration for us to use when thinking about the Holy Spirit or explaining Him to others – the wind.

Understanding the Holy Spirit

He is God

In The Salvation Army we believe in the trinity; God is three in one. We cover this in our Soldiership course. If you haven’t read our latest Soldiership manual Call to Arms, I encourage you to do so.

In Doctrine three we assert:We (TSA) believe that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

Co-equal. Jesus knows this. He calls the Holy Spirit "anotherCounselor" (Jn 14:16). The word another is the Greek word allosand means “the same as” – The Holy Spirit is the same as Jesus.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit is in the same way, and with the same characteristics, as God.

For example:

The Holy Spirit knows everything (1 Cor 2:10)
He is everywhere (Psalm 139:7)
He is equal to God (Heb 9:14, Matt 28:19, Acts 5:3-4, 2 Cor 3:17-18)
The Holy Spirit as a person has a will (Acts 16:6-7)
He can be grieved (Eph 4:30)
The Spirit can be sinned against (Isa 63:10)
The Spirit can be lied to (Acts 5:3)
We are to obey Him (Acts 10:19–21)
He was personally involved in creation (Gen 1:2)
Jesus honours the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:30-2).

He is the Breath of God

In the next chapter of Genesis the Holy Spirit is described as the breath of God that gives life to humankind…

“… and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen 2:7)

Here we see that God’s Spirit is a life giving wind. This is one of the defining characteristics of the Holy Spirit – He brings life.

Jesus demonstrates this in John 20:21-2:

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is God’s heavenly wind, the breath of life, giving and sustaining life.

He is the wind of heaven bringing life

We are first introduction to the Holy Spirit is as the creative one who builds and shapes the universe. In Genesis 1:2-3 we read:

“…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

The word used for Spirit here is the word meaning breath or wind. This is the same description Jesus used when speaking to Nicodemus.

Just as wind is invisible so too is the Holy Spirit.But even though the wind is invisible we can still see the effect it has on things:

The wind causes trees to move,
It carries items along that are swept up in its force,
We can feel the wind,
We can hear it rustling through the leaves.

It’s the same way with the Holy Spirit: we cannot see Him but we can see the effect He has on people:

He causes us to move into the plans and purposes of God,
We are swept up in God’s mission to share the love of Jesus,
We can feel His presence – that peace that surpasses all human understanding,
And we can hear His voice.

He is the Sustainer of life

Not only does the Holy Spirit create life, He also sustains life:

“If it were his intention and He withdrew His Spirit and breath, all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust” (Job 34:14-5).

I am reminded of Jesus on the cross:

“ ‘It is finished.’ With that, Jesus bowed His head and gave up His Spirit” [and died for all humanity] (Jn 19:30).

So the Holy Spirit is our life-giving source, He sustains all existence and He is the third person in the Godhead. So we can confidently say: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Point 2: God the Holy Spirit is the giver and sustainer of life.

Transition

On the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were first filled with the Holy Spirit we read,

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2 NKJV).

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment and empowered to join in God’s mission. When I read this, I ask myself the question “Am I open to the a move of the Holy Spirit in my life?” And “why should we want grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit?”

Why should we want grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Having a close relationship with the Holy Spirit is such a wonderful blessing in anyone’s life. Consider just a few of the things the Holy Spirit does for us when we are open to Him:

He empowers us as God’s people (Zec 4:6),
He guides us (Acts 8:29, Rom 8:14),
He comforts us (Jn 14:26),
He teaches us (Jn 16:13),
He restrains sin in us (Isa 59:19, Jn 16:8),
He speaks to us in prayer, dreams, prophetic words, visions and through the Bible (Acts 13:2),
He enables us with his gifts and power (Acts 1:8), and
He helps us face any situation.

The list goes on and on – surely the Holy Spirit deserves the other description Jesus used of Him: The Helper (Jn 14:26) – I think we can all use a little more help in our lives from time to time.

Point 3: The Holy Spirit helps us in every situation

Play Clip

As we close today, I’d like to play clip to recap some of what we learned today about the Holy Spirt (4 mins).

Next week were are going to continue our series Spirit-filled Living by looking at how we can be filled with the Holy Spirit – so please come along expecting God to do something new in your life and in the life of our Corps.

Version without subtitles:

Version with subtitles:

Call to Action

As we think about all the Holy Spirit is and does, we should pray for more awareness and openness to the Holy Spirit in our lives.

He is the heavenly breath of God, bringing life into situations that are beyond our control, bringing peace, comfort, strength and hope. The Holy Spirit is the wind in our sails – directing us, leading us, guiding us along the path of God.

Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counsellor to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth” (Jn 14:16).

Do you need help today friends? Do you need comfort? Do you need peace?

It is great to receive help from one another – and that is what we are called to do as The Salvation Army – but there is a helper who never grows tired, who is never too busy to answer the phone call of prayer, who is never inconvenienced by your request.

Would you like to know Him more? Would you like that fresh breathof God to create life to an area that you need help with? Would you like to be filled with God’s Holy presence here today?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you said you would never leave or forsake us. Thank you for your ever present gift of the Holy Spirit.

We ask you would breathe life into us today. That you would move in areas of our life that are troubled or even without hope. Fill us with your Spirit here today we ask – Amen.

(you may want to invite people forward for prayer, or encourage people to come and kneel at the mercy seat and spend time with God).

Pentecost 2017: The Spirit Filled Life: Message 1

Scriptures:A Heavenly Breeze

Jn 3:1-6

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jn 3:8

The windblows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Gen 2:7

And God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Jn 20:21-2

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Gen 1:2-3

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Job 34:14-5

If it were his intention and He withdrew His Spirit and breath, all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

Jn 19:30

‘It is finished.’ With that, Jesus bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.

Acts 2:2

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Jn 14:26

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jn 14:16

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counsellor to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth.

Further Study

Cor 2:10, Psalm 139:7, Heb 9:14, Matt 28:19, Acts 5:3-4, 2 Cor 3:17-18, Acts 16:6-7, Eph 4:30, Isa 63:10, Acts 5:3, Acts 10:19–21, Gen 1:2, Matt 12:30-2, Zec 4:6, Acts 8:29, Rom 8:14, Jn 14:26, Jn 16:13, Isa 59:19, Jn 16:8, Acts 13:2, Acts 1:8.

Written by Christopher Trodden B.A (Bib.Stud)