Did You Receive it?

Can we give it up for Pastor Phil and Pastor John Michael? (audience applauds) Man, we are beyond blessed with those two and the words they bring every week, but last week, Pastor Phil brought a word on going through the storm. I don't know about y'all. He had this cute little decorative anchor out here and talked about it slowing you down. Yo, the anchor that drags me is like a big aircraft hanger carrier. It's like the big, it probably went even fit up on the stage. If anybody's in the Navy, you could tell me how big one of those anchors are. Like, that's how big the anchor that drags me and slows me down sometimes, but you gotta cut it off. And you gotta keep moving. But today I have the honor. It's not just a normal Sunday. It is Pentecost Sunday. For you history people, you know it happened 49 days after the resurrection of Jesus. And we're gonna be in the book of Acts today. Some of you are scrambling. Where is the book of Acts? Where is the book of Acts? It's in the New Testament. I'm not a theological expert, but it's after the gospels. But I need you guys to understand something right away from the beginning.

Pentecost was never supposed to stay as like a historical moment. It wasn't a moment in the Bible where like God showed up and just left it there. It wasn't a moment when the spirit filled the apostles as they were sitting in the upper room. It didn't just die with them. Like, the apostles are dead. The Holy Spirit died with them. Pentecost is no more. But the same spirit that filled the upper room, the same spirit that empowered the apostles, the same spirit that shook cities and transformed lives. Are you ready for this? Still moves today. It's still active in this room today. It's still active in your life today. And today I believe God wants to ask every one of us a question in this room. And if you are one of those people that writes notes and writes the title of my message, it's gonna be this. Did you receive? Did you receive? Not did you check the box in a 10 church today? Not did you wake up and say your morning prayers, although those things are important. Not do you know your Bible verses? Not are you some theological expert that can quote scripture to me,

but did you receive? I think a lot of us are a round church. We're a round worship. We're a round religion. But have you truly received the fullness of what God has for you? Have you truly stepped in to the fullness of God's glory and his power? 'Cause if you'd asked me 12 years ago when I walked through a door at Fairview Park, if I would have been up here on the platform, preaching in front of a bunch of people, I would have said you're crazy. Not for me, I'm out. I'm gonna stand in my sound booth and be there. But I think when we truly experience the fullness and we truly receive what God has for us, people can be changed. Lives can be changed, the world can be changed. Your circumstances can be changed. So let me set this up for ya. J.M. at the beginning of this sermon series brought an amazing word on Acts 2 at the beginning. It's when the disciples, they were hiding in the upper room and they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit by a rushing wind and they start speaking in different tongues. You see, after they started speaking in different tongues, Peter came out and he began to speak to the masses and they were speaking in different languages

and different tongues. Some people were claiming that they were drunk. They're like, man, these people speaking these, I don't know what they're done, but they are drunk. They are not able to. A lot of people were in disbelief, but Peter came out and he preached a word that cut them to their hearts and they asked the disciples in Acts 2, 38, this. They said, hey, what do we do? What's next? And Peter said this, repent and be baptized. That is point number one, be water baptized. It's biblical, it's biblical, it's in the Bible. It's a key word there, every one of you. It doesn't say some of you, it doesn't say the religious elite, it says every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You see, when we look back, John the Baptist was telling people, "Repent and be baptized." Now Peter just comes through and says, "Hey, like we're doing this, we're going to repent and be baptized for all of you that are hearing this right now." You see, I believe in these moments when we repent and we're baptized, we step into what God truly has for us. The passage really holds a particular weight because it establishes our answer to salvation. "Hey, we got saved. Now what's next?" We get water baptized. We move into that and Paul explains it more, Jesus more fully and they immediately get baptized immediately. Over 3,000 were added to their numbers that day through water baptism.

I like how he says immediately because baptism doesn't save you, Jesus does, but baptism is your public declaration saying, "My old life is dead." When you go under that water, something happens. You leave the old you behind. You leave your shame. You leave your guilt. You leave your condemnation. You leave everything that is the old you that doesn't point you to God in that water. You see, I think some of us in this room, we're delaying our baptism. We're like, "Man, I got to get my life right first. I got to get my life right first before I declare that I'm a Christian. I got to move past this sin that I got before I become a Christian. I got to give up this addiction I got before I can get baptized." Can I ask you guys a question? Does anybody clean themselves before they get in the shower? Does anybody using dude wipes, like, "Let me just get some of this dirt." No! You jump in the shower dirty. You jump in the shower filthy. Don't get you cannibal in the baptism, I guess, if you want to, but when we get into that baptismal and we go under the water and we come up, we come up new, we come up afresh, we come up with a new anointing. We come up a new person. You see, you don't have to clean yourself before coming to Jesus. He doesn't for you. He cleans you up for you. He pushes you in to what He's truly called you to be. But if Jesus were baptized and the disciples were baptized and the early church was baptized, why do some of us think we're above it? Why do some of us think it's a step we don't have to take?

You see, church baptism is not a suggestion, it's a step of obedience. It's a step saying, "Why God, I don't think I got it altogether. Why God, I don't think I got all my ducks in a row. Why God, I'm still crying out to you wondering how I'm going to get through this situation I'm in." Being obedient and saying, "I'm taking that next step and I'm being water baptized." It's point one, "Be water baptized." Now we're going to jump ahead to Acts 19. Paul arrives in Ephesus, which I hate these, I hate these like ancient cities. Why can't it be some easy like, Paul arrived in Avon. Paul arrived in Sheffield. Paul arrived, no, it's like a Ephesus, man they're killing me. But some of you are like, man, Ephesus, that sounds kind of familiar, you're right, because later on he's going to write letters to them in the book of Ephesians and he finds some disciples there. These weren't atheists, these weren't pagans, these weren't believers of Artemis, which was a God that they worshiped in that city. These were sincere believers, but Paul right away before we jump into the scripture could realize something was missing. Like guys we can relate, we do the three taps on our pockets, keys, wallet, phone, right? We do the three taps. It was like, oh, the phone's missing here, all the keys are missing, all the wallets missing. For ladies like, all your stuff goes in a purse like water bottles, makeup, bibles, last week's pay stubs. I don't know like if you could ever truly forget that. It'd be like my dad, when we were on our way to Canada one time, being an hour and a half into the drive to Niagara Falls and going, "Hey man, I think I forgot something." And I was like, "Oh yeah?"

He was like, "Yeah, I think I forgot my passport." I was like, "Ooh, that's kind of important. "We need that to continue on in our journey." And Paul brings this up in Acts 19, one through seven. It says this, "Why Apollos was at Corinth." Which will later be Corinthians, right? Look at us go teaching you guys how to be biblical scholars today. Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not heard. "There is a Holy Spirit." And I love their honesty. I love how they were honest in that moment and to be transparent and to be real, like I think some of us need to be more honest in our faith like that. Like if somebody's up here bringing a word or maybe you're in your small group and you're going through Bible study and you don't understand something or you've never heard of something, it's okay to ask questions. It's okay to be honest in your faith walk. It's okay to be honest when you're doing things. 'Cause I think the best part of this is when we truly understand our faith

and we truly understand what we're reading, we can move into it. But they said we haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit. To get even more real, I think there's churches today that know about God but they don't understand the power of God. I think there's people that know great theology. They could read you scripture after scripture after scripture but they don't know intimacy. I think there's people that know religion but don't understand relationships. They know church culture but don't understand how the Holy Spirit can completely transform them. And Paul continues on to ask them then what baptism did you receive? John's baptism they replied. Paul said John's baptism was a baptism of repentance which is what we just walked through. You're repenting of your sins, the old you is gone, the new you is here. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him that is Jesus, I'm hearing this, they were baptized in the name of Lord Jesus. You see then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied and they were about 12 men in all. You see the early church was spirit filled, living was normal. It was completely normal. It was completely normal in their everyday life.

I think some of us have this notion that being filled with the Holy Spirit is weird. It's weird, like these people speaking in different languages, it's weird. These people speaking in tongues, it's weird. These people giving the gift of prophecy is weird. Can I tell you, the Holy Spirit is never weird. People are weird. Like the Holy Spirit never shows up and this is just weird. No, people are weird. And that's okay that people are weird. But if I'm honest with you guys, you're never meant to do life on your own strength. You need the Holy Spirit. You need the power of the Holy Spirit when temptation comes at you. You need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit when you get confused. You need the peace of the Holy Spirit when anxiety attacks your mind. You need the boldness of the Holy Spirit in this broken world we live in. You see, Jesus tells us before he ascended to heaven you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. I want you to catch that word. It's power. It's not hype. There's not like this hype behind the Holy Spirit where we can come up here and be super hyped out. It's not emotionalism.

It's power for a purpose. It's power to live differently. It's power to forgive that person that you know you shouldn't. It's power to endure. It's power to witness. It's power to stand. You see, I love in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church in the upper room. It says it came upon them suddenly. I want you to look at your neighbor and be like, suddenly. Now look at the other one that you know needs Jesus a little more and tell them suddenly. Somebody just got offended. I'm sorry. But here's the thing, you can't manufacture as suddenly. You can't control God's timing. I think some of you out there beating your head against a wall right now going, "God, why aren't you speaking to me? Why aren't you answering my prayers? Why do I keep getting these thoughts over and over and over again?" It's because you can't manufacture as suddenly, but you can't position yourself for it. You see, the disciples were praying. They were waiting. They were hungry. They united. And all of a sudden heaven entered the room. I think some of you all are suddenly away from your breakthrough. Some of you are suddenly away from that job that you've been praying for, that you've been wanting, that you've been hoping for. Some of you are a suddenly away from getting rid of those anxious, fearful thoughts that overtake your mind again and again and again and again. Some of you are suddenly away from stepping into what God has truly called you to. Man, I feel like suddenly, as one suddenly away from a healing moment, I feel like somebody is one suddenly away from a healing moment. You see, today is your day that you can receive the power of the Holy Spirit and not in some overly weird way that Sister Mary and the church you grew up in made the Holy, she's probably like the Holy Ghost. It's not this overly weird thing that Sister Mary made it seem like. There's power. There's authority that comes with it when you receive it.

Don't stop praying because heaven seems silent. Keep moving in point two is be Spirit filled. The disciples will be fulfilled with the Holy Spirit. It's a thing that Jesus left for us when he left this earth. You see, as we were reading there, Paul laid hands on them. And I think there's something powerful when believers come together and they pray for each other. When believers come together and they lay hands on each other. A couple of months ago, I was preaching to young adults and I asked AI because AI is the new thing, right? It's the new thing that's going to take away everybody's jobs. It's going to create robots. We're all going to go away, right? But I asked AI. I said, "AI, tell me one thing. Tell me how you would ruin a modern day Christian." And this answer kind of shocked me because I think a lot of us do this. It said it would isolate them, isolate them in their own thoughts. It would put them on an island by themselves like they had no one. You see, isolated believers, we become discouraged. I believe that when the enemy wants to isolate us, he wants to get into our thoughts. He wants us to make us think like we're not good enough. He wants us to make us think that we're not where we should be in life. He wants us to make us to chase that next great thing and that next great thing. And then those next great things don't come to and we're still in the same spot. And then we choose to blame it on God, and that's how we get hurt sometimes. Because we're like, "But God, why don't you do this?" And I remember a time when I was alone in my thoughts and my mom had passed away suddenly and I didn't expect it and I didn't see it coming. And I was just in a dark spot and the enemy knew he had isolated me. And I remember being on the ground of our house, curled up in the fetal position, just crying out to God, asking him, "Why? Why did you take my mom? Why did you not give me a chance?" Why didn't you let her see our boys grow up?

God, like, why? Why did you do this? Why now? Like, could you just give me 10 more minutes? And I felt a hand on my shoulder. And it was my wife who saw what was happening. I said, enemy, you don't have a seat at our table and you're not allowed in our family. You're not allowed to isolate him and put an eye, put him on an island by himself. And she prayed for me. And my friends came around me and they prayed for me. You see, healing happens in community. Breakthrough happens in community. Strength happens in community. James 516 tells us, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. I think sometimes you just need somebody to stand beside you and say I'm believing with you for that promotion. I'm praying for you for that healing. You're not alone at two in the morning when the enemy tries to whisper thoughts in your ear that you're not good enough and you should end it. I'm gonna have to say this one a little carefully here. Some of us are okay with going on social media and bashing Applebee's 'cause they didn't cook our steak right.

Some of us are okay with going out there on the internet and posting our entire lives and bashing a person or doing this and doing that. But the moment time gets tough, we're afraid to come forward and receive prayer 'cause somebody might judge me. Y'all, I judged you 10 minutes ago when you bash the Applebee's server 'cause your steak was wrong. That's when I'm judging you to be honest with you and everybody's like, yeah, I don't care about Applebee's. That place sucks anyway and I'm just kidding. Shouldn't have got a steak at Applebee's. But we wanna go out there and we wanna post our entire life and leave it all out there for people to see. But the moment time gets tough and the intrusive thoughts get tough, we're scared to come forward to the altar for prayer for fear that will get judged. Cannot tell you something, anybody that judges you to come forward for prayer should check their heart. 'Cause that's not what God has called us to. You see, breakthrough happens when somebody lays a hand on your shoulder and says in the name of Jesus be healed. In the name of Jesus be free. In the name of Jesus receive peace in your life. You see, point three is be prayed for. Like if you don't know, one of journey's main points is we pray first. I got people that pray for me every day

because I know that the enemy's gonna try to throw something in my face. I've got people that are praying for me right now because the enemy wants to try to derail us. Be prayed for is one of the most important things you can do in your life. And we're able to pray for people because of the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not a vet and Carlos Silva that are praying for me. They're interceding for the Holy Spirit right now. You see, before Pentecost, before they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were in hiding. After Pentecost, they were preaching boldly. Before Pentecost, they were fearful in the upper room. After Pentecost, they changed the world. And what happened in those moments of the upper room is the Holy Spirit showed up. You see, the same spirit that empowered them is available to you right now. It's not like you have to have like a brother reverend of the sixth Pentecostal. No, it's available to each and every person in this room, especially those of you that don't think you deserve it. He wants it for you. He wants you to step into the fullness that he has for you. So here's the question that I leave you with today. Did you receive? Not did you attend?

Not did you sit in your seat and watch? but did you receive? 'Cause today can be your Pentecost moment. Today can be that moment that changes the trajectory of your life, changes the trajectory of your family and your kids and your grandchildren. Today is the day that you could leave behind that generational curse that has been bombarding you time after time, after time, after time. You saw it show up with your great grandpa. You saw it showed up with your dad. You see it show up in your life. Today you can change everything. Maybe your Pentecost moment today is the gift of salvation. And can I be honest with you guys? I think that there's people in this room that are scared to raise their hand for salvation because they don't wanna get out of their seat and walk forward and be up here in front of the church. Man, we celebrate that. We honor that because that's when you can truly step in to what the Holy Spirit has for you. Maybe today your Pentecost moment is to finally be water baptized. Not because somebody forced you to do, but because you're choosing to declare your faith in a new life for you. Maybe today you need a fresh fire. You need that Pentecost moment of the Holy Spirit to come upon you so you can step into the power.

You can step into the authority. You can step into everything that God has for you. Maybe today you just need somebody to pray over you. But this is what I don't want you to happen. I don't want you to leave the same way you came in. I don't want you to continue to just come in here and do church over and over and over again and then cry wise, God not showing up in your life 'cause you only care about 'em on Sundays. You only care about 'em when you come in the parking lot and full transparency, some of you don't really care about 'em when you pull in the parking lot 'cause you swear at our parking team. It's the hardest job to fill on this 'cause y'all crazy. It's the hardest dream team to fill 'cause they're like, I don't wanna deal with these people when they leave here. Like we have an opportunity every day we come in here to not leave empty handed. Could you imagine this? This same spirit that spoke to over 15 different areas in one moment on Pentecost Sunday through the people that received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Like do we realize the total capacity of that? They spoke in probably 15 different languages we're able to receive that day. If God can show up in a moment through the Holy Spirit and that many people can receive the gift, imagine what the Holy Spirit could do in this room today.

(congregation applauding) Imagine how the Holy Spirit could move in your day to day life if we just allowed Him. Like y'all realize that 1,200 is people call Avon and campus a home on Sundays which y'all don't come every Sunday but we'll talk about that later. But 1,200 people come in here and attend a Sunday service. Like what if those 1,200 people went out and blessed people because they had the power of the Holy Spirit? What if they in 1,200 people invited somebody to church? Like imagine what could change. Imagine the atmosphere we could change not just in these four walls inside this room. Imagine the atmosphere that could change in our small businesses. Imagine the atmosphere that could change in our cities. Imagine the atmosphere that could change the entire Cleveland area. If we all went out there and just stepped in to the authority and the power that is the Holy Spirit, lives could be changed. Chains could be broken, families could be restored. Hope could be received. But I think you gotta ask this question. The first century church received. But the question today truly is, will you receive? Will you receive what God has for you? Will you receive the power of the Holy Spirit?

To receive the power of the Holy Spirit, step one is you gotta get saved. You gotta confess with your mouth. And I think some of you are scared to come forward and do that. Some of you are scared to come forward and say, "But, Jeff, I've been attending Journey for a year. Like, what are people going to think?" Man, there's been dream teamers up here before in red shirts. And you know what we do? We congratulate them, we celebrate them, and we walk through it with them. Because, y'all, this world is tough. It's not easy. But we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help guide us through it, to give us gifts of prophecy, to give us gifts of prayer language. So, with every head bowed and every eye closed right now, I want to ask this question. If you've never raised your hand for salvation before, today's your day. Today's your day to change everything. Because one day the sky is going to crack, and there's going to be more to no more time to ask for forgiveness. You could pull out of this parking lot today, out onto 83, and somebody's not paying attention to the cop and boom, you're gone. And I would hate for you to spend your life in hell. Because that's eternity, that's forever. But there's one man that came to earth to die a death. So we didn't have to, so we could have everlasting life with him in heaven.