It Starts With Power | The Power That Shifts Atmospheres

Welcome to REACH KC everybody, it's so great to have you with us, I just want to invite y'all to stand up and join in. There is no way until you're made one, grace upon grace, hallelujah, even though we're not meant to be together, even though I don't deserve it, you did it, even though I couldn't have it, you get it. Who am I that you'll keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. Hold me, hold me, there's only you, I give you glory for all that you've done, even though I don't deserve it, you did it, even though I couldn't have it, you get it. Who am I that you'll keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. Hold me, hold me, there's only you, I give you glory for all that you've done, even though I don't deserve it, you did it, even though I couldn't have it, you get it. Who am I that you'll keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. Hold me, hold me, there's only you, I give you glory for all that you've done, even though I couldn't have it, you get it. Who am I that you'll keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life you've been right here by my side, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you, yeah. Who am I that you'll keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life you've been right here by my side, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. How I serve God and I'm here to testify, God, I'm just grateful for you, God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm alright if they say I'm out of my mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I could see the name for all my life, and still find more to love each time.

Jesus be the name in the right place. It's sweet for every time that I call. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me proud all week. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. You have been the friend who never left. I won't forget your faithfulness. Jesus, be the name ever on my lips. It's sweet for every time that I call. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me proud all week. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me proud all week. There is no other name, no. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. Oh. I want to thank God in all my history. Oh.

Oh. Jesus, your name is like the morning light. The one the darkness can't deny. The resurrection and the life. Jesus. Jesus, your name can save and make and win. Your name can make the storm and sin. You never fail. You never will. Jesus. Jesus, the bread of life broken for us. Holy and unworthy one. The mercy passes till it comes. Jesus. Jesus, the king who overwhelmed the grave. The Lord who will forever reign. The name above all other names. Jesus. Jesus, we're the name. Jesus, we're the name. Jesus, we're the name that gives all the glory. Jesus, we're the name. Jesus, we're the name. Jesus, we're the name that gives all the glory. Oh. Oh. Oh. Jesus. Oh Jesus, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, it's all our glory, Jesus, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, it's all our glory.

Jesus, Jesus we thank, it's all our glory, Jesus, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, it's all our glory. Jesus, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, Jesus we thank, it's all our glory. There's freedom in your name, there's freedom in your name, that makes me proud only. There's salvation in your name, salvation in your name, salvation in your name, that makes me proud only. So we sing Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, that gets all the glory. No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be. No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be. Here in your love, here in your love. No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be. No place I'd rather be. Here in your love, here in your love. Oh, I want to feel that you are God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you God, I want more of you God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you God, I want more of you God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you God, I want more of you God. No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be. No place I'd rather be than here in your love, here in your love. ♪ Some place I'd rather be ♪ ♪ Some place I'd rather be ♪ ♪ Some place I'd rather be ♪ ♪ Hearing your love, hearing your love ♪ ♪ Set a fire inside my soul that I can't contain ♪ ♪ And I can't control ♪ ♪ I want more of you, God ♪ ♪ I want more of you, God ♪ ♪ Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain ♪ ♪ And I can't control ♪

♪ I want more of you, God ♪ ♪ I want more of you, God ♪ ♪ I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ I want more of you for an hour ♪ ♪ I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ I want more of you for an hour ♪ ♪ I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ I want more of you for an hour ♪ ♪ I want more of you, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come bestow on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, You're all we want ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come bestow on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, You're all we want ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come bestow on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, You're all we want ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come bestow on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, You're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, You're all we want, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, fill with us, Lord, fill with us, Lord ♪ ♪ Fill with us, Lord, fill with us, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, we welcome You, God, we welcome You ♪ ♪ Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control ♪ ♪ I want more of You, God, I want more of You, God ♪ ♪ Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control ♪ ♪ I want more of You, God, I want more of You, God ♪ ♪ I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ Oh, I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more ♪ ♪ Oh, I want more, pour it out, oh, pour it out, God, pour it out, God. ♪ ♪ We want more, we want more of you. ♪ ♪ No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be than here in your love, here in your love. ♪

♪ No place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be, no place I'd rather be than here in your love, here in your love. ♪ As we're singing this, right here. here, I have my daughter standing right beside me, and as my wife begins to sing that first part right there, there's no place I would rather be. Bella stands up and embraces me, and I don't know that she was thinking this while she was singing that, but I was thinking this while she was singing that, that there is no place that I would rather be than right here in your love, and I felt like the Lord dropped it in my spirit right there that he said that there are some fatherless wounds in the room right now that he wants to heal, and that he wants to speak life into, because if we could only grasp the understanding that there is no place that I would rather be like a child in the presence of their loving Father, then that's what the Father of heaven is looking down upon each one of us right now, and so I want to sing that part again, and as we do it, I want us to just embrace what the Lord is doing, and what the Lord wants to do in your life, and if there is something that you are dealing with that has come from just a fatherless society, I want you to just lift your hands for a moment and just sing out, God there is no place that I would rather be than right here in your presence, God. Come on, there is no place, no place, God. We love you, God. Oh, we thank you, God. That there is no place that we would rather be than right here in your love, right here in this moment, right here at Reach KC in this moment, just grasping on to you, hanging on to the hem of your garment in this moment, and just saying, God, I cannot leave your presence until I am changed, because God, I need you to do something in my heart, I need you to do something in my life, I need you to do something in my spirit right now. God, we just hang on to you, because there is no place, no place, that I would rather be, God, than right here in your love. God, we just thank you, God. We just want more of you, God.

We want more of you, for it out. We want more, we want more, we want more, we want more, we want more of you, for it out. We want more, we want more, we want more, we want more, we want more of you, for it out. We want more, we want more, we want more, we want more, we want more of you, for it out. We pray that you would pour your spirit out, pour it out in this moment, pour it out in this place, in each and every one of our lives, right now, in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Come on, can we give a shout of praise to the Lord right now? Amen. Hey, turn to one of your neighbors, somebody besides you, give them a high five, a fist bump, say, hey, it is so good to see your beautiful face in the house of God today, amen. Now, somebody turn to your second choice, the option that you didn't want to talk to, the one that you were scared of and say, hey, I'm so good to see your beautiful face too, amen. I don't have a beautiful face, but I love you. Hey, man, God loves you, too, bro. He said, I don't have a beautiful face. Well, you're beautiful in God's creation. That's all right. In Jesus' name. Amen. One of the things I think about is when God provides a mission, God provides provision. And where the vision of the Lord is, there is provision there. And it's interesting, because in Acts 1.8, Jesus tells the disciples, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you guys will be my witnesses. But what we've got to understand is that God gave them a mission before he even gave them power. And it's interesting, because when you look throughout specifically the book of Acts, and I'm just

referencing Acts because we're preaching through it, so why not, whenever God releases a mission, he always provides what is needed to accomplish it every single time. And I believe that the same is true for us. When we give, when we give as a people, we're not just paying bills. We're not just checking off a box. We're actually fueling the mission of God. Did you know that every time someone gives in this house, that someone hears the gospel because of it? Amen? Someone's life is completely impacted. Somebody finds freedom, whether it's here or in a prison. Someone's life gets restored every single time that you give. And the church didn't just sit in buildings. They moved with power and with purpose. And every time somebody gives, we're saying, hey, God, we believe in the mission that you have entrusted to this church. We believe in what you have called us to. And so we want to give with faith. We want to give with a cheerful heart. We don't want to give begrudgingly. And we don't want to hold somebody else to a standard of what this is. I just want to believe, God, what you have for my life. And I want to apply it in my life because I know where there is power, there is provision,

and there is mission for the church of Jesus Christ. Amen? And that it will move forward. And that when we give, it does move forward because God provides for his church. And he is the only one that can do it. He is the only one that can provide for it in such a way that it will just go and multiply in ways that it has done over the last 2,000 years. To just say, God, you know what? What I'm holding onto today, I'm letting go of. And personally, to me, it's not about the tithe. It's about our trust. And it's saying, God, you know what? I'm going to trust you enough to let go of what means the most to me. And if I can let go of what means the most to me and trust you in this area, I almost guarantee you, I double dog dare you. Come on, somebody. You've got to do it if it's a double dog dare. That God will show up. And he will do like he said in Malachi 3. And he will open the floodgates. And oftentimes, it don't happen overnight. And it don't mean you get a dump truck full of money. It just means that at the end of the month, you realize, huh, I didn't even notice I spent that. You might drop two pounds because you quit eating McDonald's much.

You know what I'm saying? You missed a Big Mac. Come on, somebody. You spend $20 at McDonald's. They took away the dollar menu. Like, that's messed up. Say, God, I trust you. I trust you with everything I have. I trust you with my finances. I'm going to trust you with my marriage. I'm going to trust you with the relationship that I have with my spouse, or my significant other, or my children, or my friends, or the people that are at my work environment. I trust you in every arena of my life. because as I let go of this one thing God I'm doing it as a symbolic symbol to say God I trust you in every other area of my life and believe in faith that God will reward those that diligently seek him amen if I could get some ushers to come forward as you prepare you can give multiple ways you can watch on the screen there are multiple ways but God we just thank you Lord but we pray that you would do what only you can do that you would prepare the heart of the believer and as we give today Lord that it would just it would be a cheerful gift one that makes the father's heart proud and one where we could say there's no place that I would rather be than right here in your love God because we love you we honor you we give you everything that we have in Jesus name amen so hey hard at work right there come on can we give it to up to everybody who served and came and helped be a part of listen nobody likes cleaning come on somebody you know nobody likes organizing I mean we literally spring clean for like 16 hours you do okay in Jesus name bless her everybody lay their hands

out right now I mean we spring clean for like 18 hours 16 hours over the last couple weeks and so we are just thankful and appreciative to everybody who was there and that just pulled up was just like hey we're thankful for everybody else that that that has just been a part of what God is doing here and we just want to welcome every person home and just let you know that hey this this house is your house too and and you've got you know kind of like refrigerator rights you know like you know you ain't got to ask to go to the fridge you got to ask to go to the fridge in the kitchen but you know just hypothetically speaking you know you it's it's like you've got refrigerator rights and so we do we welcome you home and we're just so glad that you are here and and just thankful for everyone that that that is here and just making a part of the family and just being a part of what God is doing here how many of us know that we are a part of something way bigger than ourself and God is just in the business of doing something extravagant and so I'm excited well hey we are in a series that we are going through the book of acts right and we have a theme for the book of acts and we're actually going to to be here for quite a while but we're going to have about four or five different sermon series in this but right now we are in a series that is titled it starts with power and power comes from uh the word dutimus which is dynamite it's where we get our word dynamite from and it's the explosive power and it's the power that the holy spirit brought in acts one and two and today I want to talk from a message that I have titled the power that shifts atmospheres amen how many of us need a power that could shift our atmosphere amen a power that could shift some of the stuff that we're going through and if you if you're here then you have to remember in this message kind of what we talked about last week right and so uh to really highlight where we're at today but last week we looked at 120 believers that's a little less than what is in this room on the on the first floor here right now and you know they were in the upper room and they gathered and feelings were hurt judas had just betrayed them and and and jesus had been crucified and brutally murdered right in front of their eyes because of it and so then jesus shows up on the scene reveals himself to him over the course of about 40 or 50 days and then the next thing you know pentecost happens and acts two comes into play and then all of the sudden there was this mighty rushing wind that came it caused a bunch of commotion and then you hear uh about the fire that falls down and rest on each one tongues of fire and the holy spirit filled that room and filled every single believer

that was in that room. And then we pick up in Acts chapter two, verse five, and here's what it says. At that time, there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. And when they heard the loud noise, the loud noise of the believers, the loud noise of the rushing wind, the loud noise of something, because how many of us know when you encounter the Holy Spirit, something should change your life to where people notice it, amen? Like if you have an encounter, if you have a head-on collision with the Holy Spirit, people should begin to notice it in your life. They should hear you talk different. They should hear you act different. They should hear you be able to see something different in your life. And in a result of that, everyone came running. Man, that would preach all in itself. I wanna encounter the Holy Spirit in such a way that when people notice me, when people see me, when people hear me, they come running not to me, but to the Spirit that is in me and saying, hey, I need a presence of whatever you've got in you because there is something about you that has shifted in atmosphere and I want what you got. And it says here that there was a loud noise they heard and everyone came running and they were bewildered.

They were astonished to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit that had tongues of fire that had rested on them and they were completely amazed. How could this even be? How is this even possible? These people are all from Galilee. That's like saying all these people are from the east side of Kansas City. All of these people are from areas, like this doesn't even make sense. They're from areas that we are not even from. Like they've never even been, these are Galileans and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages. Verse nine, here we are. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phyrgia, Pamphylia, you just gotta just say this stuff. Egypt, the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome. See, y'all thought I was just pronouncing them. I'm just pronouncing them in my own language. And so it says, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, and we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things that God has done. And they stood there amazed and perplexed. Like, what is happening right now? Like, I don't even understand. Like, these are Galileans.

These are not people that are supposed to be talking about the wonderful things of God. These are not people that I should be hearing these things. What is even going on? I don't even understand. This isn't even, and it said, they stood there amazed and perplexed. How, what can this even mean? But others in the crowd ridiculed them. They're just drunk, man. That's all, don't worry about, don't worry about them people that reach KC, man. Don't worry, they're gonna fall off sooner or later. They're gonna get back to what they was doing before they met Jesus. They're gonna get back, because Jesus is gone now. Now that Jesus is gone, they ain't gotta worry about nothing. But it's what the people that was per, or the people that was ridiculing them didn't notice was that Jesus sent a comforter. He sent a spirit that came so that he could be with us and in us and empower us so that we could do greater things than what he even could do. It's crazy, because I remember the first time that I was in Burundi, Africa. I flew over there and it's like a 23 hour process and time delays and all kinds of stuff. And when the plane landed and I walked off, I was like immediately overwhelmed in my life because everything was different.

The culture was different, right? The signs were different. I mean, they were written in Kurundi. I couldn't even understand anything. I didn't even know what Kurundi was. I thought it was a country. There's a Burundi and Kurundi. I thought it was like the capital, you know, or something. And the language was different. And I remember standing in the airport trying to figure out my passport situation. Come on, somebody, how many of you know, when you fly out of the country for the first time, I just want to be able to make it home. And if I don't get this visa situation figured out or this passport thing figured out, I'm. might not make it back. But the problem was, was I couldn't communicate with anybody. Nobody understood. They were trying to explain what I needed, but nobody understood what I'm saying, and the more I tried to talk, the more anxious I became. I'm looking around, jargon wasn't there yet, and I'm just like, where is somebody at that can explain what I'm trying to say, because nobody is understanding. Low key, to be honest, that night, when I got to the hotel, I remember feeling so overwhelmed that I was almost in tears.

You don't believe me, ask my wife. She's like, baby, are you okay? Like, not really right now. I kind of wish I could just hop in an Uber and go home. I just seen this massive freaking cockroach. I tried to step on it. It gang banged me. It took me and smashed me on the floor. I mean, they all started jumping me. I mean, they was kicking me, talking about burundi, burundi, you know, and I'm like, what? I mean, they just jumped. I'm like, bro, and I'm like, baby, you don't understand. I crawl in the bed. I have this mosquito net around me, because that's what they put on the bed. Listen, I didn't know you could tuck those in from the inside, but I did. I tucked it all in, and I just sat in that bed, just completely overwhelmed. I was trying to keep the mosquitoes and the cockroaches and the bullfrogs and everything else I heard that was going on out there out of my room. And it's crazy, because when you can't understand people and people can't understand you, all of the sudden you can be left in this place where all of the sudden you feel like complete isolation. Yeah, but people don't understand what I'm going through. People don't understand what's happening in my life right now.

People don't understand when I'm talking to them what I'm really saying. People don't understand what is really happening in my life, but the next day when I woke up, I actually sleeped. I think I was just so exhausted that I had no option but to just fall out. You'll see next year when you sign up to go on a missions trip, amen? Yes. But the next day, everything changed. I went to the YWAM campus, which is Youth With A Mission, and that's where the missions team was staying, and suddenly I was surrounded by people who spoke my language, amen? People I could understand, people I could go and tell, like, oh my God, you won't believe what happened in the hotel last night. I got jumped by some cockroaches, and I mean, this was, I mean, it was heavy. It was all happening. I was rolling up towels like you was in the hotel room back in the day, trying to block off every crack and crevice, I'm not kidding. Pastor Doug told me I was staying at a resort. He lied. If this is a resort, I don't want to go back, you know? Like, this is, I was thanking sandals. The people that worked there was in sandals. Like, that's it. I'm like, this is not, but finally, the next day,

I got to somewhere where people could understand me. I could understand them, and instantly, my anxiety disappeared because there's something powerful about being in an atmosphere where you can be understood. See, and Jerusalem was filled with people from all over the world for the Feast of Pentecost. They say that there was probably more people in Jerusalem at this time than there was at the Passover because the weather was actually better during Pentecost than it was at Passover, so people, all of the Jews that were there, there was actually more people there for Pentecost, and when the Holy Spirit filled that room, the disciples began speaking in languages that they had never learned before. People from all over the world gathered here in Jerusalem, different languages, different regions, different cultures, and when the Holy Spirit shows up, atmospheres shift. God didn't just shout one message from heaven and expect everyone to figure it out. Instead, he spoke to every single person in their own language because when the Spirit moves, God doesn't stay distant. He comes close, and that moment changed the world forever. Why? Because when the Holy Spirit moves, God reaches people, he restores what sin divided, and he reveals hearts of those that are around you, and so I want to look at these three powerful things this morning, this afternoon, whatever it is,

that happens when the Holy Spirit moves in Acts 2, and the first powerful thing. powerful thing that happens is God reaches people. When the Spirit moves, God reaches people. Acts 2 verse 5, at that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem and when they heard the loud noise, everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. How can this be, they exclaimed. These people are all from Galilee and yet we hear them speaking in our own native tongues. It reminds me when I very first gave my life to the Lord in 2005. Well, I know that was a long time ago, 21 years ago. Come on somebody. Wow, that is a wow. That's why I shaved my head. Because my hair is starting to show that it was that long ago. And my beard is starting to show that I've been in ministry for 10 years now. Amen. It's not easy. It's hard out here for a pastor. Some of y'all know, some of y'all don't. It's all good. But when I first gave my life to the Lord back in 2005, I tried to walk this thing out with God

and that's the only way I knew how and that was through religion. Right, I had this list. It was all about the do's and don'ts. When I read the scripture, I was very strict to what scripture told me to not do and to do. And I stuck to it very, very tightly. It was do this thing right. Don't do that thing wrong. And if I'm honest, the way that I saw God back then looked a lot like the stepfather that I grew up with. I looked at God as this person that kind of just had this ruling thumb that was down on me and I felt like if I didn't fast a certain number of days that God was gonna take my out date. I felt like if I accidentally cussed that he would remove relationships. I felt like if I accidentally did something else that people would quit sending me money. Like this is for real how I really felt and I always felt like I was just one mistake away from being completely punished. And so for about three and a half years, I tried to live this religious life and eventually it caused me to fall back into my old way of living. That's why all that hyper religiosity don't impress me. Well, I speak in tongues, so what?

It's just a language that nobody else understands. You don't even know what you're saying. Anybody can run around going, ha da da da da da da da da da da. Well, I cast out demons, so what? Well, I've seen all of these other things happen, so what? That stuff doesn't move me. And it was almost like everything that I thought happened spiritually in my life just faded away. It was like I was back in a worse situation than I ever was before, but years later, I got arrested again and ended back up in prison, but this time something different happened in my life because for years before that moment, I hadn't been able to see my son. And remember, I grew up in a fatherless home and I remember crying out to God from my prison cell one day and asking him, God, why have I not been able to see my son? And in that moment, it was almost like God spoke to my heart clearer than I had ever heard before. And what I heard was this, now you know what it's like to have lost a son. And it wasn't even that Christ died on the cross, although that's pertinent to all salvation and everything that we do, and it's the reason that the church is the church in the world today, but it was because in that moment, I could identify that there's no place

that I would rather be than here in your love. Because all of a sudden I could identify with the love of a father and suddenly everything made sense. In that moment, I realized that something I had never understood before, I realized something that I had never understood before in my entire life. God wasn't trying to control me through religion. He wasn't trying to punish me because of everything that I was doing wrong. He was a father, one that wanted a very personal relationship with me. And that moment in my life changed everything from beyond. And that was in 2011. And God just radically changed my life in January of 2011. And I believe this is exactly where we land. And it was what's happening in Acts chapter two, because the miracle wasn't just people speaking in tongues. The miracle was also that everyone heard the message in their own language. The tongues is a miracle, okay? A miracle that most of us won't even understand that we're scared to even talk about. about, but God spoke in such a way that each one of them could understand. And I'm telling you today, church, that the Holy Spirit still speaks to people just like that. He still speaks to people in their own language. And when understanding happens,

all of the sudden atmospheric changes begin to take place, which provides life change. And as I'm reading, there's this small detail that's interesting in Acts 2.6 that most people just read right past. And it's where it says each one heard them speaking in his own language. And the phrase translated own language, actually, I don't usually get into the Greek and Hebrew. You know, I don't really like to flaunt, you know, but actually I just looked this up and copied and pasted it. But it's the Greek word dialecto, right? And it's where we get the English word dialect, the way that we talk, the language of which we speak from where we are. Like if you meet me out in the street somewhere, you could tell that I've been around the block a couple of times and it's the word that we get, dialect. But here's what's important. Luke does not use the normal word for language in this verse, which is glosa. He uses dialecto. Why? Because dialecto does not mean language. It means native language, regional dialect, heart language. It literally means the language that you grew up speaking. In other words, the crowd didn't just hear a language, they heard a language that they understood. They heard their hometown dialect.

And think about what this means when you had all of these people gathered in a group, people coming around from all nations. They didn't just hear Greek, they heard their accent. They heard their dialect. And Luke is showing something important here about how personal the Spirit's work is. God doesn't just speak in one universal language, church. He spoke in a way that felt personal and familiar to each person. And when he does it, he does it in a way that grabs your attention. Because when a word from the Lord comes to you and speaks into your heart, I can tell you from my own life, when God spoke to me in that prison cell, he didn't speak religion to me. He spoke in a language that my heart understood. The Holy Spirit knows how to speak the language of your life. And when the Spirit fell, the disciples spoke languages that they had never learned in their life. And the crowd said, how is it that we hear each one of these in our own native language? How is it? And the miracle is not chaos. The miracle happens in the communication. See, the miracle happens when we let go.

This is the first place in Scripture. I'm gonna teach a little bit today. I didn't come to preach today. I came to teach, amen. I should have wore a suit today. This is the first place in Scripture that it actually shows the Spirit speaking directly to all people. Do you know that? Typically, he speaks through prophets in the Old Testament. He would speak to certain individuals at certain times, but in Joel, this is actually a fulfillment of Joel 2, where he says, I will pour my Spirit out on all flesh. So right here at Pentecost, this is a fulfillment of Scripture from the prophet Joel back in Joel 2.28, where he says, I will pour my Spirit out on all flesh. And this reveals something important about the heart of God. God is not distant. He moves toward people. See, religion often tries to reach up to God, but Pentecost shows God coming down to humanity. It shows God coming down and meeting with us. See, God will meet you right where you are at church. God will speak your language. He did it with fishermen. He did it with scholars, and he'll do it with addicts. He'll do it with men and women that are stuck in prison.

He'll do it with millionaires. He'll do it with poor people. He'll do it with rich people. He'll do it with homeless people. He'll do it with religious people, and he'll also do it with skeptics. The miracle wasn't just tongues. The miracle was also the understanding. The miracle was the understanding that the people could actually understand what it was. See, God doesn't expect you to just learn heaven's language before he speaks to you. He meets you where you are at, and he begins to speak your language. See, he will begin to speak to your heart. God speaks in ways that people can understand. The Spirit didn't just come to create loud noise. He came to make the gospel heard to all nations so that people could be empowered, and he will use messengers, and he will use methods that sometimes challenge our intellect. Well, that just don't make sense. Good. because now you've went beyond your understanding now you've went beyond your capability see just because we don't understand certain things doesn't rule out that God can use those things just because things are called to happen in order see there's an order to the things that God does that's why when you look through scripture everything is very meticulous when he created things he did one thing on day one why didn't you just create everything on one day I

don't know because he did it he did it in six days and then he rested because that's just what he did he was like why I ain't got time to take a day off devil don't take a day off why are you trying to emulate the devil he ain't taking no break what there's order there's order to things that happens and sometimes I believe God actually prefers to use methods that we can't comprehend because it requires us to lean on his understanding when it takes us beyond our understanding when it takes us beyond well I well it just don't make sense well sometimes don't things don't make sense because if everything did make sense that we did if we had all the answers doesn't it seem like we wouldn't need God anymore like doesn't it seem like we would begin to build something on our own accord and the thing I love about this passage this is where I want to teach for a moment is God use something that made no sense to restore the thing that divided what did make sense I'm gonna say it again I don't want to apply it this is building a platform God uses something that made no sense to restore the thing that divided what did make sense which leads me to my second point the Spirit restores what sin divided the Spirit restores what sin divided see Acts 2 verse 9 here we are no that's what it says here we are Parthians Parthians Medes Alamites people of Mesopotamia Judea Cappuccino Pontus the province of Asia Fergie Pamphylia you know Egypt the areas of Libya and Cyrene and visitors from Rome both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs and we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done this blew me away y'all I'm gonna talk to some that have been around the Bible for a little bit I'm gonna bring it back make it applicable to everybody's life but Luke list 15 different regions in Acts 2 and if you're like me when you're reading the Bible anytime you see a long list of names or countries you skip right over it come on somebody what could possibly speak to me from this name of countries that I can't even pronounce I gotta look up the Greek meaning of the country to even find out where it's at then you look on the map and it's not even there so it's like how is this and it can seem very random but it really is not that

random to see if you research it it actually represents the spread of humanity from the Tower of Babel and if you go back to scripture and read about the Tower of Babel that's where people was dispersed so see Pentecost is not just a miracle it's actually the beginning of God gathering the nations back together again see Acts 2 11 we hear them telling in our own languages the mighty works of God this phrase mighty works actually comes from a word that means great deeds it means mighty acts powerful works the extraordinary acts of God things that are happening and in the Bible this phrase is often used to describe the saving acts in history things like creation the Exodus God delivering his people and the works of the Messiah so at Pentecost the disciples are not just making noise or speaking random phrases they're literally declaring the mighty acts of God and other languages that are probably known as things like Jesus and the death of him and the resurrection of Jesus and the salvation that God has accomplished through him so at Babel humanity said something very revealing they said let us make a name for ourselves in Genesis 11 let us make a name for ourselves I wonder if there's anybody else here that has struggled with that that we have tried to do something but that would get us the glory we we always steal the thunder we can't let nobody else out shine us and when we're in a room with people and and they are getting the glory you know you got those one uppers you know I'm talking about like if you had a caddy on 24s they had a caddy on 26s it's like bro how are you always better than me like how are you always and we get to this place where we're trying to build something and and humanity made this statement let us make a name for ourselves but Babel was humanity trying to make their own greatness known but in Acts 2 see something very different happens the disciples are not declaring their greatness they're declaring the mighty works of God see at Babel humanity said let us make a name for ourselves but at Pentecost the church declared let us proclaim the mighty works of God and everything that God is doing at Babel humanity tried to exalt themselves but at Pentecost the church

exalted God Luke lists this nations from all across the known world and this this list moves geographically all across the nation of Rome and around the world and Luke is essentially showing hey all of the nations represented in the world are right here present in Jerusalem and when the Spirit comes guess what they all hear the gospel Acts 2 is literally the first step in reversing the scattering of Babel see at Babel God divided humanity through their languages they thought that they could build something without God they literally thought that they could build a tower that reached heaven and they had got to a place that said let us build a name for ourselves let us let people know that we did this that we don't need God that I made this all alone and I don't need I can do bad all by myself and I can make something happen because it was my name that did it and God said you know what boom I'm gonna confuse all of your languages and then all of the sudden there was different dialects and people had to spread out because they was confused they couldn't speak to one another and then that spread into different nations all across the world but then at Pentecost God reconciles the nations through languages and brings it all back in so that the nations could actually begin hearing the gospel when they couldn't understand other languages for hundreds of hundreds and thousands of years now but all of the sudden when the atmosphere shifts because the Holy Spirit shows up the gospel of Jesus Christ can be preached to all nations because there is an empowerment of the Holy Spirit and it's crazy because Luke lists all these nations because he wants us to see something he wants us to see that the nations were scattered at Babel are now standing in Jerusalem hearing the gospel and what Babel divided the Spirit of God came to restore isn't that amazing God you know what that means God is in the business of restoring broken things it's I mean to me honestly it kind of reminds me of this vase Voss it's a Voss and it's a pretty Voss at that but the thing is is if this Voss was knocked over and scattered and broken and a bunch of pieces I should have had like a towel there that I could have hid that behind and then he would have thought I actually broke it if if I drop this and break it into a hundred different pieces

the natural response is that that vase is no longer usable that that vase is useless and how many of us are walking around here have been broken into a hundred different pieces have been broke down our families are broken our marriages are broken our relationships are broken our security is broken our trust is broken and we walk into things with all of these preconceived ideas as if God cannot use something broken but in some cultures maybe like one in Japan they use something that is called kintsugi and kintsugi is a type of method that they use pottery where they repair broken pottery using gold in the cracks. Instead of hiding the breaks, they highlight them. Come on, somebody. They repair the broken objects to be more beautiful than it wasn't even in the first place. Here's the truth. When you encounter the Holy Spirit head on, God has a way of taking broken things and using kintsugi and making them bright. He's gonna restore your families like they've never been restored before. He's gonna restore your marriages like they've never been restored before. He's gonna break addictions in your life that is broke down, and then he's gonna allow you to be able to minister to an addict that doesn't have the ability to understand it, but when you can come and speak it in their language. That's why when you go to treatment, come on, addicts. Ain't nobody trying to listen to somebody

that ain't been there before. I remember a time about three years ago, a lot of people don't know this, but our church went through some pain and struggle, and I remember one of the people that was leaving our church came to me in my office. They scheduled a meeting, which is appropriate. A lot of people don't do that. They just bash you on social media platforms or talk bad behind you about your back. Come on, somebody. We're gonna talk about that here in a second. But they made an appointment, and one of the things they said was, who are you getting counsel from, pastor? As if I owed anybody an explanation, but since we was there talking about it, I said, I got some pastors in my life that I look to, and here's what they said. Who, this pastor? Who, that pastor? I said, yeah, actually. They said, but they ain't never been where we've been. And I said, when was the last time that you should look at somebody that has been 55 years through life and never decided to get high? Don't you think that we should glean from somebody that has been in a place that hasn't been through the brokenness?

How did you get that? How are you going to do that? I wanna know how you handled your children. How are they all loving Jesus? How are all of these things happening? But yet, we've got all this brokenness, and we think that God can't even use it. But see, here's the truth, is if we allow God to use all of this brokenness, then did you know that God can actually take and rewrite your entire testimony and use it in a fashion that people can use their life to see and glean from you? Because here's the reality, you are not identified by the brokenness. You are identified by the vase, and not even just the original vase, but the vase that has made more beautiful, more valuable than it ever was. Do you know what that means? It means that when you have walked through hell, when your life has been down through the gutter, when you encounter the Holy Spirit and He begins to restore what sin divided, you become more powerful, you become greater. Why? Because He will use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. That means that you are actually more profitable to the kingdom

because you've been broken. And I pray that the kintsugu of the Holy Spirit would begin to come over your life and just begin to make beautiful things out of stuff that is broken and that God would do something because only God can take what humanity shattered and start putting it back together again and make it better, make it better than it ever was before. See, if God did this at Pentecost, imagine what He's wanting to do in your own life through your own brokenness. That's why we believe at Reach that God is looking for unlikely people from overlooked places to do extraordinary things because we believe that He is in the business of restoring broken things. And when I started, I thought that it was only a certain demographic, but as I have been ministering for 10 years now plus, I understand that every single one of us is broken. That's why we got a core value. We're all jacked up. I'm jacked up, your mama jacked up, her mama jacked up. I'm a jacked up. Why are you talking about my mama? Cause we all jacked up. Which leads me, not your mama being jacked up, but look, I got to get to my third point. Okay. Time's running out.

The spirit reveals hearts. The spirit reveals hearts. Let's look at acts two. 12 through 13, they stood there amazed and perplexed. What can this mean? They asked each other, but others in the crowd, somebody say the others in the crowd, they ridiculed them. So you got some people that are amazed and then you got some haters. You got some people that are amazed at what God has did in your life. And then you got other people that don't believe it. Here's what I know. When people can't explain something spiritual, they often reduce it to something natural when they don't understand, when they don't understand something spiritual, people will reduce it to something natural because they just can't comprehend what God is doing in your life. They don't understand what is happening. If you don't believe me, you can look in first Samuel one where Hannah prayed passionately and Eli thought she was drunk. Or you could look at Jesus when he cast out demons in Mark three and the Pharisees said that he was working for Satan. And this pattern continues in acts two. Some people say, what does this even mean? And then other people mocked them. So I want you to notice something here. Very important. Every move of God attracts two kinds of people, the curious and the critical. Come on somebody. Some lean in some hate. Come on. You cannot walk in the spirit and expect universal approval. See people mock Noah over building the Ark, but guess what? If he wouldn't have built the Ark, we wouldn't have been here. The Ark is not what just saved his family, but it's what saved the world.

David, when he faced Goliath, he got mocked by his brothers and by the King, but it was the very thing that actually appointed him to take the King's place. Because if he wouldn't have been where he was at at that time and defeated him, he would have never been able to marry the King's daughter. If he would have never married the King's daughter, guess what? He would have never been an heir of the King. He had a son named Jonathan. Saul did. Why wouldn't Jonathan become King? No, because David became an heir of the King and now he was able. See Jesus bearing the cross was ridiculed, which saved the world and the disciples here at Pentecost, which launched the church as we know it today. And haters are still mocking believers today. Why? Because the same fire that warms believers irritates the skeptics. Don't tell me there ain't haters that don't like what the Lord is doing in your life. They are, they're hating. They are hating the same miracle that caused some people to ask, what does this mean? Caused other people to say, well, they gotta be drunk. I mean, they can't, there ain't no way they're moving like that. I mean, they got it. Why? Because when the spirit moves, some people will lean in, some people will laugh. Some people will lean in. Other folks will criticize. The same move of God that awakens faith in some people irritates unbelief in others. See, here's what I know. Whenever we started this church, there was something that happened that God said, Hey, I want you and your wife and your family to go start a church in the inner city and reach people that are overlooked because there is something that is going to happen that shifts in there. And when we started the church, everybody told us it wouldn't happen. There ain't no money in the hood. There ain't no money reaching those kinds of people.

There ain't no money doing this. You're white going into a predominantly minority minority background. You're doing all of these things. It's never going to work. And there's skepticism that happens every single time. But here's what I know is you don't get heavenly vision without earthly opposition. See the pattern hasn't changed when God moves. Not everybody is going to celebrate it with you. Not everybody is going to applaud you. Whatever you get in some of you, you want to be approved by men and women too much to receive what it is that God desires for you to steward. Hear me church. You cannot have both. You have been willing. You have to be willing to die on the altar of sacrifice every single day as a living. sacrifice and lay your will and your life down and all of your wants at his feet so that he can make something out of the life that he has given you because here's the reality you don't get a heavenly vision without an earthly opposition and let me tell you this if the earth is not opposing you it's because you have not stepped into the vision that God has given you see some of us we're so concerned we're so we're so ate up we are so tore up because people are opposing everything that is happening but if somebody is not opposing you it's because you have not stepped into the vision that God has given you who are we to thank that we will not be accused who are we to thank that we will not have words that hurt us thrown at us or physically who are we to thank that we will not have people who will not like us they didn't like Jesus how are you not going to like Jesus like you saw the man walk on water how can you not like him you saw him multiply food to feed 20,000 people how are you not going to like him you saw him literally raise Lazarus from the dead call a man that's been dead three times out of the grave how can you not like him you saw the blind eyes healed deaf open ears that happened how do you not

like him he literally cast out demons out of some people into the pigs and they jumped out in the cliff off of the cliff and into the ocean how do you not like him hear me church if they did not like Jesus you best believe they're not gonna like you and here you are trying to be liked by everybody you want everybody to approve you you want everybody to applaud you and you live for the approval of men and women but let me tell you this when you live for the approval of men and women church you will die by their rejection God did not send the Spirit to entertain the church he sent the Spirit to empower his mission and the Spirit fills believers so that the gospel can reach the nations Pentecost wasn't the finish line it was the starting gun but not everyone can stand and see somebody else on fire see the fire of God is going to attract those who want to put it out nobody wants that though see the fire attracts attention of some who can't stand to look at it but they will pose themselves sometimes as the ones who believe the same thing that you believe but then once the start the fire starts burning better than their fire is burning because they ain't apprehending what the Spirit is saying to their life and they aren't they aren't committed to the same sacrifice that you're committed to all of the sudden they want to try to put your fire out but today we declare that the fire that falls on your life will set ablaze something in your spirit that will shake off every single hater that tries to bring you down we declare that men and women of God catch the move of the Spirit on their life that will bring them into alignment with the Father and won't they be distracted by the cries of the mourners because there are people that are gonna hate every single step that the Lord blesses in your life and when he does there's going to be people that rise up they'll want to try to put that fire out and if they could talk you into quitting they will if they if the enemy could talk you into quitting he will because if the enemy can't just or defeat you he'll distract you and he will try to get something in your life that is going to take you away from everything that God has assigned to you but I believe this I believe that today there is going to be a new fire in the room I believe that

today there is going to be a new fire in your life I believe today that when you encounter the Holy Spirit you're gonna walk with a new stride I want to see you catch the Holy Spirit and walk out of this place different than you walked in because we know that God still speaks to people and we know that he restores sin that has been divided in our lives that has divided us and we know that he reveals the hearts of those who are around us and I believe that God is wanting to restore some of the lives that are in this room today back to what he created them to be I believe that he wants to do something special in your life he wants to bring you back into alignment with who he has called you to be but have your way in this moment God, soften our hearts in this moment, that we would know that you are speaking to us, that we would know that you are talking to us, and I pray that you would do something right now. Somebody stand across the room with me. If you are in here today and maybe you feel this distant from God, hey, did you know that he has a word for you right now? Did you know that he has a word for you? Everybody right here for just a moment, just give me two more minutes. Did you know that he has a word personally for every single one of you? If you're in here today and you feel distant, you feel distant from God, you feel like you need to have a personal relationship with him, or maybe you've had a relationship with him a long time ago, but you've walked away from the Lord and you haven't been walking in unison with him, and you say, hey, today is the day. I feel like you've been talking to me, Pastor, and I need to get this off of my chest, and I need to bring myself back into subjection with him. There are some things that I've been hanging on to, and I need to let go of them, and I just want to give my life over to Jesus 100% today. If that's you, could I just get you to slip up your hand real tall? Come on, we just want to pray with you.

Come on, somebody. Come on. Hey, come down right over here to the side. I got a team right here. I'm going to have them pray with you. Hey, hey, I'm going to have a couple—anybody else? Come on, if that was you, could I just get you to come down here real quick? Come on, don't miss this moment. Come on, don't miss this moment. Say, God, I want a personal relationship with you. Come down right over here. Come down right over here. We just got a team. They want to pray with you. They want to connect with you. They want to just believe with you and just say, God, hey, this isn't about embarrassing you or calling you out in front of anybody, but we're just going to believe that God is going to turn things around, amen? He's going to turn it around, and He's going to change it for His glory and for His good. In Jesus' name, hey, and as the worship team begins to play, here's what I want. If you're in here and you say, I just need that fire, I need something deep down within me that's going to change my life. If that's you, as the worship team begins to play, can we just come and fill the altars and just say, hey, you know what? I'm going to lay this down. I'm going to lay this sacrifice down, and I'm just going to just believe that God is going to change my life and just do something new in my heart and in my life because I'm believing for it. Come on, if that's you, just come on up here and . . . I want more of you, God.

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you. Oh, I want more of you, God. I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more, I want more of you coming out.