What About The Holy Spirit?

Well, good morning, good morning. How many of you love Jesus here today? Come on. Happy Pentecost Sunday. We are so excited that you guys are here with us. Wanted to welcome all those that are joining online, our friends in Lakeville, Elk River, and Maple Grove. We are so excited that you have chosen to be here in church today, and we are just pumped for what God is doing at our church and in our communities. We're gonna continue our series. What About? Look at your neighbor and say, what about? I mean, some of y'all already think about, what about lunch, what about tomorrow, Memorial Day, and all this stuff, but we have been in this incredible series that are diving into some of these deeper questions. If you have been popping in and out of our series or just Sundays here, we'd encourage you to go back and listen to some of the messages. Pastor Nate, Pastor Jody have done an incredible job with some of the topics of what about truth, what about suffering, what about the church, and really, it's been inspired by this text that's found in Luke chapter 24, and the text is known as The Road to Emmaus, and in this text, in this story,

we see Jesus showing up, walking with these followers of Christ and answering questions, having this dialogue and conversation at the pace of life that they were walking and the questions that were popping up, and we recognize and realize that God is not afraid of our questions. It's an invitation that actually, as we draw near to God, it's those questions that help draw us near. Well, God, what about this? Lord, where are you in all this? Lord, how do I begin to apply or work through this? And we actually find that we grow in faith through the questions that we ask, and this series I have really enjoyed because it's this permission to dive back into maybe some of those questions I've been wrestling with or lingering with, but today, as Pastor Nathan shared, I have the topic of what about the Holy Spirit, and to honor the, I mean, this is, like I said, Pentecost Sunday, it's the birth of the church. We're gonna go two Sundays with this topic. We recognize that it is a topic that has a wide range. There are those of you that are, when you hear the Holy Spirit, you are veterans of the faith and you could teach an eight-week course

of what is the Holy Spirit. There are also those that are watching and joining in that when you hear the term or the words Holy Spirit, there's a bit of like, you're like, ah, well, there was that one time I had a family member mention something about it at an Easter dinner, and things kind of went south fast, and so wherever you're at on that spectrum with this topic, what we are inviting you into today and next week as Pastor Nate will be addressing part two of what is the Holy Spirit, we are just inviting you in to look at what does the scripture say, what does God's word say, and what does that look like as we begin to apply that? I also want to highlight next Sunday, as it's already been mentioned, we have Holy Spirit night on May 31st that'll be taking place, so I know it sounds weird, but if you might, some of you already have your phones out because you're on the Emmanuel MN app, but if you don't have your phones out, the preacher's asking you to get your phone out and put in a reminder for next week. Don't show up alone. This, what I love about our church and Pastor Nate and the leadership here, it is a safe place to ask honest questions, and when it comes to something as powerful as the Holy Spirit and just the space

that we are providing as a church that evening, it's gonna be a powerful night, and we want to make sure you are there from all of our locations, but also there's someone that you know God's been putting on your heart to not just invite them, but bring them, trick them by saying, hey, we're gonna go to dinner, and then we just got this little thing we're gonna stop at after dinner, and it's going to be an amazing night. So as it's been shared already, we are diving into what about the Holy Spirit part one. One of the things as I was preparing for today, I realized a lot of us have this embellishment meter, and what I mean by that, it's this meter that as you're hearing someone tell a story, there's a certain level of craziness before you jump in, you're like, is that true? Right now, I've been reminded of this as I've been chaperoning my kids' field trips here this past year, and we see this in adulthood, but oftentimes, we won't call it out. We usually see it or hear it in a fishing story, how big was the fish, or hunting, how big was the deer, sports, how great their team is, is it really their year, and all these other absolutes that we might use, but I was reminded of it, I was chaperoning a field trip, and my son, his friend, who's maybe up to my stomach, and I am not tall, okay, so some of you are like,

you're pretty short, yeah, so we're going somewhere with this, and he comes up to me, he goes, hey, Parker's dad, I go, yeah, bud, what's up? And I get down on my knee, he goes, guess how high my vertical is? I go, tell him, and he goes, 50 inches. I go, bud, you're 50 inches, okay, like it's, like, I don't know about this, and in my new role, I've been, I serve as our district youth director for our fellowship, and so we are at camp for a. during the summer, I went to go pick up my son from school and our youngest one and he runs by me and that's never good, because I'm like, oh, you probably said something to somebody that you don't want me to hear. And somebody goes, like one of his friends goes, I heard you own the camp. I go, no, dude, not, not, that is not true, not true at all. And so I, as a parent, just the embellishments and level, like we have these meters of where we like begin to go, is that true, did that really happen? And I remember I got, I was convicted by this recently, last year, or no, so two years ago in January, 2024, I remember that our son, our oldest, had broken his kneecap and had playing football and he was on crutches and was supposed to be on crutches for another couple weeks. And I remember he was begging, as a lot of kids do at that age, just go, oh, it's not that bad. I can play, I'm built different.

I go, bud, we're all, no, like, you broke a kneecap, all right, like I got the x-ray, just hang in there. And so, but I remember after church on Sunday, he comes running up to me without his crutches. He goes, dad, I'm healed. Now, as much as I would like, some of you in the audience and joining are like, that's awesome. You have more faith than I did. Because I looked at him, I said, bud, like, here we go again, like, did that really happen? And I walked up to the kids' ministry and I looked at our kid's pastor and she had a tear in her eye, she goes, she goes, Phil, like, there was a young student there, she felt compelled by the Spirit to pray for your son that his knee would be healed. And remind you, he was supposed to be on crutches for another couple weeks and so she got a couple other students in the kids' ministry and they prayed for my son's knee. And wouldn't you know, when we got the doctor's report, that they're like, well, I guess his healing happened a little quicker, like, you know, they're trying to put pieces together, all of that. I'm like, well, I'm not telling my son he's built different, this is all God and God gets all the glory in this one. But I share that because I think oftentimes when it comes to the Holy Spirit, we can have moments like, is that true?

Did that really happen? Whether there's different experiences, whether there is spiritual pressure, whether there is these moments where someone in a manner that wasn't reflective of the heart of God used it or spoke about it in a way that wasn't an accurate reflection of what Scripture says, that it can begin to cause us to step back and go, God, is this gift really that good? Is it really for me? Is it really something that is offered? Is it something I have to earn? Do I have to check a certain amount of boxes on growth track before I have access to this gift? Like, there's these different things we can begin to question and wonder, but what we know to be true about the Holy Spirit is it's not this distant theological concept or energy you have to tap into, but it's personal. And it's a promise that, as the Holy Spirit, we're gonna look here today, and Scripture is an advocate, it's with us, it is not temporary, it is not something that it's here one day and then we'll see you back the next Sunday, or hey, if you show up to this event, then maybe you'll experience, it's the Holy Spirit is with us, working for you on behalf of, it's an advocate, and it's this wonderful, amazing gift that often we miss, and what we are gonna be looking at

in the invitation once again today is to lean into what does God's Word say about the Holy Spirit? And so we're gonna be in John chapter 14 here today. Once again, on Pentecost Sunday, we wanna almost take this step back, if you will, and look at the events leading into Pentecost. And so for those of you that are newer to faith here today, a quick framework that's gonna help with our conversation today, we know and believe God to be the one true God, creator of all things, that loved us so much, that sent his son, Jesus, to die for you and I, because sin separates us from God. There was a debt that Jesus did not owe, a price that we could not pay, that Jesus, who came to this earth, relinquished his spot in heaven to put on the skin of humanity, to live a sinless life, to die a sinner's death, so that you and I might have access to a restored relationship with our heavenly Father, that Jesus was crucified, buried three days later, rose again from the dead, and then upon his ascension was the promise of the gift of spirit, and then as you look in the book of Acts, we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and we see kind of the final product,

we see that even now we are sitting in the living proof of the ripple effect of that moment in Pentecost, but I want us to take a step back of the events leading up to that, because in John 14, John is found in the New Testament, for those of you that are new to faith, Bible's broken into two spots, Old Testament and New Testament, Old Testament's before Jesus showed up, New Testament's after Jesus showed up, and John is what's known as one of the four books in the New Testament as the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and John, our author, has a very creative kind of bend in when it comes to capturing. these different moments with Jesus. And what we're gonna look at here, if you have your paper Bible, there's these red letters, and this is Jesus speaking. And what Jesus is doing in this passage is he's recognizing his time's coming. He's recognizing that he's getting ready to be handed over, to be crucified, and he's beginning to walk through the very reason, the mission that he is there to seek and to save, to pay this price for our sins. He's recognizing that moment's coming. And he's beginning to prepare the disciples because they have done life together

for several years now at this point, and he's trying to prepare them. And we see this because what's happening is he knows what's to come, and this is taking place before Pentecost, this is taking place before the book of Acts, and Jesus is trying to prepare them and with the comfort of the promise of the Holy Spirit. So we're gonna jump around in a couple passages today. We'll be at John 14, and we'll slide into John 16 here as we continue to look at what God's word says about the Holy Spirit. John 14, we're gonna be in verse 15 here. This is Jesus speaking. He says, if you love me, obey my commandments, and I will ask a father and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it is looking for him and does not recognize him, but you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. Verse 25, Jesus continues, I am telling you these things now while I am still with you, but when the father sends the advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. There's a lot to unpack here in this passage, but the first observation that jumps out to me about it is the Holy Spirit is a gift.

The Holy Spirit is a gift. Now, notice the absolutes and the length that Jesus is going to identify the Holy Spirit, that when Jesus is saying everything I have taught you, that you are gonna know this, but it's recognizing that Jesus isn't leaving anything to chance. When he's referencing the advocate, he's name-dropping, it's the Holy Spirit, just in case you're wondering. I don't want you to miss this. I know you missed some of the parables and I had to spend a whole nother chapter walking you through that, but I'm letting you know this is the Holy Spirit. And why is Jesus going to these lengths? Well, if you could lean in with me for a moment, the humanity of what Jesus is addressing to his disciples, that in our Midwest culture, for someone that we've been doing life with for a couple years, if they were to come up and say, hey, you know what? It's been fun, but I'm out. I'm out, and like, if you could imagine the group that Jesus had and the different emotions they probably felt, I could imagine there was one that was probably pretty petty and that was like, I gave up everything for this and now you're leaving? And you know there was then an individual that's like, well, how long are you gonna be gone? How can I get ahold of you? Like, if it's an emergency, do I go to God? Can I go to this advocate?

Like, you could imagine just all the ranges of emotions because here on the day-to-day, they have been with Jesus, seeing the miracles, hearing the teachings, and here now Jesus is saying, hey, I'm getting ready to leave. And the vulnerability of recognizing of like, well, we've seen you, been with you, heard you, listened, followed, we've given up everything for you, and now you're leaving? But Jesus is here in John 14 saying, I have to go, but who I'm leaving, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, oh, it's gonna be awesome. And so we see the Holy Spirit is a gift. You can begin to see the different definitions with it. The Holy Spirit's a helper, counselor, comforter, but I love what the Greek definition of it is. It's one who comes alongside, one who walks with. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to serve as a Kids Camp counselor, which shout out to our Kids Camp and Youth Camps that are coming up here in a little bit. Shameless plug, if you have not signed your kid, your grandkid, your nephew, your niece, your neighbor's kid up for Kids Camp or Youth Camp, it is one of the most life-changing weeks that your kid's gonna experience all year when it comes to those settings of experience and encountering God in that way. And would encourage you to find out more information, you can scan that QR code, see it back in front of you as well,

but make sure your kids are going to camp. It's gonna be awesome. So once again, shameless, shameless plug on that one. But as on the Kids Camp side of things, I was volunteering and when all the other kids counselors would go and rest, we had this little break. But there was this game that just, man, like drew my attention, and at this point, I had never played it, and it was a game called Pickleball. And now, Pickleball seemed like my jam. Like, I have not gotten into golf. I don't have the patience for golf. Y'all can pray for me, okay? Listen, I love mini golf. Actual golf, that's a whole nother story, okay? But Pickleball, I'm like, I could ride with Pickleball here. This looks like my kind of game. Now, I get in there, and my teammate, my co-counselor, Rory, we go there, and I'm like, yeah, it's a ball, it's a paddle, how hard can it be? And y'all, I was so bad. I just started, like, just rocketing this Pickleball. It's like, I'm thinking like it's baseball, and it's like flying out of the cage, and then I'm like, oh, I gotta hit it a little softer. And I'm like hitting it into the net. I sense my teammate's frustration in me. Like, will you listen? I'm like, oh, I got it, I got it, I got it.

And finally, I realize, I'm like, dude, I don't got it, okay? I need some help. And so, what Rory did is he began to come alongside me. He's like, hey, like, when you hit the ball, if you want this type of spin, this is where you hit it in the paddle. When you, if you wanna aim it this way, this is how you gotta begin to stand. If serving, this is what it looks like to serve properly. If you're rushing, here's the kitchen. I'm like, kitchen? Like, I got hungry all of a sudden when he started describing that. But all of a sudden, he begins to walk me through the concepts of the different ins and outs of Pickleball, and throughout this week, we just continue to play Pickleball every day, and each day, I made sure Rory was my partner in Pickleball, because one, he carried, and we won. I didn't lose the game, but I didn't win the game. Rory won the game for all of us, okay? So, but I just kept playing, and eat, and I just continued to apply that which I was learning, and Rory, I would hear him on the other side. He's like, don't make sure, paddles high. Hey, make sure you're fixing your feet. Hey, make sure you're thinking through this. And I share that example in that illustration, because oftentimes, when it comes to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can think of it

just like the game that I was playing, like, oh, it's just the experience. But what I found is that as Rory was walking with me, and alongside me, correcting, coaching, sharing insight, that the Holy Spirit is not wanting just a single experience but it's wanting to walk with you in your daily life, that as you're stepping into that meeting, as you're stepping into that tough conversation with a family member, as you're stepping into this summer, as you're stepping into these different moments, that he's wanting to walk with you, as the definition was, it's the Holy Spirit, it's he who comes alongside. And you notice in John 14, Jesus is going above and beyond and referencing and highlighting, he will never leave you. That it's this gift that as we see that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, it's like, hey, as I go back to heaven to sit at the right hand of my Father, I am leaving you an advocate of one who will be with you, walk with you, coach, comfort, guide, lead, direct. And so what my question is, how often do we miss the gift that is the Holy Spirit wanting to walk with us and just leaving it for a one-time experience? And so we see that the Holy Spirit is a gift. As we continue our passage, Jesus continues, John 14, 15, and 16, which, once again, you can kind of identify how difficult it was for these disciples to accept this truth that Jesus wasn't gonna be with them much longer

because Jesus is continuing to double down in John 16, reminding them, highlighting the gift of the Holy Spirit, and this is what he says, John 16, we're gonna go five through seven, and then 13 through 15. John 16, five through seven, and this is what it reads. But now I'm going away to the one who sent me, and I'm not one of you, and not one of you is asking where I'm going, but instead you grieve because of what I've told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the advocate won't come, and if I do go away, then I will send him to you. Verse 13, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine. This is why I said the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me. The observation we pull from this part of the text is that the Holy Spirit is a guide. The Holy Spirit is a guide. Once again, we see Jesus use another absolute. He will lead you into all truth, not just a truth that's convenient, not just a truth that's gonna help you advance in your career or make you look better,

but it's into all truth, the truth that is growing you to be who God has created you to be, the truth of what is right and what is wrong, but also it's guiding you to the truth of who Jesus is and where Jesus is at in your story. You see, one of the things that. that often can be missed is that with the Holy Spirit, it is not a replacement for Scripture. The Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit is not an excuse or something to replace time in the Word or Scripture, but it is a gift and a guide to illuminate the truth of Scripture and the application of Scripture in your life. And we see this gift and guide because for those of you that when you're new to the Word and you're going, I don't even know how to apply this. I don't even know where to begin. And this is where the gift, the promise of what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be for us is it begins to illuminate. It begins to highlight the application and the truth and leading us into that. Now there's a word that Jesus also references about the Holy Spirit that it will convict. And I want to do a good job here today of highlighting the difference between condemnation and conviction because there's a big difference. Condemnation is the lie that says God is done with you. That in light of a shortcoming, a mistake, doubt or fear,

condemnation tries to turn up the volume and say God is done with you. How could God use you after that? With the family you've come from, you really have that question? God is done. But here's what conviction says. Conviction says God is still working on you. It speaks to, once again, the relational that he's not finished. That oftentimes if you continue through scripture, you find that God disciplines those that he loves. It's like a coach that when he begins to guide, they're saying, hey, you shouldn't have made that shot. If you would have, like in basketball, I remember my coach would always get mad at me because what I would do initially is I would have this tunnel vision and I would get a shot. I'd have two people on me. I'd try to jump and fade away to hit the shot. And coach would say, Phil, I know you might, you could maybe hit that shot. But if you were to look, there's actually someone wide open that has an easier shot. That the conviction was not, hey, you're a bad player. It's, hey, there's a better version of you that could come out if you begin to look around or what are you trying to do? What is the coach calling out of me in this moment

to become a better version of a basketball player? And I share that because once again, condemnation, it shows up in marriage, parenting, friendship. On the parenting, I'll speak because in the season of life with me as a parent, like I'll look at a grade report or I'll hear a story about my kid. I'm going, man, condemnation will begin to speak. Are you really cut out to be a parent? Like this isn't on you. And like, it's one of those things that we begin in our human nature to bring it to a finality when God's saying, hey, I didn't ask you to put a period there. I asked you to put a comma because I'm still at work. Because as we heard in the initial text that inspired this whole series, that it's a journey, it's a walking with, that I think oftentimes what we will begin to blame different parts of our faith journey on is we have listened to the lie of condemnation rather than listening to the guiding, the leading of a convicting spirit saying God's not done. This might've not worked out. Yeah, you maybe shouldn't have done that, but listen, God can still use this and God still is at work. And so when we see what Jesus is referencing and saying the spirit will lead you into all truth,

it might not be convenient. It might be the reality that you're not actually built as different as you think you are, that you can't sit and game till 2 a.m. and then work up for your shift at seven and be the best version of yourself, that you can drink all that caffeine and not feel like it's gonna impact how you treat those around you, that there's all these different things that you can just listen to podcasts and not be in the Word and expect to be a better parent or a better spouse, that it's recognizing it's leading into all truth, truth as defined by what God's Word is speaking and the Holy Spirit will illuminate that truth and how to begin to apply that in your daily life. So as we get ready to close here, I just have a couple application points of as we pull from the observations of John 14 through 16 and there's a lot there that you could begin to dive into. But once again, our focus here today is looking at the relational component of the Holy Spirit, gift and a guide. So how do we begin to apply this? First one, seek the Holy Spirit daily. Seek the Holy Spirit daily. We pull this from the text because once again, why Jesus is illuminating the gift of the Spirit to the disciples is because they've been with Him daily.

They've been in step with Him daily and they are recognizing in this moment part of their human nature and fear of going, I can see you. And now you're saying you're leaving. Did I do something wrong? I know this is John's fault. Or you know what, this is such a Peter thing. If we kick Peter out of the group, will you stay with us, Jesus? Like, there was a daily element to it of seeking the Spirit daily. Because how many of you know, we need him daily? It's not a level of like, there's no message that's gonna be so good that you're like, yo, Pastor Nate, that message was so good on Sunday, it lasted Monday through Saturday. I didn't have to open up my Bible, I didn't have to pray, like, Pastor, you just keep doing your thing. Because this is getting me through Monday through Saturday. But it's a seeking the Spirit daily. And here's the reality, this is not weird. It's relational. That when you seek the Spirit, it's seeking to be in relationship, to do life with. Some encouragement I've found from mentors that I've applied to my life, it's this concept of habit stacking, of before I pick up my phone, before I walk into a meeting,

before I have that conversation, before I post, I seek the Spirit. I found myself when I'm getting ready to have a tougher conversation, I'll take 30 seconds, I go, Holy Spirit, you know what I'm walking into. Holy Spirit, you know what they've lived. Holy Spirit, give me wisdom of when to speak, when to listen, when to step back, and when to step up. Give me your words, not for my glory, but yours. That was 20 seconds. Before you pick your kids up from school, Holy Spirit, I feel like I'm on E. But I know you love these kids as much as I do. Will you give me an overflow of kindness, of patience, so that my love for my kids would reflect your heart for them? 20 seconds. Before you pick up your phone, Holy Spirit, you know what I'm stepping into today. You know what messages I might get, what things I might see. Holy Spirit, would you give me insight to be able to recognize what is you and what is not of you? 10 seconds. Seek the Holy Spirit daily. What I love when you talk to veterans of the faith, where you might feel guilty, that you're like, that's just 60 seconds,

like that's, it always begins somewhere. And then what we've learned, as you seek daily, the steps begin to get a little longer, the journey, like, then it becomes two minutes, three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes. Start somewhere, seek the Holy Spirit daily. Second, respond to the Holy Spirit's promptings. The story I shared in the beginning, what would have happened if that young girl didn't respond to the prompting of the Spirit to pray for healing for my son? He would have just been walking around with crutches. I would have had to pay the same health bill, but he would have been on. But how often are these moments where we feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit? And here's one of the things that we have to navigate in our culture, is oftentimes we go, well, God, I want, I want you to give me a step of clarity, but it's actually, God's asking us to take a step of faith. We're going, God, I need 110%, and we'll use some good Christian language, like, well, God, I don't wanna embarrass you. God, I don't wanna say the wrong thing. But faith is the evidence of things unseen, and often when the Spirit is prompting you to do things, it's seeing something that our physical eyes do not see. It's seeing into the spiritual. The Holy Spirit is prompting,

because it's saying, hey, I'm up to something. I've actually been up to something for a few years now with this individual, or hey, I've actually been up to something with this group for a few years, and I'm just, right now, I'm gonna use you. I am amazed that in 17 years of ministry, the miracles I've heard when, God, the Holy Spirit's put on a student's heart to pray for the very person that was the cause of their deepest pain in school. It's amazing the miracles and testimonies we hear when the Holy Spirit prompts a coworker to pray for the very worker that you're kinda like, Lord, I hope they either get fired or quit. But when the Spirit's prompting you to pray for their family, those promptings are because the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is leading into all truth. It's revealing more of Jesus. Notice the Holy Spirit, it's always pointing back to Jesus. How much we can do is to highlight who Jesus is and what He can do or is up to in their story. And when we respond to the leading of the Spirit, it helps us reveal Jesus in other people's stories. Last one, follow His lead, follow His lead. Isn't it so interesting? We can so often become distracted. by the pace of life of which we live. I'm convinced that the speed of life

will be at a pace of life that actually isn't convenient to following. That it's almost like sped up, it's almost like, hey, Holy Spirit, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. But the Holy Spirit is saying, hey, will you follow? Follow his lead. I was reminded as I was prepping this week, we used to go up, my grandparents, they lived in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and we would go up there. And I know we don't wanna talk about snow, we finally got some good weather here on the Minnesota side. But I was reminded of when we'd go up these different trails, my father would go before us because these snowbanks in Detroit Lakes after a fresh snowfall would be so high. And we were just these little kids. And I mean, so we're like trying not to get stuck in a snowbank and he would go through and he would make a footprint. And us as kids, we wouldn't even be looking at my dad. We'd just be looking where the next footprint was. And we would just continue to take those steps, trusting that he was leading us in the direction where we wanted to go. And it was amazing that when all of a sudden the footsteps would stop, we'd look up and we'd be like, this is awesome. But it was following his lead.

And I think oftentimes it's easy to put blame on all these other things. But when it comes back to it, if we'd be honest, have we really been following the leading of the spirit? Seek the spirit daily, respond to the promptings, follow his lead. We'll close with a story or Galatians 5.25, sorry. Since we are living by the spirit, let us follow the spirit's leading in every part of our lives. There's another biblical absolute. Not just the parts that are easy, it's not, hey God, I got this figured out over here, I need your help here. Holy Spirit, I don't need you over here, but I'll take care of this. But it's every part of our lives. Recently just been in a season where I know we've all had these where it just feels like everything is just going wrong. That there's those moments where you're like, Lord, like, can I get a good day? Like, I know you talked about Sabbath, can you have a Sabbath for my bad days so I can have one good day? Like, it's these moments where you just feel like everything's coming down. Family, work, and recently just navigating a season like that in our lives. And I remember I pulled up to a caribou

for an appointment, I got there a few minutes before I was supposed to be there. And it's just one of those days, right? Like, it's the day that you wake up and you feel the weight that you thought you left the previous day, and it's just waiting for you. Remember sitting there in my car, I turned off my music, and I just had that moment. I said, Holy Spirit, I need you. I felt like I had exhausted every possible human option, that every tank was on E. I'm not sure if you've ever been there. And I sat there and it wasn't any crazy worship lyrics or reciting any specific words, I just sat there and tears began to well in my eyes. I said, Holy Spirit, I need you. I can't do this on my own. I'm sorry if I've tried. I repent, Holy Spirit, I need you. And I began for, it felt like the next hour, but it was really five minutes. And I just sat there with my hands out, no music, in a caribou parking lot in Anoka, just going, Holy Spirit, I need you. And in the most beautiful way I felt, what Jesus had promised happened in that car. But as I began, out of a deep desperation, once again, I think sometimes God allows us to get there because it's almost like, hey, are you done trying? Because I'd love to help.

I began to feel the personal promise of who the hope, the comforter, the advocate, the one who walks alongside. Sit with me. Didn't change anything external, but it changed something internal. Began to do something inside. And as I sat there, just, Holy Spirit, I need you. Holy Spirit, I can't do it. I can't. I got out of that car, because as I felt the Spirit show up. I knew I wasn't alone. And though I might not have all the answers and the desire for clarity that we often seek, I felt my faith multiply. I began to feel that, Lord, you got this. I might not. And that is the gift that we have with the Holy Spirit, that he will never leave. That he will serve as an advocate, leading, guiding into all truth. Even the truth of recognizing that you're not alone, that Jesus is with you here and now. I'm gonna invite everyone to stand up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Friends, how we're going to close out this morning before we send it to locations. And we're gonna respond in a song and afterwards our location pastors are going to follow up with some next steps. But here's what we just want to do. We just want to close in a moment of worship, responding to what we, the teaching of the word and what God's word was speaking to us. Because once again, we recognize as Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit, this is a gift. It is not some ghost story or thing that is meant to scare us or drive us away, but it's a gift to draw us in. It's a guide leading to all truth, highlighting Jesus, pointing it back to Jesus. And friends, one of the greatest things we can do is to be in step with the spirit in our lives. To not just save it for Sundays, to not just leave it for a small group or a connect group, to not just leave it for a conversation in growth track, but to seek the spirit daily, to respond to the promptings and to follow his lead. Because friends, what we know is God is up to something. God is on the move.

Jesus has already paid the price. This is not a gift that you have to do anything to earn, not a certain amount of Sundays that you have to attend before you receive it, but it is a gift freely given. And then as we begin to walk in the spirit, following his lead, all of a sudden we begin to find that those very prayers that you've been praying for family members, co-workers, and neighbors, that we would see answered prayers in our communities, in our homes, in our workplaces, not by our works. That my prayer as I was preparing here today is that this week you would have people who go, how did you know that? Hey, like, how did you know, like, to say that, like, why did you say that to me? Why did you encourage me in that way? Why did you show up? Why did you give me a gift, that type of gift in this way? That literally that by you following the promptings of the spirit and following his lead, it would lead you into moments where we would see answered prayers. I believe we are gonna have young adults, students and adults in this room that you will be someone's answer prayer, that there was a grandma that prayed something over a co-worker that you're working with and God's gonna use you to be an answer to that prayer. That we are gonna see a revival of prodigals coming home,

not because there's a specific type of program or service, but because we are seeking the spirit, following the promptings and following his lead. And all it requires is us saying, God, you have my yes. What would it look like for us to utilize the gift that's given, the guide that the Holy Spirit is, as we seek him, respond and follow. Maybe we begin to see our communities. Maybe we begin to see our neighbors. The prayers that we, the things that we know we wanted to change, the things we know that God was up to, that we would begin to see the miracles take place. On Pentecost and as we were reminded, the gift and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we continue to see that in our lives. Heavenly Father, God, right now we come before you, Lord Jesus, and we say thank you for the work that you've done. God, we say thank you for all that you've done. God, in sending your son Jesus to us, Jesus, for the price that you've paid, but then the gift of your spirit. God, we invite your Holy Spirit in Lord today, this morning. That God, we pray that you would have your way, that God, as we begin to respond, in worship, Lord, and lifting up our words and our song to you, Lord God, we pray that your spirit would be poured out

on this place, Lord, again. May we be reminded of the desire, God, for the relational component of the Holy Spirit to walk with us. That is not some weird ghost story, but it is a gift and a guide, Lord, to come alongside us. God, in our marriages, in our parenting Lord God, in our workplaces, in our homes, in our neighborhoods Lord God, we welcome you Holy Spirit. We invite you in again. We repent Lord of the moments and the times where we've tried to operate on our own understanding and our own strength, but Holy Spirit we invite you in and we walk in step with the Spirit. We follow the leading of the Spirit and as we respond in worship, Holy Spirit would you fill us again in your name and Jesus name we pray. Amen, amen, amen.