Who is the Holy Spirit

♪ Spirit sound, rushing wind, fire of God, fall within ♪ ♪ Holy Ghost, breathe on us, we pray, we pray ♪ ♪ As we repent, turn from sin, revival embers smoldering ♪ ♪ Breath of God, fan us into flame, we pray, we pray ♪ ♪ We need a fresh wind, the fragrance of heaven ♪ ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out, come on, ask him to pour it out this morning ♪ ♪ Just like he did in the upper room, Lord, Holy Spirit, pour it out this morning ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, pour it out, come on, church, let's sing this out together ♪ ♪ For hearts that burn with holy fear, purified in faith and deed ♪ ♪ Refiner's fire, strengthen worry pains ♪ ♪ So we the church, prepare your light, lamp of flame, city bright ♪ ♪ King and kingdom, come is what we pray ♪ ♪ We need a fresh wind, the fragrance of heaven ♪ ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out ♪ ♪ A holy anointing, the power of your glory, we pray, we pray ♪ ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, come on, sing it ♪ ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God ♪ ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God ♪ Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, put your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, Juan God, pour your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, Juan God, put your spirit out, though we're thirsty, just this one time. Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, a holy anointing, the power of your presence. Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out. Come on, with hands lifted all over the room, come on,

can we make him our only priority this morning? Can we make him our only agenda, just to seek him more this morning? Come on, let's sing this out together. There's nothing worth more that could ever come close. And no thing can compare, you're our living hope. It's your presence, Lord. For I've tasted and seen, of the sweetest of loves, in my heart. ♪ My heart becomes free and my shame is undone ♪ ♪ It's your presence, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, Holy Spirit, you are welcome here ♪ ♪ Come flood this place and be at my side ♪ ♪ Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for ♪ ♪ To be overcome by your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Your presence, Lord, your presence ♪ Come on, over the room, let's lift it up, come on. ♪ There's nothing worth more, there's nothing worth more ♪ ♪ That could ever come close, nothing can compare ♪ ♪ You're our living hope, oh yeah, your presence, your presence ♪ Come on, you sound good, come on, let's sing it out. Come on, say it. ♪ I've tasted and I've seen of the sweetest of loves ♪ ♪ I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves ♪ ♪ When my heart becomes free and my shame is undone ♪ Come on, he wants to hear your voice this morning. Sing your presence. ♪ Your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ Come on, let's declare it. We're singing, Holy Spirit.

♪ Holy Spirit, you are welcome, oh you're coming ♪ ♪ Come flood this place with your glory, your glory ♪ ♪ God is what our hearts long to be overcome, to be overcome ♪ ♪ God is what our hearts long to be overcome, to be overcome ♪ We sing, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. ♪ Holy Spirit, you are welcome, oh you're coming ♪ ♪ Come flood this place with your glory, your glory ♪ ♪ God is what our hearts long to be overcome, to be overcome ♪ ♪ Your presence, your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ Come on, now with your voice, come on. Can you lift up worship in the room, come on. ♪ We worship you, we honor you, Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Your presence, your presence, your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Your presence, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ Come on, let's make this declaration this morning. ♪ Let us become more aware of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us experience the glory of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us become, let us become, more aware of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us experience the glory of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us become, let us become, more aware of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us experience, we don't want to spectate God ♪ ♪ Let us become, more aware, more aware, more aware of your presence ♪ ♪ Let us experience, let us experience, the glory of your goodness ♪ ♪ The glory of your goodness, the glory of your goodness ♪ Let's sing at this out, come over to the room, let's sing this out, come on let's sing it out. ♪ Holy Spirit you are our welcome here in this place ♪ ♪ Of this place and through the air you've become nursem계

♪ What our heart is longing for is to be Overcome by your grace ♪ Come on one last time. ♪ We sing Holy Spirit hold ♪ Come flood this place, come ♪ Your glory God is worth to be overcome I don't want us to move past this moment, we're just going to stay in this moment. Worship isn't over, because worship isn't about singing songs. Worship is our whole life response to who He is and His goodness and our gratitude for Him. Sometimes we worship by lifting up our songs of praise. Sometimes we worship by opening up His Word and reading it and responding and receiving it. Sometimes we worship Him through our giving and our generosity. So we're going to transition to a time of giving of our lives to Him. If you've come prepared to give as part of your worship, I want to say thank you for your continued generosity. Our service guides are going to be passing out some buckets. That's one of many ways that you can give today, if you've come prepared to give as part of your worship. We also have a giving kiosk in the back on your way out and some boxes in the back. Many of you, you automate what is important, but listen, especially if you're a guest here today, I want you to hear this. God is not after money. God is not after an amount. He wants our heart, whether that's our time, our talent, or our treasure. The Bible says that when we give, that we're to give out of gratitude, we're to give out of a grateful heart. This is why it's worship, God. We're so grateful for everything we have and all that you've done, and we trust you, not just with our lips, not just with singing songs that make us feel good, but we trust

you with our lives, even when things don't feel good. You are worthy of it all, amen? We're going to give and worship through our generosity, and then we're going to worship God through the opening up of His Word, and so let's get our hearts ready for what God wants to give to us, the gift that He wants to impart in us as people today. Father, thank you. Thank you that you're here. Help us to be more aware of your presence. Help us to experience the fullness of who you are. We're not here out of religious obligation. We're not here because we feel guilty for what we've done. We're not here simply because it's a religious thing to do. We're here because we get to meet you, and when we meet you, we are left transformed for the good. You know all of our burdens and all of our cares, and we cast all of them down to your feet because you care for us, and I pray in this time together that our ears would be open, that our hearts would receive your Word, that it would bear fruit in and through our lives as only you can do. It's not by might. It's not by power. It's not by who's preaching. It's by your Spirit alone, so we surrender all. It's in Jesus' name we thank you and pray, and all the people of God who love him said, amen. Hey, you may have a seat, and again, I don't want us to move from this moment. I don't want to rush past what God has been doing in this room since Thursday. We've prayed. We've worshiped. For the last several minutes, we literally asked him. We said, would you come fill this place?

You are welcome in this room, and I just want to encourage you, if you are a follower of Jesus, if you've surrendered your life to Jesus, the Bible says he's already here. Listen to what Jesus says in John chapter 14, verse 16 and on. Jesus himself says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Church family, I find that amazing that for so many of us as his followers, we spend so much of our time asking him to come, asking him to help, asking him to be near, and he's been trying to convince us the whole entire time, I'm already here. I'm present. Today we begin a new teaching series titled Overflow. As we talk about the Holy Spirit, the picture I want you to get in your mind of his overflow is not one of a cup that's spilling over. I want you to picture a life, I want you to picture your life that's so full of the presence of God that it pours over into every part of your life. Church family, listen, God did not send us his Spirit so we can have better church services, okay? He didn't give us his Holy Spirit so we can have more exciting times of worship, he gave us his Spirit so we can be transformed from the inside out. So we can look more and more like him when his Spirit fills our life, it affects our family. It affects the way we walk into school on Monday morning, it affects the way we walk into the business meeting, the way we have the conversation that we're dressed. When His Spirit fills our life, it overflows into how we handle criticism, how we experience and face suffering, how we serve the church, how we share our faith. His power, His Spirit was never meant to stop with us. It was meant to flow through us. And that's why we're calling this teaching series, Overflow. My prayer over the next several weeks isn't simply that we'd learn more about Him, but that we would learn how to intentionally walk with Him, how to personally know Him.

My prayer is that all of us, we would discover what a life looks like when it's not depending on its own strength and power, but it's rendered and submitted to the Spirit of God. Because I'm telling you, church, listen, when we are full of His Spirit, what is in us will flow, will overflow out of us. So with that context of what we're talking about today, let's prepare our hearts one more time and pray. Holy Spirit, You're welcome here. Help us to be more aware of Your presence. Help us to experience the glory of Your goodness for us. In Jesus' name we pray. And all God's people said, Amen. What just happened today is how it's going to happen over the next several weeks. We're changing the format of our service. Here's one of the reasons why. So we can slow down. So we don't move past and rush past His Spirit's presence, but we learn to recognize it. So turn to your neighbor and tell them, calmate. Calmate, muchacho. We're going to slow down together over the next several weeks of this series. Second thing I want you to know is this. As we talk about the Holy Spirit, listen, I don't say this lightly and I don't say this to over-spiritualize things, but we have a spiritual enemy and he hates this. He hates what we're going to be talking about. And so our enemy will do everything he can to distract us, to distance us, to make us too busy to listen to what the Spirit wants to speak to us. Hence, last service we had some power troubles and our team led through the challenges of nothing working.

And one of our AC units is down. It froze over. And so today's going to be a little bit warm. It may be the Holy Spirit, but most likely, let me be honest with you up front, one of our units is down. So with the amount of people in the room, it might feel a little bit warmer than usual. Are we okay with that? All right. We just spent the entire month of July talking through how the Spirit guides us and leads us through warning signs. And we're going to continue to talk about who the Holy Spirit is in his ministry. But before we talk about the gifts of the Spirit, before we talk about the fruit of the Spirit, before we talk about what it means to be Spirit-led, today I want us to answer a more basic question. The question is this, who is he? Not what does he do? We'll talk about that. I want us to understand who the Holy Spirit is. Because for a lot of sincere Christians, we know God the Father. We recognize that God the Father created everything. We've accepted God the Son, Jesus, as the Savior of our sins. But when we start talking about the Holy Spirit, this is when a lot of us grow silent. This is when a lot of us get a little bit confused. I heard a well-known pastor once say many years ago that it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Whoever. When I heard that I chuckled a little bit, not because it's good theology, but because that's the painful realism of so many followers of Jesus. The Spirit of God is the most misunderstood, the least understood person of the Trinity. He's mysterious. He's confusing.

When we talk about talking about Holy Spirit, some of us we even get a little bit afraid, because like I've seen those people on TV, I've watched those preachers on television like, what are we talking about being Spirit-led? Other people, they reduce them to something that you experience in a church service. But can I tell you, that's not how Jesus talks about His Spirit. Jesus doesn't introduce His Holy Spirit as something to experience. He introduces Him as a person. In fact, this conversation we just read was one of the most difficult conversations the disciples had with Jesus. Jesus just told them He's about to leave. And He knows the heaviness on their hearts. In fact, in John chapter 14, verse 1, He starts it off. He says, let not your hearts be troubled. This wasn't a friendly introduction. He saw the fear in their eyes. He saw the fear in their minds. Again, these men, they gave everything up to follow Him. Their friendships, their businesses. They left their family for a season to follow this One that they love. And now the One that they love the most tells them, guys, I'm going. And where I'm going, you can't be with me. Think about that. Think about the person you love the most saying to you, I'm going. I'm not gonna be with you anymore. How would that make you feel? What would immediately rush into your heart is fear that I'm going to be alone now.

And so Jesus, He tells them, don't let your hearts be troubled. He sees the fear of being alone in their eyes before they even say a word. And what does Jesus do? He doesn't say, I got you all a gift. Put this around your neck. And every time you see it, remember our times. Remember the good times. No, He promises them a person. John 14, 16 again, He says, and I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper. He says, I'm going to give to you my presence when I'm gone. Now I have to admit something. When my wife Jessica and I, we first got married, we lived in a small condo in East Miramar. She was a high school English teacher and I was a graphic designer at a church. And so she would wake up earlier than I would and I would come home after work later than she did. Our schedules were misaligned because of our different occupations. And I remember many times I'd come home to this condo. My wife's already there and I'd open the door and I'd open it to a darkened house. My wife, what she would do is she would turn off all the lights to scare me. Fun fact about Eric Gamero, I'm afraid of the dark. I don't like loud noises. I don't like jump scares. And my wife, she knew this and she loved it.

She loved scaring me. So I'd open up the door and I'd see all the lights off and I knew what was happening. She's in some corner, in some closet, waiting to jump out and say, boo, gotcha. And I'd freak out, I'd scream like a little child. But after so many times of her doing that and living with her for so long, here's the thing. I would open up that door and I would know. She would hide the car in a different parking spot so to pretend like she's not home and to make me feel like, oh, I'm just walking into a house with the lights. No, I sensed her presence. Even though I couldn't see her face, even though I didn't hear her voice, I sensed her presence. I knew, Jessica, you're in there. You're in a corner, I know. I can't hear, I can't see you, but you're there. Don't jump out, caught you already. Never did, she'd always scare me. But the same thing's happening with Jesus and his disciples. He's saying, listen, there's going to come a time very shortly where you're not gonna see me face to face anymore, but you will recognize and you will experience my presence greater than you ever have before. And then he says something that changes everything. John 14, 17, he says, you know him, you know my helper,

for he dwells with you, say with, and will be in you, say in. With and in, those are the two most important words in this passage, that's why I've titled today's teaching, with and in, and in between those two words, with and in, everything changes. Everything changes about our life following Jesus. The first truth I want you to write down is this. The spirit lives with and in me. Lives with and in me. Listen to what Jesus says again. He says, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Those are two different ways of describing the same thing. What Jesus is doing, he's describing two different realities. See, for the people of God, the Holy Spirit was always with God's people. The spirit of God in the Old Testament would come upon prophets and priests and kings for a very specific purpose. We read that the Holy Spirit came upon and empowered Samson. The Holy Spirit came upon and anointed David. The Holy Spirit came upon and preached through these prophets. The Holy Spirit was present, but his presence was temporary. He would come for an assignment, and after that assignment was done, he would depart. But Jesus looks at his disciples, he says, the spirit that has been with you, the spirit that empowered you to preach my good news,

to see these miracles happen, to heal the sick, he's now gonna be in you. He's gonna be in you. Amen, church? We have to understand this. Before the cross. The Spirit came upon people for a task, but now after the resurrection of Jesus, now the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. I want you to write this down. You've never walked into a room where God hasn't already arrived. Church, let that encourage you. Whatever you go through, whatever season of life you're in, whatever dark space you have to enter, whether or not your wife is there to scare you, wherever you go, the presence of God is already there. Why? Because He's with you. Because He's in you. Come on 1130, can we just stop and give God praise for that for just a few moments? Are you grateful that the presence of the living God is in you? He didn't go away to start a new world religion. He went so that we could have His presence with us. Now I know for some of you, that freaks you out a little bit. I grew up and I would hear and say this phrase often, you got to catch the Spirit. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Catching the Spirit. I grew up in a very charismatic church. We prayed out loud all together. We sang and we danced and we were very expressive in worship. Anyone else come from a charismatic church? Where you at? Liars, no. If you came from charismatic church, you'd be hooting and hollering right now. We grew up, the church I grew up in, we talked about the Holy Spirit. Like, like it was something to experience in an exciting service. If the prayer was powerful, if the preacher was passionate, then we'd experience the Spirit fall upon us.

We'd catch His Spirit. And then on Monday, we'd go back to work, we'd go back to school, and we'd wonder, when am I going to experience the Spirit again? And if that's what you thought, if that's what you've spoken before, I don't blame anyone for it. That's just a language that we inherited. But let me tell you Church Familia, that's not how Jesus talks about His Spirit. He doesn't explain an experience that we're supposed to chase. He explains and address change. He says He comes to dwell with and in you. Paul says it this way, 1 Corinthians 6, 19. A lot of you, you know this, maybe you've quoted this when it comes to fitness or tobacco. It says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? That doesn't just mean a take care of your body because your body is a temple. It means the Spirit of the living God lives inside of you. God gifted you His presence. Under the Old Covenant, under the Old Testament, the people, they would travel to the temple, to the tabernacle, to experience the fullness of God. But Church, let me tell you something. When you woke up this morning and you came to church, the Spirit came with you. The Holy Spirit is not at the local church only when the charismatic Asian preacher preaches. He's always here. Why? Because the people of God are here. Amen. Listen to Romans 8-11. If the Spirit of Him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. The same Spirit that walked Jesus out of the grave, He walked into your life. Church, listen, this changes everything. It changes the way that you work. It changes the way you wait on the doctor's appointment. It changes the next season of your life

where you're wondering, how is all this going to work out? Every moment you walk into, He's already there. He's with you. And He's in you. Let me be honest with you. There was a season of my life even as a pastor where I knew this, where I taught this, but I wasn't living it out. I had forgotten that He's with me always. It was a season of my life where young kids and a lot of you, you're familiar with this. I had three little kids and everyone wants everything from me all of the time. And I'm trying to be a good husband, trying to be a good father, trying to be a good pastor and answer the emails and pay the bills and make the decisions. And all this is just, it's heavy upon my shoulders. I'm wondering, how do I do this? I didn't know it was going to be this difficult. I didn't know these people were going to be so needy and so critical about everything that I do and say. And I got these kids and like, I can't do this. I remember one night my kids went to bed, my wife went to sleep, and the house is finally quiet. But my mind is, and my mind's racing through all these conversations, and I had all these things I have to do. And so I go on my back patio, and I'm sitting there, and I'm talking to myself, saying, I don't want to do this. It's too hard. I can't do this. I'm all alone. And by the grace of God, I hear the Spirit speak. I hear His conviction. Tell me, no, you're not. I'm here. I've been here.

You're not doing this alone. A lot of you, you know that feeling. Maybe it's not with parenting. Maybe it's simply the weight of everything that you have to carry feels heavier than you can carry on your own. Just like me, the Holy Spirit wants to remind you. He's not waiting for you to come back to church. He's not waiting for you to get things right in your life. He's with you. Some of you, you need to hear that today. You might be carrying things, and you feel like you're carrying it all on your own. The weight may feel like it's crushing you. But you're not alone. He was more present for me on that patio than He was when I postured myself in church. Why? Because He's with. He's in. Always. See, I think that's a tragedy for a lot of us in the church. Write this down. We don't have a presence of God problem. We have an awareness of God problem. We're carrying burdens that God didn't mean for us to carry alone, because somewhere along the way, we forgot that He's with us. Church, hear me. He doesn't need to be more present. He is.

He's not the one who's distant. He's not the one who's distracted. The problem isn't, is God with me? The problem, the challenge is, are we living and walking every day with the awareness that He hasn't left me, that He's already there? This is why it changes everything, because listen, what if you actually believe that? Not just knew it, not just writing down a note, but you actually believed. You lived your life Monday morning with the awareness that the Spirit of the living God, Creator God, is in you. How would that change the conversation you have to have? How would that change how you drop off your children, how you walk into work? I'm telling you, a doctrine won't change your life, no. But an awareness that the Spirit of the living God is with you always, that will change your life, amen? Second truth I want you to write down is this. The Spirit is my helper forever. He's my helper forever. Hebrews 13, five, Jesus says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus gives us this promise. I'm never gonna leave you. The original Rick roll, never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around, desert you.

I'm with you always. But where's Jesus now? The Bible says he's seated at the right hand of the heavenly Father, that he's making a home for us in heaven. Listen, I don't mean to blow your minds today, but you gotta know the truth. A lot of you, you prayed a prayer, maybe when you were young, maybe recently. Jesus, come live in my heart. He's not living in your heart. Jesus did not shrink down to size to a mini-fig and create a condo in your right chamber. He's in heaven. He's in heaven, getting us ready for our eternal home. Jesus fulfilled that promise, I will never leave you or forsake you, by giving us his spirit. His spirit lives with us. His spirit lives within our hearts. He says, I'm gonna send you a helper who will be with you. And then how long does he say? Let's read it. John 14, 16, I'll ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you. How long? Forever. Don't move past that word. Stick there like Sandlot. Forever.

Remember that? Forever. He's with you forever. He's never gonna leave. We have a helper forever. Some of us, we've sat waiting for the one that we love to tell us how long they're gonna be there. Is this gonna work out? Are you gonna quit on me? How long are you gonna be here? The one that loves us the most, he says, I've answered. I'm never gonna leave. I'm with you forever. My helper is with you forever. That word helper, it's the Greek word parakletos. It's one of those words that's really difficult to. defined in English because it's so comprehensive. It means an advocate, someone who fights for you. It means a comforter, someone who wraps his arms around you. It means a counselor, someone who gives you wisdom when you are down. It's someone who comes alongside to help. Paracletos, comes alongside to give you the help that you need. I want you to picture someone who steps into your struggle instead of sitting back and watching you struggle. Right, do you have that picture in your head? I pray to God that all of us have someone that we can count on. Someone that we can call when the defecation

hits the oscillation in our lives. Jesus is saying, my spirit is that person. But the difference is, he always picks up, amen? He doesn't let it ring a few times. He doesn't send you to voicemail. He doesn't pick up and say, can I call you back in five minutes because I'm busy? No, he's always there. He's our helper who's by our side and he stays forever. Even when things get complicated. Even when you mess up, he's with you forever. That's a lot different than a lot of us have thought in our lives, right? Maybe like me, you never said it out loud, but you began to believe that, man, when I'm good and things are good, God is near. But God forbid I mess up. God forbid I raise my voice. I get angry. I miss out on church. Because I haven't done good, now God is distant. Can I tell you, that's not the good news of Jesus. I want you to write this down. God's presence is not a prize for good behavior. Oh, you got five gold stars this week? Good, I'm gonna be with you next week now. No, God's presence is not a prize for good behavior. It's a promise to everyone who believes. You surrender your life to him. You trust him as your savior.

You have his spirit. We'll talk about this in weeks to come, but are Christians filled with the spirit? Yeah, every single one of them. You have been baptized with the spirit the moment you believed. And he'll never leave. Romans 8 tells us, nothing will ever separate us from the love of God. Nothing. Nothing you've done, nothing you've failed to do will ever separate you from the love that God has for you in Jesus. And the Bible talks, it continues on saying, that no scheme of hell, no principality, if the power of demons can't separate you from the love God has for you, no dumb thing you've done will ever be able to stop that as well. Amen? Church, the Holy Spirit didn't take residence in your life because you finally figured things out. No, he filled you because Jesus made a way. And the presence of God in your life, it isn't sustained by your performance. It doesn't stay if you weren't good enough. It is sustained by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. He's there forever, always. His presence, his help is always available. Listen, I've seen this time and time again

throughout the life of this church. I've stood in hospital rooms where people are suffering, but there's still peace. I've done gravesides where people are saying goodbye to someone that has gone too soon and nothing is good, but there's a sense of calm about them. And every situation, it's not that things got magically better. All of a sudden, everything turned around. No, they were still in a dark season, but there was a sense of peace and power in their life because of the presence of God, because the Holy Spirit didn't clock out when everyone else did. He never leaves you. And listen, I know, I know, I know it may feel like you're all alone right now. I know it may feel like this is too difficult and you have nowhere to turn to and no one to go to, that you're all alone. I know it may feel like that, but I lovingly say this to you, listen, your feelings are a lie. Too many of us, we've made our feelings the architect that builds every area of our life. To quote my dear friend, Dr. Johnny Butler, feelings make terrible theologians. That's what you feel, but let me tell you what is a fact. You see? He's still there.

He's still speaking. He's still strengthening. He's still leading. He's still guiding. Why? Because when God says forever, that means forever. Amen? Third truth I want you to write down is this. The Spirit makes God's presence personal. When we talk about the presence of God, it is not some thing that we have to try to grasp and understand. It is personal. Jesus, he finishes this conversation with something that's so very easy to miss. Verse 17, one last time. He says, even the Spirit of truth in the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Jesus says the world cannot receive his presence and his Spirit, because they don't know him. But he says, you know him. He looks at his disciples and says, you know him? That word know, it doesn't mean you have information about him. It doesn't mean you know about him. It's relational.

It's experiential. He's saying you actually know him. Can I tell you, you can know everything there is to know about a person and not really know them. Are you aware of that? We live in a culture today that lifts up people, that lifts up celebrities and champions. We all want someone to worship, and some of you, some of you are super fans or some of you are stans. Stalker fans. You read every book. You bought every piece of merchandise. You've watched every podcast. You know all the facts. You know their birthday. You know their eye color. You know their height. You know their weight. That's so weird. You know everything about this person, but you don't actually know them. And they don't know you. Right? It's not the information. I'm married. I've been married to my best friend. Her name is Jessica. I know

everything about her. Her love language. What makes her happy. Her biggest dream. Her breakfast order at McDonald's, depending on what day of the week it is and which location I go to. I know everything there is to know about my bride, but what if I never talked to her? What if I never spoke a word to my wife? Would you say that I have an intimate relationship with my wife? No, of course not. Church, can I challenge us? This is how a lot of us are with the Holy Spirit. We know a lot about him. We write down notes. We read books. We listen to sermons and podcasts. But we don't actually know him. We talk a whole lot about him. But do we actually talk to him and with him? Do you know him? Not about him. Do you actually

know him? He's not a force. He's not an emotion or an atmosphere. The Spirit of God, is that something we feel on an exciting Sunday? Jesus never intended for his spirit to simply be a doctrine that we understand. Hear this. Jesus intended his spirit to be our closest companion. Do you know him? He wants you to. In fact, he knows everything about you. He lives in you. He knows all of your thoughts. Nothing about your life surprises him. He knows a prayer you almost stop praying. He knows a thing that breaks your heart. He knows a dream that you have. He knows everything about you. And he loves you. And he still dwells inside of you and he still

wants to help you look more like Jesus. Do you know him? Church, because that's where overflow begins. Overflow, when we talk about the overflow of the Holy Spirit, a lot of us, we go to miracles. A lot of us, we go to gifts. That's not where it starts. It starts with intimacy. Every relationship has to move past information. A real relationship is about intimacy. That's where overflow begins. I want you to write this down. Information informs. We're going to read and learn a lot of information over the next several weeks, but information doesn't transform. What transforms is intimacy. It's not simply knowing about, it's not gathering the information, it's intimacy. And this is why Jesus starts here. Before he talks about what the Holy Spirit will do, he talks about who he is. Before he talks about his power, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Before he talks about power, he talks about his presence. He reminds us of who his spirit is and who is he. He's our closest companion that lives within us and that wants to walk with us and talk with us daily. And if the Holy Spirit spooks you out, let me just tell you, that's simply the invitation. That's it.

Not that you would do better, try harder, become more religious. No. The invitation is simply that you would know the one who already dwells within you. So as we end, let me, let me give a challenge this week, a very simple challenge. This is the solution to our awareness problem. He's present always. We're just not aware of his presence always. And so the solution to that is this, is my challenge. This week, talk with the Holy Spirit. I just want you to do that. Let me clarify. Let me paint a picture. I'm not saying you, you put together the perfect prayer. I'm not saying you get King James on God and say, thou art the greatest and thine filled mine glorious temple. Like, no, talk to him like a friend and a helper who's already there because he is. In the car line, talk to him, tell him about the fears and anxieties you have of sending your kids away again. Before you go into that meeting, ask him, give me strength, give me wisdom, give me patience and peace. And then listen. Don't just talk to him. It's a relationship. Listen. When he leads, obey. I'm telling you, he speaks in a still small voice, but if we tune our ear to hear what he says, whether that's through his word or through a conviction that we have in our heart, or like we talked about last month, a road sign that is flashing. When we tune our ear to what he's saying, his voice becomes louder in our lives. Talk with the spirit this week. Grow in your awareness that he's always with you because he is. We're going to continue to worship. This is not the time to go.

We're going to continue to worship with a few more songs. But as we worship, it's not going to be a request. It's going to be a response. We're not saying, Holy Spirit, can you come? It's now with this understanding that he is here, we're going to respond to him. As our worship team comes out, Psalm 139, verse 7. David, he gives this cosmic question. He says, where can I go from your spirit, O God? Where shall I flee from your presence? He's saying, where can I go where you're not there? And the answer, nowhere. Nowhere. He's with and in you always. Let me end with something very practical. If you're here and you need help, the helper's not coming. When is he going to come? He's not coming. He's here. He's already here right now. Let's stand to our feet. Let's respond with this awareness. It's not, will you come? It's, Holy Spirit, you're here. You're welcome in my life. Some of you, you might admit, I grew up in a church like that, and it was crazy, and I don't want to be part of that anymore. I get those concerns. Somebody like, I grew up in, we talked negative about those things. Like, that stuff all stopped. What kind of church are we? Listen, I get all that. And we'll talk and we'll get information about the ministry of the Spirit of God in 2026, and how he wants to lead us and guide us. But wherever you are right now,

right now, respond. Say, you're welcome. You're welcome in this place. You're welcome in my life. I don't know what you're gonna ask me to do. I don't know what that means for my life, but I know it changes everything. So you're welcome. More than a religion. More than a faith. We have a relationship, because the Spirit is with and in us. So let's talk with Him. Let's respond. Let's declare, and let's invite Him to lead every area of our life, to overflow into every part of our living. Jesus, we thank You. Thank You that we are not alone. Thank You that Your Spirit is with us right now. Help us to be more aware of Your presence. Help us to experience the glory of Your goodness. Help us to not stay silent, to not be afraid, but to walk with You as You walk with us. You are welcome. Have Your way. In the name of Jesus, we thank You and pray. Oh, glory. God is one. To the old and to the young. This is our response, Lord. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, You are welcome. Come and serve this place. Oh, Your glory, God, to be overcome by Your presence. You're not coming. You're here. You're not coming. You're here. You're already here. You're in this room right now. Your presence, Lord. Your presence, Lord. Come on, since He's already here, come on. Let's sing this out. Let's sing this out. Let us become more aware, everyone. Let us become more aware of Your presence. Let us experience the glory of Your goodness. Let us become more aware of Your presence. Let us experience the glory of Your goodness. Let us become more aware of Your presence. Let us experience. We don't want to spectate.

We want to experience You. Let us become, become, become. Let us experience. Come on now, with hands lifted all over the room. Come on, can we declare this out together? We sing, Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Come on, let's sing it out. Holy Spirit, You are welcome. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. To be overcome. To be overcome by Your presence, Lord. Come on, is anybody grateful for the Holy Spirit? Is anybody grateful for the Holy Spirit this morning? Come on, before we leave, we're going to end it off on a high note. Come on, all over the room, clap your hands, right there. Come on, we're about to declare the joy of the Lord. Come on, clap your hands, all you people. Come on, clap your hands, all you people. I'm going to need your help on this one. Come on, sing. This is the day You have made. So I will rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad in it. So this is where I believe that You are more than enough, more than enough for me. ♪ Equal to your promise, you are strong when I am weak ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need Come on, sing it out. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh, y'all start real good, come on.

Sing, the joy of the Lord. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Come on, declare it. ♪ Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless his name ♪ All that is within me sings ♪ The joy of the Lord Come on, hey, everybody clap, y'all clap, set the roots. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Hey, everybody clap, y'all, that's right. Come on, sing it. ♪ Jesus, come what may ♪ You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise Come on, sing it all out. ♪ You are faithful to your promise ♪ You are strong when I am weak ♪ When I'm standing in your presence Come on, here we go. Hey, everybody jump on it, come on. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh yeah, you got it, come on. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Come on, it's that. ♪ So hold my soul, hold my soul, bless his name ♪ All that is within me sings Here we go, one, two, three, everybody jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, let's sing this out. ♪ So let it rise up like a river ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit

♪ And let it pour out with no limit ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ Holy Spirit Come on, so let it rise. ♪ Let it rise Let it rise, let it rise. ♪ Like a river Overflowing ♪ All that is within me Holy Spirit ♪ Holy Spirit So let it pour out ♪ Like a river With no limit With no limit ♪ Overflowing Overflowing Come on, I'm gonna need your help in the room, here we go. One, two, one, two, three, here we go. ♪ Oh, oh, oh Yeah, yeah. You got it. ♪ Oh, oh, oh I see you, come on, here we go. ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ Oh, oh, oh Come on, sing, the joy of the Lord, sing. ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ The joy of the Lord is mine

Oh yeah, it's more than a few of me. ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ The joy of the Lord is mine So we declare. ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Blesses me Come on, sing it again. ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Blesses me ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Let everything that hath breath ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Praise the Lord Oh yeah, sing. ♪ The joy of the Lord Here we go. Everybody clap those hands, come on. Everybody clap. Clap your hands, all you people. Come on now, can you give the Lord a shout of praise all over the room?