Spirit-Led: Waiting on the Spirit

Hey, if we've never met, my name's Josh. If you are newer around here, I just want you to know two things real quick. One is you just walked into a room full of plain old, ordinary, sinful, broken people desperately in need of the grace of Jesus. Amen. And so if that sounds like you, you're just like us.

If it doesn't sound like you, you probably won't fit in here. Second, if you want to take a step toward connecting here in any way, whether that's finding your people in community, finding a place to serve with your gifts, or learning a little bit more about who we are and kind of the heartbeat of this place, the best first step for you to take is to go to the information desk out in the foyer. It's our one stop shop for next steps here. We got a great team out there that would love to meet you and help you take a step. Over the last few weeks, we've been in a spirit, a spirit.

I did this during the run through. We've been in a series called Holy Spirit where we're looking at the Holy Spirit through three main questions. Who is the Holy Spirit? What does he do? And how do we walk in the Spirit in normal life?

And we talked about how the Spirit is not just a vague force, not just a feeling, spiritual energy. He is the personal, present, active Spirit of the living God, fully God alongside the Father and the Son. And we also looked at the incredible scope of all the things that the Spirit does from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible. He is creating and giving life and empowering leaders and prophets and revealing truth and convicting people of sin. And he raises Jesus from the dead.

He indwells believers, he produces fruit, gives the church, guides, mission and transforms people from the inside out. And then in week three, we asked, what does it look like to walk in the Spirit? And we said it could be as simple as notice, listen and obey. Learning to slow down enough to become aware of God's presence and activity around us, learning to listen through scripture and prayer and stillness and to obey, trusting him enough to actually do what he prompts us to do. And then last week as we celebrated Mother's Day, I had an incredible opportunity to just share that time with my wife and interview her and hear about what it's been like for her to walk in the Spirit through motherhood, not just in dramatically spiritual, wonderful moments, but in the exhaustion and interruptions and difficulty and temptations and sacrifices and the quiet faithfulness of daily obedience.

And hopefully many of you grabbed one of Those Walking in the Spirit half sheets, they're on the tables on your way out today if you didn't get one. It gives us that framework of notice. Listen, obey, and it gives us these collective prayers to be praying together as a church body. I hope that you'll grab one of those. And last thing before we dig in today, we ask for you to share your story of how the Holy Spirit's working in your life.

Several of you have seen have done that. You've sent an email to my storyhitewatercrossing.org you can still do that. We would love to hear the plain old normal every day and the miraculous incredible as well of what the Spirit is doing in your life. Now I'll publicly shame a few of you. Not personally, but I had people tell me, oh, my story's not that important.

I don't need to share it. Or yeah, I didn't know who that went to, so I wasn't sure. Share your story. Share your story of what the Holy Spirit's doing in your life. It's such an encouragement to other believers and we get to share some of those stories as well.

All right, today we're stepping into what I would call a companion series to the Holy Spirit series. It moves us beyond learning about the Holy Spirit in doctrinal, in biblical theological terms, to watching real people in real places and real situations actually interact with the Holy Spirit. And I think the very best place for us to see this in scripture is the Book of Acts. It's been called the Acts of the Apostles. Many people over time have pointed out maybe it's more aptly named the Acts of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy spirit is mentioned 60 times in the Book of Acts. That's almost twice as many times as any other book in the Bible. And over the next several weeks, we're going to be walking through some key scenes in the Book of Acts where we see who the Holy Spirit is, what the Holy Spirit does, and how real, normal, everyday people walk in the Spirit.

So as we look at the biblical stories of the Holy Spirit interacting with people, we're also going to hear from some of our people about how the Holy Spirit is interacting with them and their lives. I want to show you a quick story now. My name is Kelly Bauman and we've been at Whitewater for a year and a half and I currently volunteer in the life center in the food pantry. And then we are also part of a small group at Whitewater.

Recently, about three months ago, I had a stroke very, very out of Blue was not expecting obviously that to happen at 38. And we've been praying for a lot of things to happen before the stroke for years and years and years. And then after the stroke, it caused a lot of those things to happen, thankfully. So slowing down and thinking about what's important in life, our family, raising our boys in a certain manner with connecting with the Holy Spirit themselves. And it's really caused, in a good way a lot of things to happen for us that we've been praying for.

Start trying to hear more from Holy Spirit and trying to kind of figure out what's going on more important in life. So this hard season has led us to surrender more and listen more, to obey and follow what he has planned for us. Even though it's not something that we, we didn't think it would look this way, but it ended up being the best gift.

That's so good. So good church. God is in the business of redeeming all things, even a stroke at 38. It's beautiful. Will you pray with me, God?

This morning we are just thankful for the stories of the way that you're working in Bible times and working in today among people who are sitting right here in this room.

Help us to connect with you, Holy Spirit, in a way that we see what you're doing in our lives. You've been here right in front of us and our eyes have not had the lenses to see you. Help us to see you come and have your way today. Use me as your voice to speak to your people. Till up the soil of our hearts and our minds and open our ears to be able and willing to hear the truth that you have to proclaim today.

All for your glory and for the expansion of your kingdom. In Jesus name, Amen.

Well, like I said, the Book of Acts is probably the premier book in the Bible for watching the Holy Spirit interact with and move through ordinary people. And as I was studying for this message, I was struck by something that another pastor pointed out about the Book of Acts. When we read the Book of Acts all at once or even over several weeks, like we're going to do, it can feel like the Holy Spirit is just constantly doing big, miraculous, powerful things every day. And if we're not careful, we can feel a big disconnect from what we read in the Book of Acts to what we experience in our daily lives. And it can feel like maybe he's not working like he was working then.

But Skip Heidzig points out that the Book of acts covers a 30 year period of history with the church, and at the same time, it only recognizes between 30 and 40 miraculous occurrences or miraculous power of the Holy Spirit poured out. That's about just over one miracle a year. And I think that represents pretty well our experience. I think it should reframe a little bit of the way that we view the Book of Acts. And I don't say that to downplay the book of Acts at all.

The miracles, they're powerful, they're important, But I don't want us to be stuck in this lie that that's when the Holy Spirit used to work, but he doesn't today. We need to just adjust our expectations a little bit instead of looking for a miracle a day. Even in the Book of Acts, they were spread out. What was constant through the Book of Acts and is constant today is ordinary believers praying, obeying, gathering, suffering, sharing the gospel, loving one another in the world around them, and slowly being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit more and more and more into the likeness of Jesus. And that sounds like our church, too.

Acts is not just a collection of miracle stories. It's the story of what happens when the Holy Spirit fills ordinary people and how he launched the church into the world. The Book of Acts begins with a small group of believers in Jerusalem. Jerusalem at this point is just a city on the far eastern reaches of the massive Roman Empire. And it ends with the gospel reaching all the way into the city center of the empire itself.

The gospel makes it to rome in about 30 years. The message of Jesus travels roughly 1500 miles across the known world. But note that it happens with no modern transportation, no political power, no military influence, no massive institutions, Just normal, everyday people empowered by the Holy Spirit, being obedient and sharing the gospel wherever they go. In many ways, the Book of Acts is the story of the very first gospel epicenter. We've used that language here that we want to be gospel epicenters, reverberating the gospel out in every direction.

The gospel explodes out from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and eventually to the ends of the earth, exactly like Jesus said that it would. The message of Jesus radiates out in every direction through ordinary people empowered by the Holy Spirit. And honestly, sitting here in the United States right now in Cleves, Ohio, almost exactly as far away from there as you can get. It's the evidence that it worked. When the Spirit empowers normal people and those same normal people, people obey, the gospel spreads and the church grows.

Not because the early Christians were extraordinary people, but because God's Spirit was actively at work through surrendered people. The book of Acts opens with a letter written from the author, unnamed to a recipient. Acts 1, verse 1. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. And right away, we learned two important things.

First, Acts is actually volume two of a larger story. Second, both books are written to someone named Theophilus. Now, we don't know very much at all about Theophilus, except for the fact that his parents thought he was terrible. History tells us that when he was born, his father looked to his mother and said, what should we name him? And his mother said, I don't know.

He's the awfulest kid I've ever seen.

Wow. Wow. I actually wrote that and planned for it.

All right.

Actually, the name Theophilus just means lover of God. And if you know your New Testament, you might recognize his name from another book of the Bible. It's an intro written to him as well. It's the Gospel of Luke. That's one of the reasons we know that the same person who wrote Acts wrote Luke.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's Gospel. Here's how the Gospel of Luke opens. Luke 1, verse 1. Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first, were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent, Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Now, this is really important to understand because Luke is telling us exactly what he's doing here. He has set out to write a historically accurate account of the life of Jesus and the start of the global church. Luke was not one of the original 12 disciples like Mark. When we studied the Gospel of Mark, he did not walk with Jesus. He was not sitting at the Last Supper.

He was not there at the empty tomb on Easter morning. Luke was not a firsthand eyewitness of almost everything that he covers in Luke and Acts. So how can he write all of this? Well, about 30 to 40 years after the death of Jesus, most likely funded and sent by Theophilus, Luke functions as an investigative reporter. He talks to eyewitnesses, he gathers testimony, he studies the events carefully, he organizes all of these accounts, and then he writes an orderly historical record so that Theophilus can know with certainty what actually happened.

That's important because Luke did not set out to write a clever spiritual story. He did not set out to write an inspiring religious mythology. He set out to document these events as accurately as he could. And I don't believe for a minute that he realized he was writing for us. He was writing for one guy.

He was writing for Theophilus, who wanted certainty about what he had heard about Jesus and, and the start of the early church. And honestly, I think that this strengthens the case for reading Luke and Acts as absolute historical documents. After all, we regularly trust anybody else from history who claim to carefully investigate events and make an accounting of them. Luke is doing the same thing. And the story he tells picks up at a massive turning point in history.

Jesus has died and has miraculously risen from the grave. And before it, ascending into heaven. He gives these final words to his disciples that we now call the great commission. Matthew 28:18. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always. To the very end of the age, Jesus says, go. But then we go right into the book of Acts, and right there at the beginning. This is what Jesus says in Acts 1:3. After his suffering, Jesus, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. He just said, go. He says, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. This is the Holy Spirit, he says, for John, baptized with water, that's John the Baptist.

But in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Gospels end with Go. And Jesus says, in the beginning of the Book of Acts. Wait, why? I mean, these disciples have already spent three years with Jesus.

They've walked with him and lived with him. They've heard his teaching. They've seen miracles. They watched him die. They've seen the resurrected Jesus standing in front of them.

Some of them have healed people and cast out demons themselves. They have practiced proclaiming that the kingdom of God has come. If anyone should be ready to go, it should be these guys, right? And yet Jesus strongly commands him the language there is very strong. Wait.

I command you to wait. He basically says, you are not ready to do this. Why? Because Christianity was never meant to operate merely on human effort, on human knowledge and talent and personality and inspiration and strategy and metrics and willpower. The of Jesus is impossible without the Spirit of Jesus.

Now, I don't have time to take a deep dive here, but I do want to address that last sentence of that section. Jesus said, for John, baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. A rather modern doctrine has emerged from what I believe is a misreading of this verse and a handful of others. It's the teaching that there are two separate baptisms. One's a water baptism that is accompanied by salvation, and the second is a spirit baptism, which that's when you receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I say it's a modern doctrine, I mean the earliest inklings of this idea don't even show up for the first 1700 years of church history. And today this view has developed into a doctrine that's predominantly taught by our Pentecostal brothers and sisters. And while we would not make this an issue of fellowship, meaning we can absolutely worship Jesus together and remain unified in Christ, this is not where we land as a church. We believe that when someone places their faith in Jesus, they receive the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and that the Christian life then, from that moment forward is a lifelong process of being gradually transformed, empowered and sanctified by that same Spirit. Very simply, we believe that the language of being baptized in or baptized with the Holy Spirit versus baptism of water is talking really about this historic shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant, where the Spirit came upon certain people at certain times and then was not upon them, into the New Covenant, where the Holy Spirit now lives within all believers, empowering us to follow Jesus. Jesus said that he had to go so that the Spirit would come not only on his followers, but in us, too. So at Whitewater, we don't minimize the power of the Holy Spirit in any way in the lives of believers. We simply do not believe in a second baptism. All right, let's pick up in verse 8, where Jesus continues to tell them why they need to wait and what they're waiting for.

Acts 1:8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The initial, or at least primary empowerment Jesus highlights Here isn't healing. It isn't speaking in tongues. It's not walking on water.

It's something that almost sounds ordinary enough that we should be able to do it without the Holy Spirit. It's to be a witness. The word witness is the Greek word martus, and it just means someone who testifies to what they've seen, heard, or know to be true. But if being a witness is so simple, why would we need supernatural power at all to say what we've seen, heard, or known to be true? Well, it's because of what's at stake.

Sharing the good news of Jesus is not merely passing along information. It's an act of open war against the powers of hell. There is a real spiritual battle raging in unseen places around us right now. And we do not have the wisdom, courage, endurance or spiritual authority to engage in it. Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, we need his power not only to participate in the mission, but to remain aligned with God's purposes and his battle plans.

This is why the disciples must wait. But I want us to notice where he tells them to wait. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not a safe place for them. This is the same city that had just cried out for Jesus to be crucified and actually killed him.

The city is filled with political tension and religious hostility and Roman rule and Passover crowds from all over the known world. The disciples are walking back into the very city where their rabbi has been publicly executed as an enemy of the state and of the religious establishment. This is the same city where they have been hiding behind locked doors out of fear. It's a city where Peter denied Jesus three times. It's a city where religious leaders are already trying to stop the spread of this movement in any way that they can.

And honestly, this is another reason I that the Book of Acts records real events. Human beings do not come up with plans like this. If we're making up a movement, we would not build it like this. We would hide all the leaders until things cool down. And then we would relocate to somewhere safer where people couldn't fact check us so easily.

We would avoid the city that just executed our leader. We would not tell fearful ordinary people to stay there and publicly proclaim that the man everyone watched die has risen from the dead. In Jerusalem, people could verify and challenge their claims. The crowds are still there. The religious leaders are still there.

The Roman authorities are still there. The people who saw Jesus die are still there. The people that know where the tomb was are still there. Christianity was not born generations later in some distant place where nobody could question the story. The disciples began proclaiming the resurrection right there in Jerusalem in the immediate aftermath of the crucifixion, surrounded by people who could check all their facts.

But instead of the movement collapsing, it exploded. Why? Because these men and women were so convinced that Jesus truly was alive that they were suddenly willing to risk everything to proclaim was the power of the Holy Spirit that transformed fearful followers into bold witnesses. And when we skip ahead to verse 12, we see that they did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They waited.

But they filled their time with something. Let's look at Acts 1:12. Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. This is where Jesus ascended into heaven, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.

Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Notice their waiting was not passive. They were not just sitting around doing nothing, sitting on their hands. They were waiting actively.

How? Prayer. They all joined together constantly in prayer with God. Waiting is never passive. It's never meant to be empty, meant to be filled with prayerful dependence.

And maybe that's all you came for today. Maybe you are in a season of waiting right now and instead of sitting on your hands, you need to be constantly in prayer like they were as you wait. So there they are, tiny group of people gathered together in prayer, waiting for the Holy Spirit to release them into what should have been one of the least fertile environments imaginable for the Gospel to grow. And yet somehow this movement for 2000 years spreads to every inhabited continent on the earth and leads billions and billions of people throughout history to confess Jesus as Lord. That doesn't happen because 120 people were clever enough to come up with a religion that they invented.

It doesn't happen because they were strong enough to build a global movement in their own power kingdom. Math says something else is happening here. Church These are not just ordinary people operating in their own strength. These are believers devoted to prayer, filled with the Holy Spirit, transformed by God into bold and faithful witnesses to the risen Jesus. And over the next several weeks, we're going to watch God do some incredible things through these spirit filled believers.

But I want us to stay tethered to this truth from the very beginning. God's primary way of accomplishing his will on this earth has always been through ordinary broken people who are humble, willing and obedient. He places His Spirit within everyday believers so that they can participate in his kingdom work with a strength and a power and an effectiveness that does not come from us.

I love how Paul the Apostle describes this in Colossians 1. He says he is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christians so powerfully works in me. I love this phrase because it captures this beautiful paradox of the Christian life. We really do strive and obey and pray and serve and sacrifice and endure and contend.

But ultimately we are not running in our power. We are working with the strength and the energy of Christ and His Spirit within us. This is the truth of the Gospel. And this is not just the story of a few people from the Book of Acts church. This is the story available to every believer since Jesus ascended into heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in us.

The same Spirit who empowered Peter to preach and Paul the Apostle to endure suffering even through prison and Stephen to be stoned and forgive his enemies and fill the the evangelist to obey a strange prompting and the early Church to remain faithful under persecution and death is the same Holy Spirit living and working in believers today. There's not a different Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts than there is in you right now. The goal of this series is not for us to admire the early church fathers and mothers from a distant like spiritual superheroes. The goal is for us to learn what it looks like to live as spirit filled people. Plain old normal, broken everyday people.

Most of us are not going to stand before kings. Most of us are not going to preach to thousands of people. But all of us will face moments where we need the Holy Spirit's power to forgive someone, to share our faith, to resist temptation, to endure suffering, to love unlovable people, to raise our kids, to stay faithful in obscurity, to obey when we're afraid, or to trust God when we have this much of the picture. What we're going to see over and over and over again in the Book of Acts is that the Holy Spirit loves to work through ordinary people. So as we walk through these next several weeks together, don't just read Acts as a history of the church.

Read it as an invitation. Because the same God of the Book of Acts is still building his church. The same Gospel is still changing Lives today the same Holy Spirit who turned Jerusalem impossibly into a gospel epicenter and still wants us to be formed as gospel epicenters today. Plain old normal, everyday believers. Believers in homes where Jesus is honored.

Believers in families where the gospel is lived out, in workplaces and schools and neighborhoods and friend groups where truth and grace are present because we are present. Ordinary believers empowered by His Holy Spirit, carrying the presence of Jesus into everyday life. So my invitation to you over these next several weeks is very simple. Don't just come here to learn more information about the start of the church and the work of the Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit to shape you like he did them.

Ask God to make you more aware of his presence, to empower you to be his witnesses to fulfill, function as gospel epicenters in your life and then slow down. Slow down enough to notice, create space in your life to actually listen. And when he convicts and prompts and redirects and encourages or calls, obey. Obey. Maybe for some of us, becoming a gospel epicenter starts with finally sharing our faith with our one more, that one person that's closest to us and furthest from God, the person that God has put in our sphere of influence.

Maybe it means praying with your spouse instead of avoiding spiritual conversations. Men, you are the spiritual leaders of your home. Maybe it means praying with your spouse and your kids and instead of avoiding spiritual conversations. I know you don't know enough. I know that you are broken.

I know that your sin is dripping on the floor all around you, and no one knows that better than them. What greater reason to show them who he is? Maybe it's time for some of you. Maybe it means confessing sin you've been hiding. Maybe it means serving, forgiving, reconciling.

Maybe it means giving generously or serving with the gifts that God has given you. Maybe it simply means to become more available to God, just paying attention at all to what he's doing in your life. And for some of us, maybe the next step is far more foundational than that. Maybe you've been around church and spiritual things for a long time, but you've never actually surrendered to Jesus. Maybe this is all brand new to you at all, but maybe he's stirring something up in you.

Maybe that thing that you're feeling right now actually is the Holy Spirit tugging on you and saying, come on, come on, there's more. You were made for more. And if that's you today, our prayer team's going to be on either side of the room. I'll be up Front. Our information desk folks are out there.

Come and talk to us today. But for all of us. All of us. Don't miss us. We must understand that the book of Acts is not about extraordinary Christians doing impossible things.

It's about ordinary people surrendering themselves to an extraordinary God. This is not about them. It's all about Him. And I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit still wants to work through people like us today. Everyday believers willing to say, holy Spirit, I am available.

I am listening. I am paying attention. Help me notice. Empower me, and I will obey. Do not underestimate what God can do through a person, through a people who are fully surrendered to him.

Acts begins with 120 ordinary believers praying in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. And God turns the entire world upside down through them.

God is already doing incredible things in the life of our church. We're already seeing changed lives and healing and restoration and people coming to faith and baptisms and generosity increasing and students seeking Jesus and the gospel spreading. But there are still so many of us. Come on, Church. So many of us living exhausted, anxious, distracted, isolated, addicted, spiritually numb, trapped in shame.

Lives still too many of us trying to do this all in our own strength. There are still so many people around us who don't know the truth.

We are God's plan. A plain old, normal, dirty, broken people, you and me. By the power of the Holy Spirit, just like the book of Acts, Bold witnesses to proclaim the truth to the nations. Our job is no different than theirs.

And here's the thing. We have one major advantage that those 120 people in Acts chapter one didn't have. We don't have to wait on the Holy Spirit. He's already come. He's already come.

And we don't have to imagine what this could possibly look like. Their stories have been written so that we can see it with our own eyes. It's time, Church. When I showed up here week one, I said, God has called me here to do one, one key thing. To wake up the church.

To wake up the church. It is time for us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and to be the church he has designed us to be. So let's go, Church. Let's go. Will you pray with me, Father?

God, Christ our King, Holy Spirit, dwelling inside of us, Your very presence.

Would you come and undo us?

Would you break through our hearts of stone and our fearful, cowardly selves?

Would you wake us up?

Not for the name of Whitewater, not for the name of ourselves. Not so that we can just fill this place up. But all for your glory, for your name, for your renown, for the world to see who you are. That we would make you famous.

Come on, Holy Spirit, wake us up.

We pray by the power of the resurrection and in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.