“The Power-Filled Gift From God…”

September 21, 2014

Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church

Sermon Series on “All My Day: A Summer of Prayer”

Inspired by Marcia McFee

Sermon 11 of series-

“The Spirit of God”

Joel 2:23-29 Common English Bible

Romans 8:22-28 Gods Word Translation

Let us pray… (Pray for God’s illumination…)

Have you ever felt “convicted” to do something that you have never done before?
Have you ever felt that little feeling inside to step out in faith and do something? It can be really hard to do that. You may feel that if you do this “thing” you may fail because you don’t really know what you are doing and are not sure if you even know how to do it. You get this prompting within you and you just want to ignore it but it just won’t go away. Why would you even want to do something like this? What if you fail and everyone around you sees you fail and thinks you are nothing but a failure? What if you do this and… (fill in the blank)? The Spirit’s prompting…conviction…can be so strong that you stand frozen…unable to move out because of fear. But there is hope…

This summer, we have been working though the prayer beads that were made as a way to helps remind us what we should be praying for. Well we are almost to the end of the beads this week. I know we have learned a few things as we have gone through the beads on the string.  Let’s see…the Gold Bead…which reminds us to begin with adoration ….the bumpy beady….that is to remind us to let go and let God….the embrace of silence with the “holey Bead” …the steeping stone bead…our journey of faith… The next one…the black...the black and white...the gray bead...reminds us to bring our spiritual struggles to God….and the green bead, represents concern…not worries but concerns. And we have the red bead… the one that lets us know that we need to pray for the lovable and not so lovable people in our lives…even those who do us harm. Then there is the three purple beads on the string...the ones that remind us to pray for those “who are standing in the need of prayer.” And we are not just limited to the three beads…they are there to remind us that there are those who are needing...waiting...for our prayers for and about them. The green bead from last week is all about praying for those around the world…praying for the worlds situations…praying down God’s “kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven”…

The next bead is the fiery red bead. Now this, at times, can be a complicated bead. You see with this bead we are reminded…well it’s sort of asking…that we are given a gift that we are to use for God’s service. This bead is the one that we ask God to work through the Holy Spirit in us so that we will use our gifts and talents to and for His glory. Now this can be a tough bead because we are asking God to ignite the Spirit within in us to cause us to “step out of our comfort zone” and use the Spirit within us to “go forth and make disciples of all nations.” Now this can be a hard thing to pray for because sometimes…we are happy just the way we are. We don’t want to move out of our comfort zone. We have never done the things that God may ask us to do and frankly…we may not be sure we want to or are equipped to do so…

The scripture that I read from the Old Testament book of Joel gives us hope in those time that we are not sure…are frightened….to step out in faith. It gives us hope because it talks about a promise that God has given us. It tells us to rejoice and be glad in our God. He will provide for us abundantly. All the times in the past when we may have been in need…all those times in the past when we may have failed…they are gone. God will be in our midst and will not be put to shame. God has even poured out His Spirit upon us…upon you and me… and we will prevail. It tells us that this Spirit is not just for his “chosen people” but for all people…we are now all His chosen ones. And within this same Spirit we will be equipped to do His work. We will prophesize in His name…we will dream dreams in His name…we will see visions in His name…we will be equipped for the good works that He has laid out for us to do in His name… there is hope and strength in His “Power-Filled Spirit.”

In the letter to the Romans, Paul talks about this “power-filled Spirit of God”. The scripture I want to read about this said “Spirit” is found in Chapter 8 verses 22-28. Listen to the Good News about this Spirit of God and take heart…

Romans 8:22-28GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time. 23 However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies from sin. 24 We were saved with this hope in mind. If we hope for something we already see, it’s not really hope. Who hopes for what can be seen? 25 But if we hope for what we don’t see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26 At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don’t know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. 27 The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God’s people the way God wants him to.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God—those whom he has called according to his plan.

The Spirit within creation…the Spirit within you and me…groans with anticipation. This Spirit helps us in our weakness…in those times when we say to ourselves “I cannot do this.” You and I are right when we say “we” can’t do this but the power and strength of God through the Spirit enables us…equips us…to do what we cannot do on our own. As we pray and ask that God would pour out his Spirit upon us in a mighty way…He hears. It is by this same Spirit that He prompts us…convicts us…to do His good and pleasing will hear on earth. We are called according to His plan and we will prevail in all that we do in and through His power and might. But…but…we must be willing to pray the prayer of submission to His will…pray the prayer “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” Just as Jesus prayed not my will but Your own…we too need to relinquish our will to God’s will in our lives.

Maybe…jut maybe…as we pray for the Spirits movement in our lives we will be moved to the movement of God in the world.  As we pray “Come Holy Spirit” we will be changed and empowered by that same Spirit. Perhaps if we…as we…ask for a download of the Spirit’s power and might in our lives we will step up to the microphone of God…instead if the microphone of the world….and with the boldness of Peter share the Good News of hope instead of the bad news of despair that the world is proclaiming. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Just because you and I don’t think we have the power…God knows we do and it is within the knowing that God will provide that we are emboldened for the Gospel of grace. It’s all about trust. Trust in our God and trust in our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Just saying…

Let us pray…pray about the Holy Spirit and ask for its power to fall mightily...

Amen