· During the planning sessions for the conference, Chuck had asked a pointed question: “Can we continue in the Spirit.”
· We are not going to find a model for the church from the ‘70’s – because this is 2010.
o However, the Spirit is still the same.
o Calvary Chapel began in the Spirit – and He does not change.
o “Dude, age happens. But not for the Holy Spirit.”
· Tom’s text – Acts 1.
· Luke was witnessing to Theophilus – he was witnessing to a friend.
o How would you like to get Luke & Acts as personal letters?
o The story of the Christian church.
· The two (the Gospel and Acts) are closely tied together, because if you have an experience with Jesus, you will have an experience with the Church – the two go hand-in-hand.
o There are those who say that it’s not necessary – Luke would disagree.
o Acts is a story that has no end – until the Rapture.
o The Acts carry on the life of Christ.
· The Holy Spirit gave commandments – and the Church’s job was to fulfill them.
o “I hope God commanded you to go where you are as a pastor.”
o “If the Holy Spirit has not made a command to you, please don’t go out – do anything else.”
o If you have not heard from God Almighty, don’t go into this line of work.
· Imagine spending 40 days with the resurrected Jesus – “Unlearned men?” I don’t think so!
· The many infallible proofs have to do with the Resurrection.
o Whatever proofs He gave were convincing!
o Easter wasn’t once a year for these people – it was all the time.
o The message of the Gospel always involves the truth of the Resurrection
§ Because if Jesus wasn’t alive – what would they say?
§ I mean, really?
o The church is empowered when it is saturated with the truth of the Resurrection.
· Easter is a sad time for church plants –w here all the people take their families to legitimate churches {{OUCH!!!}}
· The Resurrection was something they talked about all the time.
o Everybody knew that Jesus was crucified – it was done in public
o They needed to keep talking about & focusing on the Resurrection.
o Everybody knew He was crucified – they needed to know He didn’t stay that way!
· Tom likes to do a “Thomas Sunday” a week after Easter – to talk about questions & objections.
· By the deeds of the church & a profound part of their witness, they told the world of the reality of the Resurrection.
· The church didn’t know when He would appear during those 40 days – it was good practice!
o Expectation is a good thing
o They were prepared for the presence of Jesus & the Holy Spirit
· Evidently the Baptism of the Spirit was kind of a big deal.
o The Gospel is about the reign of God over the hearts and lives of those who trust in Him, not about kicking out Rome.
o “BUT you shall receive power…”
o The power of the church comes from the Holy Spirit and not from man.
· Tom was asked at his ordination, “Are you an Acts 1:8 Christian?” ;D
o That’s a great question to ask ourselves.
o Are we?
o Christians were filled fresh & new with the Spirit when new challenges & new opportunities present themselves.
· We are just pennies in God’s pocket that He can spend wherever He wants to.
o “It’s called surrender.”
o Ordinary Christians could do extraordinary things because it wasn’t them but the power of the Spirit in their lives.
o The Spirit is an absolute necessity – because this work will wear you out.
· When He ascened, did they miss Him terribly immediately?
o They had to be staring up in heaven for a while, since angels had to come and tell them to stop staring up in heaven.
· Have you ever wondered about the other guy (not Matthias)?
· Did Jesus allow them to be without Him long enough to long for His presence – and that’s when the Spirit came?
· Sometimes, Tom misses the drama of beginning in the Spirit.
o The early days were crazy.
o As part of the drama, Chuck allowed anybody in – and that got exciting at times.
o “…he let in carnal, and backslidden, and drunkards, and druggies, and even Baptists!!!”
§ (Tom was a Methodist youth director when he started coming to Costa Mesa.)
o Sinners come with baggage – and lots of it.
· Tom got fired from his first ministry job (at the Methodist church) for two things: falling in love, and getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.
· While some people have a calling to evangelism, we are all called to share our faith – to put Jesus in our lives on display.
· “They were all with one accord in one place.”
o I hope we find that reality, too.
o “with one accord…in one place”
§ Perhaps in this place {{AMEN!!!}}
§ At this point there were three things that were true of the disciples:
· One, they were humble, broken
· Two, they were obedient – when they were told to stay, they stayed, when they were told to go, they went.
· Three, they were expectant – perhaps the biggest thing of all.
§ Jesus told them to wait – so they were expectant.
o At Costa Mesa, they knew something was going to happen, that God would show up in power.
§ Every single night.
· Continuing in the Spirit requires beginning in the Spirit.
o Finishing in the Spirit requires beginning and continuing in the Spirit.
· The rest of this week, the rest of our lives, can be filled with stories of men changed by God the Holy Spirit!
· The people at Fuller asked Lonnie Frisbee, “what do you read?”
o His response: “The Bible and Foxes’ Booke of Martyrs”
o They got into such trouble – many students got saved & filled with the Spirit.
· The Bible equates the filling of the Spirit with boldness
o i.e., the supernatural ability to serve the Lord.
o BTW – refills are free!
· This is what we are going to attempt to do this week {{EXCITED!!! SO EXCITED!!I}}
· Francis Chan wrote The Forgotten God
o The equality of the Persons
o The Spirit is not the church janitor
o He is the driving force that changed the way they thought, talked, acted, worshipped
o He applies the truth & reality of the Gospel to our lives
· Tom calls the “discernment” types “The court of the women.” LOL!
· They built into the schedule for this conference more time for fellowship, for seeking, for worshipping.
June 8, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Wow! Tom knows how to zero in and apply the laser right on the target. Hope there were many with ears to hear what the Spirit was saying.
Thanks for the updates Mike. Blessings…
June 8, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Totally awesomely awesome. Did I mention awesome???