Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170923A
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03:09 ♪♪ 07:33 ♪♪ 07:55 >> Amen. 07:57 Crucified, laid behind a stone, he lived to die, rejected and 08:03 alone. 08:04 Jesus came from Heaven to Earth to live here as a mortal man, giving us the example of how to 08:11 live a righteous life. And we can't live a righteous life without the Holy Spirit. 08:17 That's why Jesus said to his disciples, "You and I, I will send you the Holy Spirit to 08:24 guide you, day by day, so sing with us as we ask for the Holy Spirit to rain down in our 08:31 lives, on us and on our church. 11:26 Before we sing the last part of the song, if you have any burdens on your heart or any 11:32 praises that you'd like to bring before God, we'd just invite you, at this time, to lay them 11:37 at the feet of the cross, so come forward. ♪♪ 13:20 ♪♪ 18:22 >> Oh, God, rapid intensification. You're living with it up there. 18:27 We've got it down here. Something's up. Someone's afoot, and, oh, we 18:32 want that someone in our midst right now. Reveal yourself in holy 18:37 scripture. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 18:41 So, my friend, Chaplain José, sends me a piece out of CNN. Said, "Dwight, you got to check 18:46 this out." I got it right here. Let me read a sentence or two 18:48 from this. 18:50 It's very interesting. "It usually takes --" 18:52 I'm reading now. "It usually takes several days 18:55 to a week for a tropical storm to grow into a hurricane, but if 18:58 conditions are just right --" Listen to this. 19:00 "If conditions are just right, a powerful major hurricane can 19:03 develop in just hours. The process known as rapid 19:09 intensification." Rapid intensification. 19:15 What is it? It's happened four times in the 19:18 last month with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, José, and now 19:23 Maria. A normal year would only see 19:26 around two storms rapidly intensifying. 19:28 Now, what's rapid intensification? 19:31 Here it is -- a storm undergoes when its maximum sustained winds increase at least 35 miles an 19:37 hour in a 24-hour period. Just fwtt! 35 miles an hour -- faster. 19:41 According to the -- This is all according to the National Hurricane Center. 19:45 That's a jump of about two categories in the Saffir-Simpson scale, which grades hurricane 19:49 strength from category 1, 2, 3, and stops at 5. All right. 19:52 "Maria became the latest Atlantic storm of the year to undergo rapid intensification 19:57 after its wind strength increased 60 miles an hour in one day" -- one day, 24 hours, 20:02 shhp! -- up 60. "On Sunday," this last Sunday, "it was a tropical storm --" 20:07 just a tropical storm -- "with 65 mile an hour winds. By the same time on Monday, it's 20:11 now a category 3, and by Monday evening, it reaches category 5 status, with 160 mile an hour 20:18 winds. Unbelievable. And what do they call it? 20:21 Put it up again -- rapid intensification. It's time. 20:26 Let's intensify together. That's why three Sabbaths -- this is number three now. 20:32 This is the end of the mini series called "Ground Zero and 20:35 the New Reformation: How to be Baptized with the Holy Spirit, 20:40 Part 3." 20:42 Makes you wonder if the Holy Spirit wants to become this holy hurricane... 20:47 down here, to move into high gear for the endgame. We've been thinking together, 20:54 you and I, about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Key word. Huge! 20:57 This word is absolutely huge in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I remind you, and the word is 21:02 "daily." Let's start with some red letters. 21:05 I love beginning with Jesus, so open your Bible please to Luke 9. 21:08 We've not been to this verse before. Luke 9. 21:11 Open your Bible to Luke 9. Didn't bring a Bible, there's a pew Bible in front of you. 21:16 Can't reach the pew Bible, it'll be on your screen. Luke 9 -- let's pick it up. 21:21 Speaking about daily, here it comes -- verse 23 -- "Then Jesus said to them all, 'Whoever wants 21:27 to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross --" what's the next word, 21:34 congregation? Take up their cross what? Daily. 21:38 And do what? "Follow Me." There it is, the command of the 21:42 master. "I want you to deny yourself and take up your cross daily and 21:46 follow Me." Deny what Christian -- what Christian Wiman calls the 21:51 overweening self, the arrogant self. Wiman says it's the one poison 21:57 that ruins every gift of God. That's my ego, and that's your ego. 22:02 Deny yourself. And take up the cross daily. Come on, let's go. 22:07 Daily. Big deal. In fact, it's a big deal. 22:10 Just turn two pages to Luke 11, so that's just two pages further. 22:14 Here's Luke 11. This is the theme text for this little mini series, so let's go 22:17 back to it one more time. 22:18 Luke 11, red letters, Jesus speaking, verse 13. 22:31 And you remember that we learned when the first time we 22:33 encountered that verse the Greek really reads, "How much more 22:36 will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask 22:38 him continually?" 22:40 In other words, day after day after day. "You got to follow Me and take 22:44 up your cross daily. You got to ask for the Holy Spirit daily. 22:47 You know why? Because the two realities of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are 22:51 these. Number one, you want all of Him. Isn't that right? 22:55 Don't you want all of Him? Oh, yes, I do. You want all of Him, so ask 22:59 every day. And guess what -- He wants all of you. 23:03 So deny yourself. You want all of Him, He wants all of you. 23:07 What an exchange. I got nothing, and he has everything. 23:10 My nothing for His everything? What's wrong with that picture? That has to work. 23:18 Daily. Daily. And guess what -- Paul is just 23:23 as big. Paul is just as big on "daily" as Jesus was. 23:27 Go to 2 Corinthians. And I -- I never saw this text before. 23:31 I mean, everybody knows 2 Corinthians 4, and I love verse 6, and that's always where 23:35 I go, 2 Corinthians 4:6. But thanks to my new friend, Helmut Haubeil, the retired 23:41 German pastor who has written a little book that has been our theme book. 23:46 Thousands have been downloaded. 600,000 hard copies circulating the Earth right now in 23 23:54 languages. Began with a little German book from a retired German pastor, 23:58 and bless his humble soul, the book is free. By the way, you do have a study 24:02 guide. It's not to fill in, but there's a website at the end of your 24:05 study guide. Go to that website, download the book for yourself. 24:08 Thousands now. There must be something going on here. 24:13 There is. He's the one that drew my attention to verse 16. 24:18 Let's look at verse 16. 24:19 Paul writing, "Therefore, we do not lose heart." No, no, no, we're not 24:23 discouraged. We're not gonna give up. "We do not lose heart. 24:27 Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day." 24:34 "Outwardly, we're wasting away, but inside, we're being renewed day by day. 24:39 Now listen, listen, listen. There's some of you here that are outwardly right now wasting 24:45 away. Some of you, you know that reality. 24:49 You are wasting away in your body. There are some of you here who 24:54 are wasting away in your spirit. You feel like it's just unraveling as you slow-motion 25:01 train wreck, and there's nothing the doctors can do, there's nothing you can do to stop what 25:06 is happening. Though we are outwardly wasting away... 25:12 yet inwardly, we're being renewed, day by day. The American poet 25:19 Christian Wiman -- I quoted him a year ago in Hope Trending, but my friend Ante Jeroncic, 25:26 God's Boot Camp, and I want to tell you something, 'cause I can't report to you now, but it 25:29 was successful on every level that you can measure it. Absolutely incredible, last 25:33 weekend. Ante was there. Had five presenters. 25:38 Reboots, we call it. He quoted from Wiman. I went home Sunday, I said, 25:43 "Man, I know I quoted him, but I got to have this book," so I went on Amazon Prime -- bing. 25:46 By Tuesday, I have the book, and I'm reading it right now. This is the -- 25:49 This is his book. Christian Wiman, the American poet. 25:51 By the way, an atheist who turned to -- became a believer. Watch this, read this. 25:56 On the screen. You have all this, by the way, in your study guide. 25:58 You're going home with it. 26:24 He describes the essay now. 26:43 Isn't that something? 26:45 Did you get that? Receiving a diagnosis of incurable cancer. 26:50 Paul says, "Though we are wasting away outwardly, yet inwardly, we are being renewed 26:55 day by day by day." Paul's big on it, just like Jesus. 27:02 That's why Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, "Be filled with the Spirit," but if you could 27:06 read it in the Greek, it goes like this -- "Be filled continually, day by day by day, 27:10 with the Spirit." That's why you go to Galatians 5:16. 27:13 He says, "...walk by the Spirit," but if you could read 27:16 it in the original language of Paul, it says, "...walk by the 27:19 Spirit continually, day after day after day after day. 27:23 Daily -- it's huge with this baptism of the Holy Spirit. 27:27 Because you know why? Listen carefully now. 27:30 You can't do the Holy Spirit like you can at all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. 27:36 You ever go to one of those buffets? Why do we love those buffets? 27:40 'Cause we can pig out. That's why. Isn't that right? 27:43 And you're looking at all the customers there. "Pfft! 27:45 Man, bunch of hogs in this place," until you sit down at the table and you look at your 27:48 own. [ Laughter ] Some people think... 27:57 that you can just pile it high and then go without food the rest of the week and do okay. 28:02 You didn't do okay at all. 28:04 Some people go to church that way. 28:06 "I pile it high one day of the week, and then I starve the rest 28:08 of the week." That's just as crazy. 28:12 You can't do the Holy Spirit like a smorgasbord. 28:15 You can't store up the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It must be repeated every single 28:19 day. Do you eat every single day? You do. 28:21 It must be repeated every single day. Somebody came to 28:25 Dwight L. Moody, the great American evangelist in the 19th century. 28:30 They said, "Mr. Moody" -- he wasn't ordained. "Mr. Moody, you filled with the 28:35 Holy Spirit?" Moody thought for a moment, looked back, and said, "Yes, I 28:40 am. But I leak." [ Laughter ] 28:47 That's true. You get filled with the baptism -- you get filled by the 28:51 baptism of the Holy Spirit today, that's all there is, that's all she wrote. 28:55 You're leaking all over everybody. You're supposed to be leaking 28:58 all over everybody. You're leaking. You got to come back tomorrow, 29:01 get refilled. Some of you are shaking your heads because of that analogy. 29:04 You shouldn't be thinking that. [ Laughter ] We leak. 29:12 It's why I give you the gift. I want it to leak out of you to everybody that you meet. 29:17 You filled with the Holy Spirit? Yes, I am, but I leak. Moody writes -- on the screen, 29:22 you see his words there... 29:29 Moody's referring to Jesus' profound statement -- and we've not touched this yet, but now, 29:33 in this final piece on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we go to it. 29:36 John 7 -- let's just do it. Don't go into your Bible. We'll put it on the screen for 29:40 you. John 7, Jesus speaking, red letters... 29:50 "Streams of living water will flow from within him. You will leak the Holy Spirit 29:55 all around you. "If you believe..." which is precisely why Jesus 30:02 invites us to come back to Him morning after morning, day after day. 30:06 "Just come back to me." Have you seen those commercials, those ads for a vacation to the 30:11 Caribbean or Hawaii, and you have this green, lush waterfall, and there is -- there is this 30:16 tourist, standing under the waterfall, just, psssh! That's what Moody and Jesus are 30:23 saying -- "You got to stand under the fountain." Stand under the water. 30:27 Let it fill you, and then it'll flow from you to the world around you. 30:32 Why, even that 5'3" American writer, American leader, American spiritual mentor, 30:40 Ellen White -- just like Moody, just like Paul, just like Jesus, she agrees. 30:44 Let me run -- Let me just fly these by you. You have them on your study 30:47 guide. "Desire of Ages," that classic. 30:54 You can't smorgasbord him and then not need him tomorrow? You have to go every day. 30:59 Stand under the fountain of the spirit of Jesus daily. Here's another one -- steps to 31:03 Christ. 31:04 Oh, you know this one. 31:23 Stand under the waterfalls of the Spirit of Jesus daily and get filled anew. 31:29 Here's another one, "Christ Triumphant." 31:37 We have to get converted over every single day. New day, new choice. 31:42 You want me? Go ahead. You want me? Daily. 31:47 Oh, two more. "Acts of the Apostles." 31:54 Stand under the fountain of the Spirit of Christ daily. Here's the last one. 31:59 Little book, called "You Shall Receive Power. 32:18 Stand under the fountain of the spirit of Jesus daily. Jesus said it, Paul said it, 32:23 Moody said it, White said it. I believe it. "Ah, but do I -- 32:29 Time-out, time-out." [ Tongue clicking ] "I'm just not sure about this. 32:33 I'm telling you, you've been talking about this baptism of the Holy Spirit for the last few 32:36 weeks. I've tried it. I have really tried it. 32:39 I've been asking it every day, and not a bloomin' thing has happened into me. 32:43 Nobody sees it around me, nobody says, 'Hey, I see the Holy Spirit in you.' 32:46 I don't feel a thing. So how in the world can I know that this promise that you have 32:51 been touting is, in fact, reliable?" I'll tell you how. 32:55 You just hang on to this dynamite promise that you're about to receive. 32:58 You just take this promise, and it will assure the other promise. 33:02 These are words worth memorizing one day. I put them on the screen for 33:05 you. 1 John 5:14-15. Take a look at this. 33:09 Can you believe this? 33:17 What's the word, church? According to his what? According to his will, he does 33:22 what? If it's according to his will, what does he do? 33:25 He hears it. Now keep going, verse 15. 33:34 Okay, bright scholars, here's the question -- is it the will of God for you to be baptized 33:40 and filled with the Holy Spirit every single day of your life? Yes or no? 33:43 >> Yes. >> But of course. But of course. 33:48 "Yeah, but come on, Dwight. There's got to be some little hidden caveat or condition in 33:53 this thing that's just holding me back." No, no, no, no, no. 33:57 Well, okay. There is a condition. Okay, I take it back. 33:59 There is a condition. Here it is. You have to open the door. 34:07 He's not kicking it down. You have to open the door. And, oh, by the way, once you 34:13 open that door, you got to open all the little doors inside. You say, "What in the world are 34:18 you talking about, Dwight?" I'll show you what I'm talking about. 34:20 Let's do a little role-playing here. You be Jesus, I'll be Dwight. 34:25 Okay? Here we go. Jesus -- "Can I come in, 34:29 Dwight?" Dwight -- "You sure may." Jesus -- "Boy, this is sure a 34:34 tight entryway." Dwight -- "I suppose it is, but I'm sure glad to have you." 34:39 Jesus -- "Well, what's up with that closed door behind you?" "Oh, don't worry about it. 34:44 It's nothing, it's nothing. It's locked. Nah." 34:48 "Okay. Hey, what's that door on the other side of the hallway? 34:52 What's up with that closed door? Can't we go to somewhere where there's room?" 34:54 "No, no, you don't want that room. Trust me, you don't want that 34:57 room." "And this one?" "Lookit, Lord, what's the 35:01 problem?" You're in. Be thankful you're in." 35:06 What's going on here, guys? What's going on with that little dialogue? 35:09 What am I not doing? What am I not doing? I'm refusing him access to my 35:16 life. "I have some doors that I will not open, please. 35:21 Little embarrassed about these doors, Lord. But you got to be half thankful 35:25 that you have this entryway. Come on. This feels good." 35:29 [ Scoffs ] "What I'd really like, Dwight... Hey, missy, missy -- twt! 35:37 What I'd really like is access to your entire life. Weren't you asking for all of 35:45 me?" "Yes, I was." "I want all of you back. 35:50 Do you understand?" "I get it. I get it." 35:57 It's called surrendering. ♪ All to Jesus I surrender ♪ ♪ All to Him I freely give ♪ 36:06 ♪ All the joy of sweet salvation ♪ ♪ In His presence daily live ♪ 36:12 We sing it all the time -- "I surrender all! I surrender all!" 36:15 And the doors are all locked. "You didn't surrender all. You gave me your entryway. 36:22 I want the closets." So you asked a moment ago, "Is there some kind of catch on this 36:29 thing, Dwight?" Yeah, the only catch is, you got to open the door, and the door's 36:32 inside. That's all you have to do. You asked for all of Him. 36:38 He asks for all of you. "Come on in, Jesus. Yeah, go ahead, kick the door -- 36:43 I'll open them all up for you." Chk, chk, chk, chk, chk. "I'm embarrassed about what 36:46 you're gonna see. Plug your nose. But you come on in. 36:52 You have it all." What did we just read? 37:04 Every day, I asked for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I can know the moment I pray 37:08 that prayer, you have to pray it every day. You can't smorgasbord God. 37:11 "Oh, God, I asked last month." "No! I got to hear from you today. 37:14 Do you want me today?" Because when you're asking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 37:18 you're really saying, "Jesus, come on in again." It's all about Jesus. 37:24 Every day. "I trust you because I know that you love me. 37:29 Whether I feel it or not." Oh, boy, I want you to see this. Helmut Haubeil in his wonderful 37:36 little book, "Steps To Personal Revival" -- his words on the screen. 37:40 Speaking of 1 John 5... 38:01 So, at the God's Boot Camp, we had Dominique Gummelt, as well. Kind of be our personal coach, 38:05 and she did a great job. We were stretching muscles we didn't know we had. 38:09 But she gave lectures, as well. And in one of her lectures, it was Friday night. 38:13 We're only 24 hours in this Boot Camp. Friday night, she says a line 38:17 that could be a throwaway line to you, but when I heard it, the Holy Spirit said, "Boy, write 38:23 that down right now." And I did, and I put it on the screen for you. 38:28 This line, it's just like -- it was like an epiphany, like something on the spot. 38:34 She said, "Feelings follow behavior -- the key to living." This is the key to living. 38:40 Let your feelings follow your behavior. And just like that, the 38:44 Holy Spirit said, "That, my boy, is you. You lead with your feelings." 38:51 And I have to admit, I'm a touchy-feely kind of guy. If the music is beautiful, then 38:56 I feel good. If the music's not good, I feel bad. 39:02 But I have allowed feelings to determine my behavior. So if I walk into a room and I'm 39:08 feeling good about it, my behavior reflects it. If I walk into a room and I'm 39:11 not feeling good about it, my behavior reflects it. This is backwards. 39:17 That's her point. You don't live by feeling. You live by fact. 39:22 You live by faith. And that's the -- You were saying, "I just don't 39:26 feel any different. Nothing's changing." My friend, we must act on our 39:29 faith and not our feelings. You may not feel like you've been baptized by the 39:33 Holy Spirit, but you can immediately begin acting on the faith that, in fact, I have, 39:37 'cause we just read it, 1 John 5:14-15, and feelings will catch up one day. 39:44 Trust me, while you're praying, they'll catch up one day, and suddenly, you will realize, 39:47 "I am in the presence of Almighty God. This is the Holy Spirit Himself 39:51 in my room. He is in my heart right now." You will know it. 39:55 Beyond a shadow of a doubt, you will know it. Because he will say it's Jesus, 40:00 and you will sense Jesus just permeating that room. 40:05 You don't live for that. You don't go back to your prayer 40:07 closet, "Well, I got to have another dose of that. 40:09 I really am a touchy-feely guy, God. 40:10 God, give me another one." He said, "No, you don't need it. 40:12 You don't need it." Fact, faith, then feeling. 40:18 You let your behavior lead your feelings. I repeat, there are only two 40:23 conditions to asking for the Holy Spirit. Number one -- you ask for all of 40:28 Him. And number two -- He asks for all of you. 40:34 That's the way it is in "Love Story." If you give all, I give all... 40:40 Both have to give all. That's the way it is with God. 40:45 Romans 5 -- Did we see? 40:47 I want you to look this one up. The last verse. 40:50 Did we save the best till last. Come on, Romans 5:5. 40:53 Check this out, will you? Can you believe this? 40:56 Romans 5:5. Oh, man, mark this up in your 40:59 Bible. Mark it up, mark it up, mark it 41:00 up. We've saved the best verse in 41:03 this little mini series to the end. 41:05 Romans 5:5 -- "And hope does not put us to shame. Why? 41:08 Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has 41:15 been given to us." God's love has been poured out in our hearts by the 41:22 Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. The Niagara Falls. 41:26 You know the Niagara Falls up here, on the Canada side? 600,000 gallons of water a year 41:30 go over that Niagara Falls. Isn't that great? 600,000 a year. 41:34 Man... No, actually, it's not -- It's just a week. 41:36 600,000 gallons of water go over the edge of the Niagara a week. 600,000. 41:41 But actually, it's not a week. It's a day. But actually, it's not a day. 41:45 It's an hour. 600,000 gallons go over an hour. But I'm wrong again. 41:49 600,000 gallons of water go over a second. A second. 41:56 The Greek word here is for a waterfall, and God has poured out the water -- God has poured 42:03 out the Holy Spirit upon us. The love of God poured out in that gift. 42:10 This gift who was given to us. How do we know that? Oh, come on, come on. 42:14 Keep reading, verse 6. 42:26 Maybe. Verse 8 -- "But God --" Oh, I love this. "God demonstrates his own love 42:31 for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 42:37 God, His love, poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given 42:44 to us. Ladies and gentlemen, last line. That is the baptism of the 42:51 Holy Spirit. Every single day that you want it and ask for it. 43:00 Let's pray. Oh, God, pour -- Please. 43:05 I'm praying for everybody here, Father. You know this is everybody's 43:08 prayer right now. Please pour out your love upon our thirsty souls every single 43:14 day. And, surely, Father, as we've just read, there is no more 43:20 profound and meaningful way to experience your love than at the foot of the cross, where we have 43:26 gathered right now. In Jesus' name, amen. 43:35 ♪♪ 43:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 44:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 44:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 45:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 45:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 48:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 48:47 Let's reconnect with that Romans 5:5, that glorious 48:52 depiction. Romans 5:5. 48:54 We read it just a moment ago. God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the 48:59 Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. And as we gather now at the foot 49:05 of the cross, something happens here. We don't feel it, but we 49:09 acknowledge it. God's love is poured out into our hearts. 49:13 And now a line, written a century ago... Isn't this something? 49:20 Listen to this. Ellen White. "You need a daily baptism of 49:27 love." Isn't it good? "You need a daily baptism of 49:32 love," that in the days of the apostles, it made them all of one accord. 49:37 A daily baptism of love. Wow. It's the Holy Spirit. 49:46 When he comes in, the love of God comes in. When he comes in, Jesus comes 49:51 in. Everybody's in the gift of that baptism of love. 49:56 Today, at the foot of the cross, we receive that gift. 50:03 We're missing one of our good elders. 50:07 No doubt detained with somebody who's needing some attention 50:10 downstairs. So I'm gonna pass to the other 50:14 side of the platform and Pastor José. 50:17 Listen as he reads. This'll be 1 Corinthians 11. 50:20 This is a -- Paul was not there, but by 50:22 vision, Paul was actually shown by Jesus, "Here's what happened 50:25 that night, Paul." And he writes about it in 50:28 1 Corinthians 11. >> "For I received from the Lord 50:33 who I also passed on to you -- the Lord Jesus, on the night he 50:37 was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he 50:42 broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. 50:46 Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, "This 50:53 cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, 51:00 in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim 51:08 the Lord's death until he comes." Please kneel with me this 51:12 morning. 51:20 ♪♪ 51:32 >> Dear Father in Heaven, we come to you today in need of 51:36 restoration. 51:38 You created mankind in your image, both in form and in character, but sin entered, and 51:45 all this changed. So here we are. Left to ourselves, we cannot 51:51 find our way back to you in happiness, nor could we escape the clutches of Satan. 51:57 But in your incomprehensible mercy, you revealed yourself to us in the person of your son, 52:03 Jesus Christ, the bread of life. And you made it possible to restore your image in us again. 52:11 Just as a physical food that we eat changes into the very fiber and muscles of our body, you 52:17 invited us into a relationship with Jesus, the bread of life, and the promise to transform us 52:23 from rebels living in opposition to you into a loving, obedient child of God whose sole purpose 52:30 in life is to reflect the image of our creator. This precious experience has 52:36 been made possible for us only by the breaking of the body of Christ. 52:42 And because of this, in his name, we thank you and say amen. 52:50 >> So, let's not go back 2,000 years now. The reading of scripture took us 52:56 there. We're here. This is 2017. 53:00 And Jesus is here. Not physically, because he has five fingers on each hand like 53:06 you and I do, and he can't be two places at one time, but he says, "I'll not leave you 53:11 comfortless. You will not be orphans. I'm coming back to you through 53:15 the Holy Spirit." He's here. And so let's let him talk to us 53:19 right now about today. He says, "Friends, this little wafer is my body. 53:28 It's not my body. It represents my body. But when you eat this and ingest 53:34 this into you... my love becomes a part of your very DNA. 53:41 Do this in remembrance of me. 53:49 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:08 And because he's here through the Holy Spirit, we can hear him saying to us, "When I was with 54:13 my disciples, you remember it was one cup, and everybody drank from the one cup. 54:18 You have your own cups now. But when you drink this fruit of the vine, let it be a symbol of 54:25 my blood that was poured out for you, once and for all, forever and ever. 54:35 This baptism of my love at Calvary. So drink this, all of you. 54:41 Drink this in remembrance of me." ♪♪ 54:57 ♪♪ 55:04 Hymn 407. This is singing of the supper is over, as it is, and we go forth. 55:10 Open your hymnal to it, stand to your feet, and let's, with great jubilation, the gift of God's 55:15 love poured into us. Let us sing our hearts out as we march out into the world that 55:20 awaits us. 407. ♪♪ 57:22 ♪♪ 57:28 >> Think back to your last heartfelt, meaningful prayer. 57:30 Has it been a while? Has your prayer life felt stale, 57:33 routine, boring? I want to take an extra moment 57:37 at the end of our worship today to share with you 57:39 "A New Way to Pray." I invite you to re-energize your 57:42 devotional life with this little prayer journey. 57:44 In fact, I'd love to send you a copy. 57:46 Just call 877 -- those are three numbers -- 877 -- to two 57:49 words -- HIS-WILL. That's it -- 877-HIS-WILL. 57:53 One of our friendly operators will be happy to assist you. 57:55 I believe this "New Way to Pray" can raise the prayer bar for all 57:59 of us. So I hope you'll take advantage 58:01 of it. Again, call us -- 877-HIS-WILL. 58:04 And I hope I'll see you right back here next time. 58:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-09-29