Sermon Notes, June 4, 2017
Rev. Gary O'Shell
Rev.
Gary O'Shell was our special speaker, as Rev. McGlinchy and his family were on
vacation. His sermon on this Pentecost
Sunday was based on Acts 2:1-12. He
started with some hard statements by some noted preachers. A.W.
Tozer said that if there's anything you want more than being a
Spirit-filled believer, you won't be a Spirit-filled believer. Finney
said we want to be saved, but we want Jesus to do all the dying. There are no drive-through prayers. We used to say I'm not leaving until God does
for me what I'm needing: we must tarry. Leonard
Ravenhill said if we really knew God, we'd set the world on fire. Jesus didn't save us to make us safe, but to
make us dangerous (to the devil's plans).
God wants to conquer Satan's fire with Faith fire.
How
are you doing life? Are you coping? Getting along without changing? Or are you rising above obstacles, living the
way God intended when He sent His Spirit at Pentecost? Obstacles in life are like boulders in the
river; God wants to raise the water level above the boulder so we won't crash and be destroyed. Are we living in "Faith is the
Victory/"
Is
the church anything more than the world dressed in its Sunday best? Do we come to church on Sunday in our
spiritual best clothing, then go back to our scruffy work clothes the rest of
the week? Are we just coping, with
business as usual, not living above the obstacles, not living in faith?
Has
Pentecost really happened in your life?
We tend to live in the past, counting on that one experience to last us
forever. But we need a new filling every
day. We wouldn't expect to go clear
across the country in our cars without filling them with gas regularly. We can't get by on yesterday's experience
spiritually, either. We need frequent
fill-ups. A full can is not easily
crushed, but an empty one is.
In
Acts 1, Jesus tells His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until the Father sends
what He promised. Over 500 people saw
Him after He was resurrected and taken up to Heaven. But there were only 120 in the Upper Room
when the Holy Spirit came. What happened
to everyone else? Were they too busy? Did they have jobs, or family obligations, or
some chore they thought was more important?
Acts
2:24 says that death could not keep Him.
What is your first response when you come to an obstacle? Do you call someone, or do you go directly to
God yourself? When you are living in the
power of God, you will not be shaken. (v. 25)
You will be an overcomer.
In
Ephesians 3: 14-19, written while Paul was in jail, he tells them (and us) not to
be discouraged by his trials. He falls
on his knees in prayer for them to be rooted in God's love and filled with all
the fullness of God.
Where
are you? Are you coping, or are you overcoming? Are you struggling, or are you living in
God's fullness? Time to fill up!
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