Pastor Francois van Niekerk Date: 19 April 2015 – all services Preacher: Pastor Francois van Niekerk

Sermon: Life with the Holy Spirit Theme: Life with the Holy Spirit – knowing, growing, going Introduction During the first term we focused on Walking with Jesus on a daily basis in order to deepen our friendship with Him. I trust that this was truly a rewarding time for you. We however, need to see a continuation of this daily relationship in order to touch our world in power and in reality. The need to see the power of God at work has risen drastically. A new infilling from the Holy Spirit is needed for God’s power to be seen!

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” MATTHEW 3:11 NIV “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Text: Matthew 3:11 (NIV) “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

NATIONAL CHALLENGES Main points Urgent national challenges Living in the present day has real challenges, whether spiritual, political, humanitarian or economic in nature. We face quite a daunting array of challenges across this spectrum. Just think of the following (these are not meant to make you despondent, but to help you view things realistically):   Eskom calamity Economic pressure and poverty Land redistribution and land grabs Unemployment (especially amongst the youth) Xenophobia Behind these challenges lie serious issues of anger and fear, expressed even through things such as the defacing of statues. Different forces, including spiritual powers, are at work in these situations – some for good and others for evil. Yet, parallel to these challenges and tragedies are opportunities to bring godly and positive change. The issue is that Christian believers need real power to see real change of a godly nature in the hearts of individuals, the community and even on a worldwide scale. We urgently need to see the power of God!

ENGAGE WITH THE SOURCE OF POWER

Real power for change of the God-kind is exclusive to the Holy Spirit. We need to engage with the Holy Spirit daily so that God’s power and wisdom can be released to bring hope and change. This is a call to spend the next few weeks focusing on the person of the Holy Spirit in daily life – in fact, learning how to face the challenges, tragedies and opportunities of real life with His power. He is the true source of the life-changing power we so desperately need! In short, the theme for Term 2 is Life with the Holy Spirit.

KNOWING, GOING, GROWING We purpose to facilitate all believers in knowing Him, growing with Him and going in His power to be God’s agents of hope and change.

EXPECT GREAT THINGS Expect great things Those who purpose to live with the Holy Spirit daily and to be filled with His power and fire, can expect significant things:

EXPECT GREAT THINGS Infilling of joy and hope An infilling of joy and hope – there is a future with God.

Romans 15:13 NIV ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 15:13 (NIV)

EXPECT GREAT THINGS Infilling of joy and hope Perspective adjustments Functional and practical wisdom Readiness for action Cleanout and change Perspective adjustments. The Holy Spirit will lift you time and again as you focus on Him to restore your perspective and give you heavenly insight. Functional and practical wisdom to confront real challenges and opportunities in the same way Joseph did in Egypt. Readiness for action. Cleanout and change.

Matthew 3:11 MSG “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama − compared to Him I’m a mere stagehand − will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.” “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama – compared to him I’m a mere stagehand – will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.” Matthew 3:11 (MSG)

Matthew 3:12 MSG “He’s going to clean house − make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.” “He’s going to clean house – make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.” Matthew 3:12 (MSG)

EXPECT GREAT THINGS Infilling of joy and hope Perspective adjustments Functional and practical wisdom Readiness for action Cleanout and change An abundance of the Father’s love An abundance of Father God’s love.   ‘And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ Romans 5:5 (NIV) As our lives are filled with Holy Spirit’s power and fire, we can expect to see the same results as Jesus did:

ACTS 10:38 NIV … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. ‘… how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.’ Acts 10: 38 (NIV)

BEWARE 4. Beware

Beware of lollipop religion Beware of lollipop religion! We cannot be satisfied with meetings and messages that give us quick fixes and surges of excitement without real change. We shouldn’t pursue selling formulas of faith. We have to promote relationship with the Holy Spirit! We need motivation, inspiration and messages that build our faith, but we also need to keep a divine balance and add practical application as well as a demand on skills development in the spirit. This must be based on, and is guaranteed by pursuing a daily relationship with the Holy Spirit and doing life with Him – life with the Holy Spirit.

We need business and boardroom miracles by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit   Application We trust for new courage and boldness to fill us so that we can meet the real challenges for change head-on! Some of the actions we employed in the first term to enhance our journey proved specifically fruitful and we plan to keep doing them. You are encouraged to engage with God’s Word, and we will make this as accessible as possible. Starting off with some chapters in the Gospel of John that refer specifically to the promise and ministry of the Holy Spirit, we will then proceed to read through the Book of Acts by the end of the school term. Life group guidelines and prayer focuses will echo this and you will be challenged to engage with the Holy Spirit in specific actions on a daily basis. On a few specific Sundays prayer ministry will be offered for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and also for healing and freedom from enemy oppression. We trust to see much closer relationships and understanding develop between every believer and the Holy Spirit, and that it will result in the power of God flowing through our lives in unprecedented ways! Prayer Welcome Holy Spirit! We give You our full attention. Stir up a hunger and a thirst for more of You in our lives. Fill us with Your power and fire. Amen.