Brian and Jacque Lother
Brian: Well, hello again, everybody. It's good to see you. Good to be able to be close to you. We kind of had the quarantine for a few weeks there, even in our own house.
Jacque: We did. It turned out to be three weeks.
Brian: Yes. It was a little tough, but we are getting our strength back and we keep praying for some of the people at Hope who... all the people of Hope, of course, but some of those who are still struggling with COVID issues. Just please keep lifting up our hope family and so forth. This was a really, really hard week here in Minnesota. We had the largest number of deaths in one week since this COVID pandemic started. These are real people with real families. They are not all just senior citizens. I've read just the other day, I told you last night, how this young couple with a four-year-old child both got COVID and they both passed away and left a little four year old orphan. There is a lot of heartache in the world today. This is a wonderful time for the message of Jesus to be brought to the world and to our community and really the whole world.
There is some wonderful, wonderful comfort to be in the scriptures. I'd like to have you read a verse, Jac from Luke chapter 11. I've been kind of camping on this chapter for a couple of weeks, and I want to just make some more references to it this week, because there are so many wonderful nuggets of truth in this chapter. It really paints an incredible picture of what God's heart is for the world and his purposes and his plans. Let's begin by reading Luke chapter 11, verse 13. This comes at the end of his teaching, where the disciples had said, teach us how to pray. He basically taught them the Lord's Prayer, which we are going to share again in a moment. And then after this teaching on the Lord's Prayer, he goes into this little section about keep knocking, keep asking, keep seeking. Right at the end of that, he actually references what we are to be knocking, seeking and asking for. It's found here in verse 13 of chapter 11.
Jacque: If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
Brian: How much more will your father in heaven be willing to give Holy Spirit to those who ask of him?
Jacque: What more do we need?
Brian: The most wonderful gift, the most wonderful thing that God makes available to us is his presence, his Holy Spirit. When you read Luke chapter 11, we see a completely clear declaration of God's plan and restoration for the world. Later on in this chapter, he frees a man that's bound by a demon. This demonic stronghold causes him to be mute; he can't talk. He freed this man delivers him from this demonic stronghold. And then of course the religious leaders become critical of him. Of course, they could never do this. Again, the series that we been watching about Christ and the disciples and so forth... Nicodemus had an encounter with Mary Magdalene and had no ability whatsoever to bring deliverance to her, and then Jesus comes and in a moment, frees her.
This whole question began to permeate the religious leaders. How is he doing this? How does this happen? And of course, those who were jealous of him didn't want to give credit to God for what Jesus was doing. And so they said, well, if he is doing this in the power of Beelzebub, or the devil. And then of course, Jesus responds by saying, well, a house divided against itself. Is Satan, going to cast out Satan? Not going to happen. A house divided against itself can't stand. So we see that Jesus is now making inroads into, shall we say the strong man's territory. He also goes on to talk about this wonderful prayer, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. This whole prayer is a call to devotion. I liked that word devoted. I forget who sang the song back in the sixties, devoted to you.
Jacque: We used to sing it.
Brian: We used to sing it a lot. We used to sing it to each other at Valentine's deals and stuff. The word devotion and devoted, there is something, I think uniquely special about that when we can take that word, which is often thought of in the context of human love songs, but apply it to our relationship with God. This prayer, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, I mean, just thinking of the name of God being hallowed. And then he prays, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Everybody has a longing at times to be in heaven, but God's desire is to bring heaven to earth. I can be devoted to a God like that. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then as recognition of our need to have faith daily, our reliance on God, he teaches us to pray; give us this day, our daily bread. But then in the context of our daily provisions, he also talks about, and help us to forgive those who trespass against us. Forgive us our sins, but also help us to forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom, the glory and power forever. This whole prayer is really about one's devotion to God.
Jacque: God is devoted to us.
Brian: Yes, he is very devoted to us. He is very devoted to us. I want to give a little kind of historic background here in what was actually beginning to happen when Jesus came on the scene, because when Adam sinned... I want to go all the way back to the garden. When Adam sinned, what Adam did... because when God created Adam and Eve, he said, I said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply." And he said, "And I am giving all authority and dominion over the earth to you." Adam and Eve had dominion. Adam and Eve had authority over the earth. When they sinned, when Adam sinned, he basically took that dominion, that authority and handed it to Satan. What a mistake. He yielded authority and dominion to Satan because he followed Satan rather than God.
We see how that dominion has run amuck today. We see it in how our environment is oftentimes not cared for. We see it in how we do things that will exterminate whole species of animals that God created. I understand there needs to be a balance in all of this. I am not the advocate that if there is an owl nest or whatever in a tree that the whole forest has to be left alone. I'm not advocating that. What I'm saying is there has been a need for a pollution control agency. Why is that? Because of how we have allowed our dominion that is now in Satan's hands to run amuck.
This authority and dominion was something that was given to Adam. Satan is now rejoicing because he knows that God or an angel can't take that authority back, because that authority was given to him by a human. The prince of power of the air was certainly not about to give this dominion back. Now, sin had been injected into the human race. It's a calamity. It's a calamity. Then Jesus came. Jesus came. God's plan and hope was to raise up a new Adam, a second Adam, as the New Testament describes, a second Adam to succeed where the first one had failed. Where had the first one failed? He sinned, disobeyed. He didn't honor God.
Here is the real challenge for the second Adam, because the first Adam had sinned in an Edenic paradise. The Garden of Eden was a paradise, and he sinned in that paradise. So how could a second Adam surrounded by a universe in rebellion ever hoped to fulfill the prophecy spoken to Genesis 3:15, and bruising the serpent's head. How could this second Adam ever hope to do that when the first Adam couldn't do it in an ideal situation? It certainly would appear on all accounts that Satan was in the driver's seat. We know what that means, that he is controlling things. This is why I love this time of year. In the fullness of time, the incarnation came. The incarnation came. In the womb of a Virgin, the word of God became human, became flesh, and the second Adam arrived to restore all things. I want you to read now a little bit further down in Luke 11 verses 21 and 22 .
Jacque: Out of the NIV. When a strong man, fully armed guards, his own house, his possessions are safe, but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
Brian: Yes. When a strong man fully armed... This strong man was Satan. He was fully armed with a demonic host, a demonic host who had been cast out of heaven in rebellion, and his possessions are safe. What were this strong man’s, what were Satan's possessions? The sons and daughters of Adam. It says he guards his own house. What is the house that Satan had? Well, it's the world. It's the world. Satan is the strong man. The possessions are humanity and the house is the world. He says that when this strong man who is fully armed guards, his own house, his possessions are safe to him. They are not safe in and of themselves, but to him.
But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted. He also divides up the plunder. Here is the good news. The someone stronger was the word who became flesh. The someone stronger was Jesus. When Jesus later on, sent out the 70 for ministry, he commanded them to do some things. He said, "Go heal the sick cast out demons and preach the gospel." It's really interesting to me. I asked myself the question, what was the good news that they preached? Because when Jesus had sent them out, the cross hadn't happened yet, the resurrection hadn't happened yet. So what actually was the good news that Jesus was sending them out to preach? What was this news? This is what this news was, that the kingdom of God had launched a beachhead in alien territory.
Many of us are probably familiar with the D-Day. We know just a few years before D-Day, we talk about Dunkirk where the Nazis were moving westward, and there ended up being 350, maybe 400,000 British and French troops that all became isolated in one little pocket in Dunkirk. Britain sent every available floating craft they could across the channel to rescue them. Once these people were rescued... and I really believe that was a sovereign act of God to allow that to happen. Once this rescue operation was completed, Nazi Germany set up basically a wall on the Atlantic seaboard that went from Northern Norway all the way down to Southern France. Every mile of shoreline was protected and kept as a blockade.
I picture what Jesus did when he came and he started to overthrow the strong man's house. I picture the same thing happening on D-Day, June 6, 1944, where the invasion happened. It was interesting to watch some of the military responses of troops in the Pacific and in other parts of the world, in the Philippines and in China and other parts of the world where the war was also taking place. Everybody just cheered vociferously on June 6th when the news got out that a beachhead had been established. A beachhead had been established, because for all practical purposes, experts at war basically said, World War II was it over the day the invasion took place. It was just a matter of time. It was just a matter of time.
The good news is that the kingdom of God had now launched a beachhead, a beachhead in alien territory, and the seed of the woman, the second Adam had finally arrived. By Adam's sin, the first Adam, by his sin, the first Adam closed the door on the Garden of Eden. By his righteousness, the second Adam has thrown that door wide open again, thrown it wide open again. The first Adam we know brought death. The second Adam, we know… Say it in the mic.
Jacque: He brought life.
Brian: Yeah, he brought life. Yes. The first Adam brought a curse. There is a curse on this world. The second Adam began to bore that curse away. The first Adam sealed humanity out. You have to leave here. You are out. The second Adam welcomed humanity back in. I love 2 Corinthians chapter 5 where it really clearly paints that beautiful picture. The proof that Jesus was the one to restore all things was his ability to overcome the strong man spoken of in Luke chapter 11, the ability to overcome the strong man. There is a really interesting... I want to read Luke 11 verse 20 right now first, and then we'll go back to couple scriptures in Exodus, but let's read Luke 11, verse 20.
Jacque: But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Brian: Yes. So Jesus uses this little kind of a strange little phrase. He says, "If I drive out demons by the finger of God..." I've read that many times. I just kind of gloss right over it. And then I began to ask myself the question, well, like what really is the finger of God? Let's go back and look at a couple of portions of scripture. One of them, we find an Exodus chapter 8 verses 16 to 19. Let’s read that.
Jacque: This is such an interesting portion. Then the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron, stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground. And throughout the land of Egypt, the dust will become gnats.
Brian: Ooh, can you imagine that for a moment? Can you imagine?
Jacque: No!
Brian: Let me set the stage. Israel is in slavery, has been in slavery for many years. The scripture says they were rose of Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. When Joseph was there, he was the number two guy in the kingdom of Egypt. Joseph died and another Pharaoh came to power. He sees all of this big family growing and growing and growing, and all he can see is dollar signs for free labor. Over time, and now about 300 years later, Israel has certainly grown into a large number of people, but they are all slaves. They really aren't a nation. They don't really have a leader. They really don't even have a God, because they've been steeped for the most part in pagan territories and with no leadership and nothing but being slaves seven days a week.
Now God raises up Moses to bring freedom to this people, this people that are the offspring of Abraham, that God said that through Abraham, the whole world was going to be blessed through ultimately this people group, which we know to be the Jewish people. Moses is now being raised up and he goes to Pharaoh and says, "You've got to let my people go. You've got to let God's people go." And he said get rid of free labor? That's what our civil war was about free labor, really, but that's a discussion maybe for another time. They didn't want to let their free labor go neither did the plantation owners in the south, but the end of the day, Moses is called by God. Now what God's goal is, is to break the will of the Pharaoh. He is going to do this by implementing different plagues. It's interesting that each plague actually, in a sense, kind of attacked a false belief in a false God that Egypt had. Anyways, this is one of the more unique ones. He says to him, stretch out your staff, strike the dust of the ground and the dust of Egypt will become gnats. Can you imagine?
Jacque: Well, let me read on.
Brian: Why don't you read on?
Jacque: It's pretty gross. Okay. They did this. When Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust to the ground, gnats came on people and animals. Listen to this. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.
Brian: I can't even fathom that. I can't even fathom that. They would be everywhere. Anybody that has been in the Middle East knows there is a lot of dust over there. There is a lot of dust over there.
Jacque: When the magicians tried to reduce gnats by their secret arts, like they wanted more gnats, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magician said to Pharaoh...
Brian: Listen to this now.
Jacque: This is the finger of God.
Brian: This is the finger of God. This is what their response was. This was an entirely different kingdom than the wizardry of Pharaoh's magicians, an entirely different kingdom than the wizardry of the pharaohs. Finish it.
Jacque: But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen.
Brian: Can you imagine just the hardness of his heart. I've recently watched the trial of Adolf Eichmann, who was the head of the SS, who was responsible for the final solution, 6 million Jews, one and a half million of whom were children. He sat through that whole trial, looking at videos, listened to 118 witnesses that told of the incredible atrocities that happened to them. He listened to them, not even blinking an eye and not even shedding a tear or showing any kind of remorse.
Jacque: No emotion.
Brian: No emotion whatsoever. When I watched it, I thought to myself, that's a perfect picture of Pharaoh and how hard his heart was. I'm telling you, my friends, there is an antidote to that hardness. It is the love of God.
Jacque: The finger of God.
Brian: It's the finger of God, the love of Jesus, the love of Jesus. When Moses did this act, the wizards of Egypt recognized that this, what Moses was doing was being done by a power much greater than they had. They called it the finger of God. Now let's go on to another one in Exodus 31, verse 18. This is where God is now giving the 10 commandments to Moses to bring them to Israel.
Jacque: When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. He gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Brian: The scriptures tell us that the finger of God wrote out the tablets of stone. And then I thought to myself, when the woman was caught in adultery, Jesus, the finger of God knelt down and wrote something in the dirt. We don't know exactly what he wrote.
Jacque: But after writing it, all of her accusers left one by one.
Brian: They all left. They all left. Now, when you look at another portion of scripture, the same one, but only in Matthew and Mark that Jesus is referring to in Luke 11, verse 20, when he says, if I drive out demons by the finger of God, another portion of scripture says it this way- If I drive out demons by Holy Spirit... So the finger of God is simply Holy Spirit. So we see now, I want you to read from John chapter one, verse 33, this other incredible verse where John the Baptist is now describing Jesus and what Jesus was coming to do.
Jacque: And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me. So God told him. The man on whom you see the spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Brian: So John, in chapter one of the Book of John is describing the man whom you see the Holy Spirit come down upon, he is the one who is also going to baptize. So he, in other words, this word... I liked this word baptized. It can mean a number of things. It can mean to saturate. When you are baptized, you are surrounded with water. You are covered. You can be filled, overflow. These are all words that I believe can be synonymous with in a sense, the word baptized. Holy Spirit rested on Jesus, and by it, he cast out demons. Holy Spirit came upon Jesus. He never started his ministry. He did some miraculous things in terms of teaching as a 12 year old. It was very clear that the hand of God and the favor of God were on him, but the beach head didn't get established until Holy Spirit came upon Jesus.
When Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove and this voice came out of heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased, listen to him. Listen to him. We would do well to listen to the teachings of Jesus. Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism, at his water baptism and at his Holy Spirit baptism. When Holy Spirit rested on Jesus, by that same spirit, he cast out demons, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he freed people from bondage and the beachhead was established that day. The beachhead was established that day.
You and I've had some friends; they've now since passed. One of them was a member of our church a number of years ago, our good friend, Lou Lembo. One of Micah's songs that he wrote actually was written about Lou. Lou was part of D-Day plus 1 or 2, I believe it was. He was the day after, or two days after D-Day, he arrived at that beachhead. He was part of the Battle of the Bulge. He gave me the highest honor by giving me his cap that he wore during the Battle of the Bulge. What a treasure for me to have this cap that he wore in that horrific battle, the Battle of the Bulge.
We have another friend who has also since passed away, Ward McGill, who got a purple heart, got shot in the Eastern or the European theater. He was D-Day plus 9 or 14 or something like that. He has a kind of a memoir that he wrote about it. Not only was D-Day established on June 6th, but June 7th, there were more troops that arrived, and June 8th, there were more troops that arrived. June 9th, there were more troops that arrived. Pretty soon there were not a 100,000 thousand or 150,000 people. There were now 400,000 people. When Jesus got baptized in the Holy Spirit, a beachhead was established. A few days, or few weeks later, there was another 70 people that started to invade that beachhead when the 70 were commissioned. And then after the crucifixion and the resurrection, we know there were at least 500 and then the church began to explode. There have been people added to that beachhead every day for over 2000 years, every day for over 2000 years.
Jacque: What a picture? What a picture?
Brian: Jesus was the first way. Jesus was the first way. There are still more troops waiting their turn to become part of this invasion. These troops aren't just hanging on for dear life. When you read this picture in Luke, again, Luke 11:13... No, I'm sorry, Luke 11:21 and 22, you don't get the picture of someone just hanging on. If anybody's hanging on it's the devil in this picture. You don't get that picture of someone just hanging on. They are empowered. These troops are empowered to bind the strong man and divide up his plunder. That's what you and I are offered.
Jacque: The kingdom of God has come.
Brian: Has come. The kingdom of God is here, is at hand. It's here. You and I, according to Jesus said, how much more will God our father be willing to give you Holy Spirit, that same spirit that rested upon Jesus that caused him, in a sense to have the power and authority. Because remember Jesus later on said, all authority and power has been given to me. And then he also said, and I do what?
Jacque: Give it to you.
Brian: I give it to you. I give it to you. So this authority, now we go back to this story of Adam, the first Adam giving this dominion and authority to Satan and this dominion and authority couldn't be taken back by even God or angels. It needed a human, because it was a human that gave that authority away, and Jesus came. This is why the birth of Jesus is so critically important to this whole story. This is why we need to really understand the incarnation and what it accomplished and the value of it. Because when Jesus came born of a woman under the law, all these things, born fully human, the spirit of Jesus was God, because God is a spirit, but his body was fully human. He lived a sinless life in this fallen sinful world. He did much more than the first Adam did because the first Adam sinned in a perfect paradise, but Jesus came into a fallen world with sin all around him, took on the weakness of flesh himself because he was made in all points, just like we, as the scripture says, and yet without sin.
When he overcame and when he was empowered by Holy Spirit, he began to take back that authority because he was the human being, but God, that could do that. This invasion now that is happening, it's happening with troops in a sense that aren't hanging on for dear life, but they are empowered by God to overtake the strong man and to divide up his plunder. John, the Baptist said that the one on whom Holy Spirit rested would also be the one who would bestow Holy Spirit. That's why Jesus brought this out so clearly in Luke chapter 11, that how much more willing will have our father be willing to give you Holy Spirit. He even said to his disciples, when they said, we don't want you to leave, he even said, "I have to go." So why?
Jacque: So the father will send the Holy Spirit.
Brian: That's right, so the gift of the father will come. He would bestow it. How much more will the father be willing?
Jacque: He loves to give us the Holy Spirit.
Brian: We know the scripture, for God so loved the world that he gave...
Jacque: His only son.
Brian: But not only did he give his only son, he also gave to us Holy Spirit. He also gave to us Holy Spirit. Let's read Colossians one 27. Paul says it this way.
Jacque: From the message Bible. The mystery in a nutshell is just this, Christ is in you. So therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our message.
Brian: Yes. This is it in a nutshell; Christ in you, our hope of glory. Christ in you, so we can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's really that... Say it.
Jacque: Simple.
Brian: It's really that simple.
Jacque: So profound, but so simple.
Brian: So profound. Amen. When Christ is in us, and this is a gift that God makes available to every single one of us. You know what? We act differently when our hopes and our longings and our aspirations reveal who is in us. We act differently. I want to just go back real quickly for a moment to talk about Stephen and then we'll be done. As Stephen fell, bloodied and broken beneath the stones of hatred beneath the stones of prejudice, because he was on the receiving end of hatred and prejudice, the religious leaders would tear their robes in anger at the things that Jesus would do or teach. Jesus has now resurrected, ascended into heaven and Stephen full of Holy Spirit, the Bible says, full of Holy Spirit, began to do the work of Jesus and began to make inroads into that beachhead. Stephen was D-Day plus, I don't know how many days. The scripture says about Stephen, we read this last week, but I want to read it again. In Acts chapter 7 verse 60, let's read it.
Jacque: Then he fell on his knees and he cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Brian: Yeah. Let's read it in the Message Bible real quick.
Jacque: As the rocks, rain down, Stephen prayed, master Jesus, take my life. Then he knelt down praying loud enough for everyone to hear master don't blame them for this sin, his last words.
Brian: His last words were "Master, don't blame them for this sin." That's that was Stephen's last words. He was basically quoting Jesus on the cross. And then it goes on to say here…
Jacque: And then he died.
Brian: He died.
Jacque: And Saul was right there.
Brian: Saul who later became the apostle Paul.
Jacque: And he was congratulating the killers.
Brian: We have this picture, I thought to myself, if Steven would have been my son and I was witnessing this event, and now my son is now dead and Saul and the other religious leaders who were responsible for throwing these stones, they are congratulating each other, patting each other on the back, giving each other high fives. I wonder what, how I would respond to that, that level of murder and hatred. How would I respond to that? The real Stephen was most clearly revealed in his pain and in his humiliation and in his death. The scriptures say he was full of the Holy Spirit. He was full of Holy Spirit.
In the west here, we make a big deal out of this person is a great person of faith. They had great faith. I'm not saying faith isn't important, but I think what needs to happen first is to be filled with Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with Holy Spirit. I don't have an anti-faith at all. I believe in faith. I think great things are done by faith. Hebrews 11 talks about that. But our emphasis, I believe right now needs to be on being filled with the spirit, because if there was ever a time where hatred could have been proliferated, it was after this event with Stephen, but it wasn't. It was because Stephen was filled with Holy Spirit and he modeled Jesus to those people who are watching.
Jacque: You have to think that Saul took that all in.
Brian: You would have to think that some point along Saul's journey, he reflected upon that. He reflected upon the prayer that everybody heard. As rocks rained down, Steven prayed, "Master Jesus, take my life." And then he knelt down praying loud enough for everyone to hear, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for their sin." Can you imagine, Master, don't blame them for this sin? Can we pray that prayer today? Can we pray that prayer for those people who offend us? Go ahead.
Jacque: Can we pray that prayer for those people who offend us? I think we just need to sit quietly for a moment and just reflect on that. That's how I want to be. That is how I want to be. I think too that same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells lives resides in me, lives in you, and through that spirit, we can do all things.
Brian: So I would just pray today, and my prayer for myself has been for the people that cause me pain, for the people that wound my heart, for the people who disappoint me, and they can be people I know, and they can be people I don't know. My prayer is that, would you father pour your spirit into my heart? I kind of picture my heart like a beaker or like a glass beaker, glass jar. When I have hurts and anger and hatred and what have you, I see those things as like stones that get put into that beaker or jar of my heart.
Jacque: Then you can't get as much water in there.
Brian: That's right. Holy Spirit wants to come in. You can have some of Holy Spirit in you, but when there is so many of these stones... In the wonderful parable of the sower, it talks about taking the stones out, taking the stones out. Every time Jesus takes a stone out of the jar of my heart, there is more room for Holy Spirit to come in.
Jacque: How do we get the stones out of the jar of our heart?
Brian: He actually will have to take them out.
Jacque: So we have to acknowledge them and then say, please take them.
Brian: That's right. He will do the surgery. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He will do the perfecting in us. We don't have to grit our teeth and do this. We have to open up our hearts. We have to open up our hearts and say, Jesus, take the stones out. This is why we need to pray, Lord, you see if there be any wicked way in me, not as self-examination, I'm not so bad. But Lord, you search my heart, search my heart, oh God. See if there be any wicked way in me. As those stones, as he starts removing these stones, giving us heart surgery, he will pour in his spirits. How much more will the father be willing to give you Holy Spirits, if you ask?
Jacque: When he pours his Holy Spirit into us, it's so healing. It's healing.
Brian: It is. It's like you can actually take a deeper breath of fresh air. So let's pray today, shall we? Father, I pray in Jesus name that Lord, you would take the stones out of our hearts. Take those hard places out of our hearts, Jesus. We pray in your name that your spirit would come in. We ask for your Holy Spirit to come. We ask for your full measure of your spirit to come. How much more will your father in heaven give you Holy Spirit? When we have been given that Holy Spirit, we have the authority and we have the dominion to take back what the enemy has stolen. We don't do it in the flesh, of course. We do it in grace and mercy and love. It's easy to love when you are filling us up with you. It's hard for me to love when I'm doing it on my own with stones of hardness in my heart.
So Jesus, I pray today. I pray that we would be filled as Stephen was filled, that your grace and mercy and your spirit, finger of God would come into us. Holy Spirit, we need you. Jesus needed you. We need you, Holy Spirit. Come and baptize us; come and fill us. Come and saturate us, overwhelm us, all the words that can describe complete inundation. We ask Holy Spirit for you to come into us in that way so that we can be D-Day plus 2000 years later. This, we pray, Jesus in your name.
Jacque: Amen. Can I just encourage us all? Just this week, take more time. Take a little bit more time to just sit quietly in God's presence.
Brian: And get filled up.
Jacque: Just get filled up.
Brian: We are going to try and do a quick Zoom chat. Why don't you tell everybody about that?
Jacque: Okay, yes. If you can join us, we are going to jump on the computer right when we are done here and have a chat and see each other. It's just so good to see each other's faces hear each other's voices. On the screen are the meeting number and the password number, so just go to Zoom.com and you can get on, or if you get our regular Tuesday email, which actually is now the church bulletin, the Tuesday email is a church bulletin, go there and you can look down there and there is a link you can click right on that link to get on the Sunday Zoom chat. So we'll see you there in a minute.
Brian: Hey, let's all raise our hands together. I want to bless you. Now may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace. You may you be filled with Holy Spirit. This, we pray, in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen. God bless you. Thank you for joining us today. Hopefully we'll see real soon. Bye-bye.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 11-15-20. If you would like to watch the full service, click one of the links below.