WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.500 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:15.280 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.660 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:29.879 Good morning. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.899 My name is Abby and I'm part of the North Berkeley Community Group. 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:40.980 Our scripture this morning comes from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses 1 through 25, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.340 And Saul approved of their killing him. 00:00:44.980 --> 00:00:49.280 On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:53.799 and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:57.640 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:00.299 But Saul began to destroy the church. 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:05.040 Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:08.780 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.060 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:19.379 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:26.439 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:28.680 So there was great joy in that city. 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:35.260 Now for some time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. 00:01:35.740 --> 00:01:37.660 He boasted that he was someone great. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.000 And all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.800 This man is rightly called the great power of God. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.980 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:55.060 But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:57.740 they were baptized, both men and women. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.520 Simon himself believed and was baptized. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.760 And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:10.680 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:12.680 they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:18.599 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 00:02:18.980 --> 00:02:21.780 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them. 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:24.939 They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:02:26.200 --> 00:02:30.080 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:35.000 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:36.879 he offered them money and said, 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:42.319 Give me also this ability, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:43.900 Peter answered, 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:48.120 May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. 00:02:48.580 --> 00:02:53.319 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:58.139 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:00.000 for having such a thought in your heart. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.500 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin. 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:05.340 Then Simon answered, 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:08.800 Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me. 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:13.379 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:15.919 Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:18.879 preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages. 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:20.960 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:22.639 Thanks be to God. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:41.359 Well, Christchurch, we live in a strange world, don't we? 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:47.239 Things that one group of people take for granted can be quite opaque to another. 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:54.260 I've heard it said that in Germany, everything is forbidden except that which is permitted. 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:58.780 And in Russia, everything is forbidden including that which is permitted. 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:03.500 Meanwhile, in France, everything is permitted except that which is forbidden. 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:07.660 While in Italy, everything is permitted including that which is forbidden. 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:10.400 And I've lived in Italy, I can attest to that. 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:14.700 In the U.S., of course, everything is either forbidden or permitted. 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:19.420 We're just not sure which is which because we're waiting on the federal, state, and local authorities 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:21.019 to coordinate their efforts together. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.439 But we live in this strange world. 00:04:23.539 --> 00:04:26.500 We live in a really confusing time right now. 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:28.899 It reminds me of this old joke that I heard. 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:32.019 What's the difference between a consultant, a lawyer, and a theologian? 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:35.419 A consultant borrows your watch and tells you the time. 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:38.680 A lawyer borrows your watch, tells you the time, 00:04:38.719 --> 00:04:41.039 and then keeps the watch as part of the payment for their fee. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:46.140 And a theologian just simply tells you the time and suggests that you adjust your watch. 00:04:47.020 --> 00:04:52.360 And my job as resident theologian and pastor here is to tell you the time 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:54.780 and help us all adjust our watch. 00:04:54.900 --> 00:04:57.140 And the question is, what time is it? 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:01.200 And I want to say that today it's time to rebuild Christchurch together. 00:05:02.320 --> 00:05:04.140 We've had 14 months apart. 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:14.419 We have, you know, experienced relentless change, incredible volatility and disruption and losses in our lives. 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:18.459 And it's just time to come together more and more in person, 00:05:19.039 --> 00:05:22.099 trust these vaccines to do their work, to make us safe. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:27.599 And it's time to rebuild Christchurch one gathering at a time. 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:30.120 Every Sunday we're going to gather. 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.819 Next Sunday we're going to gather again the Sunday after that and the Sunday after that. 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:37.240 Next Saturday we'll be together for a half-day retreat. 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:39.100 Our women are going on a hike. 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:40.600 Some men are getting together for beer. 00:05:40.780 --> 00:05:42.019 Youth are playing laser tag. 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:44.759 We're going to meet on a Saturday morning for prayer. 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:49.819 10 to 15 minutes if you can brave the cold in the side yard for coffee after this. 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:54.500 Every gathering, every encounter, every conversation, 00:05:54.500 --> 00:06:01.899 every little investment of our time matters incredibly right now in these weeks and months ahead of us 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:05.079 as we want to build up Christchurch here again. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.720 If you're following along with us in our Bible reading plan, 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:11.259 we're reading through the epistles, the letters of the New Testament. 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.819 And our reading a day or two ago was from Romans 12. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:16.839 And the Apostle Paul says this. 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:17.180 He says, 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:29.900 We have different gifts and functions according to the grace God has given to each of us. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.840 And what Paul is saying there is that every one of us can play. 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:39.300 That each of us has gifts that need to be exercised in order for the church to be built up. 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:43.540 And that Christchurch really is incomplete without any one of us. 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:49.439 And that God has things that he wants done and said that can only be done and said by you. 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:55.120 That God has needs he wants to meet that he's gifted only you to fulfill. 00:06:55.760 --> 00:06:59.580 And so what I just want to affirm this morning is that we need each other. 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:06.700 And the more we can be here, be in the flesh, come to these family reunions with the people of God, 00:07:06.980 --> 00:07:08.800 I think the more blessed we're going to be. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:12.700 And if you can't be here, if you're at home this morning, know that we love you. 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:13.300 We get it. 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:15.399 We hope to continue to see you online. 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.920 But I just want to remind us as we're looking through the Acts of the Apostles, 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:25.539 the church has always had this predictable pattern of gathering on the first day of the week 00:07:25.539 --> 00:07:28.420 to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:35.079 And to come together in that celebration to focus on what is the primary task of the church. 00:07:35.719 --> 00:07:39.099 The primary task of the church is evangelism. 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:44.780 Of all the things that we do to nurture our interior life, the primary task of the church is evangelism. 00:07:44.780 --> 00:07:49.280 And we come then to be filled by the Spirit for that task, sent out in Jesus' name. 00:07:49.320 --> 00:07:56.439 And then we come back the next Sunday to celebrate the fact that God is building his kingdom in our midst. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.439 That's what we see over and over in the Acts of the Apostles. 00:07:59.520 --> 00:08:02.820 And so we've been tracing this out, Acts 1, Acts 2, Acts 3. 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:06.060 And now we're going to fast forward today to Acts chapter 8. 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:19.560 And the message of Acts chapter 8 is this, that pressure prompts mission with a holistic gospel and the Spirit's power. 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:27.779 Acts chapter 8 says that pressure prompts mission with a holistic gospel and the Spirit's power. 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:31.059 And I want to say a word about how pressure prompts mission. 00:08:31.179 --> 00:08:37.079 Because our story picks up in verse 1 that Saul approved of their killing of Stephen. 00:08:37.199 --> 00:08:40.379 And on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:44.299 And all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 00:08:44.439 --> 00:08:51.000 The context is Stephen, who's a deacon in the church, has just become the first Christian martyr. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:58.879 And his execution has caused these Jerusalem Christians to be scattered like seeds throughout the land of Israel. 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:03.820 Until now, the church has been tucked up in Jerusalem. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:12.220 And they've had no task force, no strategy, no grand plan for some missionary movement. 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:19.659 No idea or vision for how they were going to break down the barriers to take the gospel from here out to Samaria. 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:24.379 Much less further beyond Africa and Asia and Europe. 00:09:25.059 --> 00:09:27.939 But the resurrected Jesus said that that's what had to happen. 00:09:28.459 --> 00:09:28.639 Right? 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:30.799 His gospel had to break out. 00:09:31.139 --> 00:09:32.379 In Acts 1.8, he says, 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.919 You all, to a group of about 120 disciples, he says, 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:41.799 You all will be clothed with power from on high when the Holy Spirit is poured out on you. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:50.079 And you will be empowered to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and even unto the ends of the earth. 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:58.139 I think we all want to be part of something that is growing, something that's expanding and reaching new people and taking new ground. 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:02.699 And so the question is, how does this exciting missionary movement begin? 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:07.000 And what we learn here is that it begins in bitter persecution. 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:09.700 It begins in ruthless repression. 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:11.500 In verse 3, we read, 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:13.420 Saul began to destroy the church. 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:19.600 Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:24.920 Saul's described here like a savage wild beast who's just gobbling up his prey for breakfast. 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:34.000 But what I want us to see is that God's purposes prevail not in spite of persecution, but because of persecution. 00:10:34.979 --> 00:10:40.919 And the message of the story is that God uses these evil means for good ends. 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.039 Because what happens next in verse 4, it says, 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:50.159 Those who had been scattered because of the persecution preached the word wherever they went. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:58.439 Now there's no evidence that these Christians enjoying their salvation in Christ had formed a mission task force, 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:04.379 formed a committee on evangelism, came up with a plan to conquer the world for Christ. 00:11:05.319 --> 00:11:12.000 In fact, they just could not even imagine how it was that they were going to break out over those barriers of geography 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:22.860 and religion and culture and race and move out into this hostile pagan world with their crazy message that Christ was crucified and then he rose from the dead. 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:34.080 But what was not done because of the slowness of these Christians was in fact achieved by the bitterness of God's enemies. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:41.759 If this Jerusalem church had not been persecuted, it's doubtful that they would have scattered so quickly. 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:48.720 It's doubtful that they would have been so motivated to share this gospel with new people in new places. 00:11:49.280 --> 00:11:50.100 But that's what happened. 00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:55.800 This missionary movement of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit began by this effort of Satan 00:11:55.799 --> 00:12:00.419 and all the powers of darkness to crush the church and to crush the gospel. 00:12:00.599 --> 00:12:04.319 And ironically, the exact opposite happened. 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:07.019 Now why does that matter for us? 00:12:07.079 --> 00:12:09.759 We're not the persecuted church, right? 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.439 We're not the church of North Korea or Somalia or Pakistan or Iran or China. 00:12:16.439 --> 00:12:20.839 And so probably this is a good reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ 00:12:20.839 --> 00:12:25.039 who literally are being dragged off prison, who are being destroyed. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.000 We're not the persecuted church. 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:28.939 We're in fact the privileged church. 00:12:29.219 --> 00:12:31.799 But we're also the pressured church. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:38.539 We're a pressured church because spiritually we're awash in secularism, right? 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:45.879 The mindset of the secular age in which people are not neutral about Jesus, right? 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.199 In this post-Christian context, it's kind of cool to be Buddhist. 00:12:50.819 --> 00:12:52.360 It might even be cool to be Muslim. 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:59.159 It's definitely not cool to be Christian, especially if you're serious about following in the way 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:01.820 of Jesus' truth, the way of Jesus' holiness. 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:08.399 And so we're under pressure as a church spiritually, but we're also under pressure situationally. 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:15.039 I mean, don't some of us wonder why God would allow such disruption to Christ's church, right? 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:20.000 In 2019, all of 2020, now into 2021. 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:25.620 Why has God allowed our staff to go from 17 people down to 5 people? 00:13:26.599 --> 00:13:30.699 We're no longer what Christ's church Berkeley was, no longer what Christ's church Oakland was. 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:33.839 We're something new and different altogether. 00:13:34.079 --> 00:13:39.360 Why has God allowed so many of our friends to move away and left us in this situation? 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:45.320 And I don't have all the answers to that, but what I do know from this text is that God never wastes a crisis. 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:51.740 And if He used the persecution to scatter these Christians to a new mission in Samaria, 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.980 then surely He can use the pressure that we're under spiritually and situationally to do a new thing. 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:07.420 Because it's these moments of disruption, these moments of pressure that are moments that the Spirit uses to create new movement, 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.920 to do something different and something new. 00:14:11.800 --> 00:14:18.580 And when we're open to that, God does amazing things beyond the horizon of what we could see 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.159 or the plans that we previously had. 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:23.580 And so the question for us today is, 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:27.759 how does God want to use the pressure of our moment, of this moment, 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:33.400 to do new things in new ways, in new places, with new people? 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:36.080 And are we willing? 00:14:36.280 --> 00:14:40.700 Are we ready to embrace the new things that God has for us? 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.780 Are we ready to adjust our watches to His time? 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:53.559 Or is He waiting on us to catch up to His plan, His action, His mission that He has prepared for us here in the East Bay? 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:59.740 After a catastrophic global event like the pandemic, 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:03.720 with so much seismic and rapid change, 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:08.699 it shouldn't surprise us that there's going to be, and there already is, 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:15.060 a heightened sensitivity, a heightened seeking after spiritual things, right? 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:19.940 As our global society is going through a nervous breakdown basically everywhere, right? 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.780 All that pre-COVID crisis of identity, 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.759 that pre-COVID crisis of belonging and meaning and purpose, 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.259 that's been intensified among all people everywhere. 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:41.600 And I believe that God wants us at Christchurch to be ready as a church family to move out to new people 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:47.779 and new opportunities and new challenges where people are looking for the truth that they've been built for, 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:52.480 which is the truth that has been entrusted to us, right? 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:56.899 So that's the first thing I want you to see is that pressure prompts mission. 00:15:57.939 --> 00:15:59.659 Pressure is not always a bad thing. 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:01.899 Pressure prompts mission. 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:04.500 God uses bad things to good ends. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:11.299 Pressure prompts mission with a holistic gospel, with a holistic gospel. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:12.399 Look at verse 4 again. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:12.699 It says, 00:16:12.939 --> 00:16:18.039 Those who'd been scattered by the persecution, they preached the word wherever they went. 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:23.159 The church leaders had been taken away from the people of God, 00:16:23.219 --> 00:16:24.939 but does that stop them from doing the work? 00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:27.399 No, the mission doesn't come to a grinding halt. 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:31.059 In fact, everyone now is engaged in this mission. 00:16:31.179 --> 00:16:35.639 Until now, many of these people had been ministry consumers only, 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.860 and now they become ministry providers. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.539 Ordinary, everyday Christians, men, women, and children, just like us, 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.600 who found a joyful confidence in the truth, 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.460 and the power and the relevance of the gospel. 00:16:50.460 --> 00:16:52.000 And what do they do with that? 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.620 It says that they preached the word. 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:58.960 Now, I don't think that's the best translation of this word. 00:16:59.060 --> 00:17:03.080 It kind of conjures the image that you all need to be doing something like I'm doing right now, 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:03.779 preaching the word. 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:11.779 But the word here in Greek is euangelizo, where we get the word evangel, evangelism, evangelize. 00:17:12.399 --> 00:17:14.559 And what they were doing was sharing the good news. 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:18.920 They were gossiping the gospel wherever they went. 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:24.740 You know, in their shop, on their street, at soccer practice, at the swim meet, at their supper club. 00:17:25.019 --> 00:17:28.700 These were just good news people, and that was the most important thing in their life. 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:33.600 And so, every opportunity they had, they were trying to share that with other people. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.640 And notice that they expressed the gospel in multidimensional ways, 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:42.759 with words, with deeds, with countercultural community. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:47.480 First of all, they articulated the gospel with words, right? 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.620 These first Christians, they went into Samaria, 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.880 and they did the hard work of building trust and relationships, 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:56.340 of showing they cared, of earning the right to be heard. 00:17:56.339 --> 00:18:00.919 But eventually, they opened their mouth to talk about Jesus. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:07.139 And when they gossiped the gospel, they had a basic outline of specific content. 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:11.000 And they would share the gospel as a body of truth, 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:14.980 a package of information that has to be verbally transmitted 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:18.519 if it's going to be heard and understood and believed, right? 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.019 And so, that's kind of a question for us. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.299 Do we have a quick summary of the gospel? 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:28.399 Do we have a simple nutshell of the gospel that we're ready to share? 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:33.039 And what we see here is that Philip comes alongside these ordinary Christians, 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:37.680 and we get a sense of his gospel nutshell right here in verse 12. 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:44.240 It says that he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:18:44.879 --> 00:18:50.099 He said that the gospel is about Jesus the Messiah who came to establish the kingdom of God. 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:55.159 And what he meant when he said that is that the creator God saw us. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:57.919 He saw us in our sin and death. 00:18:58.699 --> 00:19:02.500 He saw us oppressed by sin and in bondage to death. 00:19:02.879 --> 00:19:09.319 And out of his great mercy for us, God the Father sent his son Jesus to be our king, 00:19:09.399 --> 00:19:14.839 to set up this rule and reign, this kingdom of freedom and of peace, 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.459 so that we could be free from the oppression of sin, 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:20.619 so that we could have power over the bondage of death. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:22.619 And how did that happen? 00:19:22.959 --> 00:19:26.599 Well, every time, this is the heart of the gospel, every time it's shared, 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:29.500 you've got to know that the way it happened 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:34.359 is that Jesus took our place in his crucifixion, 00:19:34.399 --> 00:19:36.459 and he took our sin upon himself 00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:40.720 so that he might grant to us the freedom of having his righteousness. 00:19:41.860 --> 00:19:45.000 And that in his resurrection, he took our death upon himself 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.960 so that we might have the power of his life that never ends. 00:19:50.860 --> 00:19:53.900 And so when we see everybody around us in the Bay Area 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:57.600 running after freedom in a thousand different ways, 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.900 running after power in a thousand different ways, 00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:04.200 we've got to know that the one thing that they're seeking 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:06.980 is the only place they can find that 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:11.180 is in Jesus the Messiah who brought this kingdom 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:16.960 of God's freedom and God's peace that only he can give. 00:20:17.040 --> 00:20:17.980 And that's what they were doing. 00:20:18.060 --> 00:20:21.640 They were articulating the gospel with words. 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:26.360 But they were also demonstrating the gospel with deeds. 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:29.420 They were demonstrating the gospel with deeds, 00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:31.380 and we see that in verse 6. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:31.700 It says, 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.240 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, 00:20:35.360 --> 00:20:38.300 they all paid close attention to what he said. 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.840 Our friends, neighbors, and co-workers here in the East Bay 00:20:42.840 --> 00:20:45.140 are not going to pay close attention to what we say 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:49.480 unless they experience and they see the power of God behind our words. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:51.800 And if they experience that, 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.279 then they're going to want an explanation 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.240 of what it is they're experiencing. 00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:58.820 And what are they experiencing in this Samaritan city? 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:03.179 They're experiencing the power of God in the problems of their lives. 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:09.299 They're experiencing heaven breaking through into the mess 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:12.000 and the muddle and the misery of their lives. 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:13.779 Verse 7 says, 00:21:13.879 --> 00:21:17.619 With shrieks and evil spirits were coming out of them, 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:22.339 and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 00:21:22.419 --> 00:21:24.599 And this is crazy supernatural stuff. 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.980 It's because the gospel is moving into a new place for the first time. 00:21:28.579 --> 00:21:32.879 But basically, what this says is that people who were troubled in their souls 00:21:32.879 --> 00:21:34.619 were finding spiritual help. 00:21:35.459 --> 00:21:39.819 And people who were broken in their bodies were finding physical help. 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:47.240 And if our city were to see us pouring out our lives for the poor and the sick, 00:21:47.879 --> 00:21:49.519 for orphans and immigrants, 00:21:49.639 --> 00:21:56.679 if they were to see through us change lives because of God's power on people's bodies and souls, 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:57.460 right, 00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:01.659 people would pay closer attention to what it is we have to say. 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:05.759 They would want to hear the explanation for their experience. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.940 And what I'm convicted by here is that I need to, 00:22:10.019 --> 00:22:15.839 and maybe you need to pray more and expect more, 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.119 that heaven would be poured out on the earth, 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:21.119 that God's power, 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:24.980 maybe we should pray more boldly that God's power would break through. 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:27.000 Wherever we're seeing spiritual needs, 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:28.319 which are all around us, 00:22:28.379 --> 00:22:30.180 wherever we're seeing physical needs, 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:30.720 which are many, 00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:33.519 that God would come and put people right, 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.740 that God would come and make people whole. 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:40.400 They were articulating the gospel in words. 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:42.400 They were demonstrating the gospel in deeds. 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:47.960 But they were also embodying the gospel in countercultural community. 00:22:49.099 --> 00:22:50.680 And that's what we see in verse 12. 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:55.119 When they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:56.720 and the name of Jesus Christ, 00:22:56.819 --> 00:22:57.519 they were baptized, 00:22:57.859 --> 00:22:59.500 both men and women. 00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:03.599 And I can't explain to you adequately how amazing this is 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:08.900 because there had been hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:11.180 for a thousand years up to this point. 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:12.920 Not 10 years, 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:13.819 not a hundred years, 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:17.000 a thousand years of hostility. 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:21.420 The Samaritans were despised as these mixed race, 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:22.700 half-breeds, 00:23:22.859 --> 00:23:24.500 despised as people who were, 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:25.099 you know, 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.420 desperately confused about God and the scriptures. 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:33.200 And Jews and Samaritans were sworn enemies in bitter conflict. 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:35.720 They hated one another with a passion. 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:38.500 Samaritans were excluded others, 00:23:38.660 --> 00:23:39.640 excluded outsiders. 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.180 But what's happening here is that because of Jesus, 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.420 Jews are taking the gospel to Samaritans. 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:51.880 And Samaritans are being baptized with Jews 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:57.259 and they're all somehow becoming one family under God the Father. 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:01.080 And this dividing wall of hostility between them 00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:04.759 because of ethnic and cultural and religious differences 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:06.000 are being torn down 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.279 and they're being made brothers and sisters in Jesus. 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:10.279 And friends, 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:12.160 this can happen among us. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:17.380 Jesus has the power to tear down the walls 00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:19.180 between the rich and the poor, 00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:22.759 between the educated and the uneducated. 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:24.800 Jesus has the power to tear down walls 00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:28.300 between Europeans, Africans, Latinos, and Asians. 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:31.080 He has the power to tear down walls 00:24:31.080 --> 00:24:32.940 like he's doing here between men and women. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.560 Jesus even has the power to tear down walls 00:24:35.560 --> 00:24:37.660 between Democrats and Republicans. 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:41.000 And what they're doing here 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.620 is they're embodying the gospel 00:24:42.620 --> 00:24:45.540 in radical countercultural community 00:24:45.540 --> 00:24:48.180 that respects, honors, 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:51.940 and loves one another across their differences. 00:24:53.080 --> 00:24:54.800 And what happens when they do that, 00:24:55.820 --> 00:24:56.700 it says in verse 8 00:24:56.700 --> 00:25:00.000 that there was great joy in that city. 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:02.900 Not merely among the converts, 00:25:03.100 --> 00:25:04.740 but among the whole city. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.259 People who were on the outside looking in saying, 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:10.079 I don't believe what they believe, 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:13.200 but I am so glad that they're here. 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:15.180 I'm so glad they're doing 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:17.319 what they're doing in Christchurch. 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:18.500 Isn't that what we want 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:20.539 Berkeley and Oakland and the Bay Area 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:21.579 to say about us? 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.119 Isn't that why we have in our mission statement 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:27.180 that we are for the city? 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.859 And I just want to invite us to pray 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:32.420 that we would so articulate the gospel with words, 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:34.940 so demonstrate it with our deeds, 00:25:34.940 --> 00:25:38.759 so embodied and radical countercultural community, 00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:43.380 that there would be great joy in our cities. 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:45.420 Amen? 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:47.200 You guys listen? 00:25:47.320 --> 00:25:47.600 All right. 00:25:48.320 --> 00:25:51.200 So pressure prompts mission 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:55.500 with a holistic gospel and the Spirit's power. 00:25:55.580 --> 00:25:56.980 And I want to end just by saying 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:58.600 a little bit about the Spirit's power 00:25:58.600 --> 00:25:59.720 because you might be wondering, 00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:01.880 you know, what's up with these Samaritans 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:04.280 is having to wait for the Holy Spirit, right? 00:26:04.340 --> 00:26:06.980 The typical pattern is that the gospel is shared, 00:26:07.120 --> 00:26:08.380 people receive it, they repent, 00:26:08.760 --> 00:26:10.180 and forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, 00:26:10.280 --> 00:26:13.040 and baptism come as a package deal. 00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:14.700 But that doesn't happen here. 00:26:14.840 --> 00:26:15.660 In verse 14 it says, 00:26:15.780 --> 00:26:16.920 when the apostles in Jerusalem 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:19.960 heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, 00:26:20.020 --> 00:26:21.620 they sent Peter and John to Samaria, 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:22.480 and when they arrived, 00:26:22.540 --> 00:26:24.200 they prayed for the new believers there 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:27.620 that they might finally receive the Holy Spirit. 00:26:27.760 --> 00:26:28.720 What's going on here? 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.759 I think because this is the first time 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.400 that the gospel is reaching over this barrier 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.339 to a non-Jewish people, 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.019 God withholds the giving of the Spirit 00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:41.620 so that these apostles, 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:43.240 trained by Jesus, would come 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:45.039 and they would inspect the work 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:46.259 and verify their faith 00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:47.559 and see that these are true, 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:51.019 apostolic, real Christians, right? 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:53.920 And that having seen that these people 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:55.640 believed in that body of truth 00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:57.240 articulated in the gospel, 00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.099 that they would then pray 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.299 and with joy they would affirm 00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:04.160 that there is not now one Jewish church 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.000 and one Samaritan church, 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:09.480 but there is a church of Jews and Gentiles, 00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:10.440 one in Christ. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:13.480 There's not a Samaritan church up here 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:14.859 and a Jerusalem church down there. 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:16.500 It's all one together. 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:18.240 And the Holy Spirit 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:20.819 is the sign of God's power 00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:23.880 that creates that unprecedented unity. 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:25.340 And it's so impressive, 00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:30.180 particularly to this one man named Simon, right? 00:27:30.840 --> 00:27:32.500 It says, when Simon, in verse 18, 00:27:32.580 --> 00:27:34.740 when Simon saw that the Spirit was given 00:27:34.740 --> 00:27:36.440 at the laying on of the apostles' hands, 00:27:36.520 --> 00:27:37.740 he offered them money and said, 00:27:38.320 --> 00:27:39.560 give me also this ability 00:27:39.560 --> 00:27:41.740 so that everyone on whom I lay my hands 00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:44.320 may receive the Holy Spirit. 00:27:44.420 --> 00:27:45.680 Why is this included in the story? 00:27:45.760 --> 00:27:47.400 Because it's trying to point out the difference 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.080 between a true Christian and a false Christian, 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:55.859 between a real disciple and a counterfeit disciple, right? 00:27:55.899 --> 00:27:57.000 In verses 9 through 11, 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.399 we meet this guy who's not a smoke and mirrors, 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:01.679 sleight of hand magician. 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:03.779 He's the real deal, right? 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:05.339 There are powers at work in this world 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:06.579 besides the power of God, 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:08.259 and he's figured out a way to harness 00:28:08.259 --> 00:28:11.779 and leverage those powers to great effect. 00:28:12.419 --> 00:28:14.159 And people are wowed by him. 00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:18.519 But then Philip comes along with the wiser words, 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.080 the mightier deeds of the gospel, 00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:23.620 and Simon is converted, right? 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:24.620 It's headline news. 00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:26.860 Everybody's like, man, can you believe it? 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:28.380 Have you heard even Simon? 00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.160 Even Simon, and they're all excited. 00:28:31.300 --> 00:28:32.380 And it says in verse 13, 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.480 Simon himself believed and was baptized, 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:36.180 and he followed Philip everywhere, 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:40.279 astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:43.319 And that's the cautionary note for us. 00:28:44.879 --> 00:28:49.180 It's the deeds of the gospel that amaze Simon. 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:50.639 It's not the words of the gospel 00:28:50.639 --> 00:28:53.799 about the Savior who's come for sinners, right? 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:57.259 Simon does not sense in his conscience 00:28:57.259 --> 00:29:02.160 his self-centered, self-promoting, 00:29:02.399 --> 00:29:04.039 self-interested sinfulness 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:06.299 and his need for forgiveness in his heart. 00:29:06.299 --> 00:29:09.680 He's merely dazzled by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:29:10.379 --> 00:29:13.099 And this warns us that he's not a real disciple. 00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:14.079 He's a counterfeit. 00:29:15.019 --> 00:29:16.180 And the way we know that 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:18.099 is because he reaches into his pocket 00:29:18.099 --> 00:29:20.879 and digs out his wallet, right, 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.859 and makes an all-cash offer for the Holy Spirit 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:28.879 so that he can use the power of Jesus to his own ends. 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:31.119 And what does Peter say? 00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:32.359 He says in verse 20, 00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:34.679 May your money perish with you 00:29:34.679 --> 00:29:36.139 because you thought you could buy 00:29:36.139 --> 00:29:37.579 the gift of God with money. 00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:40.959 This is the same Peter who said last week, 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:42.979 silver or gold I do not have, 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.619 but I have something far more powerful than that. 00:29:45.699 --> 00:29:47.379 He says in this place, literally, 00:29:47.879 --> 00:29:49.299 to hell with you and your money. 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:52.059 And why does he say that? 00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:54.000 This is not a Christian leader 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.119 speaking to a Christian 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:57.199 who's making a terrible error in judgment. 00:29:58.339 --> 00:30:00.399 This is an apostle talking to a man 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:03.160 who's not a Christian but who thinks that he is. 00:30:04.259 --> 00:30:06.480 And so he's exposing his heart and saying, 00:30:07.040 --> 00:30:09.280 Simon, your whole outlook is unconverted 00:30:09.280 --> 00:30:11.780 because your heart is unregenerated. 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:15.960 And that's why Peter says in verse 21, 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:18.180 you have no part or share in this ministry. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.780 Repent because your heart is not right before God. 00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:23.980 Repent of this wickedness 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:25.660 and pray to the Lord in the hope 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:27.420 that he may forgive you 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:29.180 for having such a thought in your heart. 00:30:29.180 --> 00:30:31.380 For I see that you are full of bitterness 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:32.980 and captive to sin. 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:35.840 Why am I talking about this? 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:37.200 Because we read every day 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:39.500 about foolish, wicked, non-Christian things 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:40.519 that church people do. 00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:42.279 And it saddens us, 00:30:42.320 --> 00:30:43.320 but it shouldn't surprise us 00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:44.620 because it's been that way from the beginning. 00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:46.320 Right? 00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:48.660 The church has always had people 00:30:48.660 --> 00:30:50.240 that are not real disciples. 00:30:50.460 --> 00:30:51.560 They're counterfeit disciples. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:54.880 I love this from Will Willeman this week. 00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:56.759 He's a professor at Duke University. 00:30:56.759 --> 00:30:58.480 He said, 00:30:58.480 --> 00:30:59.960 what do we make of an evangelism 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:02.500 which while including even the Samaritans 00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:03.339 does not hesitate 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:06.079 to exclude those like Simon 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:07.700 who do not fit the lifestyle 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:10.380 or the theology of the community of the spirit. 00:31:11.380 --> 00:31:12.559 In a time when the community 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.240 was fighting for its very life, 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:16.420 it fought not by reducing its witness 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:18.640 to the lowest common denominator, 00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:21.980 but rather by carefully defining itself 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:23.339 and rebuking and excluding 00:31:23.339 --> 00:31:24.460 those like Simon 00:31:24.460 --> 00:31:25.880 who did not change 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:27.759 their heathenish lifestyle and attitudes. 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:31.019 Rather than baptizing the status quo, 00:31:31.840 --> 00:31:34.579 the church demanded repentance. 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:37.340 And that's the question for us. 00:31:37.420 --> 00:31:38.299 Will we be a church 00:31:38.299 --> 00:31:39.640 that reduces our witness 00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:42.559 to the lowest common denominator 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.360 of our secular age, 00:31:44.420 --> 00:31:45.680 our post-Christian culture? 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.140 Or will we be a church 00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:50.840 that defines the doctrine and ethics 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:53.500 that repentance requires of us 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:56.680 and that God's grace demands of us? 00:31:58.060 --> 00:32:00.000 Friends, this is a gut check for me. 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:01.740 It's a gut check 00:32:01.740 --> 00:32:03.720 for every professing baptized Christian 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:05.420 to ask themselves, 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:07.259 am I the genuine article? 00:32:08.660 --> 00:32:10.940 Have I received the free gift 00:32:10.940 --> 00:32:12.259 of the Holy Spirit? 00:32:12.259 --> 00:32:14.319 And is the fruit of the Holy Spirit 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:15.759 being produced in my life? 00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:18.359 Love, joy, peace, patience, 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:19.200 and all the rest. 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:21.640 Is the spirit of him 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:24.039 who raised Christ from the dead 00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:25.339 living in me? 00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:27.440 And if so, what is the evidence? 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:30.700 Is the spirit causing me 00:32:30.700 --> 00:32:32.240 to cry out continually, 00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:34.980 Abba, Father, my Father, 00:32:35.140 --> 00:32:36.140 and attesting to me 00:32:36.140 --> 00:32:38.119 that I am a son of God, 00:32:38.180 --> 00:32:40.099 that you are a daughter of God? 00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:41.579 Because that's what the power 00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:43.299 of the Holy Spirit 00:32:43.299 --> 00:32:44.579 that cannot be bought 00:32:44.579 --> 00:32:48.319 does for real, 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:49.719 genuine, 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:52.500 true disciples. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:57.519 Pressure prompts mission 00:32:57.519 --> 00:32:59.619 with a holistic gospel 00:32:59.619 --> 00:33:01.619 and the Spirit's power. 00:33:01.719 --> 00:33:03.679 And I pray that more and more 00:33:03.679 --> 00:33:05.139 we would see God doing this 00:33:05.139 --> 00:33:06.240 among us. 00:33:06.299 --> 00:33:07.079 In the name of the Father, 00:33:07.219 --> 00:33:08.019 Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:33:08.819 --> 00:33:09.079 Amen. 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:09.240 Amen. 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:11.099 Amen.