WEBVTT

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 If you were told you could meet anyone, who would it be?

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! Sorry, I can't help but embarrass Emily and say what she said.

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! If Emily could meet anybody in history, she said Paddington Bear.

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 Probably, probably many people, Christian or not, would probably say Jesus.

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 Imagine if you could rewind to the right moment in history and place in the world

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 where Jesus, in his earthly ministry, was.

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 I want to suggest to you that it would be actually very, very difficult

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 to meet him close up, face to face.

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 And the reason I say that is that pretty much most of what we read about him,

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 he was surrounded by lots of people.

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 Imagine standing there in that crowd.

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 Someone comes around and gives you some fish and some bread.

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 Thanks very much.

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 Someone comes along later with a basket.

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 And they're off in the distance.

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 You see the guy that it's all happening around.

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 And he says, can you get up close?

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 No chance.

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 Everybody gathered, listening to hear what he's got to say.

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 There's so many of them.

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 Pushes himself in a boat out to sea so that he can face the multitudes.

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 And Zacchaeus hears that Jesus is coming through that town.

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 The only way in which he thinks he just might get a glimpse is to climb up a tree

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 and see over the crowds.

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 The woman who's been hemorrhaging for years and tried every last thing,

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 spent every last shekel on some kind of medical cure.

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 If only, she says to herself, if only as she pushes her way through the crowd,

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 I can just touch the hem of his garment, then I may be healed.

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 Of course she was.

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 Or the guy on the stretcher who was carried by his friends up onto the roof of the house,

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 and they had to make a hole in the roof of the house,

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 because that's the only way they could get close up to him.

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 I think it's really important that we understand this,

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 that even for those that had that privilege, that autumn blessing,

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 of being around at the same time and place in history,

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 to meet the living God in human form,

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 it would have been extremely difficult to have got up close to him.

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 You'd have to stand in line.

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 But Jesus says in these words that when he will return to his Father,

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 the Holy Spirit will come.

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 And the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit,

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 anybody, anywhere, can meet God in the most intimate and personal and real and meaningful way,

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 and you haven't got to stand in line.

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 And yet it's that awesome truth that gets overlooked over and over and over again.

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 That it doesn't matter how many people there are in this world reaching out to God in prayer at the same time,

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 he is there for each and every one of us in that living, dynamic way that you can meet with him.

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 When I was 12 years old, I went with our youth group to a meeting that was a group of churches together on the Isle of Wight where I grew up.

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 And there was this little theatre that had been hired by the local churches.

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 And a guy came to speak.

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 I don't remember a word of what he said.

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 I do remember feeling very bored and uncomfortable in this really uncomfortable chair as I sat and he seemed to talk and talk and talk and talk.

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 Then the music group started to play and said we're going to have a time of sung worship.

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 I like the music.

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 But what happened next was something that I'd never experienced before.

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 The church that I grew up in was quite a traditional one with an organ and pews and hymn books.

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 And people didn't really put their hands in the air when they worship God.

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 But that started to happen as the music started to play.

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 And people were singing and people were raising their arms in worship.

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 And some people started to weep.

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 And then others started to, as we were worshipping, say some words which sounded like another language.

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 And then other people began to, it seemed to be falling over.

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 I thought, are they fainting? Are they passing out?

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 And afterwards our youth leader explained to us that what we were seeing was the Holy Spirit as people were encountering the presence of God.

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 In a way that I hadn't experienced before.

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 I couldn't understand how people would be just crying, weeping or laughing as they were worshipping God.

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 And the foreign language thing, it was explained to me, these were people speaking in tongues.

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 And people being filled with a Holy Spirit that they weren't fainting, they weren't passing out.

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 But they were being slain to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was at work there.

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 And I remember thinking, this was, before this had been explained, this is a really weird thing that's going on here.

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 What is this?

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 And a slightly older member of the youth group began to put his arms into the air and worship.

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 I think, oh no, what's going on?

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 He then stretched his hand over and placed it on my head.

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 And before I had the opportunity to object, something happened.

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 The only way I can find to describe it is that the most awesome sense of peace and joy came upon me.

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 I began to weep.

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 My hands shook.

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 My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to come out of my chest.

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 And eventually I sat down because I knew that if I didn't, I was going to be blown off my feet.

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 You know, I had had no theological education whatsoever at that point in my life.

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 And I knew very little about the Bible.

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 And yet in the 40 odd years that's passed since that happened to me,

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 every time I look back at it and I try to remind myself of it,

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 I'm convinced and remain to be convinced that what I learnt on that occasion

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 was the most important thing I've ever learnt.

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 that God is not just an idea.

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 God's not just a set of beliefs,

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 a moral code,

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 or spiritual code.

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 And neither is God an impersonal force.

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 God is real.

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 And God can be known.

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 And you can be known that you are known by him

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 in the most profound,

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 real,

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 personal way.

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 And neither is it a memory that is just frozen in history sort of back in the mid 1980s

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 that this happened then, wasn't that wonderful?

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 Oh, I'll just revisit that memory.

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 revisit that memory. No, what happened that evening was something that was brought to birth

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 in me that changed everything. I didn't know then that I was going to be called into ministry.

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 But every time I've gone back, every time I go through a time of prayer, I'm taken back. Well,

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 not just taken back, what happened then was the bringing to birth of something, a dimension that

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 I believe has never left me, that when we pray, we actually connect spiritually with the author of

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 the universe. And no matter how difficult life may be, and no matter how hard the time we might be

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 going through, and no matter how anxious we might be feeling at a given moment, or how much full of

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 fear we may be, or whether we're in a time of joy, or a time of grief, or a time of big decision, or

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 whatever it may be, that connection never goes away. Not if you want that connection.

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 And the other thing that I can't emphasize this strongly enough is that what I have just described

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 is there for anybody and for everybody. It's a universal offer. It's an invitation to a living presence

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 that anyone can have.

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 There's two books I'm going to mention this morning. One is a book that came out this year by somebody

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 called Tyler Statton called The Familiar Stranger. It's a really practical book on the work of the Holy Spirit.

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 And there's just one short quotation I want to read to you. He says this,

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 God doesn't want a team with a few star players. He wants everyone to play.

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 Know this, the Holy Spirit is for you as much as it is for anybody else on this earth.

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 And my guess is, is that if you're thinking about these things, you'll be one of three types of people.

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 First type is you might be thinking, well, I've never really encountered the Holy Spirit.

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 And you might be thinking, and I don't want to.

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 Or you might be thinking, but I'm intrigued and I want to.

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 That's the first type.

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 The second type of person would be the person that would say, you know, I have encountered the Holy Spirit.

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 But for some time, I haven't.

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 And I just wish that I could.

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 The third type of person is, you know, yep, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and I absolutely love it.

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 Whichever of those you are, I would want to say precisely the same thing.

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 Ask God to fill you.

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 And don't stop asking God to fill you.

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 Ask him to go on filling you and refilling you.

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 When Paul talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18, he says,

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 be filled with the Spirit.

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 But we lose the direct force of what he's saying there in our English translations.

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 Because when he says be filled, he's using the present continuous.

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 A more accurate translation would be, be continually filled with the Spirit.

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 Or be being filled with the Spirit.

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 In other words, it's not something that just happens at one moment in time and then that's it.

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 It's a continuous reality.

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 And I would urge every one of us to keep pursuing it.

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 The other book I want to mention to you this morning has been around for a little bit longer.

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 And it was written by somebody called Simon Ponsonby.

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 You may have heard of him.

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 In fact, Simon used to live in these parts of the world a while ago now.

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 Simon actually was a butcher.

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 He used to live in Nailsea.

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 And in fact, those of you who were in Clevedon long enough to remember this,

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 he used to work in the butchers on Hill Road.

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 He was called into ministry.

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 And these days he works for a big church in Oxford called St. Aldate's where he's director of theology.

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 A number of years ago, he wrote a book called More.

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 The message of that book is very profound and very simple at the same time.

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 That wherever you're at in your journey, there's more of God's to be encountered.

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 And he asks the question, the theological question,

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 how can the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God come when we already have him?

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 If the Spirit's already in your life, why pray?

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 Come, Holy Spirit.

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 And he emphasises that to ask for more of God does not undermine the completeness of what Jesus did on the cross.

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 Rather, it's about drawing more deeply from that.

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 He says this,

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 We have everything in Christ.

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 There is no more to be given,

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 but there is more to be taken.

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 He goes on.

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 He writes,

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 While the Holy Spirit is a person in our lives,

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 it is possible to live like strangers in the same house.

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 Has he been with us this long,

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 and still we do not know him?

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 He resides in us, his temple,

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 but we may not always be led by him,

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 listening to him,

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 loving him,

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 or letting him live through us.

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 Instead, we lock him out of places.

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 The Holy Spirit does not want to be a marble statue at the entrance to our souls.

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 He wants to fill every room.

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 Oh, how different our lives would be.

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 How free from anxiety, depression, jealousy, and discontent.

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 How full of joy and praise.

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 How easy to pray.

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 How quick to praise.

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 If only we could grasp what God has done for us,

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 given us,

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 made us in Christ.

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 But we need the Spirit to take the Word of God

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 and break through those years of lies and sin

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 to help us truly know what he has laid up for us

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 in our heavenly chests.

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 See, what this means in practical terms

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 is it's not about asking more from God.

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 It's about asking for more of God.

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 To ask more from God would be to say,

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 well, do this for me, Lord.

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 Do this one other thing.

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 Do these more things for me.

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 Give me this or that.

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 Make that happen.

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 But that's not what we're talking about here.

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 To ask for more of God

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 is about inviting him to enter into our lives more thoroughly,

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 completely, and deeply.

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 Not asking more from God,

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 but asking for more of God.

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 So if you sense,

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 you know, I just wish,

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 I wish I could have

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 the Holy Spirit in my life,

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 or I wish I could have more of the Holy Spirit in my life,

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 I want to say to you right now,

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 that's not a sign

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 that things are problematic for you spiritually.

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 The very opposite.

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 It's a sign of spiritual health

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 when you crave for more of God.

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 Which is better?

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 You go to a really nice place to eat

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 where the food is amazing.

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 Is it better to turn up having already eaten

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 and feeling quite full?

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 Or is it better to pitch up feeling really hungry?

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 In his letter to Philippians,

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 Paul says,

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 I have learned to be content.

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 And what he's talking about there

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 is he's learned to be materially content.

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 And yet in the same letter,

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 in the preceding chapter,

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 he says, I press on towards the goal.

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 In other words, for Paul,

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 he had learned to be materially content.

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 Whatever material circumstances

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 he found himself in,

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 he had learned contentment.

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 But he knew how vital it was

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 never to be spiritually content,

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 but to keep in hot pursuit

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 of more of God's Holy Spirit.

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 And yet in today's Western world,

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 we've become the opposite.

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 We've become spiritually content

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 whilst materially discontent.

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 We'll consciously or subconsciously

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 resign ourselves to that.

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 Well, I've got a faith.

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 That's fine.

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 I do that on Sundays.

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 I might come into church

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 once or twice a month.

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 I made a decision for Jesus

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 at some point.

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 But then we get on

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 with investing our time

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 and our mental energy

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 in the stuff that really matters.

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 Our investments,

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 our possessions,

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 our financial securities.

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 All the while,

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 we lose sight of God's disruptive nature.

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 If we're serious about being filled

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 with God's Holy Spirit,

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 we need, like Paul,

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 to learn to be content materially,

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 but embrace a radical discontent

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 spiritually.

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 We need to become God chasers.

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 And as we do so,

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 we now need to be ready

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 to lay things down

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 and allow ourselves

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 to be vulnerable

00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:00.420
 and to trust.

00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:05.200
 Many years ago,

00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:07.000
 there was a weary traveller

00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:08.980
 making his way through the desert.

00:21:10.139 --> 00:21:11.359
 He was desperately thirsty

00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:12.639
 to the point where he felt

00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.040
 that he was so terribly dehydrated.

00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:18.020
 If he didn't drink water,

00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:20.700
 then he would surely die.

00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:23.460
 In the distance,

00:21:23.580 --> 00:21:26.000
 he spotted a deserted cabin.

00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.140
 It brought hope

00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:30.279
 that maybe there could be water in there.

00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:32.700
 He made his way up to the cabin

00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:35.420
 and to his amazement,

00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:36.460
 when he opened the door,

00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:39.599
 he discovered an old well.

00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:43.660
 He frantically pumped

00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:45.059
 at the handle of that well

00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:47.039
 to draw some water,

00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:49.359
 but the only thing

00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:50.779
 that came out of the pump

00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:51.480
 was dust.

00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:54.740
 Then he noticed

00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:56.660
 a tin can

00:21:56.660 --> 00:21:57.579
 tied to the pump,

00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.039
 and inside the tin can

00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.720
 there was a note.

00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:01.799
 The note said this.

00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:05.019
 Dear stranger,

00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:07.200
 this pump

00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:07.980
 is all right

00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:08.900
 as of June

00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:10.180
 1932.

00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:13.319
 I put a new

00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:14.480
 sucker washer in it,

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:16.720
 and it should last

00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:17.680
 for quite a few years.

00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:20.759
 But the washer

00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:21.759
 dries out,

00:22:22.100 --> 00:22:22.779
 and the pump

00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:24.060
 needs to be primed.

00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:28.000
 Under the white rock,

00:22:28.460 --> 00:22:29.560
 I buried a jar

00:22:29.560 --> 00:22:30.200
 of water

00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:31.180
 out of the sun

00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:32.360
 and corked up.

00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.799
 There's enough water

00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.460
 in it

00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:37.299
 to prime the pump,

00:22:38.299 --> 00:22:39.200
 but not

00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:39.860
 if you drink

00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:40.620
 some first.

00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:43.320
 Pour about

00:22:43.320 --> 00:22:44.560
 a quarter of the water

00:22:44.560 --> 00:22:45.380
 into the pump,

00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:46.299
 and let us soak

00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:46.940
 for a minute

00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:47.799
 to wet

00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:48.759
 the leather washer.

00:22:50.080 --> 00:22:50.980
 Then pour

00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:51.720
 the rest

00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:53.240
 medium fast

00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:53.980
 and pump

00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:54.500
 hard.

00:22:55.860 --> 00:22:56.660
 You will

00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:57.400
 have water.

00:22:58.759 --> 00:22:59.779
 Have faith.

00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:01.920
 This well

00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:02.580
 has never

00:23:02.580 --> 00:23:03.220
 run dry.

00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:06.340
 When you get

00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:07.019
 watered up,

00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:08.799
 fill the bottle

00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.660
 and put it

00:23:09.660 --> 00:23:10.400
 back as you

00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:10.980
 found it

00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:12.500
 for the next

00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:13.240
 stranger

00:23:13.240 --> 00:23:14.640
 who comes

00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:15.120
 this way.

00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:20.339
 it doesn't

00:23:20.339 --> 00:23:21.079
 always feel

00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:21.500
 like it

00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:22.159
 at the time,

00:23:22.719 --> 00:23:22.859
 but

00:23:22.859 --> 00:23:24.359
 thirst

00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:25.299
 is a good

00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:25.639
 thing.

00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:28.979
 We need

00:23:28.979 --> 00:23:30.059
 spiritual thirst.

00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:32.299
 It's healthy.

00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:35.940
 my prayer

00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:38.879
 is that

00:23:38.879 --> 00:23:39.299
 today

00:23:39.299 --> 00:23:41.240
 and indeed

00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:41.639
 in the time

00:23:41.639 --> 00:23:42.059
 to come,

00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:45.240
 we may

00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:45.599
 embrace

00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:46.259
 that thirst

00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.759
 and that

00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:49.099
 we won't

00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:49.700
 just cling

00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:50.339
 to the little

00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:50.639
 that we

00:23:50.639 --> 00:23:50.960
 have,

00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.279
 but be

00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:53.720
 willing to

00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:54.180
 lay all

00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:54.819
 things down

00:23:54.819 --> 00:23:56.919
 in search

00:23:56.919 --> 00:23:57.500
 of that

00:23:57.500 --> 00:23:58.240
 greater thing.

00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:00.379
 He wants

00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:00.760
 to fill

00:24:00.760 --> 00:24:01.020
 you

00:24:01.020 --> 00:24:02.560
 and he

00:24:02.560 --> 00:24:02.960
 wants to

00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:03.400
 go on

00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:03.640
 filling

00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:03.960
 you.

00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.220
 Let's

00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:06.480
 pray.

00:24:14.060 --> 00:24:14.580
 Lord,

00:24:15.060 --> 00:24:16.060
 give us

00:24:16.060 --> 00:24:16.980
 that fresh

00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:17.520
 renewed

00:24:17.520 --> 00:24:18.180
 sense

00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:19.260
 of holy

00:24:19.260 --> 00:24:20.480
 discontent.

00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:24.539
 forgive us

00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:25.120
 for when

00:24:25.120 --> 00:24:26.279
 we are

00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:27.940
 spiritually

00:24:27.940 --> 00:24:28.920
 content

00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:29.599
 but

00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.640
 materially

00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.200
 discontent.

00:24:34.360 --> 00:24:35.000
 Lord,

00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:35.599
 help us

00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:36.240
 to learn

00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:36.680
 to be

00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:36.980
 content

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:37.640
 like Paul

00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:38.460
 and help

00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:38.900
 us to be

00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:39.440
 spiritually

00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:40.000
 restless,

00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:42.519
 determined

00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:45.099
 to encounter

00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:45.839
 more of you

00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:46.279
 in ever

00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:47.099
 greater depths.

00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:51.039
 Lord,

00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:51.559
 this day

00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:52.299
 we ask

00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:53.139
 not for

00:24:53.139 --> 00:24:53.579
 more

00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:54.539
 from you

00:24:54.539 --> 00:24:57.039
 but more

00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:57.919
 of you.

00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:02.039
 Holy

00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:02.740
 Spirit,

00:25:04.199 --> 00:25:04.859
 fill us

00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:05.500
 afresh

00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:07.119
 as we

00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:07.699
 continue

00:25:07.699 --> 00:25:08.219
 in our

00:25:08.219 --> 00:25:08.599
 worship

00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:09.039
 of you

00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:09.419
 now,

00:25:10.879 --> 00:25:11.480
 as we

00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:11.879
 share

00:25:11.879 --> 00:25:12.359
 together

00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:13.119
 in communion

00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:15.319
 and in

00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:15.740
 this time

00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:16.240
 to come.

00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:19.099
 in Jesus'

00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:19.539
 name.

00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:21.259
 Amen.

00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:21.439
 Amen.