The Holy Spirit

Dr. Ed Newton @ Community Bible Church

"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.  You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.  Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! "If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:12-17 NLT

I often wonder if religion is the enemy of God. It's almost like religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building. God's Spirit moves through us and the world at a pace that can never be constricted by any one religious paradigm.

-Bono

We all see problems in the church. We don't need another book to point those out. We need the faith to believe that the solution is really quite simple: The Holy Spirit.

-Francis Chan

Foundation Principle #1:  The Holy Spirit is a Person

• He is to be Revered as God
• His Parallel in Equality: The Holy Spirit is listed as the third person of the Trinity not because of order of importance, but in role and relationship.
• Elohim (God spoken of in the plural from the beginning)
• Verses
• Hebrews 9:14 (Eternal)
• Psalm 139:7-10 (Omnipresent)
• 1 Cor. 2:10-11 (Omniscient)
• Rom. 1:4 (Holy)
• Breath of God throughout scripture.
• http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Breath-Of-God
• His Partnership in Creating:
• The Trinity of God is simply the Father designing, the Son decreeing, The Holy Spirit deploying. 
• Verses
• Gen. 1:2
• Gen. 1:27
• Luke 1:35-37
• 2 Tim. 3:16
• Rom. 8:11
• His Picture in Enabling: The Holy Spirit is often best explained through imagery in order to give insight within complexity. 
• Verses
• Matthew 3:16 (Dove)
• Acts 2:3 (Fire)
• Hebrews 1:9 (Oil)
• John 3:5 (Water)
• John 3:8 (Wind) 
• Pentecost ● Passover ● Promise
• I'm a guiding compass flying for all to see. I'm a burning bush. I'm an overflow of His living water.
• His Personality in Equipping:  The Holy Spirit activates the power of God and the finished work of Christ in the life of the believer. 
• Verses
• 2 Chronicles 24:20
• Num. 11:25
• Titus 3:5
• Phil. 1:6, 2:13
• Alka seltzer Illustration
• PRAISE AND WORSHIP
• "Joyful (The One Who Saves)" by Benton Brown
• "One True God" by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Steven Curtis Chapman
• "Thank You For Loving Me" by Tommy Walker
• "I Will Not Be Shaken" by Jacob Park and Tommy Walker
• "Speak To Me" by Tommy Walker

The Talk of All Talks: Sex 🐦🐝🌺🍯

1. God's Design.
1. Procreation
1. Genesis 2:24 NLT
1. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
1. Leave Cleave Weave
2. Pleasure
1. Song of Songs 7:1-3 NLT
1. How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O queenly maiden. Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a skilled craftsman. Your navel is perfectly formed like a goblet filled with mixed wine. Between your thighs lies a mound of wheat bordered with lilies. Your breasts are like two fawns, twin fawns of a gazelle.
1. Your body is a wonderland
3. Protection
1. 1 Corinthians 7:5 NLT
1. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
2. Man's Distortion
1. Love is supposed to go
1. Companionship>>>Commitment>>>Communion
2. Society reverses God’s design
1. Sex and/or commitment are often put in priority over companionship
2. Details
1. Rayah: Companionship
1. Song of Songs 4:7 NLT 
2. You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.
2. Ahava: Commitment 
1. Song of Songs 8:7 NLT
1. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned.
3. Dod: Communion 
1. Song of Songs 1:2 NLT
1. Kiss me and kiss me again, for your love is sweeter than wine.

1. LIES
1. We love each other.
1. Be forward thinking not to take something that isn't yours.
2. 1 Thessalonians 4:6
1. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife,[a] for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.
2. Sex is just physical. (NO IT ISN'T)
1. “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.” 1 Corinthians 6:15-17
2. Rape or molestation
1. Common emotional and psychological effects of rape include: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – feelings of severe anxiety and stress, Depression, Flashbacks – memories of rape as if it is taking place again, Borderline personality disorder, Sleep disorders, Eating disorders, Dissociative identity disorder, Guilt.
3. Adultery
1. In sex you give something away.
2. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.” Proverbs 5:18-19
3. Monogamy is physical and mental
1. But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28
3. Everyone is doing it. (NO THEY ARE NOT)
4. I'm not hurting anyone. (It eventuality will)
1. Pornography
2. You Can’t Get Aroused by “Just” Your Spouse, you get lazy, wrecks libido, causes selfishness, makes sex sem like too much work, restricts your view of what attractive is, causes your spouse to feel shame
3. Job 31:1
1. I made a covenant with my eyes    not to look with lust at a young woman.
4. 2 Corinthians 10:5
1. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
2. Church's Desire
1. The Word
1. Bible Lists 8 Sexual Sins
1. Fornication, Adultery, Homosexually, Beastiality, Rape, Lust, Prostitution, Incest
2. Romans 1:26 NLT
1. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
2. Historically
1. The Church Dealt with Sexual Sun: Alienation, Assimilation, Avoidance
1. Alienation
1. In the past the church would disassociate itself from people living in blatant sexual sin. This is not right.
1. Mark 12:30-31
1. …you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength…Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these
1. I don't get to pick my neighbor.
2. You don't get to pick who you love.
2. Assimilation
1.  In order to win the world you don't have to be like the world. 
2. Revelation 2:20-21 NLT
1. "But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.  I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
3. Avoidance
2. The Church should go for ASSURANCE
1. We are for EVERYONE.
1. God doesn't condemn and neither should we.
2. BIBLE is in our name
1. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
1. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2. Government doesn’t get to define marriage because it didn't design it
3. You don't have to agree with us to be with us. You don't have to believe to belong.
1. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 NLT
1. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
4. We might disagree, but that does not mean we are disloyal.
1. We will spend  the majority of our time talking about what we are for versus what we are against
3. Perfect People Don’t Go to Heaven; Saved People Go to Heaven
1. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT
1. Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
   

The Bow & Arrow

Pastor Ed @ CBC

🏹The Bow & Arrow

Ephesians 6:1-4

Notice Four Principles that set the trajectory in Parenting: 

1. The Mandate for Obedience: (Eph. 6:1-2)
A) Action-"Obey" (1)
B) Attitude-"Honor" (2)
• Delayed obedience is disobedience.
• Attitude is everything.

2. The Means of Outpouring (Eph. 6:3)
A) Perspective-"go well with you..."
B) Possession- "live long in the land"
• Obedience = Blessing
• If you can't live up to physical visible responsibility, then gow can you live up to the spiritual invisible responsibility of God?

3. The Metric in Oversight (Eph. 6:4a)
• Provoke: Irritate, agitate, aggrivate
• Provocation fosters prolonged adolescence.

4. The Missional Opportunity (Eph. 6:4b)
A) Duty (physical/Emotional):  "bring them up"-To nourish them to maturity. 
B) Discipline (Emotional/Social)-To train in accordance of conduct and behavior
C) Direction (Spiritual)- "to impart understanding, to have a corrective influence on someone"
• Rules Without Relationship = Rebellion
• Be the first person to admit the mistake.

Psalm 127:3-4: Like the Arrows in the hand of a Warrior are the children of one's youth, blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

The Tool of Discipline:

B:  Be Consistent

O:  Own your Mistakes

W: Words of Affirmation
🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹

The Training of Discipleship

A: Acceptance comes from God

R: Reject Apathy (model godliness)

R: Resist Temptation

O: Obedient to the Word

W: Worship is Life

The Target of Direction:

The TARGET is TO the World, not FROM the World.
It's not your job to make Godly children but it is the parent's job to make sure their children have Godly parents.

"You Are Good" by Brian Johnson and Jeremy Riddle

"Sing To The King" by Billy Foote and Charles Silvester Horne

"We Will See" by Phil Vega

"Praise The King" by Corey Voss, Dustin Smith, Michael Bryce Jr., and Michael Farren

"O Come To The Altar" by Christopher Brown, Mack Brock, Steven Furtick, and Wade Joye

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Not Another Day

Ed Newton @ Community Bible Church

Pastor Ed was in Alaska and invited to go on a 30 mile four-wheeler ride to a glacier and got into an accident because he got loose. He didn't have to pay for the damage that he caused. The owner of the 4-wheeler told him that he was forgive and a weight was lifted off of his shoulders because 4-wheelers are very expensive!!!

Forgiveness is choosing not to live in regret.

Genesis 45:1-5

1. The Reunion of Jeopardy:   "I am Joseph" (Genesis 45:1-3)
1. Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, "Out, all of you!" So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace. "I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.
1. The reunion was for Joseph's brothers, not for Joseph. Joseph had been egyptianized so the brothers didn't recognize him.
2. Joseph Wept:  This (v. 2) was the third of five times he wept over his brothers (42:24; 43:30; 45:14; 50:17; cf. 50:1).
3. Brothers Worry:  (bahal) be disturbed, alarmed, terrified.
2. Forgiving is Not Forgetting:
1. The only person who can forgive AND forget is God.
2. High School Student’s Experience
1. Mom and dad were getting a divorce because mom had been unfaithful. Mom living with boyfriend and dad is depressed. Student invited boyfriend to McDonald's and bought him dinner. Told him that her family's life will never be the same but she's not going to live in anger, bitterness, and rage so she relinquished the vengeance that she wanted.
3. Reconciliation is the goal
1. Take the initiative to eliminate the distance.  The command "come near" (nagaš) is plural indicates all the brothers are intended.
4. Revenge brings grief
1. The word "please" was a refusal to not be harsh.  
3. Forgiving is not overlooking the circumstances
1. actions have consequences.
2. The Request of a Juncture:  "Come near" (Genesis 45:4)
4. Forgiving is Not Settling:
1. Forgiveness is 1 dimensional and reconciliation is 2 dimensional.
2. Johnny and Jenny
1. Johnny Johnny  killed a duck with his slingshot and Jenny saw him! She said to him,  "I will remember the duck.”
2. Jenny used the duck to manipulate her brother into doing her chores.
3. Finally, Johnny couldn’t carry the weight and confessed what he’d done to his Grandma.
4. Grandma actually saw the entire incident.
1. Grandma is God and Jenny is the guilt that you carry
3. The Reassurance of Joy: "Do not be distressed or angry" (Genesis 45:5)
1. But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
2. Happiness vs. Joy
1. Happiness is based on circumstances.
2. Joy is based on a concrete reality of something that never changes. 
1. We have to walk through difficulty and get healing from Jesus to have joy.
4. Forgiving is Giving:
1. Thomas Edison: Worked hours to create the first light bulb and his assistant accidentally dropped it. So they worked hours to create another lightbulb and Edison gave him another chance to carry the lightbulb to the test lab.
3.  
5. The Reason of Justice: "Preserve a life" (Genesis 45:5-7)
1. But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
2. Robert Smith's son was murdered. He wrote the murderer a letter. The murders had received a lot of threat mail from family members so he was hesitant to reply to Robert.
1. God could have stopped your pain!  
2. God will never waste your pain, but will use it for a purpose bigger than you. 
6. Forgiving is trusting: 
1. The Release of : "Meant for Evil, God used for Good" (Genesis 50:15-21)
1. Forgiveness is Freedom from Fear. 
2. It was not Joseph living in fear, but his brothers.  
3. "For the wicked flee when no one pursues" (Proverbs 28:1)
7. Forgiving is Comforting:
1. Tractor Pull Analogy
2. Practical steps in offering forgiveness
1. Step One: Forgiving the Offender in Prayer
2. Step Two: Forgiving the Offender in Person

Praise & Worship

"Deep Cries Out" by Amanda Gilbertson, Christiann Koepke, and 

William Matthews

"Nothing But The Blood" by Robert Lowry

"Always" by Jason Ingram and Kristian Stanfill

"Jesus Messiah" by Daniel Carson, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves, and Chris Tomlin

The church provided this “listener’s guide” for us to follow along with the message and take notes

The Examination of Elevation

Listener Guide provided by Pastor Ed

The Examination of Elevation

• When we rise up,  will we forget where we came from?
• Don't let your platform influence you, but instead use your platform to influence others.

1. Genesis 41
2. Proverbs 27:21
1. The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.
2. Reminder:  Waiting Warns, Silence Shapes, Pain Prunes, but Prosperity has the ability to Poison.
3. The Tale of Three Coats:
1. Son: Father's Coat.
2. Servant­­­: Potiphar's Coat. Genesis 39
3. Savior: Pharaoh's Coat.
1. He's no longer defined by status.
3. Sermon Principles:  The "Examination of Elevation" will occur when you receive a...
1. Praised Ability:  Genesis 41:15-"I have heard it said of you"
1. Response:  "without God this is not possible" (16)
2. Reveals: "doubling of Pharaoh's dream means the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about" (32)
3. Releases:  "select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. (33)
1. Pride will make you hold on to and pay for things that you really don’t need in your life.
1. Pastor finds a track jacket at a thrift store. His daughters told him he looked good in it so he decided to buy it. The zipper broke so he decided to buy the jacket  go home, and cut it off. He had too much pride to ask the customer service for help but someone noticed that he was stuck.
4. Provided Authority: Genesis 41:41-43-"thus he (Pharaoh) set him over the land of Egypt."
1. Ring: Resources
2. Robe:  Ruler
3. Necklace:  Rank
4. You get your platform to make a name for God.
1. Pastor showed up for a funeral and it was cold outside.  Pastor Ed "finds" coat on coat rack in greenroom. He puts it on thinking it's a gift from God. He realized at the end of the day that the coat belonged to an elderly funeral worker. He approached the man and admitted his wrong but the old man said, "Today you needed it a whole lot more than I did."
5. Posses Autonomy: Genesis 41:44 - "without your consent no one shall lift up a hand or foot in all of the land of Egypt."
1. You have freedom to do whatever you want to do.  How do you respond?
1. This freedom means that you can be trusted.
6. Core Values of a Leader that Excel within Elevation: Genesis 41:46-49
1. Honor:  Give value to all people.
2. Humble:  Steward of Gifts not an owner.
1. Flight attendant asks Muhammed Ali to fasten his seatbelt. Superman don't need no seatbelt. Superman don't need no plane either.
2. If we don't humble ourselves, God will humble us.
1. Matthew 23:12
1. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
3. Hustle:  Takes Initiative, makes things better.
1. Hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle.
4. Hungry: Passionate to Succeed
5. Hospitality:  Servitude

• Final Thought: How do we know whether Joseph passed the "Examination of Elevation”?
• Genesis 41:51:  "God has made me forget all my hardship and my father's house"
• Note: Joseph's Children's names are in Hebrew, which is a bold statement to the Pharaoh of the land. 
• Manasseh: To Forget
• Ephraim:  Doubly fruitful
• He did not give his children Egyptians names because he never forgot where he came from.
• I'm not the victim, I'm the victor.
• At times people will fail you,  but Jesus never will.
• Pastor Ed signed up for a marathon. He saw 2 college students and he was determined to win. What he didn't know was those college students weren't even running in the marathon. He thought he was first, but he was last. The young man he was following was not chasing the same goal as he was. In following the wrong person, he got off track
• Sometimes we look to the wrong people for example.

Praise & Worship

This Is Amazing Grace" by Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle, & Phil Wickham

"O The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus" by Samuel Trevor Francis And Thomas J. Williams

"Flawless" by Barry Graul, Bart Millard, Ben Glover, David Garcia, Mike Scheuchzer, Nathan Cochran, Robby Shaffer

"Love Came Down" by Jeremy Edwardson, Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh, and Jeremy Riddle