Pastor Brian – Welcome
1. We welcome You Holy Spirit in this place today. We are indeed in Your presence. We love and honor and worship You in this place. In Jesus’ name. You can be seated, for just a moment. We do want to welcome you. This is for our purposes today, the house of the Lord. Although, we recognize that it’s just a building, and we do recognize that the Holy Spirit lives in each one of us. We also recognize that when we come together in a place, that there is something that takes place, that it’s not just about us and Jesus, but it’s about all of us with Jesus, and there is a spiritual power in that. There is something significant when the people of God gather together.
2. And when we live in a place where we can exercise that freely, because we recognize that that’s not true everywhere in the world. But when we can be together as God’s people freely, there’s a blessing from God from that. And later today we’ll be taking communion together, that’s always a reminder, that we are not in this alone. I say this sometimes, and people may wonder, but your salvation is not just for you. But your salvation is into a body; we are the body of Christ.
3. You can be a part of whatever you want to in the world, but you will never find anything more significant than to be added to the body of Christ. And I don’t know how that affects your heart, your spirit, but I tell you what it does to mine; it gives me thanksgiving. It gives me gratitude, that I have the Lord with me, and I have the body of the Lord with me – that’s a precious thing. And I hope that that will rest on us today. It’s a precious, precious thing, that we can gather in the name of Jesus. And I hope that all of God’s people would say Amen.
4. Because those are words; that’s reality. So, have thanks in your heart today. Give praise to the Lord today. Rejoice in the Spirit of God today. Because He is with us. He is in us. And He is upon us. We’ll talk about that later today too. But think of these words. He is with us, He is in us, and He is upon us. We are surrounded with the presence of Jesus. Amen and Amen.
5. Well, I’m going to make you stand back up again. Lord, we do just welcome You again, Lord, as we gather in here together, we can talk about who we are as the body of Christ, But Lord, only You can make that real in our spirits. So, Lord, I’m praying that today, like that day on Pentecost 2000 years ago, Lord, that we could gather into one mind and one spirit. Lord, let the things of this past week go out of our minds; Lord, let the concerns of today go out of our minds. Lord, for these next few moments, because Lord, in the schedule of things, it’s only a few moments. Lord, I pray that as a people You would help us to be focused on You. Lord, we are not here this morning to be the Glyfada Christian Center, Lord, we’re here to be the people of God, gathered in worship; gathered to hear Your Word, and it is all about You.
6. We started out the service with a song, which said, ‘Welcome Holy Spirit, we are in Your presence, fill us with Your power and live inside of us.’ If you know Jesus today, the Holy Spirit lives in you. And this is different, He lives in you, and He is alive in you. And so often, we bottle up our spirituality inside of ourselves, and I’m not talking about personalities; some of us are quiet, some of us are loud, some of us speak freely, some of us are a little more private. All of those things are OK. It’s how God made you; there’s no problem in that. But sometimes, you need the Spirit that is alive in you, to just be a little bit expressive.
7. Here’s something that a lot of Christians don’t seem to believe – the devil and his demons cannot read your mind. They are not all knowing, they don’t know what you’re thinking, they know how you act, and they know how you speak. They know how you behave and they know how you speak, because they hear it. But they don’t read your mind. And a lot of us are sitting in our mind and going, ‘Help me, Lord, help me, Lord; get away from me devil, get away from me devil’. When in fact you need to get vocal. And you need to say, ‘Devil, get out of my life, get out of my family, get out of my circumstance. I’m not trying to think you away, I’m telling you, Get out, because that’s the authority that I have in Jesus. Because, devil, His name is the highest, His name is the greatest, His name stands above them all, including you. So, get out.’
8. I feel that’s a real Word this morning. Stop trying to think the devil away. I’m not telling you, that you have to shout it out in the church, I’m not telling you at what level you have to do anything at, but I am telling you, the Spirit of God withing you, the Spirit of God withing you, will speak through you, and the authority that is in that, is something, you can never experience on your own. So, we should rejoice in this, this morning. That His name is the highest, His name is the greatest, it stands above them all.
Leto – Announcements
A few announcements to keep you informed… For the rest of the announcement please follow the video.
Pastor Brian – Main message
1. All right, I’m going to do this quickly, because I have your time this morning. But we’re talking about the Holy Spirit, and we’re talking about being gifted And I just feel like sometimes it is more important to celebrate the gifts than to actuality talk about them. We just don’t have the time to talk about what God is doing through all of you. But He is and we see it, and we hear it. God is touching families, He’s touching neighborhoods; He’s touching businesses, He’s touching churches; He’s touching Greece through you. Because of you and that’s important.
2. Most of the times, it’s more important to recognize that than to talk about what God did through Joshua, thousands of years ago. So, this is my Brian thing now. Everybody needs to put your hand on yourself, come on I need to see everybody put your hand on yourself, and say, ‘I am gifted. I am gifted by God, and I am gifted by God for a purpose.’ Amen.
3. So, we’re talking about Joshua, really quickly, this morning. The story of Joshua, he’s the successor to Moses, and he guides Israel into the Promised Land. The important point is that he does it, with courage, with obedience to the Lord, and because he is divinely empowered.
4. Now, the Old Testament doesn’t frequently say this, including Joshua, bit we find out in Numbers 27:15-18, that the Lord calls him, ‘Filled with the Spirit.’ “Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So, the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.”
5. The point of this today, is that Joshua stands as a prime example of how God empowers His chosen servants through His Spirit, to accomplish His divine purpose. So, Joshua in this story, emerges as being anointed by the Holy Spirit. God tells Moses to recognize the anointing that is on him.
6. So, we find Joshua’s ability to lead, was not just based on his human skill; it wasn’t based just on his courage, it wasn’t based on his intelligence. But it was based on the presence of God being in him. From that point forward, we see the work of the Spirit, giving Joshua wisdom, discernment, boldness to step into the things he had to do after Moses. And you have to think what it was like to follow Moses. I think that’s why the first words to Joshua, after God took Moses away, God says, “Joshua, my servant Moses is dead.” (Joshua 1:1-3) Why did He have to emphasize that? Because Joshua had to follow Moses!
7. Anybody who has taken anything over from a great leader, knows what this like. So, Joshua had to be empowered to lead with a Spirit-led confidence. Consider the things that he had to do in front of him.
8. The first thing he had to do was to lead a people across a river that was flooded. And it wasn’t like Moses, who just took a rod and struck it on water and it parted. God did not give that benefit to Joshua. He had to move without seeing the miracle first.
9. And then he had to face the most powerful city in the land. It was a military campaign with people who had never fought and didn’t know how to fight. But God put Joshua on a mission, and he needed more than strategy, more than strength, he needed the divine guidance of God, and a spiritual power, that he did not know himself. So, God enabled him to do the impossible, because he was equipped with faith, a confidence that wasn’t natural. Time and again, Joshua shows remarkable confidence, that God will do what He says. Because it’s the fruit of the Spirit working in him.
10. The more you are in communication, in tune with the Holy Spirit, the more that fruit operates in you. To know what God is saying, to know what He is doing, and then to have confidence to walk right into that. If you read Joshua 1, God constantly tells Joshua, “Be strong, and be courageous.” “Hey Joshua, be strong and very courageous!” But it was not a strength that he was to generate within himself. It flowed from the connection to the Spirit’s power., which enabled him to act and trust on God’s Word.
11. There will be times when God inspires you to do what you know you can’t do. In fact, one man said, ‘If it’s a dream you can accomplish, then it’s not a God dream.’ Do you hear that? Because God empowers us to go beyond ourselves. But Joshua not only had Spirit-led confidence, but He also gave Joshua a Spirit-led reverence.
12. I want us to hear this today. I think we all honor God, we all love God, that’s all fine and good. But there is a manner in which the Holy Spirit comes and inspires something different. In our humanity, because we know what God has done for us, we can inherently have a level of appreciation of reverence. But have you ever been in those times, when the Spirit of God entered a space, and it was just different. Where the reverence of God, just weighs.
13. Those are important things; those are Spirit given. You don’t generate that in yourself. If it’s real, you cannot generate that yourself. But God will move in and do. This sensitivity to God’s presence, is an attribute that is nurtured by the Holy Spirit. It marked Joshua’s leadership from beginning to end., and it has to be a part of our experience. You cannot live only in the human experience of relationship with God. Because you can’t understand it.
14. The Bible talks about it even in terms of prayer. It says that when you don’t know what to pray, the Spirit prays for you. (Romans 8:26-27). When you don’t know how to have the proper amount of gratitude, the Spirit knows. When you don’t know how to show that proper amount of mercy, the Spirit does. These things have to be nurtured in us by the Holy Spirit.
15. That’s why even after many victories, Joshua and Israel had many victories, but if you read through the story, Joshua constantly calls the people back to their covenant relationship with God.
16. We always talk about turning to God in repentance, and that’s wonderful, but we rarely tala about turning to God in our victories. Things are good for you, wonderful. Go to your knees and thank God. And then remind yourself in front of God, this is not about my victory; this is about my relationship with You. We’re all about God down here (low down), but we barely need God up here (high up above our heads). And I will tell you, that is a sinful attitude. It misses the mark of righteousness.
17. So, I’m going to finish with this and we’re going to take communion. Joshua’s life reveals that true success comes not from human achievement, not from human might, not human accomplishment, but from surrender to the guidance of the Spirit. Trusting in God’s power, not the power of my investor, not the power of my supporter, not the power of my buyer, not the power of my neighbor, not the power of my contacts, but true achievement comes from trusting in God’s power and obeying His voice.
18. There have been achievements in my life, that I have been proud of; no problem, if you do well, take pride in it. But there are times when I have taken a lot of pride in myself, in the achievement, and have thought very little about saying, ‘But for God, this couldn’t be.’ I’m confessing, I am guilty. I’ve also learned this, you can achieve in the natural. In this world, you don’t necessarily need God to be successful, because in an evil world, even evil succeeds.
19. So, I have a lot of people who have said, ‘Yeah, but I have achieved much. I didn’t need God for that.’ In the natural, you’re right. But the fruit of that is going to show itself. Somewhere along the way, every bit of that accomplishment will burn to the ground. And maybe it won’t be until the reign of Jesus Christ. I don’t know. But somewhere along the way, you will learn, you WILL learn, only what you do for Christ will last. It may show up in your family, it may show up in your job history, it may show up in health of other circumstance, and might only be the Lord saying, ‘You didn’t do that for me.’ But somewhere along the way, only righteousness wins.
20. There is so much success ready to be unleashed out of this room. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you can accomplish things you never dreamed of. But I feel so deeply in my spirit, that we have to deeply regain this, surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Trust in God’s power.
21. When you hear it, obey it, and see what God will do. I wanted to finish with the communion for this reason. Communion is about us together. It’s about you and the Lord, and it’s about you and the Lord, with me. George, you got to love me whether you want to or not, sorry. It’s the communion; it’s the giving of thanks.
22. And here’s why I wanted to do this after talking about Joshua. I already mentioned that Joshua had to follow Moses. Good graciousness, what a calling! This was a man that God spoke to, face-to-face. This is a man who went into a tent and people watched the glory of God just cover the place. A man who went to a pharaoh, and said, ‘Let my people go.’ And then after miracles, took those people out of the nation. Miraculously crossed a sea, found a way to feed them manna from heaven, and water from a rock.
23. The people of Israel had never known anything but miracles under the leadership of Moses. Just think, if we came in here every Sunday, and I just performed a miracle for you every week. Every time, no fail; every time there would be a miracle. There would be no seats in this place, people would be fired up waiting to see what’s going to happen. We couldn’t control ourselves, if we saw a miracle every day. That was the leadership of Moses. But read the story. This was story of the leadership of Moses. God spoke to a man. The man dead. And great things were accomplished.
24. And then, at the end, God has to actually tell that same man, ‘Because you thought that this was all about you, you don’t get to go the Promised Land. You made everything come this far, but when I gave you that last command, you disobeyed. Because you got it into your mind, that it was about you.’ So, He takes him up on a mountain, and says, ‘Moses, look at everything you can see’. In fact, I think God gave him supernatural vision, to see further, because the Bible says, He saw from here to there, and you cannot do that physically.
25. So, God opens up his eyes to this massive vision, and He says, ‘Moses, there’s the promise. Thank you for coming this far, but you can’t go. Give Me Joshua.’ So, Moses anoints Joshua, and he is taken by God. And God says to Joshua, ‘Moses, My servant is dead. Now lead these people and take them where they need to go. Re-circumcise all the men. Get back into your relationship as a people. Because, Joshua, this is not about you. This is about Me. In fact, you’re not even going to be the first one into the water when the Jordan splits. Send the worshippers. Get them into the water. Get the ark which represents My presence, get it into the water. And then you’ll come, and then you’ll lead, but you’ll lead from within.
26. Then he has the encounter with the angel. Remember first thing. Joshua is on the other side, oh miracle they cross the Jordan. And he meets the angel of the Lord. And Joshua is the leader. So, he has a question, ‘Are you on our side or their side?’ And the angel says, ‘No, neither. But I am here as the captain of the Lord’s host.’ To me that was the angel saying, ‘Come to our side. We are many. Many Israelites, many of the host of heaven. Come to our side.’
27. And that’s what we’re today with the communion. We’re not asking the Lord to be on our side. Nor are we just in some mournful way saying, ‘Oh God we come to You.’ In fact, that’s why it’s called the ‘Eucharist’, the ‘Ευχαριστία’. Yeah, sometimes I cry because of the salvation He has given me.
28. Sometimes, I take the communion and I think, ‘God, I can’t believe You’re forgiving me again. But I take Your Body and Your Blood. But most of the time, I just think, ‘Yes! I’m on the side of the Lord. And I’m on the side of His people. I’m on the side of what He’s doing. I have faith for who He is. I have a vision for what He has said, and thank God He is in me. He is with me. He is for me. How awesome is that.’ Because that’s what it is. Just like Joshua.
29. So, I want to say to you today, ‘Everything that’s gone before you, good and bad, this moment, it is dead, and life is in Jesus. His Spirit is in you, His Spirit is with you, His Spirit is upon you, to be the people of God.’
30. Come on, give God a little praise for that. It’s wonderful news, that is wonderful news. Thank You Jesus. So, Lord, as we remember, we were told to remember, that when we take this bread, we take Your Body, that is broken for us, and Lord, with joy in our hearts, we say thank You. Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You Lord, for Your goodness, and thank You for the power we have in You.
31. And then Lord, as we take the wine, we say thank You for Your Blood. Thank You that You have healed us, physically, emotionally, spiritually. Thank You that You have saved us, that we will live with You in eternity. Thank You that You have empowered us, that in the way You flow over us, we can flow over other people, with the goodness of the heart of God. You are so good. You’re just so good, Lord, and we thank You for the empowering relationship that we have with You, that we are gifted, by the Holy Spirit for Your purposes. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
32. Taking the Body of Christ, give thanks, and eat. Take the blood, into yourself, the salvation of the Lord.