The Kindness Project

0:00 So we've celebrated Easter, and then what we've discovered as well is that Jesus was on planet Earth for 40 days after he rose, before he ascended into heaven.

0:09 And the question that we posed to ourselves at Sisterhood this week was what on Earth happened in those 40 days?

0:17 Something dramatic, something powerful happened in those 40 days.

0:21 And the reason we know that is because the disciples who had previously run away, betrayed and denied Christ, who were full of fear and disappointment, suddenly after Jesus ascended into heaven, they actually turned the world upside down to put it the right way up.

0:41 So what on Earth happened?

0:43 What we do know is that they spent those 40 days with Jesus speaking to them and revealing truth to them, revealing the truth of the kingdom of God, not what they would have thought, which would be a political battle that would have been won, or a political thing where the Jewish people would then be released from the oppression of the Romans.

1:03 But no, they've realized as Jesus expounded the word to them that it wasn't just a political freedom, it was actually spiritual freedom, and not just for the Jewish people, but for all of humanity, all of mankind.

1:15 Amen?

1:16 And we can see this in verse 3 of Acts 1.

1:19 I would really encourage all of you to read Acts.

1:22 Get a hold of the book of Acts right now, because really that's the birth of the church.

1:27 That's where it started, okay?

1:28 So let's really get a passion and a hunger to see these scriptures with new eyes.

1:36 Verse 3 in Acts 1 says, To these he also showed himself, meaning to the disciples and the followers, that he showed himself alive after his suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross, by a series of many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations.

1:55 Like this is like, you can take this to the bank.

1:58 It's basically what the Amplified Version is saying.

2:01 It was many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, and he appeared to them over a period of 40 days, and talking to them about the things concerning the Kingdom of God.

2:16 So I know, I am sure, because when you read what happened, it has to have something to do with the Holy Spirit.

2:24 Because oftentimes we sing about God the Father and God the Son, but there is God the Spirit.

2:30 We sing that song, I believe in God the Father, I believe in Christ the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit.

2:35 Our God is three in one.

2:38 And something happened, and I believe that amongst many other things, the disciples got a revelation of the Spirit of God.

2:45 They got a revelation that is like it says in Romans 8, that the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead was dwelling in them.

2:55 I believe they got a revelation of this, because what else would cause them to turn around such a transformation, where they were even willing to be martyred?

3:04 You know, out of all the disciples, there's only one of them that had a natural death, and that was John.

3:09 The rest of them were martyred.

3:11 So 40 days before they are running for their lives, they are betraying Christ, they are denying him, now they're even willing to die for him.

3:20 They're even willing to die for him.

3:22 You know, in actual fact, it's documents say that with Peter, he was crucified, Peter himself, but not even upright, he was crucified upside down.

3:34 Some of them it says that they were skinned alive and then beheaded.

3:38 I know, what made a change?

3:41 Now thank God that is not our story today.

3:43 We're not living in a country where we cannot come to church and celebrate our risen Lord.

3:47 But people do live in those kind of countries right now.

3:51 But we are living in a land where we are free to come and celebrate and come in this nice hut and enjoy the warmth of this room.

3:59 So I want to share some thoughts today on the Holy Spirit.

4:03 So Romans 8 in the New Living Translation, verse 1.

4:07 It says, so there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

4:14 I love how it starts with no condemnation.

4:17 Those disciples could have been so condemned for what they hadn't done and what they had done.

4:23 We could be so condemned for what we haven't done and what we have done.

4:27 But Christ is saying there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

4:33 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you because we belong to him.

4:43 It's freed us from the power of sin that leads to death.

4:48 Verse 3 says, the law of Moses, you know, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not.

4:54 The law of Moses was unable to save us.

4:57 In actual fact, the Ten Commandments highlight our need for God even more.

5:02 It highlights our need for grace even more because law cannot save us.

5:07 Firstly, the law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.

5:13 So God did what the law could not do.

5:17 He sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.

5:23 And in that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins.

5:34 He did this so that the just requirement of the law because where there is a law, when you break it, there's a penalty.

5:40 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit.

5:53 How amazing is just that?

5:55 And in between those scriptures, the Bible goes on to say and show us what happens when we live in our own natural sinful way, which in some translations is described as the flesh.

6:08 And all the flesh, if you read that in your Bible, that live by the flesh, all that means is people living without the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.

6:16 That's all it means.

6:17 It doesn't mean this, you know.

6:19 It means people living without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.

6:24 So it goes on to tell us that there's a difference between living with the spirit and living without the spirit.

6:31 Living without the spirit leads to death.

6:34 Living with the spirit will lead to life.

6:37 So we're going to pick it back up in verse nine where it says, but you are not controlled by your sinful nature, life without the Holy Spirit.

6:47 You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.

6:53 And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.

6:59 I think that it's very clear.

7:01 This Bible is very clear.

7:03 Sometimes it can seem like it is so exclusive.

7:06 And you know what?

7:06 In a way, it is.

7:08 It is exclusive because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

7:12 No one comes to the Father except through me.

7:15 So it is exclusive in that it is Jesus and Jesus alone.

7:19 However, it is inclusive because it's for all the world, all the world.

7:25 So here we are saying it's very clear.

7:27 If we don't have the Spirit of God in us, we don't belong to Christ.

7:31 Verse 10, and Christ lives within you.

7:34 So even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you are made right with God.

7:44 That's where we get righteousness from.

7:47 We have been made right with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

7:52 Amen.

7:52 And then this scripture, this scripture, verse 11, Romans 8, verse 11, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

8:05 And lives in you and lives in you and me, all of us who have made Jesus Christ our Lord.

8:11 This is incredible.

8:12 The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

8:16 He was in the belly, the depths of hell.

8:20 He had been separated from God because he had taken on the sin of the world.

8:24 And then God from heaven declares and raises him up from the dead.

8:29 And he says, my begotten son, the first begotten son.

8:33 Why was he the first?

8:34 He was the first because he was the first born again.

8:37 He was the first one to have his Spirit reconnected with God after having been separated.

8:43 And the same Spirit that did that is in you and in me.

8:47 Oh, my days.

8:50 I wonder.

8:51 We are so not living up to our potential, are we?

8:54 Now, no condemnation, remember?

8:56 No condemnation.

8:57 But I'm like, duh, Joycey.

9:00 There is so much potential within us.

9:04 So much potential.

9:05 Romans 8 tells us the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us.

9:10 This is powerful.

9:12 And as people who believe in Jesus, who have accepted him as our Lord and Savior, I feel like we have an obligation to jolly well get our act together in this regard and start to find out what is in us and start to live towards our potential.

9:28 We are in a church that is always speaking to our potential.

9:31 Always speaking to our potential.

9:33 And that's what I want to do today.

9:35 I want to encourage every single one of us to start putting to good use the power of the Holy Spirit that is available to us.

9:42 Amen?

9:43 The power of the Holy Spirit.

9:44 You see, the Holy Spirit is not an it.

9:47 It's not a random object.

9:50 It is a person.

9:51 We have God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.

9:56 It's the Trinity, three in one.

9:57 That's a whole nother lesson of months of teaching by Babs at enlarge.

10:03 Okay?

10:04 But let me just tell you a few things about the Holy Spirit.

10:07 The Holy Spirit has always been there from the very beginning.

10:12 From the very beginning.

10:13 We see in Genesis 1 verses 1 to 2, it says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

10:20 The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters.

10:25 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surfaces of the water.

10:32 The Holy Spirit has been there from the outset.

10:34 Amen?

10:36 The other thing I want to say is the Holy Spirit was at the baptism of Jesus.

10:42 So the second thing is the Holy Spirit was at the baptism of Jesus.

10:46 In Matthew 3 verse 16 to 17, we see in the New King James version I'm reading from, it goes to say in verse 16, When he had been baptized, this is Jesus.

10:58 When Jesus had been baptized, he came up immediately from the water.

11:02 And behold, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God.

11:07 He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.

11:13 And suddenly a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

11:21 You know when the Holy Spirit turns up, he does not turn up to condemn you.

11:27 He turns up to do three things that we can see very clearly when Jesus was baptized.

11:31 It says, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

11:37 My beloved, approval.

11:41 Son, identity, well pleased, acceptance.

11:46 You know, it's exactly what the Holy Spirit will do when he turns up to speak to you.

11:51 He will remind you that you are approved of because you are loved.

11:57 He will remind you of your identity.

11:59 Your identity is not what you do.

12:01 Your identity is who you are.

12:04 And he will let you know that you are accepted by the beloved.

12:09 You are accepted.

12:11 This is not a license to do what we want when we want however we want.

12:15 If anything else, when we know this, it will make us run into his presence.

12:19 Even more eager to live the life he's paid a high price for us to live.

12:25 He will never, never condemn you.

12:27 He will convict us and remind us of who we are.

12:31 That's what he does.

12:32 He reminds us of who we are.

12:34 He reminds us of our potential.

12:37 Amen.

12:38 The third thing about the Holy Spirit that I want to share this morning is that it was actually Jesus' last words to the disciples.

12:48 And I think that's really powerful.

12:50 You know, many of you know that my father, he passed away in 2013.

12:54 And when he knew that he was going, he already had things in order.

12:57 But what he re-looked at was his last will and testament.

13:03 And whatever he put in his last will and testament, that is kind of the first things that we as a family implemented.

13:12 And so when Jesus is leaving planet Earth to go back into heaven and he's talking to us about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit will do in us and through us, I think that's actually the first thing his church should be implementing.

13:23 Don't you?

13:24 So I'm really stirred up myself about this.

13:27 It was the last thing he told him.

13:28 He even said to them, do not leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit, until you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

13:35 See, the Holy Spirit can be on us, in us, and work through us.

13:39 He can.

13:40 Let me read Acts 1 verses 4 to 5, and then I'm going to skip through to verse 8 for time.

13:48 So verse 4 says, While being together and eating with them, Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, of which he said, you have heard me speak.

13:59 Because Jesus had previously spoken to them about the Holy Spirit.

14:02 Verse 5 says, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit.

14:18 Empowered, united with the Holy Spirit.

14:22 You know the same thing that is, Andres was talking earlier about the differences of culture, etc. But do you know what every single one of us has on the inside that is the same?

14:31 It's the Holy Spirit.

14:33 And there's a word in the Bible called fellowship.

14:36 And you cannot really get that word, the true meaning of that word, without the Holy Spirit being in everyone.

14:43 We can fellowship.

14:44 Now if I said to my, you know, when I was a midwife, I said to my midwifery colleagues, come on, let's go after work and let's go to the cafe and fellowship.

14:52 There you go.

14:53 But I can say that to every single one of you, it's fellowship.

14:57 Because it means a unity that comes together because of the Holy Spirit that is within each of us.

15:04 Isn't that amazing?

15:07 But John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in water as well, but also baptized in the Holy Spirit and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit not long from now.

15:17 Verse eight goes on to say, but you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

15:24 Power and ability.

15:25 How many of you need a power, ability, empowering and unity?

15:29 Yay.

15:30 So hey, how we need the Holy Spirit.

15:32 You will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses to tell people about me in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth.

15:48 Amen.

15:49 So this is incredible because this is like you and I. When we have the Holy Spirit in us, we will be empowered and we will have the ability to be witnesses

16:01 and tell the message of Jesus Christ in Berlin, in Germany, in Europe and to the rest of the world.

16:07 That's our mandate.

16:08 That's our mission.

16:10 That's what we were instructed to do.

16:12 It's no different to what the disciples were instructed to do.

16:15 Amen.

16:17 So Jesus, he had spoken to his disciples.

16:19 This wasn't the first time they were hearing it and it may not be the first time you're hearing it, but I'm praying in the name of Jesus that it will be a time where you get revelation knowledge about the Holy Spirit, not just head knowledge.

16:32 Because when Jesus talked to them about it before, they were like, excuse me?

16:37 Now it was being revealed and they were starting to understand.

16:41 In John 16 verse seven to eight, we see what Jesus, when Jesus spoke to the disciples about the Holy Spirit, he says in verse seven, however, I am telling you nothing but the truth.

16:52 It's amazing that he felt he needed to say, I'm telling you nothing but the truth, as if he would lie.

16:57 When I say it is profitable, good, expedient, advantageous for you that I go away.

17:07 Now I'm sure if we would have been one of the disciples, we would have said, sit yourself down, young man.

17:11 That is absolute nonsense.

17:13 We need you here.

17:14 We want you here.

17:16 You are the Messiah.

17:17 We need you to release us.

17:18 Where do you think you're going and who's going to do it if you're gone?

17:21 But Jesus says, no, it's actually profitable, good, expedient, advantageous to you that I go away.

17:29 Because if I do not go away, the comforter,

17:33 which is the Holy Spirit, and other words for the comforters, the counselor, helper, advocate, intercessor, strengthener, standby, will not come to you into close fellowship with you.

17:45 Excuse me.

17:46 But if I go away, I will send him to you to be in close fellowship with you.

17:54 How amazing.

17:58 We see here the Holy Spirit is more than just like a spooky little, you know, Harry Potter

18:05 theme or idea.

18:07 He is the comforter, the counselor, the helper, the advocate, the intercessor, the strengthener, the one who stands by us.

18:17 Amen.

18:18 So I want to just take a few moments to just go through some of these things that the Holy Spirit is to us.

18:25 He is the comforter.

18:28 The comforter.

18:29 You know, people need to be comforted.

18:32 So for different reasons, some really simple, but some really distressing.

18:38 And he, the Holy Spirit, is the comforter.

18:41 So last night, I got a phone call at three o 'clock in the morning.

18:45 And whilst it was not drama, drama, drama, drama, major, major, major drama, it was still a drama.

18:51 And for me, at three o 'clock in the morning, it was still major.

18:53 Because I went to bed without my pillow.

18:55 I didn't sleep on my proper pillow.

18:57 So when I woke up with the phone, I had a headache.

19:00 So a headache at three in the morning with a drama.

19:04 And so in any case, I, yeah, did what I needed to do.

19:08 And then I basically went to bed.

19:11 But obviously the drama, the headache, the three o 'clock was going on in my head.

19:17 And you know what?

19:17 I said, God, I have just prepared this message.

19:20 And right now, I receive you as my comforter.

19:25 And I literally rolled over.

19:26 Do you know it was my alarm that woke me up?

19:29 And can I tell you, I know I would have tossed and turned and got here needing more makeup than normal

19:37 had I actually not put into practice what I'd just been preparing.

19:43 And you know, you can do it the same.

19:45 I don't know what it is you need comfort for.

19:47 But you can say, Holy Spirit, I need your comfort.

19:50 I receive your comfort in the name of Jesus.

19:53 And seriously, I felt like he kind of snuggled me in, put the duvet over me, gave me a little tap, and I went off to sleep.

20:00 Do you know what?

20:01 It was beautiful.

20:02 And I said, Oh, my gosh.

20:03 And do you know what the first thing I said when the alarm went off this morning was like, it works.

20:08 It works.

20:09 I know it works.

20:10 But I was like, it works.

20:12 It works.

20:12 Seriously, it works.

20:14 Try it.

20:16 Counselor, wisdom.

20:18 How many of us need wisdom?

20:20 We all need wisdom.

20:21 You know, I love it.

20:22 John 14 verse 26 says, But the Helper, the Comforter, the Advocate, the Intercessor, the Counselor, the Strengthener, the Standby.

20:29 I'm reading from the Amplified version because it amplifies everything.

20:32 The Holy Spirit, basically, whom the Father will send in my name, in my place to represent me and act on my behalf.

20:40 He will teach you all things.

20:43 So what do you need wisdom in?

20:45 Because you've got the Teacher and he wants to teach you all things.

20:48 And he will help you remember everything that I have told you.

20:53 This is the Holy Spirit.

20:55 It's amazing.

20:56 If you need wisdom, I need wisdom.

20:59 Everywhere I look, left, right, behind, in front, everywhere I look, I need wisdom.

21:05 And you know what?

21:06 It's not going to be Joyce's wisdom.

21:08 For it to be impacting and lasting, it's got to be the wisdom of God.

21:11 And I believe that's the same for every single one of you.

21:15 The Helper, the Helper, one who assists, one who comes alongside.

21:21 But you know, the thing about the Helper is you actually need to ask for help.

21:28 And to ask for help, we actually need to be humble.

21:33 Amen.

21:34 The Advocate, the Advocate.

21:37 You know, the Advocate, it means the lawyer, a lawyer, the person who is working on your behalf.

21:44 So when there's accusations that come against you, he will actually work on your behalf to say, no, that is actually not the case.

21:50 This is the case.

21:51 That is what the Holy Spirit does.

21:53 So when the accuser of your soul, the devil, comes to accuse you of the things from the past, to confuse you and condemn you about now, to confuse you and condemn you about the future and your potential, you have a lawyer.

22:08 You have an advocate.

22:10 His name is the Holy Spirit.

22:12 And he comes alongside you to remind you of who you are in Christ Jesus.

22:16 Isn't this amazing?

22:17 This is the Holy Spirit.

22:18 The next one is the intercessor.

22:21 He is interceding for us.

22:23 What does that mean?

22:24 Normally, intercessory prayer is for people.

22:28 So we intercede.

22:29 We've got people who are in another room here.

22:31 They are interceding.

22:32 They are praying for you that you will hear what God needs you to hear.

22:36 Right now, they are praying.

22:37 For every single service, there are people praying.

22:40 They are interceding for you.

22:42 They are saying, God, the people in this service are going to be here, but in life, maybe they need to be here.

22:47 We are interceding for them so that intercession bridges the gap from where you are and where you need to be.

22:53 And this is what the Holy Spirit does for us.

22:55 Isn't he beautiful?

22:56 Isn't he wonderful?

22:58 He is the strengthener.

23:01 But you know, this doesn't just mean physical strength.

23:04 This actually means mental strength.

23:07 The strengthener is not just physical, spiritual.

23:10 It's mental as well.

23:13 So where are you at?

23:14 What are your thoughts like?

23:14 He's here to remind you of God's goodness.

23:17 He's here to give you peace.

23:18 Amen.

23:19 He's also the standby.

23:22 And the standby is literally like he's doing what Dabs is doing over here in the corner.

23:26 He's at the door standing by.

23:28 Just in case any one of you need him in here or anybody coming from out there needs him.

23:33 He's standing by and that's literally what the Holy Spirit does.

23:37 Things might be cruising.

23:38 You might be surfing.

23:39 Life might be good, but he's just standing by.

23:41 You need me?

23:42 I'm there.

23:43 Isn't this amazing?

23:45 This is what he does.

23:46 This is what the Holy Spirit does.

23:48 And you know, he does it because of who he is.

23:51 He is love, joy, peace.

23:53 He is patience, goodness, kindness.

23:55 He is gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

23:58 All he is and all he does is available to you and to myself.

24:03 This is marvelous news.

24:06 I think this had a big impact on the disciples and I'm praying it's going to have a massive impact on us.

24:11 You know, the results of having the Holy Spirit work in our lives is amazing.

24:15 Acts 1 verse 8 says, but you shall receive power, ability, efficiency and might when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

24:23 That is amazing to have power, ability, efficiency and might.

24:28 And you'll be my witnesses as I said before.

24:30 We have received this power, supernatural power.

24:33 You see, we cannot live a supernatural life natural way.

24:36 We have to live a supernatural life with the supernatural power that is readily available.

24:42 Zachariah 4 verses 6 to 7 says, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

24:52 You and I, my dears, we have been equipped with everything we need to complete the mission that God has entrusted us to complete.

25:00 Amen.

25:01 So as the platform team come up, I just want to finish off with this scripture here.

25:06 In Luke 4 verse 18, in the New King James Version, it says that the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus was saying the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

25:16 You see, the Spirit of the Lord is in us.

25:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon us so that he can work through us.

25:22 It's not just for ourselves.

25:24 It's not just for me, myself and I. It's for humanity.

25:27 And Jesus was saying the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

25:36 He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

25:48 He has anointed us to do this.

25:51 He's anointed us with the Holy Spirit.

25:53 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.

25:58 What does that word anointed mean?

26:00 It means to be smeared over completely with.

26:05 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

26:07 Listen to this, my dears.

26:08 Listen, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

26:14 He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty all of those who are oppressed.

26:26 And it is the same for you and I today.

26:28 If the Spirit of God is in us, not just so that we can live a victorious life and that he wants us to live, a victorious life is not a challenge free life.

26:38 It is a victory in the battle.

26:40 It's a victory in overcoming.

26:42 Who is he that overcomes the world but the ones who are anointed with the Holy Spirit?

26:47 Amen.

26:50 The Spirit of God is in us so that we can, like Jesus, proclaim the good news to the world in which we live.

26:58 The good news to your neighbor, the good news to your family, the good news to your community, the good news to Berlin, 3 .5 million people, the good news to Berlin, the good news to Germany, the good news to Europe, the good news to the world.

27:13 You see, Jesus came.

27:15 John 3 verse 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

27:27 In Jesus' name, Amen.

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