Have you ever been so excited that you just felt like shouting?

Surely most of you in here have let out a big "woohoo!" a time or two in your life

Sing! This passage shows great joy. So much so we should burst forth in song!

I get so tired of us Christians who jump and shout and scream during a meaningless football game

And we won’t even shout out a good "AMEN!" in a church service. The Holy God should excite you!

The LORD is in your midst!

That ought to make you shout with praise, or maybe fear, if you’ve been living wrongly.

Don’t stop there however, the LORD is in our midst, with power to save!

We have committed sin which dooms us to eternal Hell, BUT GOD, shows up with the power to save!

God takes Joy in you!

You know I am messed up there is no way God could be joyful in me.

You can rest in His love!

This is the craziest thought ever….. God sings over you

Our messed up view of this stoic, rock faced God, sitting on His throne, makes it hard to think that God would sing

“He will rejoice over you with shouts of Joy”

You make God so joyful he breaks out in song!!

We often think we have failed so badly that God is annoyed with us but here we see God sings over us.

Fear NOT!
God loves YOU

Because of God’s great love “do not let your hands fall limp”

Don’t grow weary in your service to God

Rejoice!!

Sing praises, tell others, serve Him in every way because He saved you.

But all the downfalls I’ve had and the evil people that are never punished.

Rejoice!!
God will defeat the enemy!

He will gather His people to Himself

Rejoice! Show the world that you know the LORD is in our midst and He is mighty to save!

God has NEVER abandoned His people and He never will!

Perhaps you can’t seem to Rejoice today

I ask you this question…Do you know Jesus?

Have you truly given your life to Him?

Rejoice, Rejoice oh people of God!!

As a Christian, the celebration of Easter is a huge deal!

The build up, the long day of celebration, the tremendous joy that we feel knowing Jesus is alive.

Today, I want to talk about what sometimes happens after that day.

The first thing I want us to see here is; Jesus gave orders to His apostles

There was a purpose of showing Himself, alive, to the disciples. He wanted them to believe, so they would actually carry out His orders

They had heard that he was going to rise from the grave, but doubt is powerful

Now, they have the motivation to carry out the orders that Jesus left them, knowing there is no doubt

Jesus gives them another command, to wait for the Holy Spirit

Sometimes, after a great event like Easter, we are energized and want to just strike out doing things for Jesus

But, we need to receive, through the Holy Spirit, what or how we are to do these things.

In other words, take time to pray for guidance before striking out.

When you receive the Holy Spirit, you will be My witnesses even unto all the earth

Basically what Jesus said in this passage is, you don’t have to know everything, you just have to believe and be obedient.

We may not know the days or times, but we know that Jesus will come again.

When we listen to the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit says to go here, tell this person, wait on this to happen, we need to answer

Jesus had equipped the disciples and given them orders to carry out because He knew He was about to leave.

While they were standing there with Him, He ascended into heaven.

They had to be amazed, excited and also fearful all at the same time.

Jesus, whom they had been walking with for all this time, has now gone to be with the Father

He didn’t leave them alone and He didn’t leave them without direction.

However, this event was so powerful, all they could do was stand and stare

We, as modern day believers, sometimes find ourselves after Easter standing and staring at the cross because it has been so powerful.

We want to just stay in the moment of the love that Jesus showed on that cross.

But look at verse 11 again

Why do you stand and stare? Don’t you remember what He said? He will come again.

When He comes again, don’t you want Him to find you carrying out the orders He left?

Remember, that those same orders Jesus gave to the apostles, He gives to all believers

GO! And TELL!

The cross is so amazing, because without the love that Jesus showed on that cross, we would have no hope.

However, He didn’t go to the cross for us to stare at it, but so that we could take that hope and share it with all who will listen.

We have been given an order and it is one that has never been rescinded.

Are you carrying out the final orders of Jesus today? Are you ready to begin doing just that?

Today we begin a series that will take us to Resurrection Sunday

Every story has a beginning, and your story has a beginning too

This is all about the love of God, and He loved you from the very beginning

He loved you so much He created you in the first place

I want you to understand, that God made a way for us from the beginning, it wasn’t a backup plan after we sinned

The light of men, that we read about in this passage, is Jesus

But you see from the beginning that the world could not understand it

But God did not leave us in this state of lostness, instead, He sent a messenger

We know this messenger as John the Baptist. He came to tell the world about Jesus, the Christ

It is the job of every believer to continue this mission of shining a light into the darkness by telling about Christ

This is LOVE, that God didn’t let us stay confused and lost, but sent someone to show us the light

We see here, the light was in the world but man could not see Him

You’ve heard of not seeing the forest for the trees. The world couldn’t see Jesus because they didn’t know how to look

But through the love of God He was already here, in fact the world was made through Him

So grasp this fact, God loves you so much, He created ALL through the Savior and placed the Savior here for ALL

When we think about the crucifixion and the resurrection, we truly see God’s love

But it didn’t start there, it was from the beginning!

Verse 12 is the greatest news we could ever receive, that as many receive Him become His children

God created us, provided the light for us, and gave us the opportunity to accept the Savior, all in the beginning

This is extraordinary Love and there is nothing like it in this world or beyond

The love is so extraordinary that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us!

So today I want you to see that God sent His Son Jesus, the light of the world, into the darkness

So we would finally be able to see the light and accept that extraordinary love, so we could receive salvation

Salvation from the penalty of sin, eternal death

So the question is, do you see the light and are you ready to give your life to Him today?

I recently read how some friends, recognizing signs of depression in another friend, staged an intervention

Their goal was not to make the friend feel bad, but instead, to affirm the friend was loved

Many people initially respond to an intervention with anger, frustration, and embarrassment

However most times they eventually come to realize, it was done with love and it actually helps them

The thing I want you to see is that, we are to abide in Christ always and because of that we bear much fruit

However, sometimes, things pull us away and we get lost in our walk

When that happens, our brothers and sisters in Christ need to stage an intervention

First, we must draw close enough to one another that we can recognize the struggles

Second, the intervention is always done because of love

The goal is always to help each other find our way back to the right walk

If we abide in His love, we are doing exactly what we are called to do

I’m convinced that God’s people have forgotten what it means to abide in His love

We become lost in our walk and don’t even realize it, because we have walked so far away

What if, first we abide in Him and second we actually share His love with others

We would truly become close to our brothers and sisters, instead of just being someone we see at church sometimes

This bond of love stretches from God, to you, to those around you and it becomes a three stranded cord not easily broken

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love!

Understand, that this is a commandment, which means we are called to show His love with ALL people

Not only do we need to stage an intervention within the church and God’s people,

We also need to intervene in the world, to help people see what they really need

People are searching for everything and anything in this world and we know what they really need

God’s love!! If we are abiding in Christ and He is in us, we can show others the love they are searching out

We are more likely to perform an intervention if someone is depressed, or addicted, which is good,

What about when they need to find the true love that will give them salvation

Interventions are not easy because most people don’t want them

But only through an intervention can some people finally see what they really need

Are you ready?

We live in the microwave generation and expect everything to happen quickly

Research shows that most people expect to wait only 2 seconds for an online video to load

After 5 seconds 25% of people leave the site and after 10 seconds the abandonment rate is 50%

Half the people can’t even wait 10 seconds for something they desired in the first place

Romans 8:26 NASB

Today I want to start with a verse that is out of order in the passage we will look at

This verse says we do not know how to pray and as previously mentioned we don’t want to wait either

We are trying to move through life at warp speed and we try to make our relationship with God fit that mold

But a 10 second wait may not be enough for the Spirit to show us how to pray

This verse says the Spirit intercedes with groaning too deep for words

Certainly most of us have had hearts that were full but didn’t know how to express our feelings

Every time we spend time we God, we don’t have to know what to say and sometimes we just need to open our hearts to Him

You see we are living in a world that is not our home and this wait for redemption takes a toll

This is not a 10 second wait. This wait is a lifetime and we must listen to the Holy Spirit as our guide

The point is, one of the reasons our relationship is not deeper, is that we aren’t waiting on the Holy Spirit to guide us

Today’s believer spends most of their prayer time giving God a want list

But true prayer is when we wait on the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us what to pray because that is what God wants for us

We have been saved with the Hope of salvation. Not hope meaning a wish but hope meaning an assurance

If our hope is in Christ we wait eagerly for that day when our hope shows us Glory

While we wait we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes that voice is simply groanings within our being that we don’t know how to express

Instead of giving up when we aren’t sure what to say, let the Spirit reveal the answer

Most of the time this is more than a 10 second wait

We don’t know how to pray but the Spirit intercedes for us

What if we took some real time and listened to the Spirit, instead of just speaking words

What if we truly prayed what God wanted us to pray

If we pray what God is telling us to pray the answer will be amazing and the blessings incredible

One of the biggest problems we have today, is we are structured for that 2 second wait

Stop trying to fit a Holy God into our worldly mold and instead climb into a new mold, with the Holy Spirit as the guide

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come and be our helper.

Isn’t it time you listened to the one that was sent to help you in the first place

Have you ever listened to the Spirit?

Do you know God?

Today I plead with you to listen, even if it takes a while for you to hear, and then respond.

Probably many of you, like me, grew up hearing about being a good steward

For most of us that was always taught about money

Since God gave you the money, be a good steward of it and tithe, use it wisely not foolishly

Let me start by saying that is all good practice and being a good steward of God’s money is something we should all do

However, today I want to look at that phrase “Be a Good Steward” in another light

In this passage what we are seeing is that we are to be good stewards of everything God has given us

This means our time, our gifts, our money, our friendships, our love, everything

Vs 7
“The end of all things is near”

I don’t know when the end will come but I know we are closer today than we were yesterday.

As people find out that their lives are coming to an end it causes them to reflect on what is really important

They may think about how they have lived and wish they had lived better.

The one thing almost everyone has in common, when that reality sets in, is what about eternity

This verse is telling us that as the end grows nearer every day we need to focus our relationship with God through prayer

When we figure out how to be purposeful about that prayer relationship, we are in a closer walk with God and things become clear

So we need to be good stewards with our time and make sure God gets that time

Vs 8 says “keep fervent in your love for one another”

This world needs a lot more love! If we are good stewards of our love, we will give it freely and often

I’m speaking of course of God’s love. What if we daily worked to show God’s love to everyone we came in contact with

I believe conflict with people would all but disappear and certainly more people would be open to hear the gospel

This seems so easy but in reality it’s probably the hardest thing for most of us to do

The biggest reason this is so hard, is the world has taught us everything is about you……but it isn’t

“Each one has a special gift” We have probably all been told this in our life but most people never explore their gift

Most of us believers have not identified what our special gifts are and so therefore we are not good stewards of them

If we identified our gifts and used them as God intended them to be used, I believe our world would look so much different

When we don’t use God’s gifts in the way He wants, we are not good stewards of that gift

Basically what we see here is that when our gifts are used, they should directly point to the God that gave them

If we are truly good stewards of the things that God has given, (and He gave everything) He is glorified

When our lives glorify God, we receive that Joy of knowing we are being good stewards and living our purpose

The bottom line is that if we as the children of God, work to be good stewards of the things God gave us, people will see Jesus in us

However, you can’t use your gifts for a God you don’t know

Do you know Him today?

Last week we heard a great message about self examination

We all need to come to a place where we have complete assurance of our salvation

If you have not yet gotten to that place, I would love to talk to you after the service today

If you know, without a doubt, that you have the salvation that Jesus offers, then it is time to Grow!

Perhaps you say “We understand this because we have known Christ a long time.”

You see, we are never too old to keep growing

Understand that we all have been given tasks according to how God saw fit to give them

Some preachers, some teachers, some apostles and some evangelists

The point here is that he didn’t appoint any of us to do nothing

He appointed all of us for the building up of the body of Christ

Vs 13 is talking about when we are in Glory and we have become mature

The point is, that until that time, none of us will reach full maturity

Then we will no longer be infants, but for now…

Tossed back and forth, blown here and there, this is how we are if we are not trying to Grow

We have to grow! We begin with the spiritual milk immediately after salvation as an infant in Christ

Infants do not stay infants! As they take nutrients, their physical body develops

As spiritual infants, we need the spiritual nutrients to grow in Christ

Speech, conduct, love, faith and in purity

Like Psalm 92:13 says “plant yourself in the house of the Lord” both physically and spiritually

Plant yourself through your own reading and studying of God’s word

Plant yourself through the corporate teaching and preaching of God’s word

Always devote yourself to a time of prayer daily

If I planted a Satsuma tree, and it didn’t grow to produce fruit, I would cut it down.

When we are planted in salvation, we need to Grow and produce fruit as the sower expected us to do.

Have you been planted in salvation?