The God Who Interrupts Plans | The Mystics, Mystery & the Book of Acts | May 17 | Faith City Church

Indexed: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Heat. Heat.

[00:00:32]Heat. Heat.

[00:01:11]Heat. Heat.

[00:01:44]Heat. Heat.

[00:01:53]Heat. Heat.

[00:03:23]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:03:47]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:04:38]Well, good morning.

[00:04:41]Happy Sunday. It's good to see all of your lovely faces. I'm going to invite you to stand. I'm going to pray into the service this morning and then we'll start worship.

[00:04:54]God is good. Amen.

[00:04:56]It's good to be in the house of the Lord. It is such a privilege. Sunday morning is my favorite time of the week.

[00:05:02]So, I'm excited to be here. But yeah, let's posture ourselves, posture our hearts in prayer and fix our eyes on Jesus as we pray.

[00:05:18]Holy Spirit, we welcome you here in this place today.

[00:05:24]We know that you are good. We know that you are kind.

[00:05:28]And so God, we ask in your goodness and your kindness.

[00:05:33]Come and speak and move today. Come and use everything that we've prepared this morning, our worship, the word, our community.

[00:05:44]Use it for your glory, Jesus, because we just want people to know you because you are so so good.

[00:05:53]God, pierce our hearts this morning with your love.

[00:06:01]God, if there are people coming in today who don't quite understand that you're a good father, God, would you speak to them and meet them where they're at? And God, would they feel your loving arms wrapping around them, embracing them?

[00:06:18]God, I thank you that we can approach you with boldness like that of a child.

[00:06:24]God, I thank you that there is no judgment. There's no condemnation, Lord.

[00:06:30]There's no shame with you, but there is freedom, God, where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And so, God, we just Yeah. We just say yes to what you want to do in this place today. We thank you, God.

[00:06:46]You are so so good.

[00:06:52]You're so good. We pray this in Jesus mighty name.

[00:06:58]Amen.

[00:07:01]You're so good, Jesus.

[00:07:24]I'm coming with a heart of worship. I'm bringing in a brand new song. I'm ready to see the unthinkable. And I'm ready for a miracle.

[00:07:38]Hearts praying for a fresh encounter.

[00:07:41]souls looking to the living God.

[00:07:45]I'm ready for a real revival.

[00:07:48]Oh, Holy Spirit like a fire, like a fire.

[00:07:56]Holy Spirit in this place.

[00:08:03]Holy Spirit like a fire.

[00:08:10]Holy Spirit.

[00:08:16]Holy Spirit.

[00:08:26]We're on the edge of a new beginning.

[00:08:29]God, we know you have so much more.

[00:08:33]We're looking to a new horizon.

[00:08:36]We're praying for your raise of heart.

[00:08:40]Overflowing of your redemption, overflowing of your kingom.

[00:08:47]We're ready for real.

[00:08:58]Holy Spirit in this place.

[00:09:05]Holy Spirit come like a like a fire.

[00:09:12]Holy Spirit come.

[00:09:18]Holy Spirit.

[00:09:28]Oh, can you feel it? Heaven is reaching.

[00:09:35]Oh, can you hear it? Our God is speaking.

[00:09:42]Oh, can you see it? He's got your healing.

[00:09:48]Oh, just receive it.

[00:09:52]Receive your freedom. Shout out. Oh, can you feel it? Feel it.

[00:09:59]Heaven is reaching.

[00:10:02]What can you hear?

[00:10:06]I got you.

[00:10:22]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:10:32]Heat. Heat.

[00:11:09]Come and move.

[00:11:12]Come and move.

[00:11:15]Love you Jesus.

[00:11:19]Love you Jesus.

[00:11:39]They say this mountain can be moved.

[00:11:45]They say these chains will never break.

[00:11:51]But they don't know you like we do.

[00:11:56]There is power in your name.

[00:12:03]We've heard that there is no way.

[00:12:09]We've heard the tide will never change.

[00:12:15]They haven't seen what you can do.

[00:12:20]There is power in your name.

[00:12:26]So much power in your name.

[00:12:34]Move the immovable.

[00:12:36]Break the unbreakable.

[00:12:40]God we believe.

[00:12:43]God we believe. For it from the impossible.

[00:12:49]We'll see a miracle.

[00:12:52]God we believe.

[00:12:55]God, we believe for it.

[00:13:01]You believe that this morning we know that hope is never lost.

[00:13:10]Oh, there is still grave.

[00:13:16]We believe no matter what there is power in your name.

[00:13:27]So much power in your breakable God we believe.

[00:13:43]God we believe for it from the impossible will see a miracle.

[00:13:52]God we believe God we believe forever.

[00:14:03]He's making a way.

[00:14:11]You are the way when there seems to be no way.

[00:14:17]We trust in you, God. You have a final day.

[00:14:32]Heat. Heat.

[00:14:44]The final move the imovable break the unbreakable God we believe.

[00:14:59]God we believe forever the impossible.

[00:15:08]Yeah.

[00:15:10]Heat.

[00:15:28]impossible.

[00:15:50]Yes.

[00:15:51]>> That he can move on our behalf.

[00:15:55]>> That he can part the seas.

[00:15:57]>> Yes.

[00:15:58]>> He is that God.

[00:16:00]>> Yes.

[00:16:02]>> You said I believe.

[00:16:08]You said it is done.

[00:16:14]You said I believe you said his son.

[00:16:26]You said I believe I believe.

[00:16:32]You say you say >> I believe. Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:16:52]Yeah.

[00:16:55]Heat.

[00:17:16]We will be for you.

[00:17:31]Heat. Heat.

[00:17:51]Yeah.

[00:17:54]Heat.

[00:18:08]Heat. Heat.

[00:18:20]Heat. Heat.

[00:18:30]movable.

[00:18:32]Break the unbreakable.

[00:18:35]God, we believe.

[00:18:38]God, we believe. For it from the impossible, we'll see a miracle.

[00:18:47]God, we believe.

[00:18:50]God, we believe for real.

[00:18:56]Oh, do you believe?

[00:19:00]Do you believe?

[00:19:02]God, we believe.

[00:19:10]Yes. Jesus.

[00:19:33]When did I start to forget all of the great things that you did?

[00:19:43]When did I throw away faith for the impossible?

[00:19:53]How did I start to believe that you weren't sufficient for me?

[00:20:02]Why do I talk myself out of seeing mirales?

[00:20:13]You are more than able.

[00:20:22]You are more than able.

[00:20:32]You are more than able.

[00:20:42]You are more than able.

[00:20:46]Who am I to deny what the Lord can do now? I see all that I have.

[00:21:06]Oh, I got my confidence back.

[00:21:12]I put my trust in the mir.

[00:21:18]You do m Yeah. Heat.

[00:21:57]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:08]Yeah. Heat.

[00:22:18]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:31]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:48]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:58]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:09]Heat.

[00:23:11]Heat.

[00:23:21]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:35]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:45]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:56]Heat. Heat.

[00:24:06]What the can do?

[00:24:15]You can do it.

[00:24:20]The God of the impossible.

[00:24:29]Cuz you are more than able.

[00:24:39]You are more than able.

[00:24:45]How many of you believe they're saying you are more than able?

[00:24:58]You are more than able.

[00:25:03]Who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

[00:25:12]>> I've come a long way.

[00:25:16]No one.

[00:25:18]>> I've seen how you work.

[00:25:21]>> Oh yes.

[00:25:23]>> There's so much goodness and grace.

[00:25:28]much more than I deserve.

[00:25:32]Cuz I know who I am.

[00:25:37]>> And I can stay my life out.

[00:25:43]We've come this far by faith.

[00:25:48]And I just can't turn back.

[00:25:55]He's not done with me yet.

[00:26:00]He's not done with me yet.

[00:26:05]There's so much more to the story.

[00:26:10]You're not done with me.

[00:26:14]You're not done with me.

[00:26:19]You're not done with me.

[00:26:25]There's so much more to the story.

[00:26:44]Heat. Heat.

[00:26:54]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:27:04]Heat. Heat.

[00:27:14]Heat. Heat.

[00:27:29]You're not done.

[00:27:37]Cuz who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

[00:27:46]And who am I to deny what the Lord can do? I want every voice to sing this out as a declaration today. And who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

[00:28:03]Sing that again, every voice. And who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

[00:28:15]Cuz you are more than able.

[00:28:25]You are more than able.

[00:28:31]Yes, you are Jesus. You are more than And you are more than able.

[00:28:46]And you are more than able.

[00:28:51]Who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

[00:29:10]Yeah. He is more than able. Amen.

[00:29:15]He is more than able.

[00:29:18]I just want to encourage every one of us this morning. If there are things that you were coming in with that you need answers for, you're seeking God's guidance or provision, like he is more than able. He's not just he's able to do it. He's more than able.

[00:29:35]Our father owns a cattle on a thousand hills. He is more than able to meet your need.

[00:29:43]So just reflect on that this morning.

[00:29:45]Let that truth pierce your heart today.

[00:29:49]Let that truth pierce your heart today.

[00:29:54]And in the spirit of worship, I'm going to invite the ushers, the host team to come on up as we take our tithes and our offerings just as another part of our worship this morning.

[00:30:09]And if you're new here at Faith, please do not feel obligated to give But for those of us who've called Faith City Church home, we'll take up our tithes and our offerings today. And I'm just going to pray into it as we close out our music uh worship portion of our service and we get into reading the scripture and reading the word. As I do, I'm just going to thank the choir. Can we give them a round of applause? They're the greatest in all the lands.

[00:30:49]And yeah, just pray over the offering as we take it up. Jesus, we thank you so much that you are more than able to provide for us. You are more than able to guide us. You are more than able to lead us.

[00:31:13]And so Lord, as we give this morning of our finances, as we maybe give later on this week of our time, of our resources, Lord, would you take that and double it, Lord? And God, give us wisdom as well as we give this today and give this week.

[00:31:33]Give us wisdom on how to best utilize what we're given. Give us divine wisdom on how to reach your people, how to reach this city and this community. God, continue to guide us on how we can be your hands, how we can be your feet.

[00:31:50]God, let us be love to others as you are to us. And so I thank you, Jesus, for all that you have done, all that you will continue to do today and in the future, Lord. And we just bless your name. All of this, all of this is for your glory. All of this is for your name.

[00:32:12]You reign, King Jesus. We pray this in your beautiful name, Lord. Amen.

[00:32:31]Wow.

[00:32:58]Good morning church.

[00:33:01]It is good to be here with you uh this morning. This is week two of our sermon series called Mystics, Mystery, and the book of Acts. Uh so, mysticism, as we talked about last week, in the classic sense, is something that is often more inward. Uh Pastor Ben talked last week about the fact that includes things like union with God, silence, solitude, contemplation, spiritual ecstasy, and visions. And these things, all of these experiences with God are something we should seek on a personal level, but also something we should seek uh in community. But the reality is in a church of this size, our experience with the supernatural or our experience with God is going to vary greatly. Maybe some of you are very familiar with uh contemplative practices, but you're not really sure if God actually shows up in visions. Some of you would be like super familiar with speaking in tongues, but when it comes to solitude, you're like, I don't know, maybe you just like talking a lot like me and you struggle with it.

[00:34:00]Some of you are are on one side, some of you are on the other side. But there's a variety of ways that we are meant to experience the spirit of God and they're all good and we should not run away from any of them. Instead, we should find spaces and places uh small groups, places in personal relationship uh in corporate worship to experience the presence of God like Pentecost week worship which is happening next week and you should all come and enjoy a part of it. Yeah. Yeah. You can shout for that.

[00:34:26]I love that.

[00:34:28]We need to create more space and time to experience the presence of God. Amen.

[00:34:33]>> All right. You're with me so far. But that's not the end. Sometimes we think that's the end. That is not the end of it. If we look at uh the experiences on the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, when the spirit descended in tongues of fire and people began to speak in other languages, that wasn't the end of it. Scripture tells us, "You will receive power when my Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth."

[00:35:02]When the spirit came down upon the earth, the purpose was to receive power to be in relationship with God. Yes, of course. But it doesn't end there. We are meant to be sent out to be witnesses for him. It was meant to mobilize the church to get up to go out and to share the good news of Jesus. If I had to uh create an alternative title to this sermon series, I would call it mystics, mystery, and mobilizing the church. Of course, all good Christians use alliteration, right? We have to have all the, you know, all the letters.

[00:35:34]But that's what I would call it because we have to be mobilizing or we need to be mobilized by the spirit into our city to see people who without Jesus find the one who can change everything. There are many places that people can turn.

[00:35:50]Sometimes as Christians we even turn to other places to try and find the answers to our questions, to find the answers to our problems. But we already know the one who has the answers. And it's our job to be the light so that other people can see that. That we would be people who would be mobilized to pray for the sick to give words of knowledge to the downtrodden or to live in general a life that is spiritfilled as we are called to be. So we've been in the book of Acts.

[00:36:16]We were in the book of Acts last week and we will be uh today as well. And we talked about Steven last week week and Stephen uh is is recorded as living out a life where he was mobilized into mission. In Acts chapter 6 he was chosen as one of the seven men. you know the some of the apostles they were quite busy doing ministry and they were like okay we need to find some more men to do these other areas of ministry. So they found uh I believe it was seven men and and the scripture tells us these seven men were full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom and they were chosen to help with this part of ministry.

[00:36:47]And now Steven of course we know that he was martyed for his faith. We know that he died because of his belief in Jesus Christ. But before this happens, you know, before he is stoned to death, as Pastor Ben talked about last week, uh it says in scripture that Steven looks up to heaven. Basically, he says, "I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God." All the people who were around him just looked and they saw nothing. They just saw what was in front of them in the natural world. But Stephen, as he was full of the spirit, was able to see something else. He was able to see Jesus himself before he died.

[00:37:25]You see, when we're full of the spirit, it means that we see things differently.

[00:37:32]Things are not going to look the same if we're full of the spirit. So, Steven was one of these seven men. Today, we're going to talk about another one of these men that were chosen in Acts chapter 6, and his name is Philillip. Now, don't confuse Philip with one of the apostles.

[00:37:45]He was not one of the 12. This is a separate Philip. uh and he kind of appears in Acts chapter 6 as the list and then we hear about him again throughout Acts chapter 8 and again later on in Acts but we won't get that far. We're going to hang out in Acts chapter 8 for the most part today. So if you um if you follow along in Acts chapter 1 uh it says this on that day this day now being the day of Steven's death a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. So, Philip was one of these people who were scattered. He leaves where he is and he's scattered because of the persecution. And I said it already, I may say it half a dozen times before it's over. Philip was one of those guys that was full of the spirit. So, we shouldn't be surprised because we've already been told that we're going to see some mystical or some mysterious things from Philip. We're going to see some supernatural things from Philip.

[00:38:39]So, in Acts chapter 8, as it keeps reading down, I won't read it all, but we are introduced to this other character. And this other character is called Simon the Sorcerer. And I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about sorcery. Thank God.

[00:38:55]I don't know much about magic. I don't know much about that whole thing. I'm I I try and stay away from those things.

[00:38:59]You know, probably a wise thing to do.

[00:39:02]Uh but this man named Simon in Acts chapter 8, he seems to have some kind of power. So Acts 8:10 says, "And all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention. This is Simon. uh and exclaimed this man is rightly called the great power of God. So Simon, this man who is not full of the spirit, this man who is outside of Christ is kind of known as having some kind of power or some kind of supernatural mystic ability.

[00:39:31]And now I'm no professional in in all of that world, like I said, but I'm going to use the word and say that that is counterfeit mysticism. This is a kind of mysticism that isn't about showing God glory. It isn't the divine. It isn't the one true God who's giving him this power. This power is coming from somewhere else. So, we're going to call it a counterfeit mysticism. This guy is trying to make money. He's trying to use uh kind of wrong motives to do things he shouldn't be doing. And then Philip comes onto the scene and there's this whole interesting interaction where Simon seems to change his ways. And there's kind of like a question mark lingering there. uh when I say that Simon seems to like come to faith or at least be drawn to Philillip and what's going on and the power that Philip has.

[00:40:13]But then later on in Acts chapter 8 uh in verse 21 uh Peter says to Simon he says your heart is not right with God.

[00:40:20]So we have this kind of man who is is dabbling in Christianity but you know it's kind of a question mark as to what's going on. And then Peter's like you're not really your heart's not in the right place. So we kind of see this mysticism on one side. Mysticism without Christ. It's not about God. But it isn't about mission and the power is not from God. Stay away from those things.

[00:40:40]But I think the greater caution for us this morning is actually on the other side of the spectrum. And something that I believe that God has been convicting me about uh in recent uh weeks and months as I've heard it uh in different spaces and places. On one end, we have mysticism without Christ. But on the other hand, we have the danger of Christ without mysticism.

[00:41:04]Christ without supernatural power.

[00:41:08]Christ without the mysteriousness of the gospel.

[00:41:14]So what do I mean by that?

[00:41:16]1 Timothy 3 verse 1-5. I'm going to cruise through the first four verses. Uh it's a long list and then I'm I'm going to stop on verse 5, but I'm going to read the whole thing for you. Chapter 3:1 says, "But mark this. There will be t there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, had nothing to do with such people.

[00:41:59]You see on this end of the spectrum, Christianity without mysticism is Christianity without power. There's a quote uh from a commentary that I read.

[00:42:07]I want to share it with you. When it comes to this idea of godliness without power, it says religion is not gone. In fact, when this happens, these character qualities are frequently exhibited by people known for their religiousness.

[00:42:20]However, as Paul wrote, they practice a form of godliness. That is using their godliness as a cloak of respectability while denying God's power over their lives. The form or appearance of godliness includes things like going to church, uh knowing Christian doctrine, using Christian cliches, and following a community's Christian traditions. Such practices make you look outwardly good.

[00:42:46]The commentary says, "Hey, you look good on the outside, but on the inside, the inner attitudes of belief, love, so the fruit of the spirit and worship are lacking. The public appearance is hollow and meaningless.

[00:43:02]So Christian action on the outside, living this way on the outside without the transformative power of the Holy Spirit on the inside is a detrimental way to live. It's not it's not a great choice. It's not a great place to find yourself.

[00:43:16]And it's it's not good for us in our personal lives, but the part that really gets me and the part that I think the spirit is maybe speaking into my life and maybe into yours as well this morning is that it's not just bad for your own life not to move in the power of the spirit, but it's actually harmful in your witness to other people.

[00:43:36]Because if we go around in our life and we say, "Oh, we're a Christian." And we do all of the right Christian things, but I don't have the power of God in me and I am not being transformed from the inside out by the power of God. When I meet someone who's curious about faith in Jesus, when I meet someone who's seeking God and trying to figure out and they've tried other things, they've tried other religions, they've tried all kinds of spiritual stuff, and they're searching for the real thing. If they walk up to me and I say, "I'm a Christian." and there's no power.

[00:44:07]Essentially, I've inoculated them against the real thing.

[00:44:12]They've tried. They've they've came and they've tried. Okay, Christianity, this person's a Christian. Uh, but it doesn't seem like there's anything different. It just seems like the same old thing. They walk away thinking, okay, well, now Christianity must not be for me.

[00:44:26]And I hope and I pray that I never again am found in that situation. that when I meet people and when I speak with people, it is so evident that the power of God has transformed my life. Not that I am worth anything on my own, but that Jesus Christ and the spirit of God in me is moving and working and changing my life. So that people would know who Jesus is.

[00:44:49]So that people would know who he is.

[00:44:51]Because if we really believe he's good, if we really believe he has transforming power, then why would we live a life without it? Why would we not welcome it?

[00:45:00]It's difficult to welcome it sometimes.

[00:45:02]It's embarrassing to welcome it sometimes. But it's oh so worth it.

[00:45:09]When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and invite him into our heart, God changes us. God makes us new. But there seems to be in the book of Acts this kind of subsequent thing, this thing that happens after this infilling of the spirit where God comes in and he comes in in power. You will receive power when my spirit comes upon you. And at Acts 8 17 in the midst of this whole thing with Simon the sorcerer, it says, "Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritan believers and they received the Holy Spirit." They laid hands on the believers and they received the Holy Spirit. This isn't always the picture that we get, but it's the picture that we get sometimes in the book of Acts that hey, people laid their hands on and prayed and they received the Holy Spirit.

[00:45:56]So, Philip was one of the guys that was full of the spirit as I've said multiple times already and he was a participant in these mystical ways of God. He was one of the people who God would say jump and Philip would be like how high.

[00:46:10]And so, Philip has been kind of going throughout the book of Acts. We're hearing a little bit about him. And again, I didn't read the whole thing, but I am going to read a passage of scripture uh to you now from Acts chapter 8. I'm going to start reading at verse 26. Uh we're going to skip a few verses, but we're going to go down to verse 40.

[00:46:27]It says, "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philillip, go south to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian unic, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the cand, which means queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.

[00:46:52]The spirit told Philillip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

[00:46:57]Verse 30 says, "Then Philip ran up to the chariot." He ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you're reading? Philip asked, "How can I?" He said, "Unless someone explains it to me." So he invited Philillip to come up and to sit with him. We're going to skip down to verse 34. Those verses are where they were quoting, they were reading through uh the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah. The unic asked Philip, "Tell me please, who is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?" Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the unic and the unic said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in my way of being baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Both Philip and the unic went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up from the water, the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. And the unic did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at, forgive my pronunciation, Azatus, maybe, and traveled about preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Cesaria.

[00:48:07]So, in the latter part of Acts chapter 8, we see right away the angel tells Philillip where to go. Hey, you know, go over here, Philip. The the incredible thing about this passage is that Philip had just established uh the mission to the Samaritan people and now he's about to have a much more farreaching mission.

[00:48:25]Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. Philip in this passage, as we read, is about to encounter an Ethiopian unic. Now, from my studies, apparently where it says Ethiopian here, it's not referring to where modern-day Ethiopia is. It is a different uh geographic location.

[00:48:42]However, there are many people from that day that would have said Ethiopia is the ends of the earth. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. Philis Philillip is up to some pretty important things here as he's being obedient uh to the spirit of God. The spirit is active in the book of acts and I read one commentary and it said that you know as it goes 8 chapter 8 chapter 9 chapter 10 the spirit just seems to get more and more active as the time goes on. So verse nine of of chapter 8, the spirit says to Philillip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." And you know, I was thinking about it. You know what if what if the Lord said to me as I was walking out of so what if what if the Lord said to me, "Hey, go to that Rav 4 and stand near it." And there's someone sitting there in in the front seat and they're scrolling their phone. I'd be like, I don't think that was Jesus.

[00:49:33]I think that was just me talking, right?

[00:49:35]We would we wouldn't want to do it. We wouldn't we wouldn't want to be obedient. If God said, "Go stand by that raft for." probably be like, "Well, I have frozen goods here. I have to go put them in my freezer." We wouldn't.

[00:49:44]We'd think of all the excuses not to do it. But Philillip doesn't act like that.

[00:49:50]The spirit says, "Go over there. Stay by it." And Philip doesn't question. He doesn't make up excuses. He knows. He's heard the voice of God clearly. He doesn't say, "Well, like, why God? Can you explain it to me? What's going to happen? What's going to be the process?"

[00:50:07]He doesn't get the full explanation. He doesn't get the full picture. He doesn't know what's going to happen. But God asks him to step out in faith. Church, we can also step out in faith and act in the spirit. Philip's obedience then is met with an opportunity. He gets over to this chariot and the Ethiopian unic. It tells us that he's reading the book of Isaiah, which is now in our modern-day Old Testament. And Philip explains to him what is going on in this passage.

[00:50:33]And somewhere in this conversation, we don't get the whole, you know, thing. We don't know where else Philip maybe read from the scriptures or whatever but we know that he chatted with him and the scripture tells us he started from where he was and he began to share the gospel.

[00:50:47]He didn't start you know with the advanced theology. He started where he was and he began to share the good news of Jesus with him. And somewhere along the way the Ethiopian unic accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Philip didn't sit there and wait for God to give him step by steps. He got the first step from God and then he moved forward. He got up and he ran to the chariot that God asked him to stand near and then he goes straight into what God was inviting him into. He obeys without understanding or explanation. But if we think about that, that sounds pretty neat. But if we think about the histories of where we're from or or the churches we may have grew up in or the way you know that Christianity spread across the world, there are so many stories large and small about people who just lived out these acts of obedience.

[00:51:37]Some of you might know that I'm from Newfoundland originally and there's this famous woman in our denomination, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland, and her name is Alice Garriagus. Most of you probably never would have heard her name, but we talk about her a lot in Newfoundland. In October 1908, one source says that Alice Garagus received a mysterious message guiding her to Newfoundland. Now, Alice was somewhere in the States and she receives this mysterious message to go to Newfoundland. Some people say that this mysterious message at some point, whether it was this moment that this source refers to or not, at one point she received the word from the Lord, Newfoundland. and she didn't have chat tpt and she didn't have Google and she didn't have all these things. So, she had to figure out where is Newfoundland.

[00:52:25]Where are these people, you know, that I'm supposed to go and and talk to? And whether or not that part of the story is true doesn't matter. But the point is she received a mysterious message. God had called her to go to a place she had never been and probably a place she had never heard of.

[00:52:41]Now, there's a lot more to the story, and I'm not going to get into the story.

[00:52:44]You can read about it. I think there's a whole book on it. Um, but the point is after a while her and two others made their way to Newfoundland and brought Pentecostalism to Newfoundland.

[00:52:56]Alice was seeking God, praying for what she would do. God responded to her and led her to a different land. And I am a pastor today partly because of Alice Garagus.

[00:53:08]And not just Alice Garagus. I'm a part a pastor for many reasons and because of many different people who were obedient to the spirit of God when the spirit led them to do something small or something big. And the same is true for you if you went through your life and the history back in generations. There are people who were obedient in the tiniest things and people who were obedient in the in the large things and those are the things that led up to you being where you are today.

[00:53:37]So Alice like Philillip listened to the voice of the spirit and many people came to know who Jesus was and were filled with the spirit because of her life because of his life and their decisions to be obedient. Philip and Alice were both what I would confidently call mystical.

[00:53:55]Or better yet I would probably just simply call them Pentecostal. And I don't mean denomination when I say that.

[00:54:02]I mean that they were full of the spirit of God. They had a deep trust and a deep reliance on God even when they didn't understand.

[00:54:11]They didn't just seek God for itself or for themselves, I guess I should say.

[00:54:17]They didn't they didn't just say, "Okay, I want to go to church and I want to experience these things. Okay, I want to pray and I want to experience these things." They understood and they sought God. And when God spoke, their embarrassment didn't matter. The fear didn't matter. All these things fell by the wayside and they were obedient to what God was inviting them into. They were filled with the spirit and they lived a postact life where the spirit led them, spoke to them, filled them. And the truth of the matter is this is available to all of us today to be filled or refilled with the spirit of God.

[00:54:55]I said there were two different sides.

[00:54:57]There's a there's a mysticism without Christ. You know, that's another sermon, probably a whole series, but there's a Christ without mysticism.

[00:55:08]And we need to run away from that way of life.

[00:55:14]We need to search our hearts and say, God, is this me? Am I living on the outside exactly like I should, but have no power on the inside? Am I living in such a way that yeah, maybe on the outside I look great, but on the inside I don't feel or experience the transforming power of Christ. Has the Lord convicted you of anything recently?

[00:55:36]Has the Lord has the Lord spoken to you or asked you to do anything lately? This is a journey and it should be growing and changing day after day as we're being filled with the spirit over and over again.

[00:55:50]We are meant to be changed. And this is not a guilt or a shame thing because we got to stay away from all those things.

[00:55:55]That's not from God. But when the spirit asks us and leads us and guides us, oh, there's there's no limit to what God can do.

[00:56:07]And I want to be a part of it. And I hope that you want to be a part of it, too.

[00:56:12]I'm going to invite the musicians and the choir to come back. And I'm going to ask us to do something that's a little different than normal today. So, I'm I'm going to ask that you listen a little carefully. Uh if you've fallen asleep, just wake up.

[00:56:27]I'm going to ask you guys to stand as well as the worship team is coming back.

[00:56:32]We're in the midst of this uh series on the mystics and the mysterious and all of that. We're leading up to Pentecost Sunday very soon. We're talking I talked today about being filled with the Holy Spirit.

[00:56:46]I want us today to have an opportunity to be filled with the spirit of God. And if I could make a guess, there's probably three different categories of people in this room. Number one, you've been filled with the spirit before. You know about it. You you maybe it was something you sought for a long time or something that kind of just happened and you felt God's presence in a deep way and you know it was different and you would say, "Yeah, I'm I'm filled with the spirit." That's one group. The second group I would say maybe you're here and you're saying, "Oh, I I I would like that. I would I would like to receive the power to to act, you know, in supernatural ways. I would like the help that the spirit gives to help me to be more obedient, to help me to live a better life for him." That's the second category. So, we've got people who are already filled. Would love for you to experience more of that today. The second category, people who are expecting, hey, yeah, I would I would like that.

[00:57:38]The third category I would say is maybe you don't even know Jesus personally and you're just here and you're just checking out the church and this is kind of all strange. Or maybe you are a believer but you're like I'm not really sure if I am open to that yet. Okay, all three of those places are great places to be. But if you're in those first two categories this morning, someone who's filled with the spirit and is open to being refilled and experiencing his presence today, or someone who hasn't been filled with the spirit, or you're not sure, and you're saying, "Hey God, I do want to be filled with the spirit."

[00:58:08]I'm going to invite you to do something today. I'm going to invite you to put your hands out when we start worship. You can do it now. You can do it when we start worshiping. I'm going to invite you to put your hands out as if you're receiving from the Lord.

[00:58:22]We talk about this in Alpha. We just put our hands out by our sides like this.

[00:58:25]Hey God, I want to receive. It's the opposite of being closed off and saying, "Hey God, I'm open to receiving." As if a gift is coming down from heaven to be caught into your hands. If you're open to being refilled or filled in the spirit, I want you just to open your hands and say, "Hey God, please come and fill me."

[00:58:44]But if you do that, the one thing I want to do differently today is that if you are a leader here at Faith City Church, if you're a board member or a small group leader uh here at the church, I I would encourage you in this moment to be open to ministering to someone else.

[00:59:00]If you're sitting there and your hands are out, that that also means for this morning, in this in this exercise this morning, it also means you're open to being prayed for. And if you're a leader, a board member, a small group leader, any leader in this church, I would encourage you just to the person next to you across the row in front of you, or maybe the Lord will lead you to someone. I would love for you just to put your hand on their shoulder and just simply say, "Come, Holy Spirit."

[00:59:25]The spirit doesn't need elaborate prayers. It doesn't need craziness. This morning, I'm just going to ask you to say those three words. If you're a leader in the church here, I would encourage you to do that. just to reach out your hand, put it on someone's shoulder and say, "Come, Holy Spirit."

[00:59:39]That's it.

[00:59:41]Let's invite the Holy Spirit to come because I believe that there are so many people out there in this room, outside of this room that just need to know who Jesus is and need to experience his life transforming power.

[00:59:56]So, as we do this, um, we're going to sing some worship songs. I would invite you just guys with guys, girls with girls. We don't want to um you know, we just want to keep things as as easy and simple as possible. I'm trying to give you all the alpha rules as I'm doing this. We just finished alpha this week and it was awesome. By the way, that's a total aside. Um I'm going to pray right now and I'm going to invite us to do that and uh and then we'll continue in worship. Uh Holy Spirit, would you come into this place?

[01:00:28]We know that you're already here, Lord.

[01:00:29]But we pray that you would come and you would fill us fresh with your spirit.

[01:00:35]We pray, God, that you would come and you would move in our hearts and in our lives.

[01:00:42]God, I pray that it would not be the end that we, oh, we just want to feel your presence. Yes, we do. We want you. We want more of you. God, that it would be something that in our hearts changes us and causes us to want to love others well, want to love others more, to see your gospel spread uh in this city, in St. Margaret's Bay, wherever our families may be, whether they're here or somewhere else, Lord. But would you fill us with our with your spirit, Lord, in this place right now? Make us more like you, uh, God, that we may be your witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. We give you all the glory and all the praise, God.

[01:01:19]We love you and we thank you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

[01:01:31]Meet us here this morning.

[01:01:38]We welcome you to have your way.

[01:01:45]Come and have your way.

[01:01:49]Jesus, come and meet us here today.

[01:02:07]We worship you.

[01:02:10]We praise your name.

[01:02:13]Come and fill our hearts, Lord. Come and fill our hearts today.

[01:02:23]Come and fill our hearts today.

[01:02:28]Jesus.

[01:02:31]Jesus.

[01:02:42]Come and have your way.

[01:02:50]I'm calling on the God Jacob whose love endures through generations.

[01:03:03]I know that you will keep your covenant.

[01:03:09]I'm calling on the God of Moses.

[01:03:16]the one who opened up the ocean.

[01:03:23]I need you now to do the same for me.

[01:03:31]For me, for me.

[01:03:36]Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you now. How I need you now.

[01:03:49]Oh rock, oh rock of ages. I'm standing on your faithfulness.

[01:03:58]Your faithfulness.

[01:04:09]I'm calling on the God of Mary whose favor rests upon the I know with you all things.

[01:04:29]Falling on the go crazy.

[01:04:42]I may not face the life, but I've got my own.

[01:04:49]Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you now.

[01:04:57]I need you now.

[01:05:05]I'm standing on your faithfulness.

[01:05:15]Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you now.

[01:05:24]I need you now.

[01:05:28]Oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness, your faithfulness.

[01:05:55]You heard your children.

[01:05:58]You heal your children now. You are the same God. Yes, you are the same God. You answer prayers back then. And you will answer now. You are the same God. You are the same God. You were providing.

[01:06:24]Yes. You are the mighty God. You are the same God. You are the same God. You move in power.

[01:06:38]God moving power.

[01:06:41]You are the same God. You are the same.

[01:06:48]You are here.

[01:06:51]Yeah.

[01:06:54]Heat.

[01:07:04]Heat. Heat.

[01:07:14]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[01:07:30]Heat. Heat.

[01:07:40]Heat. Heat.

[01:07:51]Heat. Heat.

[01:08:11]Heat.

[01:08:19]Heat.

[01:08:28]Jesus.

[01:08:34]Even when I don't see it's your work.

[01:08:37]>> Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You don't see your work. You don't feel even when I don't feel you never stop.

[01:09:24]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[01:09:34]Heat. Heat.

[01:09:44]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[01:10:04]Heat. Heat.

[01:10:14]Heat.

[01:10:18]Heat.

[01:10:32]Heat up here.

[01:10:58]Churches shout to you.

[01:11:01]Hallelujah.

[01:11:03]Praise the Lord.

[01:11:05]Praise. Praise.

[01:11:10]Amen. Amen. I ran up here cuz I want us to keep singing, but I I feel like I need to say something first. You know those moments I just talked about where you feel like your heart's pounding and you don't want to do what the Lord asked you to do? I'm like, "Okay, God, fine. I just preached about it.

[01:11:27]I think this is a special moment, church. I feel in my heart that this message has a certain weightiness to it.

[01:11:36]And I believe that God wants to work in some people's lives. And so I'm going to ask you again if you want to be filled with the spirit to put your hands out in front of you.

[01:11:49]And I'm going to ask you if you are a church leader in this church, then step out in faith. Walk up to someone Men with men, women with women. Lay your hand on them and say, "Holy Spirit, come."

[01:12:04]Church, there are people who need a touch from God today.

[01:12:08]And there are people across our city who need to know who Jesus is. So, as we sing again, whatever we sing, it doesn't matter.

[01:12:18]The point is, let's be receptive to what the Lord wants to do in our midst today.

[01:12:25]Take out take that step of courage and say, "Hey, yeah, okay, I'll pray for that person." If you're on the prayer team, leaders, all those good things, step out, pray for someone. If you're open to the spirit, put your hands out to receive.

[01:12:38]I think we said this morning in one of the songs, God is not finished with me yet.

[01:12:42]>> Do you believe it?

[01:12:44]>> God is not done with us yet. There is more of his spirit for us. So, let's keep worshiping. Let's pray for our brothers and sisters. and let's receive from the Lord today. Amen.

[01:13:04]Even when I don't Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop.

[01:13:14]You never stop working. You never stop.

[01:13:18]You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop.

[01:13:32]>> Even when I don't see.

[01:13:36]>> So when I don't feel, >> it doesn't mean I'm done.

[01:13:43]>> It doesn't mean he's done.

[01:13:46]When I don't see it, You got your feelings.

[01:13:54]You never stop.

[01:13:57]You never stop. You never stop. You never stop. You never stop.

[01:14:05]Jesus Christ. You believe that God is not Heat. Heat.

[01:14:50]Oh my god.

[01:15:04]Heat.

[01:15:08]Heat.

[01:15:23]Heat. Heat.

[01:15:33]Heat.

[01:15:37]Heat.

[01:15:47]You are way.

[01:16:24]Do you believe?

[01:16:27]Do you believe God?

[01:16:36]Cuz even when I don't see it, you I'm kidding.

[01:16:47]>> Or do we?

[01:16:50]>> You never stop working. You never stop.

[01:16:53]You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working.

[01:17:13]Even when I don't see it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop feeling. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working.

[01:17:58]You never stop. You never stop working.

[01:18:02]You never stop. You never stop. I don't see it. I don't see your work. I don't feel it. I don't feel your working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working.

[01:18:48]Miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are.

[01:19:01]Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are.

[01:19:16]Amen. Amen.

[01:19:20]Amen. I'm going to pray for us before you take a seat for the announcements.

[01:19:24]Holy Spirit, uh thank you so much for what you are doing today. God, may we recognize and realize what you are done, what you have done in our hearts. Uh God, may nothing take that away from us today. God, I also pray for those who may be here and hey, say, "Hey, I didn't feel anything." God, we know even when we don't see it, we just sang it. You are working. Even when we don't feel it, you are working. So God, we trust you and we thank you for the fruit that you are going to bring out of our worship, out of our surrender to you today. Uh be with all of us from this service, St. Margaret's Bay, the the morning service here. Uh God, would you make us more like you? Would you fill us with your spirit day by day, God? That we would be like Philip when you speak that we would just act, that we would be courageous, and that we would see people come to you. We pray this in Jesus name.

[01:20:17]>> Amen. Amen. You can have a seat. I have a couple of announcements for you uh today. First of all, if this is your first uh Sunday here, your first time here with us, welcome. We hope you enjoyed it. Uh the choir did such an amazing job. The band, the worship team, we can give them a round of applause.

[01:20:32]They did such an amazing uh job. So, if you are new in the last little while, you may have heard that there was uh meet the pastors today. That's actually going to be postponed. We're going to move that to a little bit of a later date. And of course, we will let you know when that is going to be. Uh if you enjoyed worshiping today, want to keep worshiping the Lord, we're doing it all week from Tuesday until Saturday. We have Pentecost week worship. It's going to be here at the church from 6:30 to 8:30. It's going to be a very um come when you want, leave when you want kind of vibe. It's very free flowing. We just want to experience the Lord. We just want to experience what he has for us.

[01:21:07]So, we invite you to come. You can come um with a pen and pencil. You can come uh you know, however you want to come.

[01:21:13]and and we just want you to experience the Lord uh whichever way you feel comfortable. Uh also we have uh neighbor support center. There is uh an event happening called planning ahead. Uh learn about uh free estate planning.

[01:21:24]That's on May uh the 26th. Uh so if that is of interest to you, make sure that you scan the QR code and uh sign up for that. Uh last but not least, if you are here today in this worship experience and you're leaving and you're saying, "Well, I I expected something different.

[01:21:38]I expected something more." Uh and you would like prayer, another prayer. Hey, we love praying. So, if you want to, you're welcome to come up to the front.

[01:21:45]I would love to pray for you. One of the pastors would love to pray for you. Uh, other than that, go. That that last song that we sang just reminded me, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Wasn't that a fun little little thing we did at the end. That was very unplanned. They did such a great job. The joy of the Lord is our strength. So, go in the joy of the Lord. Uh, go and be blessed and be filled with the spirit as you go into this week. Uh, God bless you.

[01:22:06]>> Amen.

[01:23:59]Heat. Heat.

[01:25:32]Heat. Heat.

[01:28:19]Hey, hey, hey.

[01:29:45]Heat. Heat.