Recommended Reading: The Explicit Gospel
Movement NYC Recommended Reading: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler
Who is Justin Jarvis?
Watch this short video to learn more about Justin Jarvis:
http://www.jesusculture.com/m/blogs/meet-justin-jarvis-emerging-voices
Jesus Culture Artist Coming to Movement NYC
Jesus Culture worship artist Justin Jarvis will be playing a benefit worship concert for Movement NYC.
- Saturday, May 18th – 8PM – $15.00 at the door
- St. Paul’s German Church – 315 W. 22nd St., New York, NY
- All proceeds go to support the ministry of Movement NYC
The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
This is what we have in our statement of faith regarding the Holy Spirit:
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. And we believe that the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are still available to the believer today. (Romans 8:13-14, I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:1-11, Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 5:18)
As Christians we believe that there is one God, who is eternally existent in three persons:
- The Father
- The Son
- The Holy Spirit
This doctrine is called the Trinity
- The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible
- It is a theological term used to help describe the unique relationship of the three persons within the Godhead.
The Holy Spirit is a person.
- The Holy Spirit has a mind: Romans 8:27 – “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
- The Holy Spirit has a will: 1 Corinthians 12:11 – “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
- The Holy Spirit has emotions: Ephesians 4:30 – “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
- He is not just a force, or an energy, or a feeling.
Though he is present in the Old Testament we see him the most active in the New Testament.
- After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension he was poured out upon the church at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12)
- He now empowers the church to be God’s witness to the world.
Upon conversion the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian and empowers them to live the Christian life.
- Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Ephesians 3:16 – “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being”
- Galatians 5:16 – “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
He glorifies Jesus
- John 16:14 – “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
He convicts the world.
- John 16:8 – “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”
He helps believers.
- John 14:16 – 17: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will bein you.”
- Parakletos:
a. A helper
b. A comforter
c. An encourager
d. An advocate, a representative
He teaches believers.
- John 14:25 – “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
He leads believers.
- Romans 8:14 – “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
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Now our position at Movement is that the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in the New Testament are still available today.
Some people think that the gifts of the Spirit were just for the Apostolic age…
That they ended with the first century…
And this view is called “Cessationism” – that the gifts have “ceased”
But I don’t see any evidence of this in the New Testament…
In fact when Peter was preaching at Pentecost in Acts Chapter 3
And he was talking about the baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit…
He says in verse 38 and 39 – “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…
And notice what he says next:
“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who afar off (that’s us Gentiles), as many as the Lord our God will call.”
These gifts were never to end.
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What are the purpose of the gifts?
- For building up or edifying the Body of Christ
- Paul says in 1 Cor. 14:26 – “Let all things be done for edification.”
- 1 Cor 14:12 – “Even so you since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for edification of the church that you seek to excel.”
- And as a powerful witness to the world of the reality of what we believe.
- Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:4 in one of my favorite passages– “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
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We find most of the gifts laid out for us in:
- 1 Corinthians Chapters 12-14
- And in Romans Chapter 12
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1. The Word of Wisdom
“To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit.” – 1 Cor. 12:8
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2. The Word of Knowledge
“To one is given… the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.” – 1 Cor. 12:8
“It is information given to us supernaturally, knowledge of things that we could not know through natural acquisition or study.” – Chuck Smith
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3. The Gift of Faith
“To one is given… faith by the same Spirit.” – 1 Cor. 12:8,9
“There are times in our lives when God gives us special faith for a unique circumstance. We become aware of the certainty that God will undertake for us, and we speak with assurance because we know it will be done. God gives us faith so that we are not worried, we’re not concerned, and we know there’s no problem. We know God will take care of everything.” – Chuck Smith
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4. The Gift of Healing
“To one is given… gifts of healings by the same Spirit.” – 1 Cor. 12:8-9
It is the ability or pray for someone and see them healed.
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5. The Gift of Miracles
“To another the working of miracles.” – 1 Cor. 12:10
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6. Prophecy
“To another prophecy.” – 1 Cor. 12:10
“The gift of prophecy is speaking forth the word of God through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is being a channel through which the Lord may speak.” – Chuck Smith
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7. Discernment
“To another the discerning of spirits.” – 1 Cor. 12:10
“Many times you get an uneasy feeling about a person or a situation and you don’t know why; you can’t quite put your finger on it… that could very well be the discerning of Spirits.” – Chuck Smith
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8. Tongues
“To another different kinds of tongues.” – 1 Cor. 12:12
“The gift of speaking in tongues is the ability to speak fluently in an unknown language through the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is the ability to worship God through praise in a language you have not naturally learned.” – Chuck Smith
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9. The Interpretation of Tongues
“To another the interpretation of tongues.” – 1 Cor. 12:10
“The interpretation of tongues is a companion gift to the speaking with tongues… without the interpretation of tongues, an utterance of tongues has no place and no value in a public church service.” – Chuck Smith
Tongues are not to be exercised in a church service unless there is an interpretation.
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10. The Ministry of Helps
“(Whether) ministry, let us wait on our ministering.” – Romans 12:7
It is a supernatural gift to joyfully help out wherever it is needed without the need of recognition or praise.
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11. The Gift of Teaching
“And God has appointed these in the church…teachers.” – 1 Cor. 12:28
It is a supernatural gift to teach and explain the things of God.
People who are anointed as gifted teachers.
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12. The Gift of Exhortation
“He who exhorts in exhortation.” – Romans 12:8
“People with the gift of exhortation encourage and urge us to put into action the things we know we should be doing.” – Chuck Smith
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13. The Gift of Giving
“He who giveth, let him do it with simplicity.” – Romans 12:8
It is a person who has a natural and supernatural gift and joy in giving.
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15. The Gift of Leadership
“He who leads with diligence.” – Romans 12:8
“God has gifted certain people with the gifts of (leadership). We often say that some particular person is “a gifted leader.” He seems to have the kind of personality and demeanor that attracts people to his leadership.” – Chuck Smith
Some people are just natural leaders.
And you want to follow them.
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15. The Gift of Mercy
“He who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” – Romans 12:8
It is a supernatural ability to show mercy and compassion to other people.
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We should seek and pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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Recommended books:
- Living Water – Chuck Smith
- Charisma Vs. Charismania – Chuck Smith
- How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit – A.W.Tozer
- The Person And Work Of The Holy Spirit – R.A. Torrey
- Power Evangelism – John Wimber
- Forgotten God – Francis Chan
Great Article on Complementarianism
Great Article on Complementarianism:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/god-created-man-male-and-female-what-does-it-mean-to-be-complementarian
Stop Instagraming Your Perfect Life
The author Shauna Neiquist writes: “The danger of the internet is that it’s very very easy to tell partial truths—to show the fabulous meal but not the mess to clean up afterward. To display the smiling couple-shot, but not the fight you had three days ago. To offer up the sparkly milestones but not the spiraling meltdowns. I’m not anti-technology or anti-Internet, certainly, but I do think it’s important for us to remind ourselves from time to time that watching other peoples’ post-worthy moments on Facebook is always going to yield a prettier version of life than the one you’re living right now. That’s how it works. My life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the internet than it does in real life. The Internet is partial truths—we get to decide what people see and what they don’t. That’s why it’s safer short term. And that’s why it’s much, much more dangerous long term. Because community—the rich kind, the transforming kind, the valuable and difficult kind—doesn’t happen in partial truths and well-edited photo collections on Instagram. Community happens when we hear each other’s actual voices, when we enter one another’s actual homes, with actual messes, around actual tables telling stories that ramble on beyond 140 pithy characters.”
Jordan Frye will be leading worship this Sunday
Join us this Sunday for LA based worship artist and songwriter Jordan Frye.
Jordan is the lead singer of the progressive worship band Urban Rescue: www.urbanrescuemusic.com
Hammering the gospel into our heads
“Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has (already) done for me: to which, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel wills me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” – Martin Luther
The Honor of His Name
The late British pastor John Stott (1921 -2011) speaking about the name of Jesus:
“We should be jealous for the honor of his name – troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be given the honor and glory that are due to it. The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission, nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing, but rather zeal – burning and passionate zeal – for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
