Welcome, Holy Spirit, Pt. 2 | Jim Hammond
 
 
Recap
 
Pastor Jim presented his second installment of his series entitled, “Welcome, Holy Spirit.” He again used Acts 2:17–21 as his reference. He spoke about how in the last days, God is going to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. That means that every man, woman, and child will be touched by the Holy Spirit. That hasn’t happened yet, but we know that it will. And we know that when God pours out His Spirit, not everyone will receive and accept Him. God created people to be free will beings and must make their own choices in life. But Pastor Jim pointed out that everyone that calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved.
 
 
Dive Deeper
 
Pastor Jim read Acts 2:17–21 that speaks about what it will be like in the last days:
 
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
 
It sounds as if they’re calling on God in desperation. And when they call on God, they will get saved in the last days.
 
Some legalistic minister might say, “Well, that’s when someone prays the official sinner’s prayer.”
 
Pastor Jim says that’s not what it says. They’re simply calling on the name of the Lord. That’s what it says. If they call upon His name, they will get saved.
 
He used Acts 10:43 as an example. Peter addressed the crowd and said, “…that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
 
Peter is talking to the first Gentiles that were ever saved in history. While Peter is telling the Gentiles that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the message and were saved.
 
In verse 45, it says “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
 
Those with Peter were surprised and amazed because the free gift of the Holy Spirit was given even on the Gentiles.
 
So everyone that believed in Him received forgiveness of their sins in the name of Jesus. So they not only received salvation, but they also started speaking in tongues all at one time. These were the first Gentile people that were ever saved and added to the church.
 
The received salvation and tongues all in one pop because God knew they believed. God saw their hearts. Peter spoke about their forgiveness and the Holy Spirit fell.
 
In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is related to being poured out of like a glass or filling up a glass.
 
Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
 
We are to seek to be filled with the Spirit of God. You have to want it and you have to look for it. It’s something you have to think about and consider.
 
It’s possible to be filled with the Holy Spirit at all times… and you can just keep refilling.
 
You can have levels of the Holy Spirit. You can drink deeply of the Holy Spirit, but then you can take just a sip of the Holy Spirit.
 
Read About It
 
Acts 2:17–21, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
 
Acts 10:43–44, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. 44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”
 
Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
 
 
Discussion Questions
 
Are you filled with the Holy Spirit and speak with other tongues?
Do you understand the role of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Are you aware of the advantage the Holy Spirit gives you in your Christian walk?

Recent Sermon Notes

The Seven Mountains of Influence Lance Wallnau

This last weekend, we had a very special guest minister, Lance Wallnau, at our weekend services. Lance is well known for his revelation of the “Seven Mountains of Influence” and how these mountains of influence shape and change the world. He preached about how God is calling the church to make disciples of nations. And in order to do that, we need strong, territorial churches that are raising up believers to go out and become the “head and not the tail.” Lance basically taught on the same thing at all three services but much of the information he shared in each service differed. So in light of that, if you want to hear his full message, it would be beneficial for you to listen to all three messages.

A Symbol and a Source of God’s Blessing | Dennis Burke

This past weekend, Living Word’s Guest Minister Dennis Burke taught a message entitled, “A Symbol and a Source of God’s Blessing.” He shared that it is understood that as members of the body of Christ, we have a clear sense that we are living in the last days. And even if these are not the last of the last days, we understand that these are our personal last days. So we must treat this time with a sense of commitment and a sense of design from the Spirit of God for our lives to make an impact, to make a difference. In fact, that’s what we’ve been designed for!

World Harvest | Pastor Lynne Hammond

This past weekend, Pastor Lynne shared her excitement about church planting and about world harvest. Sadly, most Christians never even think about world harvest. She pointed out that world harvest was the very first prayer assignment Jesus ever gave His people. It says in Matthew chapter 9 that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. He turned to His disciples and said, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” We are to pray that God would send out laborers into His harvest. World harvest… that is the first prayer assignment Jesus gave to the church. Pastor Lynne went on to talk about the 10/40 window, what it is and how we can pray about it.

Welcome, Holy Spirit, Pt. 3 | Jim Hammond

Last weekend, Pastor Jim gave his third installation of his series entitled, “Welcome, Holy Spirit.” He talked about how people say, “Jesus lives in your heart.” But, actually, Jesus presently sits at the right hand of the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that lives and dwells inside us. Pastor Jim brought a greater awareness to the fact that it is the Holy Spirit that daily guides and directs us. The book of Acts describes the acts of the apostles as they went forth into the world preaching salvation through Jesus, His sacrifice and resurrection. But Pastor Jim illuminated how there was an overwhelming number of scriptures in Acts where the Holy Spirit is mentioned, where the Holy Spirit directed and guided the apostles in everything they did. And it is still the Holy Spirit directing and guiding the body of Christ today!

Alpha and Omega: The Alpha Man 2 | Mac Hammond

This past weekend, Pastor Mac taught his second installment of his two-Sunday Christmas message entitled, “Alpha and Omega.” He reminded us Christmas messages are for the purpose of elevating our celebration of Christmas to the point where the celebration makes a difference in our lives. The things that you celebrate in your life are really the things that you’re giving permission to impact your life. And so it’s important that we understand what we’re celebrating at Christmas time. Jesus declared He is the Alpha and the Omega, meaning He is the beginning of life and the end of death. In the first message, Pastor Mac talked about how Jesus is our Omega Man, in that He destroyed death in the many forms it may take in our lives. In the second message, he talked about Jesus being our Alpha Man, the beginning of life.