SOAKED IN THE SPIRIT: part 4

SWIMMING LESSON: Equipping
March 9, 2008
with Adam Waters



SWIMMERS
 …are WET because they can swim and they choose to swim.
 SATISFY the Spirit’s leading.
 WIN the battles of the flesh.
 INHERIT the Kingdom.
 MANIFEST the character of God.

INTRODUCTION
One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Thin Red Line." This movie talks about the soul of the men going through the battles in WWII. In this movie there are starkly different characters of leadership. Nick Nolte plays a brown-nosing colonel, complaining about this being his first war, full of ambition, doesn't care about his men and through the film he is voiceovering his regrets of how he treated his men. He is contrasted with 2 young captains that always looked out for the safety of their men, the health of their men (ex: do we need water), and who looked not only to their mission but to relationship with their men.

Ephesians 4:11-16 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

CHURCH LEADERSHIP
1) Ambitious colonels are NOT soaked in the Holy Spirit of God.
2) Passionate and Compassionate captians are soaked in the Spirit... you can tell by the fruit of their ministries.

Getting Rid of Waste through Education
 APOSTLES: an official representative of Jesus
 PROPHETS: specific message, specific person(s)
 EVANGELISTS: one who brings the gospel to a new region
 PASTORS & TEACHERS: this is not an and, but rather a single group. Literally translated as the “teaching shepherds.”
 EQUIP – the setting of a bone – dynamically putting things in order
 BUILD UP – development – the rehab part

Helping you SWIM!
 Your personal swimming instructors.
 Help you navigate the waters of teaching.
 Leading you in Christ’s undertow!
 Healthy.
 Growing.
 Full of Love.
 Leadership’s responsibility is to equip & build.
 You are our responsibility. You are our living letters (2Corinthians 3:1-6).

As a leader SOAKED in God's Spirit, this is my goal! To confidently say that I need no credetials, but just the fruit of our equipping and building evidenced in your lives.

SOAKED IN THE SPIRIT: part 3

SWIMMING LESSON: We belong to each other.
March 2, 2008
with Adam Waters


INTRODUCTION
Are you ready to go swimming everyone? Are you ready for your 3rd lesson?
In the summer of 1995, I was first introduced to the movie Dumb and Dumber. This was an incredibly funny story of 2 guys who completely missed the point.
We DO NOT want you to miss the point of what we're doing here on Sundays.
We are not doing this "year of growth" just to tell you how to swim.
WE ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO BECOME BETTER SWIMMERS!!!

SWIMMERS
n …are WET because they can swim and they choose to swim.
n SATISFY the Spirit’s leading.
n WIN the battles of the flesh.
n INHERIT the Kingdom.
n MANIFEST the character of God.

WEEK #1 ~ We tried to focus you on the SOURCE of the gifts: God's Spirit!
WEEK #2 ~ We tried to focus you on the OUTCOME of the gifts: Love!

Romans 12:1-8 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

TODAY (week #3) ~ We really want you to focus on USING YOUR GIFTS.
12:1 “give your bodies to God because of all that he has done for you.”

Getting Rid of Waste:
n Being soaked in the Spirit requires you to get wet.
n Being soaked in the Spirit requires using your gift is worship.
n Being soaked in the Spirit requires God doing the transforming.
n Being soaked in the Spirit requires belonging to each other. Greek Study: members inside one another. The idea is one of intercourse.

Helping you SWIM!
n We have different gifts.
n We have the ability to do them WELL!
n We prophets must speak out.
n We servants need to get dirty.
n We teachers prepare to teach.
n We encouragers practice building up.
n We with money should let go of it.
n We leaders must take it seriously.
n We who are kindhearted can’t hold back.

SOAKED IN THE SPIRIT: part 2

SWIMMING LESSON: The Goal of the Spirit is Love
February 24, 2008
with Adam Waters

INTRODUCTION
• Are you ready for your second swimming Lesson?
• It's time to trust you out in the water a little bit.
• QUOTE: "Most people find out what they think the world needs most and go and do it. Instead of doing that, find out what makes you come alive and do that! Because what the world needs most is people who are live."

What the church needs most is SWIMMERS that are alive!
SWIMMERS
 …are WET because they can swim and they choose to swim.
 SATISFY the Spirit’s leading.
 WIN the battles of the flesh.
 INHERIT the Kingdom.
 MANIFEST the character of God.
 Today, we continue to get rid of our waste by getting SOAKED in the Spirit of God. Our beloved Gifter!

1 Corinthians 12:27 – 14:40
 12:27-31 “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.”
 13:8 “Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!”
 14:1 “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.”
 14:39-40 “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.”

PRAYER
On June 25, 1967, the world first heard these words...
"Love, love love! Love, love, love! Love, love, love!
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
There's nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn to play the game...it's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time... it's easy.

"All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love love! Love, love, love! Love, love, love!
All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

"There's nothin you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...it's easy.

"All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love love! Love, love, love! Love, love, love!
All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love, love is all you need."

TODAY: All we need is love. All we need is God at the center of our growth. All we need is his power and his Spirit. All we need is Him alive and empowering the life of our church. All we need is the Spirit at the center of our "swimming."

12:31 “So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.”
For GROWTH we must understand:
 This list in 1Corinthians 12 is not exhaustive.
 Only 3 are given a position in the body (apostles, prophets, teachers) and that is due to their usefulness for the entire body.
 No one person has every single gift.
 Desire is KEY! (this desire must echo the need for air!)
 12:31
 14:1
Helping you SWIM!
 Don’t forget that we’re all in this together (12:27).
 Don’t forget that God is not a God of disorder, but of peace (14:33).
 Don’t forget that the Spirit of God ALWAYS has the goal of producing love (13)… for God is LOVE (1John).

SOAKED IN THE SPIRIT: part 1

SWIMMING LESSON: A United Body
February 17, 2008
with Adam Waters

INTRODUCTION
• Are you ready for your first swimmng lesson?
• Last week, we showed you what swimming looks like.
• Now, it's time for us to get in the pool.

SWIMMERS
 …are WET because they can swim and they choose to swim.
 SATISFY the Spirit’s leading.
 WIN the battles of the flesh.
 INHERIT the Kingdom.
 MANIFEST the character of God.
 Today, we begin to get rid of our waste by getting SOAKED in the Spirit of God. Our beloved Gifter!

Told a story: about getting a gallon of vegetable oil dumped on my head in college. It changed the way everything functioned. I lost my shirt. I had to shave my head and face. The elastic in my shorts no longer worked and the shorts doubled in size. I had to double and triple my showers for days. The acne on my face went crazy. Basically, the oil had permeated every aspect of my life in some way or another.

READ: 1Corinthians 12:1-26

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.”
 For GROWTH we must focus on the gift source.
 12:1-11
 For GROWTH we must focus on one body.
 12:12-17
 For GROWTH we must focus on the need for others.
 12:18-26

How does this help us swim?
 12:1 – It corrects our misunderstandings and ignorance.
 12:13 – It teaches us reliance on the Spirit of God.
 12:20-21 - It forces us to love others.
 12:25-26 - It gets us taking lessons together.

PRAYERS FOR communion, offerings and commitment to GROW!