Witnesses: Commissioned, Sent, and Empowered

Witnesses: Commissioned, Sent, and Empowered

Dave Riddle - 4/21/2024

Key Passages: Luke 24:47-48, John 20:21, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

You will be my witnesses

- Luke 24:47-48

- To all the nations

- Acts 1:8

- To the ends of the earth

Commissioned and Sent

- John 20:21

- As the Father sent me, so I am sending you!

- Matthew 28:18-20

- Go, therefore, and make disciples

Empowered by God

- He provides us with His own power.

- Luke 24:49

- Acts 1:4-5

- John 20:22

Until He Comes Again

- 1 Thessalonians 4:16

He’s Still Here

- Matthew 28:20

- I am with you always, even til the end of the age

Life in the Spirit

House Rules - Holy Spirit

Dave Riddle - 10/16/2022

Key Passage:  John 14:16-17

Life in the Spirit

• walking in the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit, while bearing spiritual fruit and utilizing spiritual gifts.

A Promise Fulfilled

• John 14:16-17

  • We need help!

• John 16:7

  • Jesus was leaving, but He didn’t leave us without help!

  • Helper = paraklētos - summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid. One who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate. One who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor. In the widest sense, a helper, aider, assistant

Friendship

• Holy Spirit “…is the loving, self-communicating, out-fanning and out-pouring presence of the eternal divine life of the triune God. By the Spirit, God draws near to the creature and mediates a knowledge of divinity in a hundred thousand ways.” - Jürgen Moltmann

Conviction

• John 16:8-9

  • We are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit bearing fruit in our gospel work and in our lives.

New Life

• Acts 2:37-38

• John 3:5-6

• John 6:63a

Empowered Life

• Acts 1:8

• 2 Timothy 1:7

  • Power = dynamis (Greek: δύναμις) strength, ability of power, especially inherent power, residing in something (or someone) by virtue of its (or their) nature.

• Galatians 5:16

Changed (Fruitful) Life

• Galatians 5:22-23

• Galatians 5:25 - If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit

  • Keep in step = stoicheo (Greek: στοιχέω) -literally, to march in military rank; to proceed in a row as the march of a soldier. Figuratively, to conform (in virtue, piety)

Gifted Life

• 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

  • We are strengthened by each other’s gifts.

• 1 Corinthians 12:12

Directed Life

• John 16:3

• 1 Corinthians 2:14

Eternal Life

• Ephesians 1:13-14

• Ephesians 4:30

United Life

• 1 Corinthians 12:13

• koinōnia (Greek: κοινωνία) - fellowship, association, community, intimacy, joint participation (the share which one has in anything), communion.

Sorrow Turned to Joy

Sorrow Turned to Joy

Dave Riddle • 06/12/2022

Key Passage: John 16:16-33

You’ll see me in a little while

• John 16:16-19

• What is Jesus referring to?

  • Possibly:

    • His death and resurrection

    • His followers seeing him in Heaven after his ascension and their deaths.

    • The gift of the Holy Spirit.

Grieving People Transformed into Joyful People

• John 16:20

  • Joy comes from a transformation in our lives when we understand what God has done and is doing for us.

Joy and Pain From the Same Source

• John 16:21-22

  • A mother and her child

  • The disciples and Jesus

You Will Have Peace

• John 16:33 - peace

• eirene: a national state of tranquility, harmony, and safety. In a Christian context: the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation

• shalowm (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם) - a very broad term that means health, security, tranquility, good condition, success, comfort, and more.

  • it has layers of meaning related to peace.

  • Widely used in the Hebrew Bible, shalowm clearly depicts a satisfied condition, an unconcerned state of peacefulness.

• John 16:33 - You will have suffering (distress) in this world.

  • Suffering/Distress = thlipsis (Greek: θλῖψις) - pressure (literally or figuratively). oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits

In A Little While

• Our pain, distress, “thlipsis” is temporary.

What Did Jesus Say About The Holy Spirit?

Message Begins around 24:15

What Did Jesus Say About The Holy Spirit?

Dave Riddle • 05/29/2022

Key Passage: John 15:26-16:15'

The Helper

• John 15:26-27

  • Helper = paraklētos - summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid. One who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate. One who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor. In the widest sense, a helper, aider, assistant

• John 7

• John 14:16-17

Jesus leaving was to our advantage!

• John 16:7-8

The Work of The Holy Spirit in our Lives

• Convicting

  • John 16:9 - Conviction of our lack of belief.

• Convincing

  • John 16:10 - Revealing the truth about Jesus

• Condemning

  • John 16:11

  • 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

• Guiding Us in All Truth

  • John 16:12-13

  • John 14:26

The Trinity in Jesus’ Own Words

Message begins around 33:15

The Trinity in Jesus’ Own Words

Dave Riddle • 05/01/2022
Key Passage: John 14:16-31

The Father will give you a helper/counselor

• John 14:16

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

• John 14:17-18

  • You already know Him

  • I am coming to you

• Compare this to what Jesus said in the passage from last week.

Jesus and the Father

• (Last week) John 14:8-10

  • “You have seen the Father”

  • Jesus and the Father are one

• John 14:20-21

  • I am in my father and my father is in me.

Jesus’ call for us

• John 14:21 (John 14:15)

  • If you love Me, you will keep My commands.

    • Love = agapaō all four times in this passage.

  • (Matthew 28) obey… and teach others to do the same

    • If we don’t know his commands we can’t keep them, and we definitely can’t make and teach new disciples.

• John 14:23-24

  • …we will come to them and make Our home with them.

    • We are part of the kingdom of God right now!

      • Already, not yet.

  • Sent = pempō: dispatched or sent on an errand.

The Holy Spirit and Jesus

• John 14:26

  • But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit —the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

    • How do we love Jesus? Keep his commands.

      • The Holy Spirit enables this by teaching and reminding us of the commands of Jesus.

• John 14:27

  • Peace = eirene: a state of tranquility, harmony, and safety. In a Christian context: the tranquil state of a soul, assured of its salvation, fearing nothing from God, content with their lot, whatever it might be.

Jesus and the Father

• John 14:30-31

Believe. How? Love. How? Live in obedience to his commands. How? Through the power of the Spirit.

Trust Our Unchanging God

Trust Our Unchanging God

Dave Riddle - 8/8/2021

Key Verse: Ephesians 3:14-19

We can trust in the Love of God

• The core of our relationship with God is love

• Ephesians 3:17

  • Rooted and established in love

    • agapē - unconditional love

We can trust in the Power of the Holy Spirit

• Paul prays for the Ephesians to be empowered by the Holy Spirit

  • Ephesians 3:14

  • Ephesians 3:17

    • That Christ may dwell in your heart…

      • to house permanently

To Comprehend

• Ephesians 3:18-19

  • eagerly pursue Christ’s love

To Experience 

• Ephesians 3:19

  • Know the love of Christ

  • Know = to know something from personal experience. An intimate knowledge, not just from an observation or empirical data.

To Be Filled Up Completely

• Ephesians 3:19

  • Filled to the measure of the fullness of God.

    • Refers to a fishing term. Trying to cram a net full of fish.

The First Five Disciples

The First Five Disciples

The Gospel of John - Part 3

8/23/20

Key passage: John 1:35-51

What are you looking for?

• John 1:38
  

Come and see

• John 1:39
  

You will be called Peter

• John 1:42
  

Follow me!

• John 1:43

• Follow = akoloutheō 
  

How do you know me?

• John 1:48
  

The Role of “Others”

• Who are the “others” in your life who pointed you to Christ?

  • Who was your John, Andrew, or Phillip?

• Who are you pointing to Jesus?
  

Customized Connection

• He connected with each disciple in an individualized way.

• He wants to connect with you in an individualized way too!
  

Balance of invitation and challenge 

• Come and see - invitation

• Follow me - challenge 

• You will be called “rock” - challenge
  

The Necessity and Power of Revelation

• John knew Jesus was the messiah through the revelation of the Holy Spirit

• Likewise for Andrew, Phillip, and Peter