The Myth of the Full Vessel: Why We Can’t Earn God’s More

• The Role of the Holy Spirit [00:55:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines the Holy Spirit as the essential 'power source' of the Christian life, contrasting it with the idea of it being merely an 'accessory,' and references the disciples waiting for the promise of the Father.
• Spiritual Vitality vs. Comfort [00:55:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor questions why many Christians live with 'less' power and boldness than described in Acts, suggesting that personal comfort or blocking factors may be the cause.
• Divine Availability and Human Response [00:57:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the example of the 120 in the upper room versus Jesus' other followers, the pastor argues that not everyone desires or positions themselves to receive the 'more' God offers.
• The Baptism of the Holy Spirit [01:02:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between the Spirit within at salvation and the 'Spirit upon' (baptism) described in Acts, emphasizing that believers can receive 'more' of the Spirit.
• Spiritual Readiness and Positioning [01:01:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that receiving God's 'more' requires active positioning, illustrated by Cornelius who was already pursuing God before receiving the outpouring.
• Spiritual Fullness vs. Worldly Fullness [01:07:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that the problem is often that believers are 'already full' of noise, distractions, and sin, leaving no room for God to pour in, using Stephen as an example of being 'full' of the Spirit.
• Emptying and Release [01:10:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor concludes that God hasn't stopped pouring, but believers have stopped emptying themselves of bitterness, pride, and worldly influences to make room for God.
• Spiritual Hunger and Appetite [01:12:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of physical appetite changing after eating to explain how being filled with wrong things changes spiritual cravings and blocks God's pouring.
• Emptying and Release [01:10:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers must release bitterness, unforgiveness, and pride to create space for God's Spirit, noting that God is still pouring but has nowhere to pour into.
• Comfort and Tradition as Obstacles [01:23:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies comfort and rigid traditions (using Peter's reluctance to visit Gentiles as an example) as barriers that prevent believers from receiving 'more' from God.
• Conviction and Repentance [01:22:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines conviction as God's correction to remove blocking elements, challenging the idea that lack of personal conviction justifies ignoring God's Word.
• Comfort Zone vs. Spiritual Growth [01:26:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the human desire for safety and tradition with the Holy Spirit's call to move into unfamiliar territory, using Peter's reluctance to visit Gentiles as the primary example.
• Boldness and Evangelism [01:28:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor applies the biblical narrative to modern believers, urging them to be bold in sharing faith and praying for others (e.g., waitresses, drive-thru interactions) despite feelings of timidity.
• Self-Examination and Repentance [01:35:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to ask God if their hunger has faded or if they have become too comfortable, leading into a prayer for spiritual renewal and salvation.
• Surrender and Prioritizing God [01:39:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation not to explain away God's message but to receive it, using the example of Peter, and emphasizes the difficulty and necessity of letting go of competing worldly things to seek 'the more' from God.
• Salvation and Evangelism [01:39:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'salvation' as the ultimate 'more' for those who do not know if they would go to heaven, leading into an invitation for non-believers to pray a specific prayer of surrender and acceptance of Jesus.

• Sermon Illustration [00:06:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about the church's front door lock breaking that morning, interpreting the devil's attempt to keep people out as a sign that it would be a 'good day' because God was working.
• Sermon Illustration [00:09:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of a young man named Maddox, whose grandfather wanted him baptized; the pastor notes the baptistry pool is so deep it resembles a jacuzzi if it had jets.
• Sermon Illustration [00:12:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Jonathan, a large man who joined the church recently, highlighting how the Holy Spirit fell upon him and removed his past hurts, illustrating that what is impossible for man is possible for God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recognizes Jayden, a recent high school graduate with honors and state championships in cross country/track, who is attending college on a full scholarship, using his hard work as an illustration of 'good things come to those who work hard.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the 120 people in the upper room, noting that Jesus had more followers who were not present, illustrating that not everyone wants or receives the 'more' God offers.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The story of Cornelius, a powerful Gentile centurion who was devout and God-fearing, illustrating someone who was already pursuing God and thus positioned to receive the Holy Spirit.
• Sermon Illustration [01:04:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The example of Stephen, described as 'full of faith and the Holy Spirit,' who performed wonders and could not be overcome by opposition because he was occupied and controlled by the Spirit.
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of 'leaky vessels' and being 'full' of worldly things (noise, distractions, anxiety, offense) to explain how believers block the Holy Spirit by not making room for Him.
• Sermon Illustration [01:12:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife Donna returning from a conference and him lacking an appetite for dinner because he had eaten a late lunch, illustrating how being physically full changes one's desire for food.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Peter in Acts 10, where Peter resists going to a Gentile's house due to tradition and discomfort, despite the Holy Spirit's direction and God's declaration that the man is clean.
• Sermon Illustration [01:17:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the story of Cornelius in Acts 10, highlighting that he was praying and seeking God not because his life was falling apart, but because he was hungry for more and positioned himself for God to find him.
• Sermon Illustration [01:29:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about dining at Texas Roadhouse where his wife, Donna, approached a waitress to pray for her instead of just taking her order, resulting in the waitress crying because she was going through a hard time.
• Sermon Illustration [01:39:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical figure Peter, distinguishing between 'the Peter thing when He explained it' (rejecting/doubting) and 'the Peter thing when He received it' (accepting faith), urging the audience to choose the latter.

• Pastoral Charge [00:52:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > Read the engraved Bible daily.
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify and release specific sins, burdens, or distractions that are blocking the reception of God's Spirit.
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Take personal responsibility for emptying oneself of worldly influences to make room for God.
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Remove spiritual blockages to allow God's presence.
• Pastoral Charge [01:16:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Attend church with the specific expectation that God will move.
• Pastoral Charge [01:21:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discard familiar sins or habits that block God's work.
• Pastoral Charge [01:35:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > Bow heads and close eyes in preparation for prayer.
• Pastoral Charge [01:36:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > Continually ask God what is standing in the way or needs emptying in one's life.
• Pastoral Charge [01:38:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender identified obstacles and pray boldly for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.
• Pastoral Charge [01:38:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come to the altar if the Lord has spoken clearly, refusing to explain away the message.
• Pastoral Charge [01:40:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray the sinner's prayer for salvation if one does not know Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [01:40:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a specific prayer of salvation, surrender, and renunciation of worldly things, specifically targeting those who feel they need salvation.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:57] Well, good morning. Can y'all hear me? All right. What a special day. I really do love it when we get the opportunity to start our Sunday with baptism. We have five candidates today or five people today
[00:05:18] that's coming to get baptized and share their profession of faith. What a powerful, powerful day this is. And let me just remind you though too, if you're new and you're wondering about every fifth Sunday, so once a quarter on a fifth Sunday, we do family day. So there is a nursery
[00:05:37] for the young ones, but for the kids who are typically in children's church, then they'll worship with us today because we want to teach them too to worship with us in church, right?
[00:05:51] And so we do that once a quarter every fifth Sunday. But next Sunday, kids, you will be back in children's church where you can just be loud and have all kind of fun. Actually, you could be loud in here if you'd like. That's cool too. But anyway, what a special day. But
[00:06:12] I'm going to tell you that I am certain, absolutely certain that today is going to be a good day because you don't know this, but this morning, Jimmy went to unlock the front door. The front
[00:06:25] door, the lock was broke and it would not open. I was like, the devil's trying to keep people out of church this morning. This has got to be a good day. He's trying to lock you out. But thankful
[00:06:37] Michael Sinhaus got here and got it fixed. The devil didn't win. He never does. Amen.
[00:06:43] So we're going to get started this morning with our baptism. So come on in, Gia. Let me help you.
[00:06:51] this gets a little slick sometimes. All right. Look at Gia. Amen. I'm super proud of what the Lord is doing with our young people because yet another one of our teenagers coming to profess her faith in Jesus Christ. It's very powerful. And we have seen that throughout this
[00:07:19] year with several of our teenagers getting baptized. And so Todd, I can't say it enough.
[00:07:26] this is why we do what we do. This is why we invest in young people because the Lord moves in young people as well. He does. And so we see that in Scripture. We see that with young Timothy.
[00:07:41] And so God is moving amongst our youth. So we thank you for that, Lord. Gia, I just want to ask you, do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that He loves
[00:07:51] you so much that even if you were the only person on earth, he still would have died for your sins.
[00:07:59] Well, based off your profession of faith, baptize you in the name of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hang on. This is Brittany. Most of you know the Lord's doing some things in the families
[00:08:32] of our church as well. This is Paul's daughter-in-law, and she'd been seeking the Lord.
[00:08:40] And let me tell you something that Scripture continually teaches us. If you seek the Lord, you will find him. Will you not, Brittany? Amen. Well, Brittany, do you believe that Jesus died for you? Do you believe that his death was good enough to cover all your sins? Amen. Well, based
[00:08:58] off your profession of faith, baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:09:05] Give us a picture. Amen. Hey, baptism is something to celebrate. You know, the Bible tells us when somebody comes to the Lord, all of heaven rejoices. By goodness, we should certainly rejoice here on earth. Hold on, Maddox, let me get you a little stool. Let me show you. Well,
[00:09:28] you know what? We've come up in the world of baptism. Y'all don't know this, but for kids, there used to be two cinder blocks in here. And I must tell you, you could not move them around
[00:09:41] with your foot. But Michael Sinhaus graciously found a stool that goes under the water that you could see little Maddox. It is special to get to baptize my grandson. I know he's young, but he
[00:10:11] said to his daddy, I want to get baptized. And so Maddox, do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? You do. Yes. Do you believe that Jesus loves you? Amen. Well, praise the Lord. Based
[00:10:30] off of your profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the deepest baptistry pool I've ever, in my 25 years of ministry, have ever been
[00:10:54] in. And honestly, if we had jets in here right now, it would be a jacuzzi. Come on, Xander.
[00:11:05] Man, let me tell you. Clap for Xander. Once again, the things the Lord is doing in the young people. He's not a teenager, but he's a young man. And I cannot express in probably the last year how I've seen this young man grow in his faith.
[00:11:31] Exciting what God's doing in his life. Exciting how he's opened himself up. Exciting how every Thursday night he's in men's group here, continually discipling and growing and understanding His identity in Christ and what Christ has for Him.
[00:11:49] Xander, I'm very proud of you and your openness to what the Lord wants to do in your life.
[00:11:55] You keep doing that and you just keep watching Him reveal Himself more to you.
[00:12:00] Xander, do you believe that Jesus died for your sins?
[00:12:03] Yes, sir.
[00:12:03] Do you believe that His death on the cross was all you need to one day go to heaven?
[00:12:10] Yes, sir.
[00:12:10] Based off your profession of faith, baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:12:24] Awesome.
[00:12:30] Yeah.
[00:12:31] Let me tell you.
[00:12:40] First of all, told Jonathan in 25 years of ministry, he's the second biggest guy I've ever baptized.
[00:12:50] Michael lowered the water a little bit so it won't splash out.
[00:12:55] But I'm super, super, super, super proud of Jonathan.
[00:13:00] He came to us six months ago, eight months ago, come into the church, and I have literally seen the Holy Spirit fall upon this man. But more importantly, he has allowed it. Even if you might have fought it at first, right? It's all good because we all
[00:13:31] did. But when you call out to the name of the Lord, he has a way of answering in a way that no man can because the Bible says what is impossible with man is possible with God.
[00:13:45] man can't heal hurts man can't undo the past but god can remove every bit of it and reveal himself jonathan do you believe that jesus died for your sins yes sir do you believe that he loved jonathan
[00:14:09] so much that if you were the only person on earth he would have still come and died in your place because he loves you that much.
[00:14:16] Well, based off of your profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:26] Praise the Lord.
[00:14:29] I love you, man.
[00:14:34] All right, our worship team can come up and we'll move into worship.
[00:14:39] Praise the Lord.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:15:04] Jesus, righteous Lord, we thank you, Father God, for you are God and we carry your glory, Father God, from day to day, Father God.
[00:15:16] We choose you today, Father God.
[00:15:18] We say yes to you, oh Lord. We say yes to you, oh Lord. We thank you, Father God. He is so wonderful and we praise him today in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer
[00:15:33] and then let's open up in worship. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your blessings, Lord. Thank you that another one is going to be up there in heaven with us. Hallelujah.
[00:15:43] Not just one, but five more, Father God.
[00:15:46] We thank you, Lord.
[00:15:48] You are amazing, God.
[00:15:49] We thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord Jesus.
[00:15:52] Oh, for your love towards us and how you care for us every day.
[00:15:57] Lord, we thank you.
[00:15:58] And we ask that you would bless this service, Lord.
[00:16:00] Let us hear from you, Lord.
[00:16:01] Holy Spirit, you are welcome here to do your will inside of our hearts and do what you need to do to draw us closer to you.
[00:16:11] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:16:13] Amen. Let's do the call to worship. My heart, oh God, is steadfast. I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among
[00:16:33] the nations. I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens.
[00:16:41] your faithfulness reaches to the skies be exalted oh god above the heavens let your glory be over

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:16:50] all the earth amen are you ready are you ready let's get some hands going here here we go

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:16:57] just a couple quick announcements for you um vacation bible school is coming up if you have

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:33:29] not yet registered your children please do that you can do that they're in the newsletter as soon as you open it up there's a qr code right under vacation bible school or you can just skip that
[00:33:43] all together and go straight to the website at encounterfellowship.church it's on the front page you can't miss it but we need to get them registered and i want to encourage you to invite just like you would invite someone to church,
[00:33:57] invite them to bring their kids to Vacation Bible School, right?
[00:34:02] It can be a life-changing moment in a kid's life where they discover the truth of Jesus Christ.
[00:34:09] Amen?
[00:34:10] So, and stuff like that has the power to change generations.
[00:34:16] Alright?
[00:34:16] So, please, please take that.
[00:34:18] Don't think of it, oh, that's just a kid's thing.
[00:34:21] Don't think of it that way.
[00:34:22] Think of it as my responsibility to invite someone, not to make them come, but to invite them.
[00:34:32] So don't forget that.
[00:34:33] I think also the youth has a Carowinds Day tomorrow, right?
[00:34:39] Yeah, Carowinds Day tomorrow.
[00:34:41] So there is, if you did not get, if you have a teenager or you know a neighbor or somebody, a family member with teenagers, and you did not get the summer schedule for the youth,
[00:34:54] just see Todd. Where are you at, Todd? Todd, where are you at? All right, he's in the back. Stand up.
[00:35:01] See Todd. Maybe you're visiting today. You have youth. He has a whole summer schedule planned out for them to help keep them some things going on during the summer rather than just sitting around playing video games and eating Twinkies all day. Oh, it's Takis now. Okay, Takis. Takis
[00:35:21] and Twinkies. But anyway, so see him, but tomorrow kicks off their Care Wednesday. So anyway, see him, get more information about all of that. And then this coming Saturday, don't forget, is our seminar on Islam. So at 9.30 is breakfast. If you want breakfast,
[00:35:44] If you don't, just come at 10.
[00:35:47] But we have Pastor Joseph Algrary.
[00:35:51] He was here with us, but we didn't get a chance to have more of like a seminar style.
[00:35:56] People had a lot of questions.
[00:35:57] If you want to know really what he's teaching is what every Christian needs to know about Islam.
[00:36:04] And it's a very hot topic right now.
[00:36:06] And the reason he is so good at it is because he grew up in an Islamic family.
[00:36:11] but he um is a he's a christian he's a pastor now in statesville north carolina so he will be here uh saturday morning if you can uh just take about two hours of your day come i promise you you will
[00:36:27] be severely blessed by that um and probably will help you in a way in your own walk and understanding and witness to someone the lord might put in your path at some point um so there
[00:36:41] is a sign-up sheet right on the back. When you go out the front door, just look to your left on the wall. There's a sign-up sheet. Please get signed up for that. We just really want to know how much
[00:36:51] breakfast to provide and so that you make sure you have that. But go ahead and read the rest of the bulletin because there is lots in here for you. If you didn't get one of these, remember,
[00:37:02] we just do a monthly. So this is for the whole month of June. So you haven't missed anything yet, But they are out in the foyer as well on that wall.
[00:37:14] If you didn't get one last week or the week before, go grab one of these, put it up on your refrigerator, put some things on your calendar, and get connected and get involved, right?
[00:37:23] Let's fellowship together and grow together.
[00:37:27] So today, before we take offering, we have a quick mission spotlight.
[00:37:31] So two of our mission team members are going to give you a quick spotlight on one of our mission partners.
[00:37:37] So if you'll just give them a hand as they come up.

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:37:52] Yeah, it is.
[00:37:53] Hello.
[00:37:56] I want to talk to you this morning about a special missionary we have in Africa.
[00:38:02] How many of you, if I gave you time this afternoon to go home and pack your bags and be ready to go to Africa and serve on a mission field?
[00:38:09] Two?
[00:38:11] Three?
[00:38:12] Okay.
[00:38:13] I don't think they'll let you go.
[00:38:15] Anyway, Stephen Cartwright, I met him at Rusty's funeral.
[00:38:23] When I heard that man pray, that's when I started supporting him.
[00:38:28] I've been supporting him now for a number of years.
[00:38:31] Vicki supports him.
[00:38:33] He runs a mission in Africa to pastors.
[00:38:38] They bring in pastors.
[00:38:40] He sets up schools for them, and they bring in pastors.
[00:38:43] And then these pastors go back to their church.
[00:38:46] And he runs a lot of different ones.
[00:38:49] He goes to Rwanda, Kampala, Uganda.
[00:38:55] This month, he's going to Togo, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Africa.
[00:39:02] To get into South Africa, he had to go meet the people that were in charge of the missions there in Africa before they let him come into South Africa.
[00:39:14] The only problem is he didn't go this week because they had an outbreak of Ebola and they wouldn't let him come to the country.
[00:39:22] But he set up the school.
[00:39:24] He's got missionaries there that he has trained that are running the schools for him for a couple of weeks until he can get back into the country.
[00:39:35] You don't know the amount of money that it takes to run these schools and to get the people there.
[00:39:43] All we're asking for this morning is a little bit of money, like $200 a piece.
[00:39:50] How many got $200 you can give?
[00:39:52] No?
[00:39:54] Okay.
[00:39:55] How about $2?
[00:39:57] Cut it down low.
[00:40:01] It's an important mission.
[00:40:03] He has seen pastors saved when they get there.
[00:40:08] He's seen pastors filled with the Holy Spirit.
[00:40:10] He's seen marriages healed of the pastors that come.
[00:40:15] They spend one hour every morning before they start class.
[00:40:19] There's an eight-hour class a day.
[00:40:20] He spends one hour in prayer with them.
[00:40:22] And then as soon as the classes are over, they spend another hour in prayer.
[00:40:26] And it's amazing.
[00:40:28] I've got pictures.
[00:40:30] You can't see them.
[00:40:31] But this is one school with about 30 or 40 pastors there.
[00:40:36] Here's another one with about 20 pastors.
[00:40:38] And then here's another one with about 30 pastors.
[00:40:41] They're from all over Africa.
[00:40:43] They come.
[00:40:43] How many of you read about the number of people that Christians have been killed in Nigeria where Islamic people go in and shoot them while they're in the church and then burn the church down around them?
[00:40:55] He's there.
[00:40:57] People, when you give, you never know what treasures you're laying up in heaven.
[00:41:02] You're putting money into a ministry that is saving people.
[00:41:08] That's the main thing.
[00:41:09] One day you'll stand before God and he'll say, you were faithful.
[00:41:15] You gave money.
[00:41:16] And because you gave money, there's a lot of people here.
[00:41:20] You'll never know who they are until you get to heaven.
[00:41:23] Then you'll know who they are.
[00:41:25] But that's what I wanted to tell you about the ministry.
[00:41:30] Stephen is one of the most godly men I've ever met.
[00:41:35] And I heard another sermon this morning on giving.
[00:41:41] The church in Macedonia was the poorest church there was.
[00:41:49] And Paul said that the people in Macedonia took up offerings and gave them to them.
[00:41:56] They didn't have anything.
[00:41:57] They had absolutely nothing.
[00:41:59] The Romans had taken everything from them.
[00:42:01] But they took up offerings and brought them to Paul to take to the Jews in Jerusalem to help them.
[00:42:08] And that's what it is.
[00:42:09] you'll never know what you've done by sowing in missions, not only this mission, but other

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:42:15] missions. Thank you this morning. Good morning. My name's, excuse me, Dean Seeley. I'm part of the missions team. We meet monthly, sometimes a couple times a month, depending if we have fundraisers going. Speaking of which, I'll plug the Father's Day barbecue we have coming up in a
[00:42:35] couple weeks. Next week, we'll start selling some tickets. Feel free to give Dad the actual day off instead of us having to hit the grill and barbecue and make the dinner.
[00:42:44] But I want to take an opportunity to first thank everyone for all the giving and for all the time and effort and the action that you folks are putting into your mission.
[00:42:56] You'll never have an opportunity where you regret doing things for God.
[00:43:01] We only regret times that we didn't do things.
[00:43:06] I've never done something and stopped and been, and, oh, that person was so happy, I feel bad about that.
[00:43:12] Remember that your mission is incorporated into everything that we do, what you tell people, what you give people, how you treat people.
[00:43:21] Your mission is what God lays personally on to you.
[00:43:25] And just like the pastor was preaching last week about the Holy Spirit coming upon you, when you feel the Holy Spirit and you're led to do something, just do it.
[00:43:34] You won't regret it.
[00:43:35] It won't be led to do something that's detrimental to you or your family, to other people.
[00:43:41] It'll be something that'll uplift your spirit and give you a joy and a peace that, as Mike said, you may not know until the afterlife.
[00:43:50] As Miss Winnie used to say, the pay is not great, but the retirement benefits are good.
[00:43:56] So, you know, be willing to give.
[00:43:58] We have some offering envelopes that will be in front of your pew that you can do.
[00:44:03] If you do an offering, that offering is done directly to the church.
[00:44:07] If you do a tithe, the tithe is done through the Church of God.
[00:44:11] So 10% of that will go to the Church of God.
[00:44:13] The other 90% is used for the church here.
[00:44:16] There's a blank here that says other.
[00:44:19] If you write in missions, whatever you put into that, 100% of that goes directly to the missions.
[00:44:27] We have about, I've got to get my joke in, six or seven people that we sponsor.
[00:44:33] Uh, you know, that, uh, these are just different families, different groups, much like what Mike was talking about.
[00:44:39] We, we help with the children's home.
[00:44:41] There's the, the Brindles in Florida.
[00:44:43] There's just, there's a lot of organizations that we've vetted.
[00:44:46] We've put a lot of time.
[00:44:47] We don't just throw your money at things and your money does not get used for anything other than missions.
[00:44:53] So we, we send that money out as fast as it comes in.
[00:44:56] There is no designated budget for missions.
[00:44:59] All missions money is raised through donations and through fundraisers.
[00:45:05] So if you felt led to give, you know, give to missions, we will use your money to help spread the Holy Spirit of God to everyone that we can.
[00:45:14] Given that, like I say, don't miss opportunities for you to do missions in your own life.
[00:45:21] Next week we have the plentiful harvest that we do after service where you can go and serve and help people who are needy and give food and service to those who are in need.
[00:45:32] That's mission work.
[00:45:34] That's things that you can do.
[00:45:35] We do inside-out with the church once a month, twice a month, where we go out and set up tents and just offer prayer and fellowship with the community, with just people at large.
[00:45:48] All of those different things can be your mission.
[00:45:50] So find a way for you to be involved, for you to perform the things that God leads for you.
[00:45:58] All right, you want me to do the prayer?

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:46:01] Hey, let's give a hand to our mission team.
[00:46:08] And if our ushers would come forward, we're going to go ahead and take our offering so you can get prepared for that.
[00:46:13] But let me say that what Dean said is true.
[00:46:19] Missions isn't meant to compete with the local ministry of the church.
[00:46:23] So what it's meant to do is to outreach from the ministry of the church.
[00:46:26] and so we don't budget mission funds we raise them so all we really typically ask is this if you can over and above your normal giving if you could just give ten dollars a week very simple
[00:46:44] five dollars a week one dollar a week whatever you think you could do because you're saying lord i'm giving this specific and you just write missions in put that in over and above your other giving i mean god's called us here in this community this is the church's first mission but
[00:46:59] we also are called to reach out past what we physically can do and so that's why we support these mission partners they're vetted um our team does that they vet them um to make sure that they
[00:47:12] are indeed uh fulfilling their mission and so with that being said uh we just encourage you if you can to over and above your giving say hey missions and put it in there and 100 of that will go out
[00:47:26] in places that you and i can't go all right so uh we're going to go to the lord in prayer god thank you for this opportunity to be in the house thank you just for what you've already done this
[00:47:36] morning in this place what an exciting day lord for people to be baptized to profess their faith in you. God, from kids to teenagers to adults. Oh my goodness, this is the generations. Lord, what you're doing here just simply continues to amaze me, what you're doing in the midst of our
[00:47:56] church. Lord, let us continue to always be surrendered to you so we could continue to see you do more and more and more in the midst of our people. And then through our church, as we go out and as we outreach
[00:48:09] and as we share the gospel, as we do what You've commanded us to do.
[00:48:14] Lord, as we just love people the way that You love them, and Lord, they experience their identity in You through that love.
[00:48:24] God, we do love You.
[00:48:25] We thank You.
[00:48:25] We give it all to You.
[00:48:26] In the name of Jesus, we pray.
[00:48:28] Amen.
[00:48:38] As they're taking off, and I'll take this moment just to remind you of our invite cards.
[00:48:43] Everything's on that wall.
[00:48:45] So when you go out on the wall, you'll see some of these invite cards.
[00:48:49] Take some with you.
[00:48:50] And this week, purpose yourself to give a few out.
[00:48:55] Do you know what I've found?
[00:48:57] Is that when I listen to the Holy Spirit, I don't necessarily really know what somebody might need.
[00:49:03] I might not even have a clue what they've been praying.
[00:49:06] But the Holy Spirit will lead you in that moment, and you'll hand that to the right person.
[00:49:12] That's kind of how that works.
[00:49:14] Jonathan that we just baptized was invited here at Planet Fitness, right?
[00:49:19] Am I right about this?
[00:49:21] He was working out at Planet Fitness and Wes and yeah, Jason, that one, our discipleship director, invited him and look what the Lord has done from a simple invite.
[00:49:38] That's how God works.
[00:49:42] So before we jump into the next phase, I'm going to let them finish taking offering because apparently all of my notes have closed.
[00:50:12] Y'all think I'm joking.
[00:50:13] The devil's tried to disrupt.
[00:50:17] No, no, he's not going to win.
[00:50:20] He is not going to win.
[00:50:22] But I tell you, he loves to try.
[00:50:26] Before we jump into the sermon, though, I want to draw attention to a young man in here today that i think definitely deserves um some recognition jayden i want you to come up here with me i just want want people i know they see your picture but you look cooler in person but
[00:50:52] let me tell you he's he's he graduated you're officially graduated now tomorrow from south point high school and if you notice with honors and i certainly you know just graduating high school takes a lot of work but graduating with honors takes more work and and if you notice
[00:51:19] he's won uh two state championships in cross country and track and he'll be in the fall he'll be attending converse university on a full scholarship and uh mama and daddy says amen right because college is not cheap anymore but anyway he'll have a full scholarship and in the
[00:51:46] fall. He hopes to pursue a degree in law. And so praise the Lord for that. But I've seen in the short time that the family has been here at the church, he's a hard worker. He worked hard,
[00:52:03] you know. And so let me tell you, bud, you keep working hard, good things come to those who work hard. Hard work pays off. Keep doing it. Look what it did for you in high school. Do it through
[00:52:14] college. And by the way, I have you a, I don't know if you have one, but you're going to have another one. I have you a Bible getting engraved. So when it's done, I'm going to give you your
[00:52:37] college Bible to take with you. I want you to read it every day. All right. All right. We're going to jump right in to the, uh, and I'm going to talk fast today. I know we've had a lot going
[00:52:51] on. And so do not look at the time right now, whatever you do. Let's just praise the Lord that God has worked and is continually working in our midst. Amen. So we're going to jump right in
[00:53:06] though. And I'm going to open us up in prayer. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your power. Thank you for your authority, God. We just thank you, Lord,
[00:53:14] that today, Lord, you have already done great things in our midst. But God, I know based off of already the things that's tried to happen this morning that, Lord, there is more for you to do.
[00:53:26] There is more in this place for you to do in the lives of people.
[00:53:30] And today, the devil didn't want them to hear that.
[00:53:32] The devil wanted to maybe make them think that I'm just here by mistake or I'm here coincidental.
[00:53:38] I'm here because somebody was getting baptized or I'm here because I was getting recognized or for whatever reason.
[00:53:44] But the devil wants us to think that maybe where you are is all there is.
[00:53:49] but Lord we know that you have more and so today we seek you for that we thank you for that open up our hearts and our minds and our spirits to receive all that you have in Jesus name we pray
[00:54:02] amen so last Sunday we had it was we celebrated Pentecost right Pentecost today is somewhat of a springboard off of that I know I promised you that we would jump back on our series that we
[00:54:16] were on in samson but the lord would not let me leave this this week and so i have found that if we're obedient to the lord then things will god will do great things and so here we are and and
[00:54:34] so remember if you remember last week we talked about how the disciples had spent three and a half years with jesus right they had seen all the miracles they had they had heard the greatest
[00:54:43] teaching that was ever upon this earth they had they had witnessed the crucifixion they had witnessed the resurrection i mean if anybody seemed ready to change the world it was the disciples of jesus but jesus said to them essentially there's more there's something else
[00:55:04] you don't have all the power that you need so he told them to go wait go wait for the promise of the father go wait for the holy spirit right because what jesus needed them to understand
[00:55:20] was the same thing that we need to understand today in 2026 is that the holy spirit is not an accessory to the christian life the holy spirit is the power source of the christian life
[00:55:36] And so, when you think of that, there's this question that kept yearning inside of me this week that I really could not get out of my mind and out of my spirit, is that if there's more,
[00:55:51] if there's more, then why do so many Christians live with less?
[00:55:59] Like, why do so many believers know Jesus, love Jesus, attend church, and yet seem to lack the power, the boldness, the joy, the spiritual vitality that we read about in the book of Acts.
[00:56:16] Same God, right?
[00:56:18] Same Holy Spirit, same movement, same mission, same everything.
[00:56:25] Time doesn't change that.
[00:56:28] And so, if that's the case, we've got to ask ourselves two questions.
[00:56:35] Did God stop pouring?
[00:56:36] Well, the answer to that is no.
[00:56:38] Has the Holy Spirit become less powerful?
[00:56:40] The answer to that is no.
[00:56:42] So could it be that there are things in our lives that make us unavailable for the more that God wants to give?
[00:56:52] It's a question we've got to ask.
[00:56:54] Because nobody can answer that question but you and but me.
[00:57:01] Have I gotten to a place either A, that I'm comfortable or is there something in my life that's blocking the more?
[00:57:12] I thought of this as I was preparing this this week is the Bible tells us there was 120 people that was in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit, correct?
[00:57:22] Well, Jesus had more followers than the 120.
[00:57:26] So where were the other ones that weren't in the upper room?
[00:57:34] See, not everybody wants the more that Jesus wants to give us.
[00:57:43] But that brings me to our text in Acts chapter 10, a man named Cornelius.
[00:57:48] We're going to read these 13 verses.
[00:57:49] I'm going to read them very fast, so stick with me.
[00:57:52] Y'all just keep scrolling.
[00:57:54] So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come.
[00:57:59] So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.
[00:58:05] Peter began to speak now I truly understand that God doesn't show favoritism but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him he sent the message to the Israelites
[00:58:20] proclaiming the good news of the peace through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all you know the events that took place throughout all Judea beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power
[00:58:38] and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil because God was with Him.
[00:58:46] We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem and yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree.
[00:58:56] God raised up this man on the third day, obviously we know we're talking about Jesus, and caused him to be seen, not by all the people but by us whom God appointed as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
[00:59:12] He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.
[00:59:23] All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.
[00:59:30] While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message.
[00:59:39] The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
[00:59:50] For they heard them speaking in tongues and declaring the greatness of God.
[00:59:54] Then Peter responded.
[00:59:57] Pause there.
[00:59:58] so what's happening here is there was a man named Cornelius Cornelius was a very influential very powerful man he was actually a centurion of the Italian regiment basically what that meant was he had a lot of people that obeyed his command
[01:00:17] right he was very influential he had a lot of authority and he wasn't Jewish he was a Gentile But the Bible tells us that there was something pretty special about Cornelius.
[01:00:35] And so Peter, we see all this that Peter, when Peter goes to Cornelius' house, and he begins to speak to him, and we see all that the Holy Spirit is doing.
[01:00:45] So what's really remarkable about Cornelius is that he was not running from God.
[01:00:51] He was actually already pursuing God.
[01:00:55] Matter of fact, verse 2 of that, you can jot this down, But verse 2 of Acts chapter 10 says it this way.
[01:01:01] It says that he was a devout, God-fearing, generous man who prayed regularly.
[01:01:09] I mean, that's a pretty impressive spiritual resume if you think about it, right?
[01:01:13] And then I wonder how many people are in this room today or watching online or at the sound of my voice that are like Cornelius.
[01:01:23] You love God, you serve God, you pray, you give, you attend church, But deep inside, there is a holy dissatisfaction that says there is a sense that God has more.
[01:01:37] Right?
[01:01:38] So that brings me to our encounter point today.
[01:01:40] Here's our encounter point.
[01:01:42] The issue isn't whether God has more.
[01:01:46] It's whether we position ourselves to receive it.
[01:01:50] Last Sunday, many people come down and said, if God's got more, I want it.
[01:01:55] Remember, the more is the Holy Spirit.
[01:01:57] So what He said to the disciples back there in Acts chapter 1, go, go wait for the promise of the Father.
[01:02:06] And remember, in John chapter 20 and verse 22, I had showed you that Jesus, after He come back and rose from the dead and He come to where the disciples were gathered, the Bible says He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.
[01:02:22] So we understand that at salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit.
[01:02:27] But however, those same disciples that had already received the Spirit, God said, go because there's more.
[01:02:34] That is the difference from the Spirit within to the Spirit upon that the Bible talks about all through Acts.
[01:02:40] There's times when the Spirit comes upon us, that being the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
[01:02:46] And so understanding this is that the issue isn't whether God has more.
[01:02:51] It really becomes whether we're positioned ourselves to receive it.
[01:02:55] So here's the three things I'm going to give you today that I want you to fill in the blank is number one, the more can't fill what's already full.
[01:03:04] There's things in our life, it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit is less powerful, but there could be things in our lives that blocks the more.
[01:03:16] Understand that.
[01:03:16] It's not because God doesn't want you to have it.
[01:03:20] It might just be because you're not positioned yet to receive it.
[01:03:25] And that's why I want to share this with you today because i want you i want me i i really don't think there's ever a time here upon this earth that we've received all the god i think there's always a more i think we can always grow and i
[01:03:41] think sometimes if we look even back in the past we had a whole lot of more that didn't really active sometimes in our life today because we can even when we do have the baptism of the holy
[01:03:55] spirit we become very leaky vessels if you will right and so the more that we fill ourselves with something else the more might leak out and so in acts chapter 6 5 we're not going to go there but
[01:04:11] i'm going to throw it down you can write this down it introduces to us steven and i'm going to read you a couple verses from that it's not going to be on the screen but it's very important that you
[01:04:20] understand about Stephen because the Bible explains him a little bit different than they explain some of the other people. But in Acts chapter 6, beginning of verse 4, here's what it says. But we will devote ourselves, this is the apostles, to prayer and to the ministry of the
[01:04:37] word. This proposal pleased the whole company, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and Philip Procurius whatever the other name is and three other names you can look them up but I'm not going to hack their names because I'm not good at saying right but they
[01:04:57] had them but they had them stand before the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them so the word of God spread the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number the people getting saved and a large group of priests became obedience to the face now Stephen listen to this
[01:05:14] full of grace and power was performing great wonders and signs among the people opposition arose because that's what the devil does however from some of the members of the freedom synagogue composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians
[01:05:31] and from Sicilia and Asia and they began to argue with Stephen now I got to ask this question when I read that were they arguing with Stephen or were they arguing with the Holy Spirit
[01:05:41] upon Stephen because sometimes we might take these things personal and we might walk in a fence, but the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 6 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, right, but against powers, principalities, powers of darkness and principality.
[01:05:59] So understand something.
[01:06:00] They weren't arguing with a man.
[01:06:02] They were trying to argue against what the Holy Spirit was doing in the man and through the man.
[01:06:07] And so here's what's so amazing.
[01:06:10] But they were unable...
[01:06:13] Listen to this.
[01:06:14] And then it says, but they were unable.
[01:06:17] So they were arguing with him, right?
[01:06:18] But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the spirit by whom he was speaking.
[01:06:28] Stephen had the more.
[01:06:30] He was full.
[01:06:32] The Bible describes him full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit.
[01:06:38] Like it does not say in that passage that the Holy Spirit touched him.
[01:06:44] It says that he was full.
[01:06:46] Literally meaning he was occupied, he was controlled, he was influenced, he was empowered by the Holy Spirit, right?
[01:06:54] And so the problem with many of us isn't that God has stopped pouring.
[01:06:59] The problem is we're already full.
[01:07:02] This is something that can truly block what we may have even come down and said, God, I want more, I want more, I want more of you.
[01:07:09] We've got to make sure that God's got something to fill.
[01:07:13] because the Bible says a man full of the Holy Spirit.
[01:07:21] And so many times in our life, the problem is we're already full.
[01:07:28] Full of noise, full of distractions, full of entertainment, full of anxiety, full of offense, full of busyness, full of pleasure, full of anything else.
[01:07:36] We get full of the things of the world.
[01:07:43] That's why Romans 12 too tells us what?
[01:07:45] To not be conformed to this world.
[01:07:48] because what God knew was that it's so easy to be conformed to the world if you allow it.
[01:08:00] And so everybody wants more of God.
[01:08:04] Most Christians want more of God.
[01:08:05] I probably have rarely heard a professing believer, a Christian, someone who loves the Lord, someone who goes to church, someone who's seeking God, literally say to me, I don't want no more of God.
[01:08:17] I'm good.
[01:08:19] Never heard that.
[01:08:20] right so we we all we do we everybody wants more of god but nobody wants less of what competes with god i'm not going to write that one down it's a good one-liner we all want more of god but if
[01:08:38] we're going to be described like stephen is described if god's going to be working through us like he's working through stephen remember it's the same holy spirit god's still doing the same work but if we want more of god then we gotta want what less competes with god in our life
[01:08:58] if you remember first sermon of this entire year i said if you want god to tell you yes more you gotta quit telling him no because we are really good at telling god no but wanting him to tell us
[01:09:17] yes. Because the danger is this, whatever consistently fills you eventually shapes you.
[01:09:27] Let me say it this way. If you spend hours a day on social media, whether you realize it or not, it's shaping you. It's shaping your thought process. It's shaping a lot of things in your
[01:09:39] life. If fear fills you, it shapes you. If bitterness fills you, it shapes you. If unforgiveness fills you, I can promise you, it shapes you. If pride fills you, it shapes you.
[01:09:53] We can go on and on and on, right? But if the Spirit, if the Holy Spirit fills you, then He shapes you. And so the Bible tells us that Stephen become this powerful vessel because there was room for God to fill him.
[01:10:18] The problem isn't that God stopped pouring, right?
[01:10:23] The problem is that we stopped emptying.
[01:10:28] That's so annoying, it went right over your head.
[01:10:30] Listen to what I'm telling you.
[01:10:31] It's not the fact that God stopped pouring.
[01:10:34] God's still pouring.
[01:10:35] God's still pouring out His Spirit.
[01:10:37] God's Holy Spirit is the same as what we read here.
[01:10:40] God isn't somehow going, well, it's 2026.
[01:10:42] They don't need as much of my Spirit anymore.
[01:10:44] Matter of fact, we probably need more in 2076 than they had.
[01:10:49] God don't stop pouring.
[01:10:51] The problem is we stopped emptying, so God's got nothing to pour into.
[01:10:58] Some of us have been carrying around this bitterness and unforgiveness and pride for so long, we don't even realize it's a part of us anymore.
[01:11:07] The devil has somehow made us believe that this is just who you are.
[01:11:13] Not true.
[01:11:14] He wants us to believe that because if we can believe that, then we'll somehow talk ourselves into being comfortable where we are.
[01:11:24] Right?
[01:11:25] So maybe, just maybe today, God's not asking you what you need.
[01:11:31] Maybe He's asking you what you need to release.
[01:11:37] Because that thing or those things that you need to release could literally be the thing that's blocking your more.
[01:11:46] that you say i want god i want more of you god i want sometimes we like i'm tired of battling this thing so god i want more of you and god's like well then quit giving place to that thing empty
[01:11:59] that thing so that i can feel where it's at in your life we have some responsibility you know that right we absolutely have some responsibility let's get rid of the thing that's blocking because the more can't feel what's already full.
[01:12:18] So here's what happens when you're full of the wrong things.
[01:12:21] Your appetite changes.
[01:12:24] I don't know.
[01:12:25] You're going to understand what I'm about to say here.
[01:12:28] Last night, I could not decide what I wanted to eat because I had kind of eaten a late lunch.
[01:12:34] Donna had come back from a conference.
[01:12:36] It was 7 o'clock.
[01:12:38] She's like, what do you want to eat?
[01:12:39] And I'm like, I don't know.
[01:12:40] I don't really have an appetite for nothing.
[01:12:41] I didn't eat late lunch.
[01:12:42] But I knew it was 7, so I knew about 9 I was going to be hungry again.
[01:12:46] You with me?
[01:12:47] So I've got to find something to eat.
[01:12:49] But the times that I either miss lunch or I eat normal on time, about 5 or 6 o'clock, I've got an appetite for something.
[01:12:58] I'm hungry.
[01:12:59] Last night my appetite had changed because I was already full.
[01:13:03] Spiritually speaking, it happens the same.
[01:13:06] Right?
[01:13:07] It's that when we are filled with the wrong things, it literally changes our appetites because what fills you eventually feeds you and so what feeds you eventually forms your cravings think about that what we feel if it's the right thing praise
[01:13:35] the lord if it's the wrong thing that thing's going to form our cravings we're going to begin to crave those things in our lives and the Holy Spirit is going let me in but you got to get some
[01:13:49] things out so I can come in and fill those spaces many times we as people are really good at self-sabotaging what the Lord wants to do in our lives because of fear maybe it's because of
[01:14:08] anger or resentment or maybe it's because, like Peter in that, where we're at in Acts chapter 10 do you know that Peter almost did not go to Cornelius' house? He almost didn't.
[01:14:23] The Holy Spirit's telling him to go and Peter's like, no.
[01:14:27] That is not what I do. I mean, I'm paraphrasing.
[01:14:35] That's not what I do, God. I don't go to a Gentile's house.
[01:14:43] And God said, oh, yeah, you do.
[01:14:47] Go.
[01:14:49] Peter even gave a name to it.
[01:14:50] God, I don't go to the unclean people.
[01:14:55] And God said, he ain't unclean because I made him clean.
[01:14:59] Because what Peter didn't know was that the man might have been a Gentile, but he had already been in the presence of the Lord, and God had already cleaned him up.
[01:15:08] And it really didn't matter what Peter thought.
[01:15:10] He was the same importance to God as a Gentile as Peter was as a Jew.
[01:15:17] So this brings me to my second point.
[01:15:18] The more doesn't stay where hunger dies.
[01:15:21] Right?
[01:15:22] Acts 2.42, you can jot that down.
[01:15:25] It goes on to tell us they devoted themselves not occasionally, not conveniently, not when they felt like it, not when it seemed good or they needed God.
[01:15:39] No, the Bible tells us they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to prayer, and to the presence of God.
[01:15:47] See, the early church wasn't surviving spiritually.
[01:15:52] Like, they were hungry spiritually.
[01:15:55] They wanted it because we understand something is that hunger matters.
[01:16:00] Because hungry people pursue.
[01:16:04] Hungry people seek.
[01:16:07] Hungry people pray.
[01:16:09] Hungry people want what God's got for them because hungry people show up expecting God to move.
[01:16:18] What if every Sunday we showed up in our meeting here expecting God to move?
[01:16:28] What if every single person walked, got up, got dressed, and is like, God, I'm going today to meet with my brothers and sisters, I'm expecting you to move I'm not going today just because it's a Sunday
[01:16:44] I'm going because I'm expecting you to move whether it's in my life whether it's in somebody else's life whether it's in my kids or grandkids life that ain't even here but God today I'm expecting it
[01:16:57] what if we would have done that but see that's what hungry people do let me explain this when you're hungry and you eat do you expect that food to do something yes You expect it to fill that hunger, do you not?
[01:17:12] You expect a satisfying.
[01:17:16] Well, hungry people, hungry spiritual people expect God to move.
[01:17:22] And so this is where Cornelius, the Cornelius example becomes so powerful.
[01:17:27] Because when the angels appeared to him in Acts chapter 10, the Bible goes on to tell us, and you go back and read all the Acts chapter 10, but it's very important that you do, is where was Cornelius?
[01:17:38] Cornelius wasn't out fishing.
[01:17:40] Now, there's nothing wrong with fishing.
[01:17:44] Probably a bad example.
[01:17:45] I'm not saying there's anything wrong with fishing.
[01:17:49] But what Cornelius was doing was he was praying, he was seeking, he was waiting on God.
[01:17:54] He wasn't pursuing God because life was falling apart.
[01:17:59] And there's nothing wrong with that either.
[01:18:00] If your life's falling apart, please pursue God.
[01:18:03] Don't pursue anything in this world because it's not going to fill you.
[01:18:07] It's not going to satisfy you.
[01:18:09] It's not going to quench your hunger.
[01:18:11] Matter of fact, it's just going to make you more hungry because it's going to cause more problems in your life when you seek the things of the world.
[01:18:18] This world has nothing to offer you.
[01:18:21] It just continually creates a cycle of making us try to find something in the world that God's already saying, I've got for you and I'll give it to you.
[01:18:31] Right?
[01:18:32] So, they weren't pursuing...
[01:18:36] Cornelius wasn't just pursuing Him because his life was falling apart.
[01:18:40] But he was pursuing God because he believed there was still more to experience.
[01:18:46] So it's okay to say, man, I've been saved 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 60 years.
[01:18:53] But I know God's got more and I'm going to pursue that more.
[01:18:58] I'm going to find out is there something in my life that could be blocking that more.
[01:19:03] Is there some reason in life because if God's got more, then I want all that God's got.
[01:19:09] And so I'm willing to give up what might be competing with God in my life because i believe that's where many believers get stuck right sometimes in our life we get stuck not not because we stop believing not that at all but it's because we stop hungering
[01:19:26] it's because then all of a sudden prayer in our life becomes occasional told you that years ago barna created a study that said the average christian prays less than 10 minutes a week even if it was 10 minutes a day but my point is hungry people don't just pray occasionally
[01:19:53] but if we're not hungry prayer becomes occasional right worship becomes routine the bible just kind of comes familiar church becomes attendance instead of encounter and church becomes optional instead of essential that's what happens we're not hungry because what feeds you are what you
[01:20:20] feed grows in you but listen to this the opposite is true what you starve dies seen this so many times this is this is spiritual but it's also very physical in 25 years of ministry when i've
[01:20:39] watched people go on to be with the lord it's not because they're sitting around eating two big macs Well, might have been, but you get what I mean, right?
[01:20:52] When they're in hospice and they're transitioning and they're keeping them comfortable, they're not sitting at the table eating.
[01:21:04] But spiritually, the same thing applies is that what you feed grows, you know what I mean?
[01:21:11] And what you starve dies.
[01:21:15] And so the problem isn't that God stopped speaking.
[01:21:22] Maybe it's that we lost the appetite to listen.
[01:21:28] Let me say that one more time.
[01:21:29] The problem isn't that God stopped speaking.
[01:21:32] Maybe it's that we lost the appetite to listen.
[01:21:36] Because sometimes God will tell you to get rid of something that's become very familiar to you.
[01:21:43] Very familiar.
[01:21:47] And maybe you've just forgotten that that thing ain't of God anyway.
[01:21:52] And you've learned to live with it.
[01:21:54] You've learned to cope with it.
[01:21:55] But God's saying, get rid of it.
[01:21:57] because I've got more for you.
[01:22:01] And we can't just like say things like, look, in all my years of ministry, I've heard this so many times, but it's 100% typically not true.
[01:22:14] Maybe it is some occasions, but Christians are really good at saying this line.
[01:22:19] Well, I'm not convicted of that.
[01:22:22] Literally, Christians are really good at saying, well, I'm not convicted of that because what that means is if I'm not convicted of it, I don't need to change.
[01:22:29] But my question is, A, if it's in God's Word, how can you not be convicted by it?
[01:22:35] Some of us ain't gave in to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in so long.
[01:22:39] We done forgot what it feels like.
[01:22:41] Conviction means this.
[01:22:42] It's God's correction to say, get rid of that thing.
[01:22:46] That thing is holding you back.
[01:22:48] That thing is blocking what I want to do in your life.
[01:22:51] I've got so much good, big, amazing stuff for you because that's the God we serve.
[01:22:56] But get rid of that thing that's blocking it.
[01:22:58] And we don't want to explain it away to say I'm not convicted by it because if it's in God's Word and you're not convicted, then there's a whole nother problem.
[01:23:07] If I quit being convicted by what's in God's Word, then that's a bigger problem.
[01:23:15] It'd be better for me to say I'm just ignoring God's Word.
[01:23:21] But anyway, Cornelius had positioned himself in this place where God could find him.
[01:23:28] He was praying, he was seeking, he was worshiping, he was doing all these things.
[01:23:34] And he had positioned himself in the place that God could find him.
[01:23:37] And it wasn't perfect.
[01:23:39] I'm not preaching perfection.
[01:23:40] None of us can be perfect.
[01:23:41] I totally understand that.
[01:23:43] But because the thing was that he was just hungry.
[01:23:46] He was hungry for more.
[01:23:48] He knew that God had more.
[01:23:49] And so he wanted it.
[01:23:51] Third thing.
[01:23:52] Here's the third obstacle.
[01:23:53] And the last one is this.
[01:23:55] The more never settles in comfort.
[01:23:59] Jimmy, y'all come on up.
[01:24:03] But I want y'all to listen as they're coming.
[01:24:05] Don't even pay attention to them.
[01:24:06] I'm just moving this along.
[01:24:07] for y'all but acts 10 is a story more of than just about cornelius there are two characters in this story there's cornelius but there's also peter the apostle peter this was also a story about peter like peter was was praying when god gives him this vision and the vision literally
[01:24:34] challenged everything that Peter thought he knew. Listen to what I'm telling you. Peter was a man of God. Peter had walked with Jesus for three and a half years. Peter was there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell upon him. Peter was the one who preached this magnificent
[01:24:56] first Pentecost sermon that 3,000 people got saved. The Lord was working in Peter.
[01:25:06] He was not the same Peter that denied Jesus and was hiding out.
[01:25:11] But understand something, even in all of that, the Holy Spirit challenges Peter in what he thought that he knew.
[01:25:23] I feel like the Lord is trying to say that sometimes some of the things that maybe we've just been taught that was wrong, maybe some of the things that we have held on to that says,
[01:25:38] I'm not going to open myself up to see if God's got more.
[01:25:43] I'm just going to hold on to this because that's where Peter was.
[01:25:46] Even though God had given him more.
[01:25:48] Listen, God had taken him from the timid denier of Jesus to the Holy Spirit filled preacher and God is still giving him more.
[01:26:03] Are you understanding me today?
[01:26:05] God is still giving him more.
[01:26:08] And he's challenging Peter on what Peter very thought that he knew, his traditions, his assumptions.
[01:26:15] Dare I say it, his comfort zone.
[01:26:18] Because that's what he was saying.
[01:26:19] God, I don't go to Gentiles' house.
[01:26:24] That's not what I do.
[01:26:25] I'm not comfortable doing that.
[01:26:28] And God's like, well, I am comfortable in you doing that.
[01:26:33] That's what we say sometimes.
[01:26:34] God, I know, God, you're not asking me to do that.
[01:26:37] And God's like, oh, yeah, I am.
[01:26:40] But let me tell you something.
[01:26:41] And then we have to make a choice.
[01:26:43] Because both people in this passage in Acts chapter 10 had to make a choice.
[01:26:49] Cornelius had to make a choice when God told him to send for Peter.
[01:26:53] He could have said, this man's never going to come to my house.
[01:26:58] He could have said, this man ain't worthy to come to my house.
[01:27:02] I'm a centurion.
[01:27:04] He had to move.
[01:27:06] But Peter had to move too.
[01:27:07] because God challenged all of Peter's traditions, all of his thoughts, all of what he thought that he knew.
[01:27:18] And God said, I'm challenging your very comfort zone.
[01:27:23] And Peter had to choose.
[01:27:24] Am I going to move or am I not going to move?
[01:27:28] So the question was simply that.
[01:27:32] Am I going to move or am I not?
[01:27:34] And I think that's still the question today.
[01:27:38] in many believers we want more of God until the more requires you to change like Peter Peter could have been like sorry God I'll do anything else for you ever been there God I'll do anything else for you
[01:28:00] but could you could you send Paul over there he's much better at that than me so God let's make a deal God I'll do this for you and let somebody else do that.
[01:28:16] No, it doesn't work.
[01:28:17] Because we want more of God until it requires us to change.
[01:28:22] Right?
[01:28:23] Until the more of God requires us to surrender, until the more of God calls us to be bold when we're timid and we like to stay behind the scenes and God says, when you come to this drive-thru window today,
[01:28:37] I want you to hand them a card, invite them to church and ask them what you can pray for them.
[01:28:42] Or when the waitress comes to your table and God says, she's going through a hard time and I want you to pray for her.
[01:28:52] And you're like, God, I'm timid.
[01:28:54] I don't do that kind of stuff.
[01:28:57] And God says, if you want more, you're going to do it.
[01:29:01] One time we were at Texas Roadhouse.
[01:29:06] By the way, I love their ribs.
[01:29:15] They should give me free ribs for that.
[01:29:18] But my wife is really good.
[01:29:20] She is even much better at me than that.
[01:29:24] And one time, the waitress come to our table to just take our order.
[01:29:29] But Donna knew the purpose was bigger because that's what Donna does.
[01:29:33] And she said to her, before you take our order, I'd like to know if we can pray for you.
[01:29:38] And the girl just started crying because she was going through a hard time.
[01:29:44] Because she was going through a difficult season in her life.
[01:29:48] And everybody wants her to take their order and bring her their food.
[01:29:52] But not everybody wants to say, hold off on the food.
[01:29:56] Let's figure out if we can minister to you right now.
[01:30:01] Because the more never settles in our comfort.
[01:30:05] Sometimes God requires us to be bold when we don't want to be bold.
[01:30:10] Because that's what the early church did.
[01:30:13] The early church did not pray for comfort.
[01:30:15] They didn't say, God, give us more comfort today.
[01:30:18] Did they?
[01:30:19] No, Acts chapter 4 says they literally said, God, give us boldness.
[01:30:23] and after they had prayed, the Bible goes on to tell us that the place was shaken and once again, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
[01:30:37] Here's your good one-liner you might want to write down.
[01:30:40] You cannot stay safe and change the world at the same time.
[01:30:48] You cannot operate and stay in your comfort zone and change the world at the same time.
[01:30:57] You've got to be, that's where Peter was.
[01:31:00] He said, God said, I've got something new for you to do, Peter.
[01:31:03] Something I've never asked you to do before.
[01:31:05] But something that's going to challenge the very fabric of your belief system.
[01:31:13] But I've got it for you to do.
[01:31:16] Go do it and watch what happens.
[01:31:18] And the Bible goes on to tell us, you know the rest.
[01:31:20] As we read it.
[01:31:21] So Peter goes.
[01:31:24] And he's amazed by what he saw.
[01:31:27] These, and here's what's so amazing.
[01:31:30] What Cornelius did, Cornelius, the Bible says he had invited his whole family to be a part of what God was going to do that he didn't know God was going to do yet.
[01:31:44] He didn't understand what God was about to do, but he had anticipation and he said, I'm sending who you told me to send for.
[01:31:52] So therefore, God, I'm going to be ready for what you're going to do.
[01:31:57] so Cornelius had to move he had to get out of his comfort zone Peter had to move and get out of his comfort zone because here's the problem is that comfort wants you to stay
[01:32:12] where you are are you with me?
[01:32:16] come on comfort wants you to stay right where you are but that might not be where God wants you to stay because the spirit typically calls us to go where we've never been Always doing something.
[01:32:32] Like, comfort says this, and I'm going to close on this.
[01:32:35] Comfort says, maintain.
[01:32:39] Manage.
[01:32:40] Stay where you are.
[01:32:42] But the Spirit says, move.
[01:32:44] Comfort says, right?
[01:32:47] Just preserve where you are.
[01:32:50] Just hang out there and maybe this will blow over, but the Spirit says, like He did to Peter, trust me.
[01:32:57] I've got something new for you.
[01:32:59] Something you've never done before.
[01:33:00] I'm going to take you to a place you've never been.
[01:33:03] And because of that, not only is Cornelius and his family going to be blessed by it, but Peter, you're going to be blessed by it.
[01:33:09] Because I'm going to change some of the misconceptions in your head that you've got about me.
[01:33:14] And I'm going to show you that I'm a bigger God than you've experienced to this moment.
[01:33:20] And he had experienced some great things.
[01:33:22] Don't get me wrong.
[01:33:23] I am not downplaying where Peter was.
[01:33:27] He had experienced some pretty great things.
[01:33:29] But God said, I've got something even greater for you.
[01:33:32] Because your comfort tells you, play it safe.
[01:33:37] Right?
[01:33:38] But the Spirit says, nah, follow me.
[01:33:43] And so, in that, let's stand.
[01:33:54] Here's our conclusion today.
[01:33:55] When Peter arrived at Cornelius' house, something really remarkable happened.
[01:34:03] He walks in.
[01:34:04] He sees Cornelius, whom he had never met.
[01:34:09] And he sees his friends.
[01:34:11] He sees his whole household.
[01:34:12] he sees his family and all of a sudden he begins to see what god did as he was obedient to what the lord told him to speak and to do and that is literally what you see at the end of that
[01:34:33] is the three things that we talked about today that's expectation that's faith and that's hunger and so while peter was still preaching the bible says the holy spirit fell not because God suddenly became willing, God's always willing, but because the people had positioned themselves
[01:34:57] to receive. So let me just clear this up. Today, we don't have to ask, does God have more? I really think the book of Acts settles that question for us. God has more. God's never a God that doesn't
[01:35:15] have more. He definitely has more. The question is threefold today. And these are questions I want to ask you. Number one, are you too full? Number two, has your hunger died? Or number three, have you become too comfortable? Because the same spirit that filled Stephen, the same spirit that
[01:35:41] fell on Cornelius, and the same spirit that literally shook the early church still desires to fill believers today. So where you are, I just want you to bow your head and close your eyes.
[01:35:57] today before we ask God for more power.
[01:36:04] And last week we did.
[01:36:05] We came down and we said, God, if there's more, I want it.
[01:36:07] Maybe some of you have experienced that more this week.
[01:36:12] Maybe you've experienced the filling, the Spirit coming upon you.
[01:36:15] Maybe you experienced that baptism of the Holy Spirit.
[01:36:18] But maybe some of you left going, and here you are a week later going, I didn't experience anything new.
[01:36:27] So maybe today before we ask God for more power, maybe we need to ask Him if there's something standing in the way.
[01:36:35] Is there something, God?
[01:36:37] And that's only something you can ask.
[01:36:40] You have to ask Him, God, is there something standing?
[01:36:42] And I'm going to encourage you, not just now, but continually, ask God that question and listen to what He might reveal.
[01:36:55] Maybe ask it this way.
[01:36:56] You can ask it.
[01:36:57] Say, Lord, what in my life that needs emptying?
[01:37:01] Is there something in my life, God, that needs emptying?
[01:37:05] Lord, where has my hunger faded for you?
[01:37:08] God, I can remember a time in my life I was so hungry for you.
[01:37:12] I was so thirsty for you.
[01:37:14] God, I couldn't get out of your word.
[01:37:16] I couldn't stop studying and praying and reading.
[01:37:19] God, I wasn't even happy.
[01:37:21] I wasn't even comfortable doing other things because God, I continually wanted more.
[01:37:27] And all of a sudden, God filled you.
[01:37:30] But God, there's something in my life Lord that has faded in my hunger Lord is there a place or places in my life that I've become comfortable is there a place that I've become so
[01:37:45] comfortable that I've explained away things that you're trying to show me am I like Peter and God I'm explaining away things because of my traditions or things that I've just been taught instead of things that I've sought
[01:38:03] things that I've listened to on YouTube things that I've googled that I don't even realize don't align with Your Word.
[01:38:13] But God, if I'm Yours, I'll know Your voice.
[01:38:20] So Lord, today I want You to speak to me.
[01:38:23] And as we surrender those things, then let us ask boldly, Holy Spirit, fill me again.
[01:38:33] Or Holy Spirit, fill me fresh.
[01:38:37] Or Holy Spirit, fill me with the more because God still has more for His people.
[01:38:47] They're going to close us in our closing song.
[01:38:52] And I'm going to ask.
[01:38:53] Altars are going to be opened.
[01:38:55] Maybe throughout this, the Lord has so clearly spoke to you.
[01:39:00] Please, please do not explain it away.
[01:39:03] Don't do the Peter thing when He explained it, but do do the Peter thing when He received it.
[01:39:12] And maybe you just need to come.
[01:39:13] Maybe there's something you're like, I'm leaving here and I'm not taking it with me because I know this is the block. I know this is the thing that's preventing my more and I want it. But I'm going to go ahead and let you in on a
[01:39:24] secret. Letting go of the things in your life that compete with God won't be easy. It takes determination. It takes seeking. It takes opening yourself up to the Lord. It takes hunger in your life to say this thing's got to go because it's preventing the more in my life
[01:39:49] maybe today your more is salvation maybe you don't know if you died today that you would go to heaven maybe you just thought you were coming to see a baptism but today if that's you nobody's
[01:40:01] looking around i want you to pray this prayer with me if you really really say today god my more is salvation i want to be saved just pray this prayer dear god thank you for your son jesus
[01:40:11] who came and died on the cross to pay the penalty of my sins.
[01:40:16] Today, God, I recognize that I'm not saved.
[01:40:20] God, today I recognize that I want salvation.
[01:40:25] And so today, I ask for forgiveness of every sin I've ever committed.
[01:40:30] I'm asking for you to step out of heaven and step into my life.
[01:40:33] I'm asking you to fill my life, every void in my life, every place in my life that I've put other things, worldly things before you.
[01:40:45] God, I'm asking for you to fill them, remove them, take residence in my life.
[01:40:50] God, today I'm willing to surrender my life to you.
[01:40:53] I know it's going to be hard, God, because Lord, there's things that maybe I've had in my life my whole life.
[01:41:00] Or maybe there's things in my life that I've got pretty accustomed to.
[01:41:03] But honestly, God, I have sought the world more than I've sought you.
[01:41:08] And so God, today I'm done with that.
[01:41:10] I'm tired of that.
[01:41:11] Lord, today I want you and only you.
[01:41:13] Because God, I want the more that you have.
[01:41:16] I want salvation.
[01:41:17] I want the more of your Holy Spirit.
[01:41:19] God, I want the more peace, the more joy, the more love, the more identity, the more everything, God, that I can truly not turn to the world, but I can turn to you.
[01:41:32] So God, today I'm willing to surrender my life to you.
[01:41:35] God, I'm asking you to save me in this place on May the 31st of 2026 at Encounter Fellowship.
[01:41:45] God, today, save me.
[01:41:47] That's the more I need.
[01:41:49] In Jesus' name we pray.
[01:41:51] Now they're going to play.
[01:41:52] Altars are open if you want to come and pray.
[01:41:53] If you need special prayer, I'm going to be right here if you want me to pray over you for anything.

[01:41:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:41:59] You keep praying.

[01:46:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:46:34] You don't have to stop.
[01:46:35] You can stay here all day and pray if you'd like.
[01:46:37] We are going to close out.
[01:46:39] I know it's a little later than normal, but the Lord has done some great things in this place today.
[01:46:44] And that's what really matters.
[01:46:45] I'd rather leave later, knowing I've been in the presence of an almighty God, than get out really quick going, why did I go to church today?
[01:46:53] You know?
[01:46:55] And so, but I want to add prayer or something.
[01:47:00] CJ, don't raise your hand, don't move, don't stand on the pews or none of such a thing.
[01:47:04] But the young man that you see back there with the neck brace on, he's pretty easy to identify.
[01:47:09] I want you to pray for him because he had a pretty bad collision.
[01:47:15] He plays varsity football for Rock Hill High and he had a pretty bad collision at practice.
[01:47:20] He's cracked some vertebrae, but God will heal that vertebrae, will He not?
[01:47:24] God will heal that spine.
[01:47:26] So when you pray this week, we pray for God to heal.
[01:47:32] As a young man, pretty much for six weeks has to wear that neck brace.
[01:47:36] He can't take it off.
[01:47:37] And so we're going to pray for God to heal that.
[01:47:39] Lord, in the name of Jesus, We pray for those vertebrae.
[01:47:42] We pray for that spine.
[01:47:44] Lord, whatever the MRI showed, Lord, that just showed what you can do.
[01:47:49] That just showed that you can heal.
[01:47:51] That just showed that you can mend.
[01:47:53] And so, Lord, right now, in the name of Jesus, we ask for you to heal CJ.
[01:47:58] Heal his body.
[01:47:59] Heal his bones.
[01:48:00] Whatever it may be.
[01:48:01] But, Lord, not just heal them, but heal them permanently.
[01:48:05] We give it to you.
[01:48:06] We thank you in advance for what you're doing even right now.
[01:48:09] In Jesus' name we pray.
[01:48:11] Amen.
[01:48:13] Jimmy, close us.

[01:48:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:48:17] Let me grab a mic that doesn't have effects on it.
[01:48:26] Wow, what a Sunday.
[01:48:28] Isn't it great when we just say that every Sunday?
[01:48:31] Wow, what a Sunday.
[01:48:33] The Spirit's moving.
[01:48:34] Thank you for being with us today.
[01:48:36] We pray that you will take what you heard today into your heart and out into the world that needs it.
[01:48:41] If we can have the benediction up there, we can read it together.
[01:48:45] May the Lord bless you and keep you, protect you.
[01:48:48] May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
[01:48:52] May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
[01:48:55] Amen.
[01:48:56] Shalom.
[01:48:57] Go in prayer.