Your Phone Updates Every Week. When Did You Last?

Sermon outline

The Holy Spirit lives in you to update you, and He works through three relationships: with God, with the people around you, and with your own world, which you shape by your words.

1. Come ready for an update

   Our walk with God is not the same old thing; we have a living faith, a living word and the Holy Spirit living in our hearts. If you are still doing life the way you did at the beginning, delete the old programs, because holding on to old ways of thinking is why you cannot change when God brings change. Find your own path with God rather than copying how others pray or worship; your walk with Him is as individual as your fingerprint.

   Illustration: On Friday the Lord asked her why she was still doing something a certain way, and she had not even noticed the habit. She is not talking about sin, just ways of thinking we are used to.

   “Every Sunday you come to church, you should be ready for an update.”

   • Hebrews 4:12
   • Psalm 16:11

2. Find your gifting and be the best you

   Everyone has a different gifting. Hers is nurturing; she cannot help helping and connecting people. She sees connecting in Pastor Adrian, fixing and building in Pastor Wesley, who took apart every toy car he was given, and building leaders in her husband, Dr RJ Sing. Stop being depressed that you are not better than your neighbour, do not post to be noticed, and let your actions speak; God will make room for your gift.

   Illustration: Getting off a bicycle at the gym, a stranger told her she was married to a policeman who had been a colonel; the woman's mother knew her. You have an audience watching you that you do not even know about. And the car with a fish sign that cuts in front of you shows the scripture flying out of the window.

   “You never have to want to be noticed. God will cause you to be noticed.”

   • Proverbs 18:16

3. Who the Holy Spirit is

   Jesus promised another Helper, allos, one just like Him, who does in His absence what He would do if He were physically present. The Holy Spirit is comforter, intercessor, counsellor, strengthener and standby, ready for immediate deployment, and He is ever present. Do not cry out for more of Him; He is asking for more of you. Without Him you cannot be a witness or change, but in Him we move from fear to faith and from anxiety to stability.

   “Don't cry out, "Lord, I need more of you." What he's asking you is, "Give me more of you."”

   • John 14:16-17
   • Acts 1:8
   • Jude 1:20

4. Relationship number one: with God

   The Holy Spirit sheds God's unconditional love abroad in our hearts, ignites a passion for God and teaches us to pray, even in a language we do not understand. Time with Him changes your language, your thinking and your intelligence, so you stop doing foolish things. She describes her own prayer time with music, a Bible and a journal, reading a book in each Testament and writing down what He says. Take your household budget to the Lord: you do not need more income but the wisdom to handle what you have.

   Illustration: Some years ago in prayer the Lord told her to live simply, and the leadership went through the church's monthly payments and cut about two hundred and forty thousand. Within a year COVID closed the churches, many of which never reopened, but this one was prepared. She had also asked the church to switch from cash to EFTs to save bank charges, so giving carried on when the doors were shut.

   “It's not more income that you need. It's the smartness to handle the income you have.”

   • Romans 5:5
   • Matthew 19:16-19
   • Romans 8:26
   • Acts 6:10

5. Relationship number two: with each other

   Your talent is not enough to make you a success; you need people. Love your neighbour as yourself, walk in peace with everyone and owe no one anything but love, because poor relationships stop your blessings. You cannot love an irritating person in your own strength, but the Holy Spirit helps. Even the Son of God began His assignment by choosing twelve men.

   Illustration: The paralysed man could not get to Jesus, but his friends opened the roof and lowered him down. When you need a door opened, you had better have some friends around you. She admits it took her a long time to learn patience with people.

   “What makes us think that we can accomplish anything on our own if the Son of God couldn't do it on His own?”

   • John 15:12
   • Proverbs 18:19
   • Luke 6:38
   • Romans 13:8
   • Mark 2:3-5

6. Relationship number three: with your world, by your words

   Your world is your domain and area of influence, and you dominate it with your words, as Adam named the animals. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Jacob told Laban that whoever had stolen his idol would die, not knowing Rachel had it, and she died giving birth to Benjamin. Paul imprisoned believers and spent much of his own life in prison, and James and John asked for a cup they would drink. Parents, stop cursing your children. Good leaders also learn to listen: quick to hear and slow to speak.

   Illustration: She tells Pastor, when he gets angry, to be still, and recalls a Korean film in which someone simply says, shut your mouth.

   “Your world is created by your words.”

   • Genesis 2:19-20
   • Romans 8:11
   • Matthew 12:37
   • Proverbs 18:21
   • Romans 8:19
   • Genesis 31:32
   • Genesis 35:16-19
   • Galatians 6:7
   • Matthew 20:20-23
   • Acts 12:2
   • James 1:19

In this message