July 1 AM - Travis Holownia

https://quiz.liveresurgence.com/sela

https://liveresurgence.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

My name is Travis Helonia. I lead a ministry called Resurgence Initiatives. We're from Edmonton, and for the last 17 years, our mandate's to reach people, revive churches, and release leaders. And we've been sharing uh I've been here Monday, Tuesday, uh here today, tomorrow, and you're stuck with me till Friday. So um hopefully you're good with that. Um if not, you will be good with it. Amen. Um, but uh wanted to uh you know just jump into the word right away. Before I did so, I I felt the Lord um direct me and I want to say something uh before I jump in. I I want to honor two people in this room, and I felt the Lord really impress this on my heart. I want to honor Pastor Phil and Marla this morning. And Pastor Phil has been a dear friend of mine, and we don't see each other a lot because of busy schedules and stuff, but I just I get to see Phil a little bit behind the scenes, and I see the character, the integrity of and who Phil is. And many people see Phil on a stage, but I get to see the behind under the hood a little bit. And I just, man, I honor you, bro, and I just love you, and I just want to just honor you publicly because and ministry is a team, and I know Marla, you you're it's both. And sometimes you're behind the scenes, not people see you, but I just feel like the Lord just want to highlight and just say, thank you guys for your investment in the kingdom. When you with the things that nobody sees, the prayers that you pray, the things that you go through that nobody knows about, and yet you get up on a stage and you preach, and people come to Jesus every week, and revival's happening in Hope City, but um the stuff behind the scenes is what matters, and I just honor you guys publicly. Thanks for being incredible leaders. The kingdom is so rich to have you guys in it, and just I want to publicly honor. I know that's saying you're not about that. Like please don't do that. But I just I need to take this moment and do that. And uh, I believe honors do where uh we need to give honor where honors due. And so uh there's so many great pastors in the room. Yeah, I give a this week. We've been talking about the life of Peter. I also want to honor someone else, and you may hear them, but my wife Jess is here this morning, and our son Elijah. So if you hear a kid screaming, you go, that's that's my son. So um he's receiving what the Lord is doing. Um but so honored to have them here. On Monday morning, we talked about uh the life of Peter. We started about, we watched Jesus step into Peter's boat. We saw an ordinary life of a fisherman become a disciple. We discovered that an empowered life begins with a surrendered yes. And so talking about empowered life, how do we live an empowered life? On Tuesday, yesterday, we talked about Peter being restored, about how he denied Jesus. He ran, he carried shame. Uh but Peter thought his story was over, but it wasn't over because Jesus came and said, it's only the beginning, Peter. And that's for every one of us. We talked about church hurt yesterday, and as I walked around the grounds, people came up to me, thanks for sharing that. God set me free of hurt. God set me free. Listen, God wants to set us free from the hurts and pains so that we can receive all that God has for us. But Peter isn't just simply called, Peter isn't just simply restored. We see in Scripture that Peter's actually filled as well. See, a question that's been on my mind is what actually changed in Peter? Where was this change that happened in Peter? I like studying leadership, I like studying the formation of leaders. And I look at the life of Peter and I'm like, okay, Peter's on this trajectory, he's called by Jesus, then he's restored, but where did life change happen? Because we see if we fast forward to the end of the week on Friday, we're gonna talk about a Peter that's very different than we saw on Monday. Peter's life has changed. Think about it. How does a fisherman become the leader of the early church? How does a man who denied Jesus to a servant girl become the man who stands before thousands and boldly proclaims Christ? How does someone move from fear to courage? From insecurity to confidence, from hiding to preaching? What changed? Was it another sermon? I don't think so. Peter had listened to the greatest preacher who ever lived. He already had that. Was it another Bible study? No. I mean, there was no alpha, but he had spent three years learning directly from Jesus. Was there more information? See, information can change your mind, but here's what I've discovered encounter changes your life. And Peter encountered Holy Spirit. And I believe that's what still changes people today. Not merely information, not just knowing about God, but when you encounter him, everything changes. See, if I convince you to become a Christian and a follower of Jesus, somebody can unconvince you in your mind. But if you encounter him and he becomes real in your heart, there's nothing that can change that. Because he's revealed himself to you. You've seen him. And here's a question I want to wrestle with this morning. If the same Holy Spirit is available today, what keeps us from encountering him? Why don't we encounter him more? Because I don't think most Christians reject Jesus. I think many of us simply build walls, if we're being honest. Walls of disappointment, can I say? Walls of fear, walls of pride, walls of familiarity, walls built because someone misrepresented God. Walls built because we've seen unhealthy things in the church. Walls built because somewhere along the journey our hunger slowly cooled off. We had an amazing experience at Alberta Beach in 1988 and it stayed there. And we're like, wow, that was great in 1988. But it cooled off since. And before we know it, we actually the very walls that we built to protect our hearts become the walls that protect us from encountering God. They stop us from encountering God. Now, when I mention the Holy Spirit, people respond in different ways. Some of you become excited, some of you become nervous, some of you immediately remember beautiful moments. Maybe at this altar at Alberta Beach, you you remember these moments. Others immediately remember confusing moments, maybe even painful moments. Maybe you've seen emotionalism without transformation. Maybe you've seen manipulation. Maybe you've seen the spiritual gifts misused. And so when I say Holy Spirit, it triggers some things in your mind. Maybe you quietly thought, I'm not sure I want that. As I prayed this week, I kept coming back to Acts 19. And Paul goes to a group of believers. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And their answer amazes me. They say, We didn't even know there is a Holy Spirit. And as I prayed as this passage, the Lord reminded me there are still some different responses today. Some people have never really heard about Holy Spirit. Others know about him, but live as a he doesn't exist. Some have embraced Holy Spirit, but somewhere along the way became more fascinated with the experiences than with Jesus. More interested in the manifestations than the mission of God. More interested in gifts than character. But then there are just people that are just simply hungry, hungry for his presence, hungry for his voice, hungry to encounter him afresh, hungry for his power to become more like Jesus, to be used by God. And that's my prayer this morning for us at Alberta Beach. That we'd be hungry for all that God would have for us, that no wall, no constriction, no past thing that we've seen or experienced would hinder what he wants to do in our hearts today. Can I hear an amen to that? And can I encourage someone before we read the text? God's not offended by honest questions. He's not limited by your disappointment. And he's certainly not limited by someone else's poor example. Don't let someone's abuse of God's gift keep you from receiving the gift. I simply want to ask one question today. What is the wall standing between you and a fresh encounter of the Holy Spirit? What is the barrier? Let's read together if you have your Bibles in Acts chapter 2, verse 1. This verse is probably familiar to many of us Pentecostals. But when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together, everybody say, All in one place. Suddenly a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Who are who are aren't all who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in their native language? Perithans, Medis, Elamites, residents of Mesotopia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Fire Gea and Pamph. You know, how do you say some of these words? Egypt, tongues, and the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues, amazed and perplexed. They ask each other what does this mean? However, some of them made fun of them. They said they've had too much wine. They were German. We're Pentecostal camp. You know, everything changes in this chapter. Rome is still ruling. Persecution has disappeared. Hasn't disappeared. The disciples are still ordinary people, yet history changes. Why? Because heaven came near, the Holy Spirit was poured out. And the same Peter who denied Jesus only weeks earlier now stands with a courage that he never possessed before. He encountered Holy Spirit. And I want to look at five walls today and five points that I feel like you're going to hear some walls, but I'm going to hear five points today that I just believe that it is important for us to understand about encountering Him. Number one, encounter is personal. Encounter is personal. Acts 2, 1 to 4, you know, let's begin with this first truth. Acts tells us they were all together in one place, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. Not just Peter, not just John, not just the apostles, all of them. Young, old, men, women, every believer. This would have been shocking in that day. Because for generations people associated God's presence with one place, the temple. God's presence was in the temple. And if you wanted to meet with God, you went to Jerusalem. You went to that one place. You went to the temple where God was. But you know what happened at Pentecost? Pentecost changed everything. See, the greatest miracle of Pentecost isn't simply that people spoke in other languages and the tongues were given. The greatest miracle is that God's address changed. His presence moved from a building into people, into the church, into us. You and I are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. That's incredible. That is a great miracle that we sometimes gloss over and we miss. God isn't looking for a building to fill, He's looking for surrendered hearts to fill. And people, you know, at Pentecost, God came where people were. That's a change. Christianity is not primarily about going to a place, it's about becoming a dwelling place for God's presence. If you have no taken notes, write that down. Christianity is not about going to a place, it's about becoming a dwelling place for his presence. See, God wants to walk with you not just on Sunday at church, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, in your truck, in your kitchen, wherever you go, his presence in your classroom, in your joy, in your grief, in your retirement, wherever you are. This isn't about a visitation. This is about relationship. But here's the first wall. Some people believe that's not for me. That's a lie. That's a lie. I'm gonna say it right now. Pentecost wasn't reserved for super Christians. You don't have to belong to a denomination. You don't have to have a badge, you don't have to go to Bible school. It's for everyone. It's not for pastors, it's not for the spiritual lead, it's for everyone. Everyone. If Peter could be filled, you and I could be filled. If the disciples could encounter God, you can encounter God. It's personal for every single one of us. You know, I was trained as an engineer, as I mentioned, and I I suffer with a mind of analysis. You know, some people call it the paralysis of analysis. I'm an analytical person. So when I was growing up and I'm hearing about Holy Spirit, I'm just like, okay, how does that fit? I couldn't fit God. And I love spreadsheets. Does anybody like Excel spreadsheets? Oh, yeah, I see those hands. A lot of hands. Here's what I discovered: God doesn't fit between cell A1 and C9. The Holy Spirit is outside of my box. And I have a problem with that. And I had to come to a moment where I said, God, you're not smaller than me, you're bigger than me. I can't fit you in my life. I fit in your life. I don't understand how the spirit moves. I don't understand how, like the wind, we don't see it, but we see the effects of it. And I have to give up my desire to figure it all out and embrace the mystery that I cannot see. And at that moment, that's when I actually received my prayer language. That's the moment God became so real to me because I had to let go of my intellectual figuring it out. And I go, okay, God, I want all that you have for me. I want all that you have for me. I was visiting Burundi a few years ago, and again, this is my journey of encountering the Holy Spirit. But I was visiting our missionaries in Burundi from the POC, the Comans. And on the way to a meeting, we got pulled over and we got stopped by a set of guards. And they pulled over on the side of the road and pulled out AK-47s. What do you do in that moment? We never had our passport. They were threatening to take us to jail. There was no way out. Elmer Comant was back at the house wondering where we were, starting to call the jails to figure out where we got put because it was a tense situation. And as we're there, I'm like, okay, I love you, God. I love you, but we need help. And right away, Holy Spirit put a word in my heart for the guy with the AK-47. What do you do with that? I didn't hear this at Bible school. I don't know what to do. So I share it with the pastor with me. I said, I think Jesus wants to heal his wife. And he's like, You're crazy. I'm like, So we waited an hour. I said, Well, you you wait on that. You wait. He goes, Yeah, I'm not gonna share that. More guys come around with guns, nothing is happening, they're ready to take us. Like it was bad. And finally he goes, Well, I'm sharing it. We got nothing else. So he said, God wants to, and right away, those guys got even worse, mad. How who are you guys? Why are you here? It just changed. It it the whole situation changed. Out of nowhere, a guy comes out of the bush with quick silver shirt and shorts and a walkie-talkie and says, I'm in charge here. You can go. Okay. As we start the car, the guy with the gun comes back with a whole bunch of other guys with guns and says, Stop. It's not my wife, it's my daughter. Can you lay hands on me? So I had to get out of the car with the AK-47 barrel pointing at me. I'm like, I prayed, eyes open. I'm telling you, it was the quickest prayer. God heal. And I ran to the car and we were out of there. But there's moments where the Holy Spirit, can I tell you, a life with Holy Spirit's changed my life? My ministry, everything. Because opportunities come, situations. I could go on and on. I was at an airport, we were in an airport, and the Grammy Award-winning artist came into the airport. She's won 10 Grammys, and we got to minister to her, lay hands on her. Why? Because I had a word in my heart that I felt I just a nudge from Holy Spirit saying, minister to her. And we ministered to her daughter. She broke in tears. And then the Grammy Award-winning artist came over. She's in the rock and roll hall of fame. She comes over and says, Can you pray for me too? You never know how God will use you after we encounter him. Like it's it's a whole new world. He uses us every day. His spirit is with us. Point number two: encounter breaks down the walls. Encounter breaks down the walls. I've noticed something, you know, very few people reject Jesus. Most people reject the experience they had with the people of church or the church. Sometimes walls are built because of disappointment. Sometimes walls are built because of church hurt. We talked about that yesterday. Sometimes because prayers weren't answered the way we hoped they would be answered. Because we've seen unhealthy expressions, we have labels. We say, well, I'm not one of those Pentecostals. I'm not one of those crazy people. We've settled at times and we've said, well, I'm not, I'm not big P. Pentecostal, I'm little P. Pentecostal, or whatever that means. Labels. And I'm not, and I'm not criticizing if you've said that. I'm just saying we liken our culture to label. I'm not that, I'm this. We identify with different things. And sometimes we're defining ourselves by what we're not instead of what we are. And I think we need to identify ourselves with what we are. My son is just shouting me down in the front row. Can I lovely say something in a loving way? Some labels become walls. And we begin defining ourselves by what we're against instead of who we're pursuing. You know, I've preached in alliance churches that were more desperate and hungry for God than the most charismatic churches. I've preached in Baptist churches, I've preached in all types of churches, and here's because hunger isn't determined by the sign on the building or the denomination, it's determined by the heart of the people. And I just want to ask us, let's get hungry for God afresh. I don't care what church you go to, what denominate, what, let's just be hungry for God. Hunger is determined by the posture of our heart. As I've traveled globally, can I tell you that the spirit-empowered movement, Pentecostals and beyond, is the fastest growing movement on planet earth right now in terms of Christianity? There are almost 700 million believers that say we're spirit-empowered. It's the fastest growing movement. Why? Because people around the world aren't looking for another religious system. They're looking to encounter him. You go to Africa and people, they don't have health care, but they have Holy Spirit. And they pray and they found tongues. It doesn't matter, Presbyterian, Baptist, it doesn't matter. They need God to show up and heal their child, and so they pray and Holy Spirit comes. There's a reliance on God that in the Western church we don't have because we have everything. Sometimes we don't even need God because we got it all. You know, I've watched believers cry out to God because He's all they have. And I've learned something. When people become desperate for God, labels suddenly become less important. Can I say something? And I hope you'll hear this with grace. Every good gift from God can be abused. Money can be abused, leadership can be abused, marriage can be abused, authority can be abused, teaching can be abused, but we don't reject God's gifts because someone misused them. We redeem them. Don't let someone else's abuse of God's gift keep you from receiving God's gift for your life. You know, um when I was about 14 years old, I went to a service and they had us line up and they were praying for people. And a guy came to pray for me. Maybe you had this experience at a camp, and he put his hand on my head and he pushed. It was a heavy hand. It was so heavy that I was gonna break my neck. I dropped. I I just fell because my neck was gonna break. I'm like literally, like doing this. And it wasn't the Holy Spirit, it was the hand of the guy. And I fell on that floor and I had a choice to make at that moment. That was flesh, yes, it was. Was that God? No, it wasn't. But I had a choice to make laying on that floor at 14 years old. So I get up and go to my seat and go, that was garbage. I don't like that. But in my heart I said, God, I don't care if that was flesh, I don't care what. That did. I'm gonna stand right up. I don't care if I fall. I don't care what happens, but I am hungry for you, and I just want you. And something in my heart that day, I just said, God, I yes, there's stuff that happens in the church, and we're like, whoa, you might have had people do weird things, but don't let that miss out on an encounter with God. And I just felt God say, just stay hungry for me. And just stay hungry. And so I stood up in that moment. And can I tell you something? Mark me in that moment. It wasn't when I fell, it was when I stood up and stood there and said, God, I just want you. And can I encourage you? Maybe you've had a bad experience. Don't let it hold you back. See, I wonder what walls Peter could have built. He denied Jesus, he watched Jesus crucified, he experienced failure, he experienced disappointment. Peter had every reason to build a wall. Instead, he stayed open because Peter stayed open. God filled him. Church, walls may protect us from disappointment, but they can also protect us from an encounter. I had a neighbor move into the house next to us when I was growing up, and he was new to Canada, and he figured when I'm new, I should buy every power tool there is at Home Depot. That's what a homeowner does. So he bought all the power tools. He didn't know how to use them. He had no idea what a table saw did. Sadly, the ambulance showed up at his house and a limb was hurt because he had no idea. And I think if I look at that, sometimes that's the body of Christ. We have these amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit, these power tools. And we're like, they're amazing, but we've seen some misuse. We've seen the body get hurt. We've seen prophecy go wrong, we've seen manipulation, we've seen the power tools be hurt and they hurt people. And so what our tendency to do is go, where's the shed, stick it in the shed, lock the key, and throw the key away because we don't want anything like that to hurt us again. But if I were to go to any contractor in this place and say, Can you build me a house? Can you do the work at Hope City? But no power tools are allowed. It'd be a 20-year project at Hope City. It would be a twenty your budget for your house would go through the roof if you can't use an air nailer. There's a right way to use the power tools. And what is the instruction manual for the power tools here? There's a right way with accountability under the local church, under the accountability of a pastor to shepherd us. There's a right way for the tools to be used. Let's not lock the key and throw them out just because we've seen some misuses of the power tools. Let's pick them up again and go, God, how do we use them appropriately? See the walls, we we need to break through these walls. Point three is encounter changes us. See what happens when the walls come down? What happens? What changed in Peter just weeks earlier? He denied Jesus to a servant girl. Now he's standing before thousands, three thousand gather because, and he's proclaiming Christ. The same Peter, the same fisherman, the same personality, the same voice, yet completely different. What changed? Not another sermon? Not another Bible study? The Holy Spirit encountered Peter. And he didn't give Peter just more knowledge, he transformed Peter from the inside out. Peter still had the same past, but everything changed. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3, we all are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. See, encounter is becoming more like Jesus. Think about that. Holy Spirit doesn't just come to comfort us and give us a warm fuzzy, he transforms us to be more like Jesus. See, many people think the evidence of encountering God is what happens during the service. The Bible says the greatest evidence is actually what happens after the service. It's how you live your life every day. It's how you become a different man or woman. It's how you actually walk out of the room Monday morning at 6 a.m. How did the Spirit change your life then? See, a genuine encounter doesn't create a moment, it creates a transformation. Point number four, if you're taking notes, encounter always leads to mission. I'm going to share on this tomorrow as we talk about Peter being sent, but you know, before Jesus ascended, he said, You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. Notice Jesus didn't say you'll receive power so people think you're super spiritual. He doesn't say that. He says, You'll receive power so churches become more exciting? No. He says, You'll receive power so you can impress people. No. You'll receive power to do the mission. See, the Holy Spirit never points people to himself. The Holy Spirit points people to Jesus. Think about Peter. Acts 2, 3,000 come to Christ. Acts 3, the lame man walks. Acts 10, Gentiles hear the gospel. Every encounter moved Peter toward people, not away from people. If our encounters don't increase our compassion for people, if they don't increase our love, if they don't increase our burden for people, I wonder if we've really had an encounter with Holy Spirit. I really believe that. If the Jesus we love, if the Jesus that we sing about and worship and do all this doesn't actually leave the four walls of our buildings and our homes, then have we really encountered Jesus? Because the Jesus we read about in the Bible is a sending God, a God who's always on mission. Holy Spirit, the people of God got the power of God in Acts. But it wasn't just to stay in the building. It was to win people for Jesus. That was the point of it. Let's not miss the point of what God was doing by sending his power. And my, you know, I've shared this story, and if you've heard me speak before, but I take no apologies in sharing this almost every time I preach. I in 1930, my grandparents immigrated from Poland. They came from Poland and they landed in eastern Canada and they took a train across the country. They were given a homestead in a small community named Vilna, Alberta. If you know where Vilna is. And in 1930, they had the opportunity to cut all the trees down. If they cleared the trees and picked up all the rocks, they could have the land. They built a one-room small little house there, and they had my grandfather and grandmother had six children, Sam and Elizabeth Helonia. They knew about God in Poland growing up, but they did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. They had no desire. But my grandma at 40 years old was given up to die. She was sent to Edmonton on a train. Doctor said there's something in your stomach and you were going to die. Go home and call the priest for the last rites. Your life is over. And so she was on her deathbed, unable to move, unable to get up, laying there. The kids were around. And one day a neighbor came over and said, Hey, there's a meeting happening at the Pentecostal church. There's an evangelist that's come to town. And my grandfather said, I'm not interested. And a neighbor just said, Come on, what do you have to lose? They're praying for the sick, and they can pray for your wife. So he said, Well, what do I have to lose? So he walked there that night. He got to the church. The evangelists laid hands and prayed for him that the power of the Holy Spirit would heal his wife. He walked home that night, and when he got home, my grandmother was sitting up in her bed, brushing her daughter's hair, completely healed. So I'm standing on the stage today as a product of the power of the Holy Spirit. Touch my grandmother. At that moment, they gave their lives to Jesus. My dad gave his life to Jesus during that season because he saw the power of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that can heal. My grandmother lived till she was 97. I knew my grandmother. She was completely healed. Why? Because the power of God. See, it's about mission. And I tell that story. I say, what was the miracle of the story? Yes, it was Jesus, but it was also the neighbor, wasn't it? That invited my grandfather. It was also the church that was there, the people that had built the church. It was the pastor that answered the call. And it was the evangelist that said, I'm going to go to that small little town and I'm going to preach. There's only maybe 15 people there, but I'm going to preach. See what God can do. And years later, I'm standing on a stage speaking to you because of that moment. My last point today, and we're going to land. I'm going to ask the worship team to come. And uh maybe, maybe I'll just have Josh come and land it today. Every generation needs its own encounter. Peter stands up and says, In the last day, I'll pour out my spirit in all people. Don't miss those words. All people. Young, old, men, women, every generation. The promise didn't end with Peter, it didn't end with Acts. It didn't end with the great revivals in our history. It didn't end at Azusa Street. The Holy Spirit is still being poured out today. Can I say, Alberta Beach, you've had a great legacy? God has called, God has saved, God has healed, God has filled people at this altar for generations. But can I say, let's not just look at what he did. But can I tell you he still is working that same power today? And you might be your first time here, you might be your hundredth time at camp. But can I tell you he wants to fill you afresh? He wants to encounter you afresh. He wants to come and do something that only he can do in you. My dad had an encounter. My grandparents had an encounter. But here's what I realized. I couldn't live on their encounter. I had to have my own. And what we've had in the church sometimes is we've had an older generation have an encounter and then say, Well, I had an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus instructs me to live like this. And then they've tried to pass it down and say, Well, encountering God, it looks like this, do this, do that. And it became rules, not encounter. And we got legalisms crept in. Why? Because while this is what God spoke to me, He convicted me, and they try to place it on another generation. But here's what I'm convinced every generation needs their own encounter. Because when you encounter him, he directs, he convicts, he speaks, he guides you in what you should do and what you shouldn't do. Not out of rules, but out of relationship, out of love. See, yesterday's encounter prepares us, but they never replace today's encounter. We can hear stories, we can learn the language, we can attend church, but somewhere wonder can become familiarity, hunger can become routine. And I just feel today that God wants us to encounter Him afresh. Can I ask you one question? When was the last time you came expecting God to meet you? Not because of the speaker, not because of the worship team, not because of the cam, but because your father delights to reveal himself to children. And you just go, God, I just need a fresh encounter with you. I don't know what that looks like. I don't care what it means. I just want all that you have for my life. Fill me. Peter waited in that upper room, and Holy Spirit came in a way they had never seen before. They did not know what it would look like. They didn't know a flame would come over every head. They had no idea, they had no grid. So as we conclude today, we've talked about Jesus calling Peter, Jesus restoring, but today everything changed because Peter wasn't more talented, he wasn't more educated than us, he wasn't suddenly fearless, he encountered Holy Spirit. Maybe the question is does God still fill people? Maybe it's not that, maybe it's more what's keeping me from encountering Him. Maybe it's disappointment, maybe it's church hurt, maybe it's a stuff we dealt with yesterday. But as we close, I'm gonna ask us to just bow our heads and close our eyes. We've done this each morning. And I just believe this morning that Jesus is inviting us to lay down some of those walls. Not because he wants something from us, but because he wants something for us. The same Holy Spirit who filled Peter still fills ordinary people like you and like me. And that same Holy Spirit who empowered the early church, still empowers his church today. And that same Holy Spirit is in this room. So if you're comfortable and you had in this place with no one looking around, I just I felt like today, just as a response. And as I've been talking about walls and I've been talking about things that there's been some maybe past hurts around the Holy Spirit, there's been some barriers. And as I mentioned some of those hurts and wounds and walls and barriers, you're like, Travis, that's that's actually me. In a moment, I'm just gonna count to three, and there's no one looking around. But as a sign of you going, I want to get rid of that wall today. I don't want any past hurt, past experience, thing that even maybe even happened at this very camp or at your church or wherever that came to mind as I was speaking, I believe the Spirit of God brought it to your mind. And I believe he wants to set you free from that wall today, that barrier today, that thing that would stop you from being filled with all that he would have for your life. So if that's you, I'm just gonna count to three, and if that's you, just raise your hand and then we're gonna pray. And we're just gonna ask those walls to be broken today. One, two, three. Just lift your hand if that's you, all across this place. Oh, hands all across this place.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Yeah, thank you, Jesus. So, Jesus, we just thank you.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

We thank you. We thank you that you're in the room today. And I speak to every wall today, every barrier today, every every hurt, every every hindrance, everything that we've put up in our own minds. No, I don't want that, or I've seen that, or all those vows we've even made. I I want you, but not like that. We break them today in Jesus' name. Father, we want everything you want for us. Father, these are your children. We are your children. And we thank you that you won't hold any good gift from your children. And so, God, we ask for all the gifts, all the moving of the spirit, everything that you would have. God, break fear, break disappointment, break misuses, break uh things, hurts that we've had from spiritual gifts. God, that we would be open again to receive all that you would want to do in our lives and our heart. Thank you that you're healing, you're setting us free. And I just invite you, Holy Spirit, in this place, to come. And if you want to be filled afresh with his presence, just put your hands out in front of you and I just, I'm just gonna pray and I just believe his presence is gonna come. Some of you are gonna feel it in a tangible way, some of you're just gonna sense his voice speaking. But I just, Holy Spirit, we invite you right now from the front to the back, from the left to the right, to fill your people afresh in this place. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Some of you are feeling him, you are sensing him, you're hearing his voice for the first time in generations in years.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your presence in this place. Jesus. Just in this quietness, just speak to him.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Just put your affection. God, I'm hungry for you. I desire you. Just we're gonna close in just a couple minutes, but I just I wanna linger just for a couple minutes. Sweet presence is in this place. Some of you are being healed right now. I feel physical healing is happening, some emotional um people that are dealing with depression. We just break depression right now. We break anxiety right now, the spirit of suicide where some have wanted to. You look like you have it all together on the outside, but you've wanted to check out. And I just break that now in Jesus' name. Every evil voice that's come against, we speak the blood of Jesus right now. Father, I command every spirit that's not of you to leave now in Jesus' name. Father, just come set people free in this place. Thank you that some are being felt like a calling to even a different career. There's some in this place I feel like God's even maybe going, hey, I am calling you to ministry, full-time vocational ministry. I feel like God's just speaking all across this room. Some are some are getting supernatural wisdom in this place. You need wisdom in a situation that seems impossible, and I feel like the Lord is giving you wisdom right now. So come, Holy Spirit. Father, we pray for marriages. We just Father, we thank you for reconciliation. We pray full healing in marriages. We pray breakthrough in businesses. I feel like there's some business guys that you you need you need a breakthrough. You need financing, you need there's some there's some things you're waiting on, some deals, and we just declare a breakthrough over businesses and those in the waiting and those in a tough season in business. In Jesus' name. Give them wisdom and their companies, God. Jesus.