OPEN FOR BUSINESS

“OPEN FOR BUSINESS”

 Schedule for services on June 7 (Possibly May 31)

8:30am –Seniors service (68+)

9:45am & 11am– Family Service (for everyone)

1. We will have worship bags for our River Kid’s Jr. (3-5), and our River Kids Sr. (1st – 6th Grade),

and nursery bags for those families with toddlers and infants.

Matthew 28:19-20; I Corinthians 10:31

2. We start back on June 7: several young people will be available to help people connect to our web site, our online giving, our app, and our FACEBOOK.
3. Going forward, we will continue to embrace technology.
4. If you claim ROL as your church, let me tell you that many good people are trying their best to reach out to our community.

May 2 – We handed out 450 belated Easter baskets on our parking lot, and to homes where there were children.

May 3 -Graduation Sunday – We reached out to 25 homes to honor many deserving students.

May 10-Mother’s Day-We reached out 60+ homes to honor our widows, shut-ins, and seniors.

Food Bank –Is very active and ongoing! 50+ workers are loading 35,000 pounds of food per month into cars.

God’s mandate is the same. The anointing shifts for the hour.

• THE CHURCH IS MORE THAN AN INSTITUTION,
• THE CHURCH IS MORE THAN AN ORGANIZATION,
• THE CHURCH IS MORE THAN DENOMINATIONAL NOMENCLATURE
• THE CHURCH IS MORE THAN BUILDINGS, BUDGETS, AND BAPTISMS.
• THE CHURCH IS ESTABLISHED BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Ephesians 5:25

POINTS:

• Many are living in fear today, saying the church will not be needed anymore.
• The church is not the building; it is Christ in the hearts of people.
• The gathering together of God’s people in 1 place is a powerful commandment of God.
• The early church met in houses through the week, and then came together on Sunday for an explosion of UNITY.
• The church is both a SPIRITUAL and a RELATIONAL experience.
• A relational church is more effective than an event-driven church.
• The 2 commandments to LOVE GOD AND LOVE EACH OTHER are experienced in Life groups.

TEXT: Acts 2:1-4

The sound of a mighty windstorm was the 120 praying when the heavens broke; the Holy Spirit descended like a reverse vacuum.

1. Q-WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SPIRIT-FILLED?

God’s people are totally different than the people of the world. They have a different value system. They are wired differently. They have a different rhythm and a different purpose. You can tell them apart. Their mindset is different.

When you are spirit-filled. You have the human ability to relate to, to communicate with, connect with, speak to, sense, and feel the supernatural realm.

POINT: God’s Spirit provides the capacity to be influenced by, used by, and filled with the power of the supernatural realm.

Through the Spirit – we are positioned as God’s special agents to affect change on a city-wide, county-wide, and community-wide basis.

I am fundamental in what I believe: That means I believe the Bible, and I believe the Holy Spirit is just as real as ever.

Why The Spirit? Being filled with the power of the Spirit is for doing the works of God.

Acts 1:8

River of Life believes in worshipping God, sharing Christ, and loving people. That cannot happen without the Spirit.

2. Q-Is your Christian experience exciting?

• Do you have the peace, love, and joy of God’s Spirit in your life?
• Do you feel empowered by the Holy Spirit?

“The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the H.S.

God’s presence is tangible, you can experience, and you can sense it.

You cannot package God in a box. You cannot put the Holy Spirit in a limited capacity. You cannot close the Holy Spirit down.  

SPIRIT-FILLED PEOPLE HAVE CERTAIN QUALITIES:

• They have overflowing fullness. John 7:38-39
• They have a deep reverence for God. Acts 2:43
• They have the fruit of the Spirit. 5:16-19
• They have a desire to reach the lost. Acts 1:8
• They have an active love for Christ. John 16:14
• They have spiritual gifts operating in their life. I Cor. 12 & 14

Reinhart Bonnke, “The baptism in the Spirit is not meant to be a single emotional event recorded in believer’s diaries. It wraps believers around permanently. The Spirit is their environment, the air which they breathe moment by moment, providing the vitality of the Christian faith. When we bombard the world with the gospel, the H.S. is the explosive ammunition for our artillery. The Spirit animates believers, their teachings, their preaching, their prayers, their service, and their very lives.”

You and I are designed for Fellowship with God.

Revelation 21:3

God designed us to fellowship with God and to have communion with Him.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

“Stay in Jerusalem, until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Without God’s Spirit, we cannot truly function in our calling in life.

You must be born again (get connected). John 3:3; Ephesians 5:18

God’s Spirit changes our destructive behavior into constructive action.

1. God creates, builds up – Satan destroys, tears down.
2. The natural: civiliza ation will degenerate.   Spiritual Cultures – Society and civilization improves.
3. Natural: Take, Aquire. Spiritual People: Give, disperse,
4. Natural: Rule, Curse. Spiritual: Serve, Bless
5. Natural: First. Spiritual: Last
6. Natural: Territorial, Rank, Position.  Spiritual People: Kingdom Minded, Responsible.

Transformed People Transform Things-Changed People Change Things.

CONCLUSION: WE CAN STAY FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT:

1. We receive Him. (This is the 1st step)

2. We receive His Power. Acts 1:8

3. We continue to receive His life. John 15:4

4. We receive, so we can share it.