From Butterflies to Eagles

All right. Again, good to have you here today with us. If you don't know who I am, I'm Pastor Leon. I'm a lead pastor here. So thankful that you're with us today.

And we are in a series called Planted, where we are looking at the Apostles' Creed. How many of you grew up on the Apostles' Creed in your church? You quoted it every Sunday. Yeah, yeah. That's a very popular thing.

So we're rolling through that foundation of our faith. And it's been incredible. See, I've been hearing a lot of comments. We're actually in part six. We've been rolling through this.

It's been a very long series, but just felt on my heart that let's get back to the basics. Let's get back to the foundations of why we believe what we believe. Because if you don't believe in something, you'll fall for anything, right? It's important that we know why we believe what we believe so that we're not tossed here and fro with every kind of theology out there. So that's been the point of this series, being founded, a foundation.

You're like this tree that's planted by water, a stream. And it flourishes, and it's very, very, very healthy. And when we build on that foundation, it's very powerful. So we're at the point of the Creed where it says, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins.

The title of this message is From Butterflies to Eagles, From Butterflies to Eagles. And we're looking at Acts 2, if you'll turn with me to Acts 2, beginning with verse 1. I'm going to read through verse 6, and then we're going to jump to 12, and then we're going to jump to 12 to 18, and then jump to 38 to 41. So we're kind of jumping around in Acts a little bit. And if you have the app, you can pull that up, the Bible app.

You'll find our event, and you can pull that up as well, and follow along with us. If you're taking notes, it's going to be a really good one, okay? God's so good with this scripture. Acts 2. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly, a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there was staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. And when they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one had heard their own language being spoken.

And then jump to verse 12. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another. What does this mean? What does this mean? And some, however, made fun of them and said, they've had too much to drink.

But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd, fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I have to say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning. I know we're fishermen.

I know we're kind of wild, but it's nine in the morning. Come on, right? We're not drunk, as you suppose, because it's nine in the morning. And no, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And then he quotes the prophet Joel.

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young man will see visions, and your old man will dream dreams. Can you give a big amen to that? The power of the Spirit working today in the church, a proclamation of what would happen, a fulfillment of Scripture in that day and even today. And then it says, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Amen. They will prophesy. And then verse 38, Peter replied, repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the promise is for you and your children.

There's generations, generations, generations. That's what we just sang about. That's why I'm so excited when I sing that song, that you and your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord your God will call. With many other words, he warned them, and he pleaded with them. He begged them.

He pleaded with them, save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, baptized, and about 3,000 were added. 3,000 were added to their number that day. 3,000. One day.

Shazam. Can y'all say Shazam? How many of you have turned into a superhero? Shazam. Did you know there's actually a definition to Shazam that you can actually look it up?

It's used to introduce an extraordinary deed, story, or transformation. Shazam. Many of you are probably familiar with the DC comic, which was a rival to Marvel with their Captain Marvel character. They decided to create their character named Shazam. It was about this 14-year-old boy who was adopted, and and He randomly ran into this wizard who wanted to make him the champion of eternity, right?

And he gave him these seven powers, these seven warrior gifts, so that he could become the champion of eternity. But we also have this man named Thaddeus. He wanted to be champion of eternity, but couldn't be champion of eternity. Does that sound familiar? Sounds very familiar.

These stories, these popular stories, they kind of tie into something here, right? And he had these seven demons which represented the seven evil sins, the seven sins in the Bible we see in the Bible. And he wants to be champion of eternity, but Billy Batson, by saying the word Shazam, turns into this, from this little 14-year-old adopted boy to this hero, this powerful hero that challenges the evil. C.S.

Lewis said it, and I'm paraphrasing, he said, when you listen to a story in popular culture, they often offer insights into what is inside humanity, what humanity craves, what humanity longs for. God has a way of planting good dreams into the human race, our hearts, the things that we crave deep down inside ourselves. And if we look into these stories, we see that thing that we really want to see come out of even our own lives. There's something special about pop culture stories, and God wants to use our stories in a powerful way. He wants to use your story.

You have a story. He wants to use your story. But your story isn't Shazam. It's Jesus. And your powers don't come from a wizard.

They come from God himself. And he wants to use you and transform you and Shazam you. God wants to use your story in powerful and meaningful ways. Think about Peter for a minute. I mean, he was bulletproof when he stepped up on stage and said, you know, repent of your sins.

But just a few days before that, he was hiding and scared to death because a little girl called him out. He was running from a little girl. And it's amazing how God used Peter in that powerful way. And God, it's not just for Peter. It's not just for us.

It's not just for Peter. It's not just for that day. It's for us and it's for the church. It's for the church that we have that available to us. So I'm going to give you four things real quick about the church based on what we understand here in the Creed, the foundation that we're looking at today, the pillars that we're looking at today.

First of all, the church is super powered. We're super powered. We're super charged. Dr. Doug Beecham wrote a book about being plugged into the Holy Spirit.

I read it years ago. And that analogy of something doesn't really work or operate the way it should until it's plugged in. Sometimes it's dormant even. But we have available to us, we believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit supercharges, superpowers the church to do what it is called to do. Think about this for a second. God sat down after He created everything and He pointed to Jesus. Jesus came to earth. He lived, He died, He was crucified, He rose again, and He went to sit at the right hand of the Father.

The Holy Spirit hasn't sat down yet. The Holy Spirit is operating today. The Holy Spirit is active today. The Holy Spirit, He hasn't sat down yet. And is He planning to sit down anytime soon?

I don't think so. The Holy Spirit is active and moving in the church today. He's moving through us and the Holy Spirit is what we believe. We believe in the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit though?

Well, He's fully God. We know that. That's why we say He and not it. The Holy Spirit was involved in so many different areas. The Holy Spirit was at the beginning.

He hovered across the earth. He was a part of creation. He helped create the world. He created, He helped create the universe. The Holy Spirit created the universe.

The Holy Spirit was also active in Jesus's ministry. Jesus said, the Spirit has come upon me. And what happened, not only miracles and signs and wonders and the unction of the Holy Spirit to share the message of the kingdom of God, but we also see the Spirit help Him endure the cross. The Spirit was with Him as He had to walk out things. He would not be able to, in His own fully human side, and He walked with the Holy Spirit.

And then the Holy Spirit worked through the New Testament authors to write the Bible. So we got the Holy Spirit here. The Holy Spirit created the world, was part of creating the world. He was involved in the ministry of Jesus and the crucifixion of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. So the Holy Spirit's pretty important.

I think the Holy Spirit is something we need to hold on to, and we need to believe, right? But I believe in the Holy Spirit. So how do we interact with the Holy Spirit is the question. How do we interact? He's with us, He's in us, and He's upon us.

Three things. With us, in us, and upon us. John 14 says, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The Spirit of truth, the world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him.

You know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. He's with you and will be in you. So He's with you in that, regardless of what you think about God. The Holy Spirit's there anyway. Regardless of whether you follow Christ or not, the Holy Spirit's working and active.

The Holy Spirit's there. He's working. He's acting. He's moving. He's active in the world.

He's leading people to Jesus. He only speaks the things of Jesus. He only points people towards Jesus, and he's convicting the world of sins, he's drawing people closer to him. I heard it said like this, it's like the Holy Spirit is a doorbell ringing at the heart of people, and we're there ready to open the door if we're willing. He's ringing at the heart of people, he's convicting people, he's moving people, and whether we like it or not, the Holy Spirit is with us, he's with us in the world.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world working today, he's also in you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you are a follower of Christ, if you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is in you. In fact, Romans said, if the Spirit isn't in you, then you aren't a follower of Christ. And if you're not a follower of Christ, the Spirit isn't in you. So he's in us, at the moment of salvation he comes into our lives.

Now, he's in here somewhere, you know that, you feel it, you know it. He's in you as a believer, and he's upon you. Now, this is the most ignored and malnourished part of the Holy Spirit. It's easy to know that, or believe that he's in us, but when he comes upon us, he comes upon us. In fact, Acts 1.

8 says it like this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. It was a part of the Great Commission, the power of the Spirit being upon them. And they were filled with the Spirit. We're filled with the Spirit. Why are we filled with the Spirit?

So that we can be empowered. We can be empowered with our gifts. We can be enabled to do things that we normally wouldn't do. We can be able to understand Scripture better. We can share the Gospel better.

All these things, these abilities, and it takes us from butterflies to eagles. God wants to lift us up on wings like eagles from butterflies, little plattery butterflies that we are. In our weakness, He makes us strong because He is strong. And that's who we have. He fills us with the Spirit.

And it's not just... How do we feel with the Spirit? It's not just a one-time occurrence. See, I grew up Pentecostal. I still consider myself Pentecostal.

I'm ordained Pentecostal. So there's this... It's funny when growing up, these people would talk about being filled with the Spirit in 1978 or 1972. And, you know, that was the moment I was initially filled with the Holy Spirit. And then you never hear about any feelings after that.

But when we look at the text in Ephesians, it talks about be filled with the Spirit. It says, be being filled. That's the original language, be being filled, meaning we are being filled all the time. We need to ask Christ or the Spirit every day to fill us. We need to ask God to fill us with His Spirit as we start our day.

Every day, it's a continuing filling of the tank. When you get into a car, you don't expect that tank to refill on its own, right? I mean, after so many miles, you're going to run out of gas and you're going to be on the side of the road, right? All right, yeah, that's true. So, we're like a car.

We need to be refilled. We need a gas tank filled all the time, and he gives, you just need to ask him, please give it to me. Give it, give me, let me be filled with your spirit today. Every morning I wake up, and that's one of the first things I say, you know, I'm praying, you know, forgive me my sins, and leave me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. I do all those things, but one of the big things, I pray is, God, I need your spirit today.

I have to have your spirit today. I cannot do it without you. I need to be filled with your spirit, an ongoing filling of the spirit, and when I started the church, that was something I know I had to have, because a lot of you may not know all the story. Maybe you've been to lunch with Leon, maybe you haven't, and you've heard the testimony of how we started, but a lot of churches, you know, when they plan a church, or start a church, they're being pumped money from a mother church, and they have, like, people being pushed to go help, and all that kind of stuff, which is great, but we didn't have anything. We didn't have anything.

I mean, we really didn't have any, hardly any money, and, you know, we opened up a bank account, threw $100 in there, and said, hey, let's get started, you know, a prayer and a wish, you know, and, but I had every morning, I mean, it was, it was a very, very scary thing. Following the will of God sometimes is very scary, but I heard this said by a fellow church planter, or church planter that was ahead of me, he said, you have to put yourself in positions where you have to depend on the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we need to put ourselves in positions where, if we're walking in the will of the Lord, sometimes we got to put ourselves in positions where we got to trust in the Holy Spirit, and that's what I had to do. Every day I woke up, and I was like, God, you know, connect me with somebody today. Fill me with your Spirit today.

Give me opportunities to share anything with anybody, God. Just lead me, Spirit. I had to do that. I'd walk out of a condo, and I'd pray that in the yard. God, just take me, take me somewhere, and he connected me with people.

He connected me with opportunities, and one story I share often is he brought me to a man named Dwayne Duvall. I knew Dwayne in the community, but I walked in the shop one day, and instantly, after praying, be filled with the Holy Spirit that morning. Guide me, Lord. Fill me up, Lord. Take me to where you need to be.

Dwayne and I connected, and he was one of the first members of our church. But the bigger piece of the story is that Dwayne found Jesus, but he found Jesus before he was diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away within a year. He was excited about God. He was excited about Jesus, and I mean, we still have people today that come to our church and say, Hey, I want to check out your church. You know Dwayne.

Yeah, I know Dwayne. He just loved our church. He loved our people. He loved the ministry. He was a part of the ministry.

But nobody knew. I didn't know. Oh, that he was going to pass away a year later. I had no clue. I was just asking God to connect me with somebody to minister to, to share the gospel with, to give them hope when they're looking for it.

Everybody's looking for it. And we need to ask the Spirit, fill us up, guide us, show us what to say and show us what to do, because we need your Spirit. We need your Spirit. And if I hadn't have said that prayer that morning, somebody may have not been in heaven today because of it. We need to be concerned about people.

We need to be concerned about who we're reaching. We've got to be concerned about loss, okay? And we need the Spirit to guide us and help us to pursue those who really need to know the Lord. So we need to be filled with the Spirit. Now, some of you are like, well, that whole being filled with the Spirit thing is kind of weird.

I've seen some weird things happen on TV with people with white suits on, you know. I've seen some shaking and some convulsing and all that. Is that it? But here's the deal. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit working through you and coming upon you, it's supernaturally natural.

There's something super... I know that's not really a thing, but it's super... It is, but it isn't. But supernaturally natural. It's a natural way of God coming upon you.

I've heard it said it's like a friend coming to help you move from a house to another house. Like he takes his... He grabs his truck, comes over, helps you haul everything out, and he's helping you move to that other place, that new place, that new level, kind of pushing you along. Let's get this together. Let me help you.

Let me... Let's pick up this piece of furniture. Here's my truck. Here... I'll fill it up with gas too, and we'll get to that next level.

Because if you're doing it on your own, if you're doing... If you're doing ministry, if you're doing the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit, then you're doing it wrong. Because the Christian life is hard, but when you have the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, it's a lot easier. It's a lot... And with people.

It's hard anyway, but that's what the Holy Spirit wants to do. He wants to bring you along. He wants to help you along. He wants to hop into the truck. Let me carry you to your new location.

So how do I know I'm filled with the Spirit? Okay? So how do I know? First of all, let me answer this question. How am I filled with the Spirit?

Well, believe. Just believe in the Spirit. The Spirit is... He's available to us. We simply just have to believe and receive.

Spirit, fill me. Spirit, I believe that you... This is what the creed says, right? I believe in the Holy Spirit. Simply believe and receive that He has available for you this supernatural, natural ability to do something beyond what you're able to do.

You've got to believe that and pray for it and ask for it. That's the same way you ask for salvation, right? You believe in Jesus Christ. That's the same way you ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it and ask for it As your Lord and Savior, believe that Holy Spirit is there and available for you to receive so that you can be empowered to be used by Him. But how do we know we're filled with the Holy Spirit when we ask?

Well, there's always a focus on Jesus. There's always going to be a focus on Jesus. It's not going to be focused on a person. It's not going to be focused on some type of event. It's always going to be because what does the Spirit do?

The Spirit always speaks of Jesus. It knows nothing but Jesus. When the Spirit works, it's always aimed towards Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It will always be focused on Jesus and there will also be an increase in love. There will always be an unction of love, like liquid love as some theologians and some past historical figures have experienced.

It's like this overwhelming love that comes into your path. That's why we've got Galatians 5.22 that talks about the fruits of the Spirit. And this whole chapter talks about love. So, love is kind of the singular, but it goes into detail.

What does love look like? So, it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, but it's also joy. It's peace. It's forbearance. It's kindness.

It's goodness. It's faithfulness. That's what love is. And if your experience with the Holy Spirit isn't kind, then it's not the Holy Spirit. It's not God.

It's not real. It's emotion. It's something else. Because if it's not kind, because that's who Jesus is. That's who the Holy Spirit points towards.

It's kindness. The fruits of the Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled. We believe in the Holy Spirit.

We also believe that the church is global. We believe in the Holy Catholic Church. Some of you are like, you said the word Catholic there. Does that mean the Roman Catholic Church? Well, the quick answer is no.

That's not what it means. It was written way before the Roman Catholic Church was established, which was established in the 16th century under the Protestant Reformation. But before then, it was all one church. You know, that's just what they talked about. There might have been different movements and different sects or whatever, but there was one church.

And we are one church. In fact, the word Catholic means according to the whole. It's the universal church. So when the creed was written, they weren't thinking Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox or Lutheran or Baptist or whatever. They weren't thinking any of that.

They were thinking of the church. The one church under Jesus Christ. We are one church. It's like a phone with many different apps, right? It does.

You're aiming for one purpose with your phone. To communicate. To do what you need to do in your day-to-day life. But you have many different apps to do that, right? And that's the church.

There's so many different. Because when we get to heaven, it's not going to be like, oh, here's the Salt Church people. Here's the Roman Catholic people. Here's the Baptist people. All of you have your app.

No. We're going to be one nation, every tribe, every tribe, every nation. Every tongue, every generation, every color, every age, it doesn't matter, we're all going to be one in heaven and we need to reflect heaven on earth now as one church. And we pray for our fellow churches. I think dominations are good.

I think different theological backgrounds are good. And some of you are like, I know you ex-Roman Catholics, y'all are pretty bitter towards your upbringing. But here's the thing, every denomination, every movement has people who are not Christians, okay? And every domination, every movement has people that are Christians. In fact, some of you here today may not be Christians.

You're not Christians, you're not believers, you're kind of kicking the tires, but you're not Christians. But here's what I will say, we will always create environments where you can be safe to hear what's being said from the Word of God. You're going to create environments where you can hear about Jesus Christ. We're not going to be one of those churches that says, oh, you know, we got this inclusive club or whatever. No, no, no.

We have it. We welcome unbelievers. If you're afraid about an unbeliever church, no, we create environment. This is our environment is created for that purpose because we are concerned for the lost. And we are one church.

And we pray that our fellow churches are blessed because it's bigger than us. It's bigger than Salt Church. It's so much bigger. And we are one church, tribe and tongue, language. Every, every, every way.

I'm just thinking off the top of my head. I remember being, you know, being a Christian when I was younger and running into another Christian and knowing that they're a Christian even before they say they're a Christian because we almost have our, you know, there's something about another Christian that, that person's a Christian. That person's a believer. You know, I connect with that person. It makes you feel good, right?

They might be from a complete different denomination. They might be from a complete different country, but there's something special about, about the Holy Catholic, Catholic, however you want to pronounce that church. And then we get to the next part, which kind of builds on that. It's the communion of the saints. The, the communion of the saints.

The church is eternal. The church is eternal. That's if you're taking notes. Communion. What does that mean?

It may surprise you what communion means. I mean, it's really going to surprise you when I give you the definition of communion. It means common union. Common union. Yeah.

Yeah. Some of you didn't laugh, but I was being funny. Okay. I wasn't calling you an idiot or anything like that. Common union.

And, and, and, and it's not just vertical. Here's what's special about the, the communion of the saints is that it's not just who's here with you today, who's here alive, even in death. It's vertical. It's heaven, heaven and earth. We all are together.

In fact, you're more a part of the church when you're dead than you are alive. Did you know that? You are. Death doesn't separate us. Death, actually a death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what brings us together, right?

That's why we're even living today. We've got this new life, this eternal hope that's in us. And we're more a part of the church after death. That's why Hebrews says that you've come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens.

We're all going to be together in heaven, whether they're gone from this life. My grandfather and my grandmother and my uncle and all those who have passed, they are in heaven celebrating right now. And you know what they're doing? They're looking down on me right now saying, Go get them, Leon. Go get them!

The generations that have gone before us are cheering us on from heaven. That's why it says in Hebrews 12, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders the sin that easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race mark before us. That they are cheering us on. Now, I'm not saying they're up in a cloud somewhere and everybody's faces are looking over, Hey! You know, we're not saying that.

But the very testimonies of what they've done, they've passed the baton on to us. They've given, Hey, we've done it. We've finished the race. Now, you go get them. We're for you.

Watch what we've done. We've built a foundation for you. Carry it on. Build another foundation. Build on top of that foundation.

Create something for generations and generations. And generations, if the Lord should tarry that long. That's what the communion of the saints is. We're all together. Vertical, horizontal.

We're all part of that community, that union. And what do we do? We give it all. We give it our all even now. You know, doing what's right.

Living for the Lord. Living in integrity. All those things that make us who we are. The things that we struggle with in life, you know. They know.

They've been through it. Some of them were martyred for their faith. You can read Hebrews 11 over and over and over again. We see the different testimonies of different people who have gone through this life. All the way from the Old Testament to Abraham to Moses and on.

And they're cheering us on. The apostles are cheering you on. Did you know that? St. Peter, St.

Paul, all those guys. They're looking down. They're cheering you on. Go get them. Go get them, church.

Let's do this. And then lastly, we've got forgiven. The church is forgiven. We're forgiven. Martin Luther said this is the most important line in the Creed.

Because if we don't have forgiveness, then what do we have? Why are we even here? If we don't have the blood of Jesus Christ to forgive sin? Because if it was just a financial problem, what would he have done? He'd sent down a financial helper, right?

If it was just a marriage problem, a relationship problem, he wouldn't... If it was just a marriage problem, a relationship problem, he would... He would have sent down a marriage counselor, but he sent down a savior because our biggest problem is a sin problem. Our biggest problem is a sin problem. It isn't a finance problem.

It isn't a relationship problem. It's a sin problem. And he knew we needed a savior and that's why he gave his life so that we could be free, fully free, freely, fully and forever. Freely we receive this gift. Fully it's taken care of and forever and ever and ever we are covered by Jesus Christ.

Romans says it like this, the Spirit you receive does not make you slaves. You're not slaves to sin anymore. Come on. Come on. You're not slaves to sin anymore.

Believe that. Receive that because you have the Spirit of God. You're not slaves to sin anymore so that you live in fear again. Rather, the Spirit you receive brought about your adoption to sonship and by him we cry. What?

Abba, Father. Abba. An endearing statement about the Father. A daddy statement. He is your daddy.

He has adopted you. He has brought you in the family. He made a way for you. You were unworthy, but he made you worthy through his son so that you could come into his family and you no longer have to be locked down. You no longer have to be a prisoner to sin.

You are free. You are free. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom, right? Those who are free are completely free from the bondage of sin. A.

W. Tozer says, I will not be scared out of my birthright. I will not be scared out of my heritage. I want all God has for me. He has so much for us.

And when we're caught by sin, that sin that so easily entangles us, tries to pull us back, guess what? You have something greater that can battle any sin in your life. And you can walk forward in victory keeping your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who endured the cross, took all the shame on him, and now is sitting at the right hand of the Father and pointing to the Spirit so that you can be free. You don't have to be slave anymore. Stop wallowing in your sin.

You can be free. It's available to you. You want all that God wants for you. I want all that God wants for you. And you have that available to you.

You've been adopted. You have the spirit of adoption. Because you are no longer a butterfly. He's given you the ability to be an eagle. That you soar like wings of eagles, right?

And you have no fear. Psalm 103, 1 through 5, one of my favorite psalms. David recites this, quotes this, writes it down over and over again. Probably music to it. I need to put some music to this for sure.

Praise the Lord, my soul. All my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not his benefits. Who forgives all our sins and heals all. All diseases.

He heals it all. He takes it all away, guys. Can you give God a praise? Can you thank the Lord Jesus Christ that He has delivered you? This is not just some words in Scripture.

This is the real deal. This is not just words on an ancient text. He delivers us from our sin. He heals us of all of our deeds. He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.

Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. From Butterflies to Eagles. You can be renewed. Be restored and redeemed. You no longer are a slave to sin.

You are free in Jesus' name. In Billy Batson, the end of the Shazam story, he was able to achieve victory not by his superpowers necessarily, but by leaning on his adopted family. We have an adopted father and we have an adopted family. We are adopted into this family. We are sons and daughters and we have a power available to us.

Any time. You are His child. See, the spirit of adoption is so powerful because it's... Adoption is something that... It's a gift.

It's a gift. It's like, I'm bringing you into my family. Although you were not born in my family. You didn't have the same blood. You don't even have the same generational connection.

But here, you are my son. And you are my daughter because I have adopted you and I've made you my own. He gives us the spirit of adoption. So we lean into that adopted father, that adopted male. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let the community and the communion of the saints be together in this church and connect together. Realize that you have people in heaven that are cheering you right now. They've earned their reward, but they're cheering you to the reward too. And that we no longer have to be slaves to sin.

This is what we believe. This is creed. This is a confession of our faith. Let's live out that faith. Let's believe that faith.

Let's believe that in faith. Let's let's walk that out as if it is real. And it's not just some words written on a piece of paper a long time ago. Let's live it out today. Father, we thank you, God.

We thank you for your spirit. If everybody just just just open your hearts right now, wherever you're at. If you want to raise your hand, you can raise your hand if you want to if you want to do. I just I just, you know, a symbol of just opening your hearts up. Lord, fill us with your spirit today.

Lord, fill us with your spirit today, God. Send your spirit upon us, Lord, on us, Lord. We'll be right back. We need your Spirit. Fill us up, God, with everything that you get.

If you've never experienced the power of the Spirit, just be open. Just be open to receive that today. Just believe, believe in who He is. And for some of you today, maybe you've never even taken the first step to know what it's like to have an adopted Father like our Father in Heaven. That's available for you.

By simply believing. So if you pray this with me, Father, if that's you, just pray this. Father, I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe it today. I choose to believe it.

I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sin. Come into my heart. Come into my life. Make me a new creation. Make me like you.

I give my life to you. I give my life to you. All of it to you. From this day forward.