Messages from New Hope Assembly of God, NuMine, PA Steve Kromer

Spring has arrived!  Most of us begin to feel the need this time of the year to clean house.  We gather up sticks in the yard that fell through the winter to prepare to mow.  We throw out stuff that we don’t use anymore.  We organize the clutter found throughout our homes.  We throw open the windows and do some serious deep cleaning.



It’s a lot of work, but it feels so good once that work is finished!



It’s so easy for that clutter and dirt to build back up again gradually over time, though…  Things that we don’t even notice in our day-to-day routines or we’re just too busy to take care of them.  It’s no different in our spiritual lives.  Thankfully, we have an incredible helper when it comes to cleaning house spiritually; the Holy Spirit!  He’s ready to get to work to do some spring cleaning in our lives and man do we need it!



Today, we’re tackling a tough topic that our flesh loves, but the Spirit hates.  Anyone want to take a guess at what that might be?  Our flesh loves it, but the Spirit hates it? 



Sin!  To sin is to literally miss the mark. 



God created us on purpose and for a purpose, but also with the free will to choose how we live out our lives.  We are stewards of God’s gift of life.  God’s purpose is the bullseye on our life’s target.  When we choose to live outside of that purpose, we miss the bullseye; we sin. 



Our choice to sin does not only affect ourselves, but it also affects all of those around us.



Now we typically think of sin as intentionally doing something that we’re told not to do.  God tells us to speak the truth, but we lie.  God tells us not to covet, but we lust after what belongs to others.  God tells us to work hard for six days and to take the seventh day off, but we either work on the one day of rest or we’re lazy and don’t work on the other six days.



Yes, sin is doing what God says not to do, but it is also not doing the things that God says to do.



James 4:17



If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.



There are some black-and-white topics that are sin for everyone at all times.  Things that are never beneficial and never acceptable.  However, since we were each were created for different purposes, there are some things that are sin for you and not for me and also sin for me and not for you.



I was not created to be an NFL linebacker.  I just wasn’t.  If I committed and dedicated my life to pursuing this purpose, not only would I live a life of failure, but also one of misery and discontentment and probably one filled with a whole lot of pain.  I would be living a life of sin; completely missing my purpose!



There are also things that can be sin for us just in certain seasons of life.  As we grow and mature in our faith, we are often granted freedom to do things that our conscience once forbade us to do beforehand.  Paul teaches all about these arguable matters and uses meat sacrificed to idols as an illustration of this.  It was a very hot topic at that time in the church in Corinth!



In fact in Acts 15, the church leadership all got together in Jerusalem to seek after God and figure out which of the Jewish laws and traditions carry over to non-Jew Christians and which did not.  What was sin for a Jew, but not a Gentile?  They came up with an extremely short list covered in just a few sentences.



Under the New Covenant, now with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we can go even a step further from mere “doing and not doing” straight to the heart motive of our behaviors to define sin.



Romans 14:23



…everything that does not come from faith is sin.



Yes, even when we do the good things that we know we ought to do, but we do not do them because of our faith in obeying God, then it is still sin.  If we do things to look good before others or to selfishly receive blessings from God for ourselves, then even doing good is sin.



Are we begi

Message provided by Lisa Wadding
The post Becoming A New Creation appeared first on New Hope Assembly of God in NuMine, PA.

Matthew 28:1-10



1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.



2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.



5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”



8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”



Matthew 28:16-20



16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”



Because He lives, we have hope.



Because He lives, we are certain that whatever hardships we face in this lifetime, they are not our destiny.



Because He lives, we have confidence that our best days are still ahead.



Because He lives, we are never alone!



Acts 1:3-5



3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”



This is the same promise that Jesus gave before His death on the cross:



John 14:15-19



15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.



John 16:7



But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.



19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.



Because Jesus is alive forevermore, so also will we live with Him eternally!  We have not been abandoned as orphans, we are children of God; adopted into His family.  We have been filled with His very Presence through the Holy Spirit!



Jesus gave His live on the cross to take upon Himself the penalty and punishment for our sin.  He was cursed so that we are blessed.  He died so that we might live.  He was pierced for our transgressions.  He was crushed for our iniquities.  The punishment that brought us peace was on Him.  By His wounds, we are healed.



Jesus endured a time of pain and suffering, but they were not His destiny!  So it is also with us who choose to follow Him!



2 Corinthians 4:16-18



16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

This morning, we celebrate Palm Sunday.  Though this is a man-made holiday, it is based on a Biblical prophecy that both has been fulfilled and also will be fulfilled again in the future.  Like Jesus, we’re not into man-made traditions around here, but we certainly do love prophecy! 



Not only because prophecy is awesome, but because God’s word also tells us to eagerly desire it and not to despise it.  Prophecy is encouraging and reveals God’s plans and purposes for our future that gives us hope. 



1 Corinthians 14:1 



Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 



1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 (ESV) 



20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 



Although prophecy is great, it is also commonly misunderstood.  God’s ways are certainly not ours and although He always follows through with what He says, it may not be how we expect it to happen. 



In today’s prophecy, the people had it so right and yet so wrong at the same time.  Unfortunately, we often follow in their footsteps still today… 



The prophecy that we remember and celebrate on this Palm Sunday comes from Zechariah 9.  It’s where God promises to come riding in on a colt, the foal of a donkey, to save His people.  He promises to come as a king to deliver God’s people from all of their enemies and to protect them; restoring double all that has been taken.  He is coming to establish His kingdom across the whole earth. 



When the crowds heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, they were right that they were about to personally see this prophecy come to pass.  However, it only partly looked like they expected it to. 



We pick up this morning where we left off last week after Mary anointed Jesus for His upcoming burial. 



Matthew 21:1-11/Mark 11:1-11/John 12:9-19 



A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. 



Jealousy and rage blind us and lead us to make some pretty, well, let’s just call them what they are; stupid decisions.  If Lazarus dying and then being raised again to life caused large crowds to gather and to believe in Jesus, then what could killing Lazarus again accomplish? 



It would either cause the crowds to hate the chief priests for murdering Lazarus or, if Jesus raised him to life again, cause even more people to believe in Him.  I don’t think that their plan was very well thought through…  In any case, they were determined to murder them both. 



Religion desires to put people back into their grave.  Religion prefers to keep dead bones hidden away in the closet so that we can look good on the outside.   



Freed people want everyone to know how exactly how lost they were and yet now they are found; how completely dead they were and now they’re alive!  There’s no denying the truth and no sugar-coating just how sinful we were when Christ called us out of our graves!  All that this does is bring even more glory to God! 



Sadly, these were the chief priests entrusted to intercede between God and man; anointed for this very task.  There were definitely issues with the Old Covenant not because of God nor His covenant, but with His people who were supposed to be representing Him.  In response, Jesus came to fulfill the old covenant and to create a new covenant with us. 



As they approached Jerusalem the next day and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.

This morning, we’re learning about, and prayerfully experiencing in a new way, the anointing of God.



In the literal sense, anointing is not really anything all that interesting or exciting.  To anoint is just to smear or to spread a liquid onto.  We anoint our bread with butter.  We anoint our dry skin with lotion.  We anoint our deck with stain.



However, there is far, far more significance behind God’s anointing than just physically getting some scented oil smeared on us!  In fact, Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.  Messiah literally means, you may have guessed it, “anointed one.” Also, Christ is not Jesus’ last name. It’s a title which means, you may have guessed it, “anointed.”  Jesus is the Anointed One!  What does this mean, though?



Luke 4:14-21



14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.



16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written (chapter 61):



18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,



    because he has anointed me



    to proclaim good news to the poor.



He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners



    and recovery of sight for the blind,



to set the oppressed free,



19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”



20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”



The ministry that Jesus did to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, raising the dead, casting out demons, feeding thousands, and so much more, He did through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 



This is re-affirmed when Peter is called to a Gentile’s home to share the news about Jesus with Cornelius and a group of his relatives and close friends.  Peter said:



Acts 10:37-38;44-46



37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.



44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.



The anointing of the Holy Spirit empowers the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives.  There is a difference between the anointing and the giftings of the Holy Spirit.  They work together, but they are not the same thing.  Just as a car has an engine and a transmission that work together to become the drive train and to make our car move, so are the anointing and the gifting of the Holy Spirit.



Romans 11:29



God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.



God freely gives us natural gifts that we were created with even before we are saved.  God also freely gives us spiritual gifts after we are saved.  God calls us to go into different places in order to put those gifts to use to serve others.  God’s gifts and God’s call are irrevocable.



However, we can use the gifts that God gives us using our own power. 



I can shift my car’s transmission into neutral and push it around everywhere on my own power or I can turn on the car’s engine and allow it to power my car’s transmission.



Too many people have been gifted by God, but do not know how to operate those gifts using the power that comes from the anointing of God.  Instead,

This morning is an exciting time of celebration as we learn what water baptism is and, more importantly, as we put what we learn into action!



The only requirement for being water baptized is that you have received God’s salvation.  This free gift of salvation was made possible by Jesus.  He lived a sinless life and then chose to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross and then raising again to life eternal.



Receiving His salvation means that you have committed yourself to following Him the rest of your life and now choose to live by faith in Him and His word.



Why do we need this salvation, though?



God created everything perfect in the beginning. Mankind was created uniquely from the rest of creation as He physically formed us with His own hands from the dust of the earth and personally breathed into us the breathe of life. We were created in His image and with free will to do as we please.



Adam and Eve, the first man and woman chose to do the one thing that God asked them not to do; to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. From that day on, we are all born into sin with physical death as our destiny.



God gave us His word to teach us the right way to live this life that He gave us. Whatever we do outside of this is sin and the penalty of all sin is death.



Not only a physical death, but also an eternal death afterwards. All of us, on our own, are destined for Hell; that second death filled with eternal torment.



Praise be to God that doesn’t have to be the case for any of us, though!



Since none of us can live rightly on our own, God, Himself came in the flesh and lived just like you and I. Jesus was tempted and tried in all of the same ways that you and I are, but lived a perfect, sinless life.  He was tempted, but took the way out every single time.  He then willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.



Whoever chooses to put their faith in Jesus receives eternal life. We are born again, not just alive physically, but also spiritually. We’re a brand new person and our destiny is Heaven-bound! God places His Holy Spirit within us giving us true life.



Water baptism is simply a symbolic way to show that you’ve made this decision.



For those getting baptized, I would like to congratulate you. You’ve not only accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation, but are also being obedient through this act by declaring death to your old self and to embrace the new life that Jesus has given you through His Spirit!



What is baptism?



The word for baptize in the Greek is the word baptizo, which literally means to immerse or submerge.  That’s why we don’t sprinkle some water on your forehead here, but we allow you to completely submerge yourself under the water.



There are two different baptisms that we find in scripture; baptism in water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.



We first find people being water baptized in the scriptures when John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river. He proclaimed that he was preparing the way for the coming savior by calling all to repent and to be forgiven of their sins.



Mark 1:4 (NLT)



John the Baptist was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.



We find in Luke 3 that Jesus, Himself, as an example for us, came to be water baptized by John. Here we also first learn of another type of baptism that we find in the scriptures; the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus received them both simultaneously, and you may as well.



Luke 3:15-16;21-22



15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.



21 When all the people were being baptized, Jes