MINISTERING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Everyone---please turn off your cell phones
God has called and empowered us to bring in the harvest of souls in our sphere of influence. That is your family, your neighbors, your friends, your school mates and the people you work with. We should view all these people as “our harvest field” that God wants us to share the Good News to and some will respond to our message and turn to Christ. He has actually called us to win the whole world. Some will not turn to Christ; but maybe those people are ones that we can plant seed in and water and someone else will have the pleasure of harvesting them into the Kingdom of God.
God also wants our lives to be a demonstration of His love and power by setting free the oppressed and healing the sick. Those who have faith in Jesus are called to be a continuation of His ministry here on earth.
- 1. Jesus promised us that WE would do the same things He did on earth and even greater as we go.
Luke 4:18-19,18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 9 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” NLT
John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Matthew 10:5,7-9, 5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. NIV
Say together: “I will do what Jesus did—Win the lost, heal the sick, free the bound and raise the dead.”
- When we share the Gospel with faith Jesus promises to confirm our words and actions with miraculous signs.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. NIV
1 Thessalonians 1:5-8, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. NIV
Say: “In Jesus name I will minister in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit healing the sick and setting the oppressed free.
- We must have the boldness and courage to believe what God’s Word promises, and act upon it.
Mark 16:20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. NIV
Romans 15:18-20, 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. NIV
Acts 14:8-10, 8 … Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting 9 …Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. 10 So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking. NLT
Say together: “I will boldly share the Gospel.”
- The harvest is ready and God has empowered us to bring it in.
Matthew 9:37-38, 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” NIV
Acts 8:4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. NLT
Romans 10:14-15, 14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news. NET
Ask your neighbor: “Are you ready to share the Good News?”
- We bring in the harvest because it is Gods will for us, you are not an exception.
John 4:34-38, 34 “My food,” Jesus said to them, “is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do. 35 You have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest.’ But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested! 36 The one who reaps the harvest is being paid and gathers the crops for eternal life; so the one who plants and the one who reaps will be glad together. 37 For the saying is true, ‘Someone plants, someone else reaps.’ 38 I have sent you to reap a harvest in a field where you did not work; others worked there, and you profit from their work.” GNT
Matthew 28:18-19A, 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,” NIV
- 6. God has called us all to be missionaries. A missionary takes the Gospel beyond their own people.
Psalm 2:8 Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. NLT
Mark 16:15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” NLT
Share with us your biggest hindrance to ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit and sharing the Gospel. How do you overcome that?
- Whether it is in a church gathering, someone’s house, a restaurant or where we work or someone we find on the street, God has given us the ability to minister to others in the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. NASU
Romans 12:6-8, 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. NIV
Discussion Questions: Have you seen any of these gifts in ministry since you were born again? Which of these gifts are you drawn to? Ask your leaders to pray that gifts will be in your ministry to others. Remember you can grow in your ability to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to minister.
- The Holy Spirit will lead you and show you who to minister to if you listen.
Acts 8:26-29, 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road — the desert road — that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” NIV
Psalm 119:35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. NIV
1 Samuel 16:3-4 …I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the Lord said. NKJV
Assignment: This week go out and minister in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and be prepared to give your testimony of what God did?
You see in this lesson that we have been called and empowered to bring in the harvest of lost souls around us.
God will lead us and show us what to do. Fear is the only thing that can stop you. Be brave and do it anyway.
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