The Fruit-Filled Home - Pastor Brad DeLong

And coincidentally, I'm going to be preaching about the spirit of the Lord, his work in our homes and our families. He's already moving in this place. So turn with me to Romans chapter 8 and then Galatians 5 briefly. I know of a few kiddos that are eager to get to this altar and seek the gift of the Holy Ghost. So I don't want to preach too long. All right. famous last words. I do believe though that the Lord is circling back to our hearts and homes in the need for the people of God to continually walk in his spirit day in and day out.

And I want to share with you what the Lord's been sharing with me starting in Romans chapter 8 verse one says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit." That's enough to celebrate right there. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free. You're set free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

He condemns sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh, they set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit, they're they're thinking about the things of the spirit. To be carnally minded is death. But if you're spiritually minded, it's life and peace. The carnal mind's at odds against God. It's it's not subject to the law of God.

It can't be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh. You're in the spirit. If indeed the spirit of God dwells, lives, abides in you. Now, if anyone doesn't have the spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body's dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Verse 11 says, "But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life."

There's life in this room right now because of the spirit. The spirit who dwells, there's that word again, in you. Paul tells the Christians in Rome and even us today. Spirit of God needs to be a fixture in our lives and hearts. Live with him. He says a similar thing in Galatians 5. I say then, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the spirit. The spirit against the flesh. They're contrary to one another. So you don't do the things that you wish.

But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. He talks about the works of the flesh. He lists 18 of them there, and we'll talk about them in a moment. He says this in verse 22, "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law, and those who are Christ crucify the flesh. If we live in the spirit," verse 25 says, "Let us also walk in the spirit." Today, we're going to tackle a familiar subject from yet another angle as the Lord circles in red ink again, the need for us to abide in and with him.

We're going to do that through this topic entitled the fruitfilled home. Fruitfilled home. As my helpers come with their baskets of fruit. I wonder if you just stretch your hand to heaven and ask the Lord to help you to walk in the Holy Ghost, to walk in the spirit, to be filled to the full with the spirit of God. If you've come today and you're depleted or you come today and it's been a while since you were fully refilled, I'm going to ask you just to begin to lift your voice and believe with me that before you leave today, you're going to be filled with the spirit of God.

There's going to be fruit coming out of your life as a result of the infilling. Oh God, uh we need the Holy Ghost. We need your power. That's evident here today that we need the work of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We invite you to fill us completely in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. Everyone said, "Amen." And while you're seated, tell somebody your favorite fruit of the spirit. Anybody? Tell somebody around you which one you like most. Few weeks ago during a a morning devotion time, Mila and I were sitting across the room from each other.

We were enjoying a quiet morning when she helped her poor pastor of a dad with yet another sermon in opening illustration. My kids, I tell you what, they they write the best sermons. But, uh, hopefully this one will measure up. This time, though, she asked me a question that just stopped me in my tracks. And I hope you're ready for it because it's it's more potent than it first appears at face value. I I didn't realize it, but she was watching me from across the room.

I was praying. I was praying uh quietly, kind of under my breath, and uh she asked me this question that caused a lot of introspection. And she said, "Daddy, do you get the Holy Ghost every day? Do you get the Holy Ghost every day?" What a question. What a conviction, a moment of introspection. I'm going to ask you, wonderful, wonderful people of God. Do you get the Holy Ghost every day? Maybe I can rephrase it a little bit. Are you walking with and living with and being continually led by the spirit of God every day?

Are you filled with his spirit today and every day? How do you know that you're filled with the spirit of God? And most importantly, are we measuring up to the standard that the Bible gives us in Romans 8 and Galatians 5 among other places that the spirit of the living God truly dwells in us as opposed to the only other alternative. Sometimes we like to have the gray area. Well, I may not be filled with the spirit of God, but but I I dabble in it and I I interact with him some here and there, but Paul doesn't really give an in between.

He just says, "Spirit or flesh? Take your pick." Such an important question for us to contemplate today because many of us know already the same spirit that Mila asked me about that morning. He is our source. He is our lifeblood as Christians and as apostoics. In fact, if you've never received the spirit of God with the biblical evidence of speaking with other tongues, you can receive his spirit today and discover just how different and just how amazing and just how wonderful life can be when you're walking in the spirit of God and you're filled with the spirit of God.

The apostle Peter gives us a road map to that kind of life. It's he says it's life or Jesus says it's life more abundantly. He gives us the biblical standard, the plan of salvation in Acts two. He and the apostles expected that all of those who wanted to follow Christ, they would repent just like uh Jesus had been preaching from his earliest sermons, they would turn away from sin and darkness, they would turn towards God. They would pursue God in their hearts and minds and and then they would be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of those sins.

You can have that experience today. You ought to have that experience today. All of your sins can be washed away. I know tomorrow is Labor Day and all of us are taking off work. I'm excited to tell you there's no work that you've got to do. YOU JUST GO IN THAT WATER IN JESUS NAME. We'll pull you back up and all of your sins will be washed away in the power of that name we just sang of. You can have it happen today. And the capstone of it all.

This apostolic Pentecostal experience that we see in Acts two is you shall be filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost with that evidence. The same evidence of speaking with other tongues. Same evidence we see in Acts 2, Acts 4, Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 19 among other places. You'll speak with other tongues. As the spirit of the Lord gives you that ability, you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit, the same spirit who wants to live with and dwell with you all the days of your life.

I've told several in the room in recent times already who've had this experience. It's just the beginning. It's just the beginning of your life with Jesus. one when he uh in in which he abides with you and walks with you. And there's nothing I want to I want to if there's anyone that believes this, there's nothing like being filled with and walking in the spirit. If you believe that, just give me an amen. For those who have never experienced, there's nothing like being filled. Colossians 2 says, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

That's part of this spirit experience. And as a result of that experience, everything we do now as a Christ follower, as a Christian, is rooted in him and his word and led by his spirit. Everything we do as apostolic Pentecostals starts with the spirit of God and the word of God. In fact, 1 John 2, he says, "Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, but doesn't keep his commandments," John just says it plain.

He's a liar and the truth isn't in him. But whoever keeps God's word, the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we're in him. He who says that I I'm walking with God, uh he also ought to walk just as Jesus walked. Paul adds this in Romans 8. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The word and the spirit are everything to us. We got to be filled with the spirit of God or we may fall into the trap again of the only other alternative that Paul gives.

He tells uh us in Romans 8 that we're either walking in the spirit every day or we're walking in the flesh. So when Mila asks me, "Daddy, do you get the Holy Ghost every day?" I ought to. Right? That's the goal. That's the aim. I want to be sure that I am filled with and living with and walking in the spirit and not after the flesh, which is at odds with God and enmity with God. And if that sounds extreme, that sounds oversimplified. Oh man, I just got to speak in tonesues every day.

Well, that's part of the evidence. We'll talk about the rest. If that sounds just a little too extreme, I encourage you to take that up with the Apostle Paul who told those in Corinth, he said, "I speak in tonesues more than any of you." And also, just just for a case study, just for some experiential evidence, just remember the last time it had been a while since you were filled with the spirit of God and recall what your attitude and what your demeanor were like. Were you more like Jesus or less like him?

The longer you went without being baptized in the spirit of God, were you more like Jesus or less like him? I believe the Apostle Paul would concur, and many of you would concur, I need him every day. I need his spirit and the infilling of his spirit every single day. I need to be led of his spirit. I need the fruit of the spirit every single day. I need to be filled to the full with the spirit of God. Just like Paul tells the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter 5.

He says, "See then that you walk circumspectly or carefully, not as fools, but as wise, redeem the time because the days are evil. Don't be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And don't be drunk with wine and which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit of God." The word filled there just means filled. Filled. Full of the spirit. It even uh can mean fulfilled by the spirit. The word is also used in a present tense meaning it's an ongoing action, an ongoing command.

Keep being filled, stay filled, be continually filled. One theologian said the PRACTICAL IMPLICATION IS CHRISTIANS are to keep their lives OPEN TO BE FILLED constantly and repeatedly by the divine spirit of God. You ought to be filled. You ought to be refilled with the Holy Ghost today. You ought to be filled as I'm preaching to. You ought to just lift your voice at some point and begin to speak with other tongues because IT'S A GIFT THAT GOD GAVE YOU. NOT NOT FOR ANYONE BUT YOURSELF and to glorify the Lord.

You ought to be filled with the spirit just like the apostles demonstrated. They were filled in the book of Acts and Acts chapter 2. But then you see them again and again and again interacting with being filled with the spirit. They walked in the spirit, led by the spirit, comforted, counseledled, moved upon by the spirit. And as a result result, we see the spirit of God begin to permeate every area of their lives, day-to-day interactions, where they went, what they said. And especially for our purposes and our premise today, from the very beginning, we see the spirit of God move upon and fill and take up residence in and among their homes, their habitations, their family life.

If you look closely at their pattern example, the apostolic home was a focal point. It it was an epicenter for the infilling and the outpouring of the spirit of God. So the point and premise I'm trying to drive home today is we need spiritfilled hearts. Amen. And we need spiritfilled homes where the fruits of the spirit are on full display. I've just felt so strongly recently that the spirit of the Lord is zeroing in on this and trying to get a hold of hearts and families and homes.

Maybe some homes where the Lord's been knocking, but he hasn't had a reply just yet. Maybe some homes where he's been knocking, the doors been open temporarily, but but then other things have displaced him. Or maybe some homes it's just an inconsistent response. God is after our hearts first in our homes, people of God. And I believe he is adamant that his spirit ought to inhabit our homes, our routines, our family life, our daily activities, our daily decisions. More than any of that, HE JUST WANTS OUR HEARTS.

If he gets our hearts, he'll get our homes. I just see the Lord as vigilant as he was at Passover, making sure that those homes were covered and that those those families and parents were intentional about what they were doing and making sure anyone in any house anywhere was captivated and and God centered in their life. So, if it's been a while since you've had a spiritual moment, a God moment, even the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in your home, I'm encouraging you today. If it's been a while since you connected with God on your day-to-day routine or outside these walls, I'm talking to you today.

Like I said a few weeks ago, we've not graduated beyond the spirit of God and needing to be filled with the spirit of God. The spirit visited homes readily in the book of Acts and beyond. They they consistently experience the outpouring of the Holy Ghost everywhere they went. So for us to be truly apostolic Pentecostal, we need to experience the power of the spirit of God regularly, even daily to walk in the spirit was to be continually led by the spirit. And you cannot be led by the spirit IF YOU'RE NOT FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.

Romans 8:9, you're not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone doesn't have the spirit of Christ, he's not his. And if Christ is in you, the body's dead because of sin. But the spirit is life. This is what we're choosing. Life and death. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit. There's this word again, who dwells.

Everyone say dwells. Mentioned briefly earlier that word. It means just to live with you. Dwell with you, reside with you. You might be at the house pouring yourself some cereal and the and the Holy Ghost walks in. That ought not to be abnormal. Amen. That you're sitting at the table and you're having a conversation and the spirit of God comes in and he he takes part in your family rhythm, dwells with you. I take that first to me in our hearts and lives. But I wonder as a secondary measurement metric if the spirit of God is living and abiding in our homes like we want him to.

How often is Jesus and his spirit invited to your table, your family room, your routine, your calendar? How much of our hearts and homes does he really occupy? Is he op is he occupying the the den area or is that just for the flesh? How often are we led by his spirit during our day-to-day activities, interactions? Do you get THE HOLY GHOST EVERY DAY, PASTOR BRAD? Does the Holy GHOST GET A HOLD OF you every day? Or is HE A PASSING THOUGHT on Sundays or most days outside of Sundays?

If you feel the help of the Lord right now or maybe even a little conviction, welcome to the club. All right, we're being called to live and breathe and have our being in the Lord and have our hearts and homes filled with the spirit of God. Paul said, "You're not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God lives with you." I want to ask you to just show hands. How many of you want that today? I think all of us, right?

Especially when you consider the fruit, the benefits of a heart and a home filled with the spirit of God. Here's nine of those benefits. Galatians 5, I say, "Then walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh." Flesh lusts against the spirit, spirit against the flesh, contrary to one another. Let me show you what happens when we're just walking in the flesh. We don't have the spirit. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lwdenness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dimension or dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revalries, the like.

18 fruits. I know murder is in there and we're like, "Oh yeah, I'm not murdering people. I'm not in the flesh." Outbursts of wrath are in there. Jealousy is in there. Anyone ever been jealous before? Just Yeah. Okay. Four of us. All right. All right. Come on. We can admit that we vacasillate sometimes, but the fruit of the spirit, look at the difference, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ, they've crucified the flesh.

its passions and its desires. If we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit. Another translation says, if the spirit is really our source of life, let the spirit also direct our life. How often are your decisions directed by the spirit of God? The question we've been trying to ask thus far, is the spirit really the source of our lives? Are we walking in the spirit? If we are, we're going to have the fruit that's promised to us. If we're not, we're going to have the fruit of the flesh.

Those are the only two options. With our title and subject in mind, I want to ask one step further in our line of questioning and ask this. Is the spirit also the source of life for your home, its inhabitants, and their interactions with one another and others? If so, your home will have this fruit, this promised fruit from the spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. No law against those things. Thank God. And this is likely what every person in the room and every person on the planet wants for their home right there.

Our home should have that fruit. Amen. If not, we will likely by process of elimination have the other fruit. Now, hear me. I know this isn't automatic. Fruit takes a while to cultivate. Mariah uh started dabbling in some uh tomato planting. Tomatoes are a fruit, by the way. Don't know if you knew that. I just learned that. No. Uh, it felt like it took forever, especially for her because I did nothing. She just watered it. She cultivated every day. She was out there putting netting around it.

She was talking to the plants. No. Okay. Sorry. That's not the fruit of the spirit. All right. Oh, that fruit was amazing. I was the beneficiary of that fruit and all the fruit of the spirit that she exhibits. Praise God. Took a while to cultivate the fruit on that list on the screen. Walmart cannot deliver those. Instacart can't. You can't even grow those in your backyard. You cannot fabricate or cultivate them on your own. Your own fruit, the fruit of your flesh will it will not produce these lifegiving fruits.

These are the most soughtafter precious fruits on the planet. And they come from one source, the spirit of Jesus Christ himself. Why? Why am I reminding us of this and talking about these fruits in our homes? Because I am concerned that there are some who experience those fruit every week when we come into the presence of the Lord and we walk through those doors, but we leave them on the altar and forfeit the same fruit when we leave this place and we go back to our regular life and it's drudgeries.

Maybe there are some who are you're you're coming to church and you're feeling the presence and and the fruit of the spirit. You're feeling love and joy and peace on a Sunday morning, but then you go home and you forfeit your own birthright and your own promises and you settle for the opposite and the absence of the daily infilling of the spirit of God. Instead of love, joy, peace, which maybe we just think are luxuries. Ah, I can't have joy in the middle of this. I can't have peace.

We go home to turmoil and loneliness and tension, irritability, restlessness, selfishness, maybe even a little carnality if we're honest. And we WE GET THE SPIRIT AND the fruit of the spirit here where his spirit resides, but we abdicate it everywhere else where it's just outery. I can't speak in tongues when I'm on the job. I can't walk in the Holy Ghost in my cubicle. I I can't do that at school where everything's suppressing in on me. Yes, you can. We know they only come through the the spirit.

For that matter, we ought to have the fruit of the spirit on the job, too. Amen. Yes. in traffic. We know they only come through the spirit, but we try to cultivate them on our own or we try to fabricate and simulate joy in our homes and fruit like peace and and patience. And we try to do it through some man-made means or maybe just the next Amazon purchase. We try to find shortcut to fruits and promises that are only found in the spirit of God.

The same fruits and benefits that are promised if we would just be full of the Holy Ghost daily. Let me just paint for you the the plainest and truest picture I can. You will not have the peace of God in your home without the spirit of God at work in your home. You won't you may have a measure of it because of God's grace, but you won't. You will not have you will not become miraculously patient without the work of the spirit. Trust me, I've tried.

I'm I need the Holy Ghost to be patient. Don't pray for patience. Do do pray for patience. YOU'LL NOT HAVE THE JOY OF THE LORD WITHOUT THE Lord himself. You'll not have the love of God without being full of his spirit. True temperance and self-control are not found in our flesh or even in the wisdom of other flesh on our bookshelves. The kindness that brought Calvary can only come from the spirit THAT WAS POURED OUT SHORTLY AFTER. in your home. Yes, maybe even your embattled and beaten down heart and home and family ought to be full of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control when you are full of the spirit of God.

Those are not luxuries beyond your reach. Those are the byproducts of the spirit who's in this room. If the apostles can have these in prison cells and being beaten by their own countrymen, you are not exempt. Even in the darkest moments when your knees are buckling and your faith tested, I've seen it and experienced it. Here comes joy, peace. They always they always come with the spirit. My family is a testament to it. There are others in the room that are testament to it. And I think that Lydia and Aquilla and Priscilla and Gas and Stephanus and Cornelius would testify to the same.

We ought to have these fruit in our home. Think about Cornelius. Peter walks in his house and he he falls down and he worships Peter. That's his mindset. Moments later, the word of God is spoken and the spirit of God comes in and the entire gentile race has a door open to him. Please do not tell me that the spirit cannot bring peace to your home if you let him in. Try to tell Cornelius that he can bring goodness to your family. He can bring gentleness in place of some harsh words and harshness.

He can flood your life and baptize you with joy. I felt this so strongly. Brother Bishop and I were talking about this this morning that some people here have abdicated joy. Uh uh joy is just a luxury. Joy is just something that that I get when I'm at church or joy is just something I get when I'm on vacation. I have no other worries. No, no, no. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. The same spirit that can interact with you and connect with you at your lowest and at YOUR WORST.

YOU OUGHT TO HAVE JOY TODAY. IF YOU COME IN THIS PLACE AND YOU'RE ABSENT OF IT, THIS IS A FRUIT of the spirit of God. You can have a fruitfilled home and heart when you're filled with the SPIRIT FOR THE FIRST time or the 40th time or the 400th time. I talked to a family recently. They had a situation going on. They gathered the kids together to pray and this is their custom. And they said, "All right, we got to get this there's a desperate situation.

Let's gather together." They began to pray and the spirit of God started moving in there and those kids had tears streaming down their face and their lips were stammering under the power of the Holy Ghost. God can he can come in in any moment if we'll just open that door wide and let the HOLY GHOST AND I wonder is there anything better you could think of for your family in your home? Anything better than having the word and the spirit of God flood your home? No, there's not.

And with both of those as a centerpiece, you can have every fruit on that list when you let the spirit move freely in your home and invite him into every place. And when you don't quench the spirit. I'm coming to a close in a moment, but I want to remind us the fruits we're talking about today, they they only come by his spirit, but they also flow through lives that don't quench the spirit. They're a work and a byproduct of the spirit of God, but they don't just shoot up randomly.

Really, if we're left to our own devices, we get the other fruit. I have no problem that the the other fruit on that list, they come up easy. Like one day without the spirit, and I'm already have outbursts of wrath. Yeah, these come by the spirit of God, but they're planted in your life, in the soil of your heart. Recently this passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 came to discussion. Paul tells the church, "Don't quench the spirit." Surrounding context, he's talking about the gifts of the spirit.

But one of our resident theologians, Sister Christy Scott, she thought about another viable application. And we asked the question, "What what if we can quench the fruit of the spirit as well?" I think we can. I know I can. I can quench patience all day. It's easy. So, what if we have no peace in our home because there's a lack of the spirit in our home? What if we're forfeiting joy when we don't intentionally let the spirit of God live with us? And what if there's no self-control and no patience and lack of kindness because the spirit of God has not been the focal point of our days and homes and routines?

Think about it with me for a moment. Do you think that more of the spirit would bring more peace, more kindness, more goodness, and faithfulness? Are we trying to figure all that out on our own? Do you think we try to fabricate it and simulate it only to end up with the other fruit? I can tell you this. Spare my soul. My fruit without the spirit of God is rotten. It's rotten. I need the spirit of the Lord every day. And if I think that I can be healthy, growing, and full of love without the daily infilling of the spirit, I am mistaken.

Instead, we read this. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. It may be that the quickest solution for your fractured heart and home is the infilling or the refilling of the spirit of God. That's just too simple. when I You're saying if I come to the altar and I I speak with other tongues and I have the spirit fill me that's going to No, I'm not. But you ought to invite that spirit into your problems.

He'll sort them out. He'll sort you out and me out. He'll start to cultivate peace in the middle of your problems. Joy. You'll be walking through your day and all of a sudden joy just sprouts up right in the middle of your mess. longsuffering breaks through the surface. And wait a second, is that is that kindness in this house that that was broken and in in in battle? Where where's all this goodness coming from? And right in the middle of tragedy and there's love. Love right in the middle of brokenness.

This spirit is so powerful. It can bring all of those to the surface and what appears to be barren and scorch earth. And as real as this fruit is on this altar today, the fruit of the spirit can become a reality in your life, in your heart and home. You can have a fruitfilled home. You should have a fruitfilled home. When people come, they should say, "Man, there's such a peace here. Such love here. You can have it starting today." Musicians, you can come. I recognize what I'm advocating today.

It's going to take time and effort. It may not be the easiest thing that you and the Holy Ghost set out to do together. In fact, fruit seems to be harder and harder to keep in a home the more I interact with it. Anyone notice that fruit is expensive nowadays? Costs a lot. 10 bucks for two mediocre pounds of strawberries. What in the world? See if I can do this. No, I missed. I'll put that one in my pocket. I do want to eat one grape, though.

Some of you have been eyeballing this fruit like, "All right, wrap it up, Pastor. I'm going up there and grab some fruit." You ought to You ought to get all of it that you can. And do not leave it on this altar. You have every right to this fruit. You have every right to that fruit. But there's some I just there's some who have been longing for peace. Oh God, I just want your peace. But keep in the spirit at arms length because fruit costs a lot.

Tastes good. You also notice fruits hard to keep healthy. These strawberries we got them the other day, they're already turning. Avocados have like a five minute ripe period, right? That's also a fruit. Okay? One day it's good, the next day it's not. I know every analogy breaks down, but check your fruit. Are you filled with the spirit of God? Do you think that he wants to fill your life every single day? Let me ask you, mom and dad, do you get the Holy Ghost every day?

My kiddos are tracking it. They got a log of when they're getting the Holy Ghost. I wonder if I should do the same thing. And if your fruit's rotten, maybe look back and see when's the last time I was just filled with the spirit of God. Whatever it cost you, I encourage you to buy it. Pay the cost. Put aside the works of the flesh. Get some other things out of your life that's displacing. And let me tell you just one quick story. This has happened at the Long House and we're we're trying to work on patience.

You've heard me say it a lot, especially on Wednesdays. I don't know what it is about Wednesdays, but Wednesdays are a battle. Mila came home from VBS. Thank you, Sister Toby, and her team talking about the rainforest. Absolutely. She told me a couple weeks later, she said, "Daddy, I almost got the Holy Ghost again at VBS during one of those sessions." She said, "That night I came home, I couldn't sleep. said, "I started praying in my bed." Wesley said, "I heard you praying. I was wondering what's going on."

She said, "I got the Holy Ghost in my bed." Church, I've talked to some of you parents walking in, seeing your kids reading their Bible or seeing your kids in the room praying. There is no greater joy. There's no greater joy. And really, in any home, in any house, on any given day, there is nothing better that can happen than you or whoever's in your house being filled with the spirit of God. Whatever it costs you, check your fruit today and make sure you leave here today full of the Holy Ghost.

In fact, I'm going invite you to stand. There's fruit all over this altar and not just this literal fruit. And I'm going to implore you, please don't leave all that fruit sitting here. Probably the best thing that can happen for you in your home today is that you bring some family members or maybe you're living there by yourself. If if you're living there by yourself, it's all on you today. But I got good news for you. It's a gift and you can have it. All right.

Probably the best thing that can happen is you could come down here this morning and lift your hands and begin to speak with other tongues and let the let the Lord completely fill your life and your family. There's nothing stopping you. If you've never received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you ought to come down here in a moment, lift your hands, and begin to worship the Lord, repent of your sins, ask the Lord for forgiveness. And I believe that the Lord can fill you with the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues.

If you've already received the gift of the Holy Ghost, I'm going to implore you because we need him and because we have the evidence to come right now and be refilled with the Holy Ghost. Would you just step out of where you are and come right now to this altar? Yeah. Yeah. Would you come to this altar right now and lift your hands and begin to speak with other tongues and be filled all over again with the gift of the Holy Ghost? If you want the fruit of the spirit, would you come right now and begin to call on the Lord?

AH, I IMPLORE YOU, DON'T LEAVE THIS ON THE ALTAR. STEP OUT OF WHERE YOU ARE and come and lift your hands and begin to speak with other tongues in the name of Jesus. Go ahead.

There's nothing that will ever come close. Nothing can compare. You're our living hope. Your presence, Lord. I taste it and see of the sweetest of love where my heart becomes free and my shame is unound. your presence Lord. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. to be overcome by your presence. Lord, your presence. There's nothing worth more that will ever come close. Nothing can compare. You're our living hope. your presence.

Lord, I taste it and see of the sweetest of where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone. your presence, Lord. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place until the endless here. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. to be overcome by your presence. Lord, Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. to be overcome by your presence. Lord, let us become more aware of your presence.

Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness, Lord. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what our hearts long for. To be overcome by your presence, Lord, Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what our hearts long for. To be overcome by your presence, Lord. Holy Spirit, you are welcome. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. To be overcome by your presence, Lord. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence.

Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness, Lord. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. to be overcome by your presence, Lord. Heat. Heat. was watching my nephew [name redacted] eyeballing this fruit down here. It's not just for them, though. Here's what I felt like the Lord promised me today that he would pour out his spirit on every person who wanted him.

Before we move any further, whatever that looks like in your life, and most times it just looks like you're speaking in a language you've never learned before, I think we ought to give the Lord that opportunity. So, we're going to lift our hands in a moment and just let the Lord do what he wants to do. If you'll just start to worship the Lord with me and see what happens, everybody, we'll put this mic down. Let's worship the Lord together. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Sometimes. Sometimes I wonder what that room, that upper room sounded like in the book of Acts.

I think it sounded like that right there. It's the same experience from the same Bible, the same word of God, and we believe every word of it. This is new to you today. You got questions, we understand. That's all right to have questions. Come talk to us and we'll explain the word of the Lord and talk about what happens in the Bible. And we have that uh Acts 2 experience, that Pentecostal experience, and enjoy some fruit while you're at it. This fruit and the other fruit, we spent some time connecting with one another.

And we're going to spend some time con with the Lord. And we're going to spend some time connecting with one another here today during our family day.