​This morning is Pentecost Sunday. As a Pentecostal church we emphasize this day as it is the day on which the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers after Jesus had ascended back to heaven. However, it is a mistake to think that what happened on the Pentecost described in the Bible is only relevant one day a year. What we’re talking about today is that the Holy Spirit is relevant all the time.

Acts 1:8 is our foundational text, and it reads “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus gives this statement to the disciples as he is about to ascend back to heaven.  At this point they do not yet know exactly what he meant by it. The disciples returned to Jerusalem and waited and prayed for the Holy Spirit.

The explanation for Jesus’ statement arrives as the Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:1-4) “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

This is simply an extraordinary experience for those first believers. We must notice that the day of Pentecost was not something theoretical.  The 120 believers baptized in the Spirit experienced something. Immediately after this experience Peter gets up and begins preaching. Peter quotes from the prophet Joel to explain what has just happened.

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18, quoting from Joel 2:28-32).

If we follow the sequence of the Pentecost story, you’ll notice that Jesus gave an instruction, the Holy Spirit was poured out and then Peter preached. The outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost inaugurates the church and launches them into mission. The mission of the church that began that day has literally changed the world.

You may be saying, that’s interesting, but what does it mean for me? Why did this happen? A key thing to recognize is that God desires to give people good gifts. The Bible says:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:7-11)

A gift that God gives is never something to be afraid of. Let’s look at John’s account of Jesus’ resurrection for a bit of the backstory.  When Jesus appears to the disciples on the evening of his resurrection, he speaks these words:

“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)

Jesus was shortly to return to heaven, but Jesus’ plan is to replace himself with himself. As we saw in the Acts passage, this is essential: “Jesus had to return to the Father so that the Spirit could come.”[1] Now instead of having Jesus physically present on earth, every believer in the world will have the Holy Spirit in them. God desires to give the Holy Spirit to people.  Not just special people, or a few people, but all people.

Now, Jesus is always trying to get our attention, he always wants to reveal himself to us and he always wants to communicate with us.[2] We have to choose to respond or not. Perhaps we can think of it this way: I can know that my wife Michelle is in the room next to me, but we aren’t communicating at the moment.  However, she steps into the room where I am and asks me a question, now we are interacting. I always believed that she existed when she was in the next room, but we weren’t interacting. We can believe that the Holy Spirit exists and is around us, but it is very different to be actively interacting with him. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit wants to interact with you?

Let’s look at it this way:

God has a good plan. This is shown to people through the Holy Spirit. As adopted children followers of Jesus receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God. This inheritance is marked by the giving of the Holy Spirit; a seal and guarantee of the inheritance of followers of Jesus. “The Holy Spirit is the Christian’s seal. The experience of the Holy Spirit in their lives is the final proof to them, and indeed a demonstration to others, of the genuineness of what they have believed, and provides the inward assurance that they belong to God as children.[3]”

Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[d] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it”

The Holy Spirit is evidence that God’s goodness is at work. Through the Holy Spirit, God is up to something Good.

Today, on Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit is calling to you. If you hear his voice, will you respond?  Jesus desires to give you a good gift, to come into your life, to fill you with the Holy Spirit so you will never be alone. The Holy Spirit will lead and guide you closer to Jesus. Just as the disciples received the Holy Spirit on that original Pentecost so long ago, so today, people can still receive the Spirit. Will you receive Jesus and be filled with the Spirit today? If feel him tugging on your heart, let’s pray together today. “Jesus come into my heart, I ask you to fill me with the Holy Spirit.  Forgive me for my past and help me to live for you.” 

If you prayed those words today, you are part of God’s family!  Let someone know and we’d love you hear from you and have a conversation!

God bless and have a great week.


[1] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 109
[2] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, pg 65
[3] Foulkes, F. (1989). Ephesians: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 10, p. 64). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

This time we are continuing with part 2 of a two-part series on our CCC Core Values that started on May 3, 2020. This morning we are continuing with a deeper dive into what is behind each core value. In case you missed the last one, here are our CCC Core Values:







​

We Live for Jesus
     Because relationship with Jesus is primary, everything else flows from this.  The Holy Spirit guides us in           right relationship with Jesus

We Live Generously
     Because life is a gift meant to be shared, our church is generous with our lives, time, and money

We Grow Together
     Because community and fellowship are what we are intended for, we believe people are better together

We are Welcoming
     Because everyone deserves a warm welcome and acceptance, we believe in being a relaxed, fun loving             and friendly church

After much work, we’re exited to be unveiling these refreshed Core Values for this season at CCC.  These values are about trying to capture the DNA of CCC, who we are, what we value, and what we want to be. Our goal moving forward is that everyone at CCC can learn, understand, embrace and live our Core Values and that they are easily understood.

What are values? The core beliefs of an organization or person. Values are not methods; they are the beliefs that guide actions and methods.  How we spend our time and money shows our values, thus it’s not a value unless it’s reflected in decisions and behaviour.

To recap last time, we looked at our first two values: We Live for Jesus and We Live Generously. We believe that our values must begin and end with Jesus. He is the one we worship and it all must come back to him. On a practical level this value means that all we say and do at CCC should lead us closer to Jesus. Whether it is a conversation, program, relationship or worship service we strive to facilitate an atmosphere that is conducive to people encountering Jesus.  Our second value is We Live Generously. The basis for generosity is found in Jesus’ love for people. As a church we believe that it is important to share the life that we have found in Jesus. As we’re generous with our time, lives and money we show the love and generosity of Jesus.

Let's look now at the next two Core Values.

Value #3 We Grow Together

“Because community and fellowship are what we are intended for, we believe people are better together”

The Bible is clear that followers of Jesus are meant to grow together. Christian Psychologist David Benner writes: “The Christian spiritual journey is a journey we take with others.  Each of us must take our own journey, and for each of us that journey will be unique.  But not of us is intended to make that journey alone.  The myth of the solitary Christian making his or her way alone flies in the face of everything the Bible teaches about the church as the body of Christ (I Cor 12:12-31)…We cannot make the journey apart from spiritual companions and community,”[1]

People are meant to be together and we all need each other. How does this work out? We believe in gathering on Sunday mornings and beyond Sunday mornings. The body of Christ is meant to work together in unity, each part (person) serving its purpose. In the Apostle Paul’s view, the church cannot grow in an individualistic manner, i.e. we cannot have a bunch of diverse parts growing separately and then slap them together and hope that it works. The body of Christ is meant to grow together.

Each part shapes and encourages other parts in the body of Christ as they grow together. As a child grows, the body grows in unison. A foot does not growth without symmetrical growth in the legs, hips, bones etc. This coordination and unity in the body of Christ is only possible through Christ. “Christ is at once the One into whom all Christians grow and out of whom the church consolidates itself in love. This process depends on the interrelationship of the various parts of the body.  The whole is continually being integrated and kept firm by each separate ligament.”[2]

Just going to church does not make one a Christian and it does not guarantee growth in Christian maturity. Thus, there are many ways to gather beyond Sunday mornings. People gather in small groups to study the bible and pray and people gather one on one to grow in their relationship with each other and with Jesus.  We often need the help of mentors, peers, teachers, friends, counsellors, pastors and coaches to grow in maturity. We need specific friendships and relationships and these provide the links and connections that form the corporate body of Christ. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to grow in isolation. Thus, We Grow Together.

Value #4 We are Welcoming

Our fourth value is: We are Welcoming. Because everyone deserves a warm welcome and acceptance, we believe in being a relaxed, fun loving and friendly church.

Many people comment that CCC is a friendly and warm church. We really believe that that is true. Like our community, our atmosphere is casual and fun. Part of the underlying value here is that you can be who you are here, you don’t have to pretend or hide your quirks and personality. Most importantly we believe that everyone deserves to be welcomed. If we only welcome people who know and like, we’re simply not participating in all that Jesus has calls people to (Matt 5:43-48). Welcoming and accepting people does not mean that we always agree with everyone and everything, but we welcome and accept first and have discussions based on love and relationship. We trust that Jesus wants the best for people and our role is to lead people to him, not to judge.

If we have an aspirational goal in this area, it would be that we go deeper with people. We are often warm and friendly and do a great job of initial welcome, but we also need to establish deeper relationships and friendships and trust amongst each other.

That’s a wrap on our first deeper dive into our new CCC Core Values, but it’s just the beginning of our values emphasis. Going forward we believe that everything we say and do must align with these values or we aren’t going to do it. Just as people have different skills and gifts, so each church has unique personalities and talents. The process of discovery is to find what we do best and what Jesus is calling us to do in this season and pursue those things. We simply cannot do everything, so the things we do, we want to do to the best of our ability.

We live for Jesus, we live generously, we grow together, and we are welcoming.

We hope this is your experience at CCC (even online). God bless and have a great week.


[1] Vantage Point 3, Growing up Together pg 63 Quoting David Benner, Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship and Direction, 40
[2] Barker and Kohlenberger III eds, Expositors Bible Commentary Abridged Edition: New Testament, 1994, pg 769

 This time we are launching a two-part series on the CCC Core Values. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a bit of a wrench into things, but the reality is that values become more important in a crisis, not less. These are our Core Values at CCC:







​

We Live for Jesus
     Because relationship with Jesus is primary, everything else flows from this. The Holy Spirit guides us in           right relationship with Jesus

We Live Generously
     Because life is a gift meant to be shared, our church is generous with our lives, time, and money

We Grow Together
     Because community and fellowship are what we are intended for, we believe people are better together

We are Welcoming
     Because everyone deserves a warm welcome and acceptance, we believe in being a relaxed, fun loving             and friendly church

Essentially these values are what CCC is all about. We’ll start this time with our first two values. Before we jump in however, let’s back up a bit and explain what values are.

Values:  Core beliefs of an organization or person. Values are not methods; they are the beliefs that guide actions and methods.  How we spend our time and money shows our values, thus it’s not a value unless it’s reflected in decisions and behaviour.

Beginning early in 2019 we realized that our core values had not been examined or updated for about 15 years. After months of conversations, research and input we are exited to be unveiling these refreshed Core Values for this season at CCC. These values are about trying to capture the DNA of CCC, who we are, what we value, and what we want to be. Our goal moving forward is that everyone at CCC can learn, understand, embrace and live our Core Values and that they are easily understood.

Value #1 We live for Jesus

Let’s look at value #1. The first subtext of this value states: “Because relationship with Jesus is primary, everything else flows from this.”  This may be stating the obvious for a church, but we felt it was important to state the obvious here. It’s important that our values begin and end with Jesus, otherwise there would be no point to any of the rest of it. This value is about pointing towards Jesus. A relationship with Jesus comes before everything else. Matthew 6:33 reads “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” When we give Jesus first priority, everything else falls into place.

So how do we live out this value? We believe that everything we say and do at CCC should point people towards Jesus. The church is not a social club: everything is about facilitating moments for people to encounter Jesus. Our church services cannot necessarily make people encounter Jesus, but we can facilitate an atmosphere that is conducive to people hearing from Jesus.

As a youth pastor one of my biggest highlights was going to a big youth conference called HistoryMaker because many of the youth would encounter Jesus there. They would then sometimes ask why they struggled to encounter Jesus at home after an experience at HistoryMaker. The simple answer is that HistoryMaker provided an atmosphere that was conducive to people encountering Jesus. Much prayer surrounded the event and the youth went to HistoryMaker expecting to encounter Jesus. If we don’t expect to encounter Jesus it makes it much harder to hear from him. On the positive side, we can set an atmosphere where people are more likely to encounter Jesus. This means that our church services, preaching, volunteer ministries, conversations and relationships are all opportunities to help us draw closer to Jesus, rather than ends in themselves.

The second part of the subtext for the first value statement is: “The Holy Spirit guides us in right relationship with Jesus.” John 16:13 reads “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” Primarily the Spirit leads people to truth.[1] The truth the Spirit leads people into is the person of Jesus. When people follow the Spirit, they inevitably draw closer to Jesus.  In short, the Holy Spirit leads people to Jesus and we’re right back to the main point of value #1: We Live for Jesus.

Value #2 We Live Generously

Our second value is We Live Generously. Because life is a gift meant to be shared, our church is generous with our lives, time, and money.

We feel that this church is a generous church. We don’t live in a high-income community, yet many people at Crossroads give generously of their money. In 2019 89% of CCC members gave towards the mission of CCC.  That is a very high number and a great level of buy in. Of course, generosity goes far beyond money. We have noted many times that many CCC members volunteer extensively both at CCC and in the community. People are generous with their talents, skills and time.

Why are Christians called to live generous lives? We believe that because Jesus saved people and extended the invitation of adoption into his family, that we are called to be generous people (Eph 1:5). God has given people everything they have, so we can give to others. If Jesus is generous to invite us to share his life, we can be generous to others and share our lives (John 15:1-5). Being generous as a church means we believe that it is important to share the life that we have found in Jesus. This is meant to go far beyond what happens in the church building. As we’re generous with our time, lives and money people see the love and generosity of Jesus. It’s not about hoarding what we have been given, but actively sharing it. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Life with Jesus is abundant life, and this is the life we get to be generous with!

As we wrap up this time, we’ve looked at the first two of the refreshed CCC core values: We Live for Jesus and We Live Generously.

​The goal is that these values guide everything we say and do and help form our church in a way that is more and more Christlike. So today let’s Live for Jesus and Live Generously!  In two weeks we’ll explore our next two values We Grow Together and We are Welcoming.


[1] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 94