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Experience the life-changing messages from the Church of God’s annual Winterfest youth gathering. These are the sermons, moments, and voices that have shaped generations of young believers — now available anytime, anywhere.
Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, can you hear me? I got another gift for you. Come here.
Do you want another gift? Yeah, come on. Come on. Hold on, sweetheart. I got two gifts for you,
not just one gift. You get two gifts. Three big claps for Jenna. Here we go.
Happy birthday. That's what I'm talking about. How many of you love to get gifts?
Well, see, I don't have a lot of money, so I can't give 12,000 people gifts on gifts,
but I got really good news for you.
God has some gifts for every single one of you in this room today.
As a matter of fact, that's who God is.
God is a giving God.
He's a good God.
I don't know your view of God.
I don't know how you see God.
I don't know your perspective of God.
Some of you think that God is mad at you, that God's angry at you, that God's disappointed
in you, that God's just waiting to smite you, God wants to punish you, but that's not God.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. He is a giving God. He's a good God.
As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us specifically in Matthew chapter 7,
one verse of scripture here, verse number 11, it compares us as fathers, earthly fathers, to
the love and the grace of our heavenly father, the Bible says that if you then, though you are evil,
talking to us as humans, know how to give good gifts to your children, watch this, how much more
will your father in heaven give good gifts? Somebody shout good gifts. And how do we get those good
gifts to those who ask him? God is a gift giving God. As a matter of fact, there are two very,
very important gifts that God offers to every single one of us this morning. The first gift
that God wants all of us to have and to receive is the gift of salvation. This gift, the gift of
eternal life, it's the most important gift. As a matter of fact, without the gift of salvation,
without receiving the gift of eternal life, you don't get any other gift that God offers you.
Every other gift that comes from God is dependent upon you receiving the very first gift, the gift
of salvation. And listen to me, the gift of salvation is not the day that you decided to go
to church. The gift of salvation is not the day that you signed up to go to Winterfest.
The gift of salvation is not the moment that you started crying because you felt bad
for what you had done because you knew what you had done was wrong. That's not salvation.
The gift of salvation is when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. You not only repent
of your sin, but here's a word. You renunciate, renunciate the sin. You abandon it. You walk away
from it. You turn your back on it. A 180. You open your heart to Jesus. You invite Jesus to come into
your life. You allow his blood that was shed on the cross at Calvary to wash you clean and to make
you new and to say yes to the Lord and no to the world. God says to every single one of you,
I want to give you the gift of salvation.
Romans says it this way,
for the wages of sin is death,
but the, come on church,
but the gift of God is eternal life.
Paul told the church at Ephesus about salvation.
He says in Ephesians chapter two,
he says, for it is by grace
that you have been, somebody shout saved,
that you have been saved through faith.
And this is not from yourselves.
It is the gift of God, meaning you can't work for salvation.
There's nothing you can do to earn salvation.
It's freely given by grace through faith.
And many of you, thousands of you, have already received the gift of eternal life.
You've already accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
But there's another group of you that you've been trying to put this thing off.
And so you've been like bobbing and weaving on Friday night and Saturday morning and Saturday night.
because you know that the convicting power of God is working in you,
but you're not ready to go all in,
and yet here we are on a Sunday morning,
and God won't leave you alone to say,
I've got a gift for you,
and I want you to have the gift of eternal, everlasting life.
I'm going to do this right here, right now,
heads bowed, eyes closed,
for the young man or the young woman in this room
that you have yet to ask Jesus to come into your heart
to be the Lord of your life, to say, I want my name written in the book of life. I'm going to count to
three. And when I get to three, I want you to throw your hands, both hands up in the air
as a sign of surrender to say, Lord, I'm tired of running. I'm tired of playing games.
I'm tired of going through the motions. I'm ready to go all in with you. And if you're giving me a
gift of freedom and forgiveness, I want that gift. One, no longer will you wait. Two, this is your
moment where life changes forever. Three, throw your hands up. Father, for the dozens and dozens
of hands in this room, I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak right to their heart and they would
know that they are forgiven. I pray in the mighty name of Jesus. This is not a prayer that you just
have to repeat. That's not what makes you saved. I'm just giving you a prayer that you can learn to
pray as you develop this personal walk with the Lord. But God, I'm inviting you to be the Lord of
my life. I'm inviting you to be Christ. In my heart, I'm asking you to forgive me of my sin.
I'm ready to walk in grace and freedom and mercy. I'm ready to go all in with you, Jesus.
And Lord, I say yes to you and no to the things of the world. I love you, Jesus, with all of my heart.
And I know that you chose me. And Lord, here and now, I choose you. In Jesus' name we pray.
and everybody said amen and amen.
And this whole room on Sunday morning,
put your hands together
for those that just said yes to Jesus.
Come on.
Come on, you got more in you.
Come on, Winterfest.
But just like with Jenna,
there's more.
The thing about God is
no matter how long you serve the Lord,
no matter how much you walk with the Lord,
There is always more to God.
And here's what happens with so many Christians.
They accept Jesus as Lord and Savior,
and they think that's all there is in their faith journey,
but God has another gift.
Now, remember, you don't get any other gift from God
until you first get the gift of salvation,
and now for those of you that have said yes to Jesus,
now you've opened the opportunity to receive the other gifts.
Now, I don't have time on this Sunday morning
to talk about all of the different gifts
that are available to those that are in a personal
and growing relationship with Jesus.
I wanna spend the rest of my time talking to you, though,
about the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Holy Spirit.
Just like with Jenna, you think you get one gift,
but God says, wait a minute, I've got another gift.
Many people don't even realize that there is a Holy Spirit.
Many people don't even realize
that God offers you more than just salvation.
But I want to show you that being baptized in the Holy Spirit is another gift. It is a
separate experience than just receiving the gift of eternal life. After Jesus was crucified and
buried in a borrowed tomb and then resurrected from the grave, he said to his disciples in Acts
chapter 1, he said some very specific things here before he ascended to heaven, which is where Jesus
is now. He's sitting at the right hand of God the Father. And the Bible says that Jesus is
praying for you. That should give you a lot of comfort to know that Jesus is praying for us right
now. Yet Jesus said to his disciples, look at this beginning of verse number four and then continue
in verse number five. He says, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the what? Interesting.
He says, wait for the gift that my father promised, which you heard me speak about. And then watch this.
He said, for John baptized with water. What is he talking about? He's talking about the gift of
eternal life, the gift of salvation. He's saying John's baptism is all about salvation, which by
the way, if you just accepted Jesus as Lord this weekend, or maybe recently you've asked Jesus to
come into your life, your very next step when you get back to your church and back to your youth
group is to be baptized in water. Every single one of you, your churches should have, you know,
services specifically for the dozens of students that are going public in their faith. That's your
very next step. And Jesus says, all right, John baptized with water, meaning salvation. He says,
but in a few days, but in a few days, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now I'm not the
brightest star in the sky or the sharpest tool in the shed, but I do know that the word but
is a coordinating conjunction. But brings two opposing or contradicting thoughts into one.
and look at this. Jesus says you were baptized with John's baptism in water, but in a few days
you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Look at me, students, all the way in the back as well. Come
on, all the way back there, look at me. There is another gift. It's the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It's being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now, I would imagine with 12,000 people in a room like
this, there are three types of people, three categories of people when it comes to the Holy
Spirit. First, there's the group that's very, very confident and comfortable when we talk about the
Holy Spirit. You understand the Holy Spirit. Maybe you grew up in a home where your mom was, you know,
spirit-filled, or you grew up in a family where your grandmother was spirit-filled, or you're a
part of a church where, come on, Church of God folk, come on now, where they're not afraid to let the
Holy Spirit move and let God be God. And so you've got a pastor or a youth pastor that's not afraid
to open up the altars and let the power of the Holy Spirit fall. And so not only do you know
about the Holy Spirit intellectually, because you've read in the Bible about the Holy Spirit,
but you know the Holy Spirit experientially, meaning you've had your own encounter with the
Holy Spirit. It's what Paul told the church at Ephesus. He said, and this is my prayer for you,
that you have intimate friendship with the Holy Spirit.
So you're very confident about the Holy Spirit
because you've seen the Holy Spirit move
and your understanding of the Holy Spirit is consistent.
But then there's others of you
that when we talk about the Holy Spirit, you're curious.
You've never been in a moment like this.
You've never been in a room like this.
I don't wanna reduce the Holy Spirit to feelings
because the whole, oh, thank you, Lord.
The Holy Spirit is not about feeling.
the Holy Spirit is about filling. Not about F-E-E-L-I-N-G but about F-I-L-L-I-N-G. So I don't
want to reduce the Holy Spirit to a feeling but many of you you've never felt what you felt this
weekend. You've never seen what you've seen. You've never seen peers and friends and people on your
row lift their hands in worship and pray out loud and tears flow down their face or run to the altar
and fall down at the altar and cry and weep and pray.
And you've never seen that.
Now, again, the Holy Spirit is not about feeling,
but you've never experienced what's happening over this weekend.
And so while you're not confident about the Holy Spirit,
your antennas are up and you're curious.
Who is this Holy Spirit?
What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?
And then the third category of people is those that are just cautious.
It's like, man, maybe you're cautious because you grew up in an environment where you saw the Holy Spirit misused and abused.
I'm talking maybe even some PKs, pastors, kids, that you felt like, man, I don't know, that felt a certain way.
Or maybe you're cautious because even this weekend you're like, man, these people are wacko.
These are weird people.
Come on now.
Let me tell you, the Holy Spirit is not weird.
The Holy Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is God.
There's nothing weird about the Holy Spirit. Now people are weird. Come on somebody.
And if you're wondering, I wonder who the weird person is. It might be you. Come on now.
Write this thought down. The Holy Spirit is not weird. The Holy Spirit is God. Me trying to teach
you about the Trinity in 25 minutes is like me trying to, we got a little puppy for Christmas.
Come on people. How many of you are dog lovers in the room? Come on now.
How many of you love cats? Come on, where are the cat lovers at?
the gift of salvation is still available for you cat people. Come on somebody, you can still receive
Jesus. We got a little puppy for Christmas, a little miniature schnauzer. That little dog's name
is Lulu. Come on now, little Lulu. I think I love Lulu more than my own children. Come on somebody,
I love that dog. Lulu is my friend. Me trying to teach you about the Trinity and Trinitarian
theology and a 25, 30 minute sermon, I probably have an easier time teaching Lulu how to shop on
Amazon. This is very, very complicated, but at the end of the day, you need to know something.
The Holy Spirit is not weird. The Holy Spirit is God, and you're a part of a church. You're a part
of a movement that we believe there is only one God that exists in three persons. God is the Father.
God is the Son. God is the Holy Spirit, and while people may act weird, there is nothing weird about
your God. You ought to give him some praise right here and right now. Come on.
can I say something else to you on Sunday morning you know what else isn't weird when people pray in
tongues when people speak in tongues that's not weird but for many of us when we don't have that
experience we would rather call it weird and reject it than lean into it that there's nothing
weird about the gifts of the spirit or the fruit of the spirit but specifically tongues
maybe some of you in different worship moments or even preaching this weekend,
you've heard somebody pray in tongues and you're thinking, man, that's a strike.
What language are they speaking?
Well, watch what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two.
This is why as a denomination,
we believe that one of the evidences that you've received this gift of the Holy
Spirit is that you've been given your prayer language, that you pray in tongues.
There's nothing weird about that. And let me just submit this to you.
Lean in for a second.
I don't ever want you to reject something that God offers you
simply because you don't understand it.
Here's my prayer.
And I've been saved for 25 years now.
God, if you have more for me, I want everything you have for me
because there's a purpose for it, including the gift of tongues.
On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell,
the Bible says that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and they began to speak in other tongues.
Let me pause right here and say this to you.
Because the Lord told me this this morning.
The very first three words.
All of them.
All of them.
At 4 a.m. I started praying for all of them.
Every single one of you.
That you would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And you would receive your prayer language.
That at the end of this service.
That your mouth would be open.
And your heart would be open.
And the Holy Spirit would enable you to speak in another language.
That's not weird.
There's nothing weird about it.
And again, I know that this is a very complicated topic
at Smoky Mountain Winterfest,
but you need the Holy Spirit
and you need to learn how to pray in the Spirit.
Listen to me, the gift of tongues, write this down,
is just your prayer language.
It's just your prayer language.
It's where your spirit is talking to God
when your mind doesn't have the words.
You ever been through something
where you know you need to pray,
but you don't know what to pray?
and in that moment the Holy Spirit takes over
and the tongue begins to move.
So I'm telling you that while you may be curious
or cautious about the Holy Spirit,
in my final few minutes,
I wanna tell you two primary reasons
that you need the gift of the Holy Spirit.
You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
And I pray that at the end of this service
that you receive your prayer language,
the gift of tongues.
Two reasons I believe you need the Holy Spirit
with the gift of tongues.
Number one, so that you can know that you're not alone.
This is why God gives us the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever heard the saying,
God will never give you more than you can handle?
Let me see your hand if you've ever heard that.
God will never give you more than you can.
That's a lie.
That's a lie.
If God never allowed us to go through things
that we could not handle,
why would we need the local church, number one?
And why would we need the power of the Holy Spirit?
Look at me, students.
I've got a little life on me now.
this isn't bad news it's good news because we're not alone when we go through the troubles in this
world jesus said though in this world you will have trouble life is hard adulting is hard
the world is crazy it's all too much to handle it's all overwhelming and yet when you walk in
this personal intimate friendship with the holy spirit here's the good news no matter what you go
through, you are never alone. You have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Let me show you
something the Lord gave me. I want you to see this. Attract with me for a few minutes. John chapter 14,
verse 16. The Bible, Jesus speaks specifically here about his request to the father. And he says,
I'm going to ask the father and the father will give you another helper to be with you for how long?
Forever. Now listen to me. I want to show you a Greek word here for the word helper,
but I'm not showing you the Greek word so that you can think I've got some great edumacation.
Although I did go to Lee University. Come on somebody. As a matter of fact, I stand up here
echoing what Paul told the church at Corinth for I do not preach with wise and persuasive and
intellectual words. Rather, I preach with a demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power.
I don't have to show you some Greek words so that you think I'm smart. I'm not smart. I'm just in
love with Jesus and I'm full of the Holy Spirit. But I want you to see this because it's really
really important that, oh, help me Jesus, that you don't think that the Holy Spirit is just some
goosebumps or some vibe or some emotion or some hype. No, no, no. The Holy Spirit is with you so
that you know that when you go back to whatever situation you're going back to, that you are never
alone. And Jesus says, I'm going to go to my father and I'm going to ask my father to send the Holy
Spirit who is a helper. Do you know what the Greek word for helper is? It's the word parakletos or
paraclete. And it literally means this, that you are called alongside. Now listen, you and I,
you've never used in your daily language parakletos or paraclete, but you know what it means.
You're very aware of it. I'm not speaking this over you. I'm just giving you an example.
what would happen if you were to trip and fall and get hurt or maybe you have a need for medical
attention the other night last night rather when uh pastor javon was preaching i saw one of the
first a people start from that side of the auditorium and she ran all the way in the front
road to the other side of the auditorium and i thought it must be a very serious emergency
for her to take the fastest route from point a to point b because when you're in need who do you
call, look at me, a paramedic. Because I've got a problem that I can't fix on my own.
So I need a helper to come alongside me and help fix my pain. To help, I'm preaching better than
you're helping me. Come on somebody. To help fix my brokenness. To help me in my woundedness.
So I'll call a, look, paraclete, a paramedic to come in to help me because I can't help myself.
I'm not speaking this over you.
I'm just trying to give you an example.
What happens if you make some decisions?
And with those decisions are consequences.
Because look at me, students, there are always consequences for every decision.
And so what if one day you found yourself in front of judge and jury,
and you were standing there on trial, and your fate was in their hands,
but you didn't know what to do.
So you called a paralegal.
Now I know there's a difference between a lawyer and a paralegal, but just run with me.
Come on now.
You call a paralegal.
This is, if you'll listen to me, the Holy Spirit will use this.
To come alongside you because the paralegal knows the system.
And the paralegal knows the language.
And since you don't have the words to try to explain the situation,
The paralegal will speak on your behalf to address the room, to defend the person,
and so that the judge can hear the truth, and the truth can set them free.
Come on and give Jesus some praise.
Imagine you're in an airplane.
Y'all, you're 10,000 feet up in the air.
Listen to me.
I would never do this.
Some people are just wired very, very different than me.
Like, I'm never going to jump out of an airplane.
That ain't going to happen.
How many of you, you're like, I would jump out of an airplane right now.
Give me an Alani and 10,000 feet in the air.
I'm jumping out of an airplane.
Y'all crazy, man.
I'm not doing it.
I went around like Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg this weekend, and they got that.
How many of y'all did that bungee chute thing?
Y'all crazy, man.
Imagine being in an airplane, and you jump out of an airplane at 10,000 feet.
Do you know what you hope is alongside of you?
A parachute.
A parachute.
To say, I am free falling and I need something to come alongside me and help me.
Because if the parachute doesn't open, my life is over.
Let me preach for 25 seconds and I'll give you the second point.
No matter what pains you experience in life, you are never alone.
No matter what grief you go through in your life, you are never alone.
No matter what decisions you make and consequences there are,
when people abandon you, walk out on you,
If you feel like your life is in a straight free fall, you've got the Holy Spirit right beside you as your paraclete to say, I am with you always.
I'll never leave you.
I'll never abandon you.
I'll never forsake you.
I'll help you in the most desperate, dangerous moments of your life.
And you need the Holy Spirit to come right here alongside of you.
That's who he is.
Not hype.
Not emotion.
Not let's string for Jesus.
I love it.
I make you do it.
It's when you walk out of here and the enemy comes at you to steal, kill, and destroy to
know that you've got a helper right beside you.
Remember when you were maybe a little bit smaller, you would say to your friends, my
daddy can beat up your daddy.
Come on, somebody.
And now as you've gotten older, you thought, actually, I think my daddy was kind of passive
and weak.
But nonetheless, that's how you tell the enemy.
My daddy's bigger, my daddy's stronger, and my daddy is victorious, and my daddy is always right here beside me.
Come on and give him some praise and glory.
Come on, church.
You need the Holy Spirit so you know you're not alone.
Secondly, you need the Holy Spirit so you know that you're not powerless.
The enemy would love for this generation to think that you don't have power.
One of the greatest challenges of this generation is that you do have power.
You have human power, and you try to rely on that power far too much.
your human power is not enough power to overcome the traps of the enemy the temptations of the
world the pain the suffering the heartache the hardship and and and you need a greater power
so when you read in the bible from genesis 1 to revelation 22 all throughout scripture
god uses imagery and symbols to give you a visual of the holy spirit here's just a few
In some places in the Bible, you'll see the Holy Spirit as water. Why? Why water? They'll put the
image on the screen because I want you to see this. Why water? Because water is refreshing.
And for many of you this weekend, that's who the Holy Spirit has been. He's been refreshing to you.
In other places in Scripture, you'll see the Holy Spirit as fire. Why? Because fire purifies,
and that's what the Holy Spirit's been doing. He's been cleansing you and purifying you.
In other places in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is oil.
Why?
Because the oil was used as symbolism of anointing.
And I believe for many of you, as a matter of fact,
I speak this prophetically,
that thousands of you are being anointed this weekend,
called into full-time ministry.
And now you've got to walk worthy of the call
in which you have received.
The Holy Spirit is seen as a dove.
Why?
Because the dove represents God's presence.
It's when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan
and when Jesus came up from the water,
a dove descended and lighted on him and over the loud speaker of heaven, God said, and this is my
son and whom I am well pleased. Water, fire, oil, dove. But in the New Testament on the day of
Pentecost, you know what the symbol was of the Holy Spirit? Wind. Wind. Suddenly there was a sound
from heaven as of a violent wind, as of a mighty rushing wind. And the wind came from heaven
and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Why wind? Because wind represents power.
Depending on where you live in the country, you're pretty familiar, some of you, with hurricanes and
tornadoes. I grew up in Florida. Where are my Florida people at? Come on, somebody.
I grew up in Florida. When I was a kid, we never got snow days. We got hurricane days,
tornado days. And you've seen the damage and the destruction that, that a tornado or a hurricane
can cause. Some of you, you've even experienced the power of wind with those Dyson hand blowers
in the bathroom. Some things are strong. Come on somebody. Wind is powerful. And God gives us the
symbol of the Holy Spirit is wind to remind you that there is a power that is greater than your
own human power and you need to tap in to that power so that you can overcome everything that
the enemy in this world throws at you. Let's go back in scripture to Acts chapter one, verse number
eight. Jesus is still talking to his disciples and he says, and you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses. And you'll see it on the screen. Here's the
scripture in Jerusalem and, and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. What does that mean?
listen to me, here's what it means. It means that when you leave Winterfest, your job isn't to go
back and just recruit more students to come next year. Your job is to leave here and to be a witness
in your home, in your schools, in your communities, on your ball fields, and your extracurricular
activities. Look at the verse, Acts 1-8. I want them to put it there for you because you need to see it,
that you will receive power. This is why you need this gift, so that you have power, so that when you
winter fest you can go tell the whole world with boldness and faith and courage and strength that
god is good and god is faithful and god is the answer god has always been the answer god will
always be the answer and you can be a witness be a witness not just a recruiter but a witness
i cannot imagine what over 12 000 people go through in their life i know what i go through
I know my pains, I know my struggles
I know my fears
I know my insecurities, I know my inconsistencies
and I know that I need power greater than JC's power
the only way, listen to me, when I got saved
in September of 1999, many years ago
the day that I got saved, I got saved
filled with the power of the Holy Spirit
and called into the ministry all in one day
and I remember after that encounter
thinking because I was wildly addicted to alcohol and other things. I had been kicked out of my house
because I had a mama that actually loved me very, very much, and she taught me tough love.
And in that moment, when I got up, I thought, how am I going to walk in freedom? Because
I understand that whom the son set free is free indeed, but the temptation and the pressure is
everywhere. And listen to me now, for over 26 years, I've walked a life of freedom, not perfection,
but a life of freedom. I've never gone back to drugs. I've never gone back to alcohol. I've
never gone back to that life. Why? Not because of my own power, but because there is a greater power
on the inside of me. And I can imagine in a room of over 12,000 people that there are people that
are wrestling with addiction, people that are wrestling with anxiety, people that are wrestling
with peer pressure, people that are wrestling with temptation, people that are wrestling with
depression. And listen to me, anxiety and depression, those are not sins, but the enemy
would love to use them to keep you trapped and in bondage. So you've been here all weekend,
all weekend. You've made some amazing decisions. And yet many of you, you still feel like you're
fighting against the addiction and the pressure and the temptation and the anxiety and the fear.
and you fill in the blank.
And I'm just gonna tell you
in the final four or five minutes that I've got,
look at me real quick,
all the way in the back as well, look at me.
You do not need more willpower.
You need more Holy Ghost power.
The more you try to lean on your own power
to overcome those things,
the more of a dark depression hole
you dig yourself into.
But the moment that you lift your hands
and you open your mouth and say,
fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, it is the Holy Spirit's power
that reaches into that slimy pit
and pulls you up and sets your feet on solid ground.
I don't know if you've taken one note today,
but if you've not or if you have,
I don't want you to miss this next one
because it's for you.
On my own, I am powerless over fill in the blank.
On my own. Come on, students. On my own. In your own life, what is that very thing
that the enemy has tried to use to hold you back from becoming everything God
desires for you to become and to be? It's that thing that you've tried. You've come to youth
camp after youth camp, Winterfest after Winterfest. Every time the altar is open, you run to the altar,
but yet you keep relying on your own power, your willpower, and today, through the power of the
Holy Spirit, you now have victory over and you write in the very same word. With God, there's
always more and God always has more gifts. I'll tell you a story and I'll pray for you. I remember
my most favorite childhood Christmas ever. Come on, where are my Christmas people at? Come on,
somebody. Christmas people. I was probably eight or nine years old and leading up to Christmas
morning, I was on my very best behavior. I wanted to do everything I needed to do to make sure that
on Christmas morning, the one gift that I wanted, which was a bike, that I was going to get that
bike. So I did all my chores and even my sister's chores. I was like really, really, you know,
respectful. Yes, ma'am. No, sir. Cleaning in my room, doing all the things because I had been begging
for a bicycle. How many remember that first Christmas where you got the very thing that like
you wanted so, so bad. Maybe it was a bike for you, or maybe it was that iPhone or a PS5 or
something like it was that thing. Like, man, I really want this thing because I love gifts.
So this Christmas morning, I wake up and, you know, when you get a little older, you'll look
back on your childhood home and you'll see it and you'll think, man, how do we all live in that
house? You think now it's so big, but then you go back and visit. It's like, how do we all fit in
that little house? I grew up in Plant City, Florida, just outside of Tampa. As a matter of fact, to be
more specific. I grew up in Dover, Florida, which is even deeper into Plant City. We lived in this
small little house on a dirt road. The road's name was Featsway Road. I didn't know when I was a kid
that we didn't have much. I didn't know that we were poor. I never had an understanding of that
because we had each other. And when you have each other, that's really all you need. Come on.
But I remember begging my mom and dad for a bike. I want to bike so bad, so bad, so bad.
I was on good behavior. I wake up that Christmas morning again. I'm like eight or nine years old.
And man, I'm gonna tell you straight up. I was the cutest little kid. Come on, somebody.
It has, I haven't aged well, but when I was a kid, I had, I had blonde hair. I had the prettiest eyes.
How many of you are like me and you are your parents' favorite child? Come on, that's me. Like
I'm the absolute favorite. As a matter of fact, I'm the caboose. I'm the last one because when they
had me, they were like, it can't get any better than JC. So we need to stop having kids. Come on,
favorite children. Where are you? Come on now. So I just, I had all confidence in me. I had all the
confidence in me that Christmas morning I was going to wake up and I was going to get that bicycle.
So I wake up early. I run down to where our Christmas tree is. Just me and my sister,
we're the only ones that are awake. And I want you to get the image of your Christmas,
you know, family and mornings in your mind. You've got the, the tree is lit.
You've got maybe a little fireplace, some presents all around.
If you get up early, maybe there's some breakfast or cookies.
Maybe even Santa came and ate the cookies.
Come on now.
And my little eight-year-old self, I went down to where the Christmas tree was and the presents,
and I saw all these gifts around the tree.
And while I appreciated all the gifts that were there,
I knew that there was one gift that I especially wanted, but I didn't see the bike.
So we sat down, and I don't know how your family is on Christmas morning, whether it's organized or it's chaotic, but, you know, in my family, we would all take turns opening gifts, and it was the worst because I just wanted to dive into the gifts, and it was like, you know, we got to take our time, and we're going to ooh and aah over every single gift, and so we're just opening gifts one by one, and while I'm eight or nine and I'm doing my best to be thankful, my heart is broken because there's no bicycle.
We open all the gifts, no bike. My mom says, JC, do you like what you got? And y'all straight up
lied. I was like, yeah, I love it. It's great. But in my mind, I thought, how could you two people
that love me as much as you love me, not give me my bike? So we start cleaning up. I'm putting the
open wrapping paper in the packages and the trash bag. And then, and then I heard from my dad,
the words that every child longed to hear on Christmas morning. And it's the same words
that you heard me tell Jenna when she was walking off the stage. Hold on. There's another gift.
Come on, church. Man, I jumped up. Y'all, I jumped up. I was like, oh, my daddy did it now. Come on,
somebody. We had this, we had a sliding glass door that took us into this, what I thought was a
massive front yard. That front yard is so little, y'all. But he said, all right. He said, JC, come
here, come here. He said, now, now remember I'm eight. He said, I want you to close your eyes,
put your hand over your eyes and I'm going to grab you by the other hand. And I want you to
follow my voice. He said, follow your daddy's voice and we'll go outside. And the whole time,
man, like I'm so excited. You know, I knew I was like, I'm about to get me a bike y'all.
This is my moment. All the other kids on Feet's Way Road, they were getting their bike,
but I wanted a specific bike because I wanted my bike to be better than their bike. Come on,
somebody. And I knew my daddy, my daddy would never let me down. So he takes me by the hand,
my little cute little eight-year-old self got my my little hands over my eyes and and we go outside
and and he says jc he says now i'm gonna count to three when i count to three i want you to open
your eyes son and i knew i was like i couldn't even wait to three y'all i was so excited he was
like one two three and i opened my eyes and listen to me and in front of me on christmas morning
was the brightest blue, most amazing go-kart
that I had ever seen.
It was blue.
It had a black lightning bolt on the white seat.
Y'all, look at me.
It had an engine.
I walked around that go-kart.
No way.
I looked at my dad.
dad, what is this? And he said, son, that that's a go-kart. And then I asked the most brilliant
question that an eight-year-old could ask, what's a go-kart? And he said, well, well, son, it's this,
it's got four wheels and it's got, it's got an engine. And I said, yeah, but, but I asked for a
bike and I'll never forget it. And look at me real quick. I'm not trying to play off emotion,
but I cried this morning. This was the most special moment for me because just a few years
later, my dad would die unexpectedly from a heart attack. And I've got this moment etched in my brain
for as long as there's breath in my lungs. But he got down on one knee, eye level with his eight-year-old
son. And he said, I know you wanted to bite JC, but listen to me, you're not like everybody else.
You're different. You're set apart. You're called for greater. There's more. Boy, I popped up.
I said, fire this baby up. He grabbed. Come on. How many of you know what I'm talking about? You
have to grab that little, that little chain. So how many of you drove go-karts this weekend? Come
on, you crazy kids. Come on, you drove go-karts. Man, we cranked that thing up. I remember hearing
my mom from inside. My dad's name was Don. She said, Don, he's going to kill himself.
And my dad said, well, he'll go out loving life then. I got on that go-kart.
Man, I'm going like, y'all, this thing is moving. I'm going like three miles an hour.
This thing is hauling, man. I'm on Feet's Way Road. The back tires are kicking up dust.
My pretty blonde hair is blowing in the wind. I got one arm on the wheel. Come on, somebody.
I was just waiting for a young girl to be on Feet's Way Road when all of a sudden I looked
from a distance and I saw four of my friends coming towards me on their bicycle pedaling as
hard as they could. It was the cutest little thing. Had the helmet on and I'm just like
and listen this is a true story i had never been on a go-kart in my whole life i had no idea what
i was doing but i'm telling you straight up y'all jesus took the wheel it was unbelievable
as they got closer to me and i got closer to them i slammed on the brake i turned the wheel
and all the dust flew on those four boys and their bicycles and i'm sitting there like this
and they're right there and I go, sup, Merry Christmas. The boys get off their bikes.
They put their kickstands down and they start walking around my go-kart. No way.
What, what is this? I'm like, y'all, it's a go-kart. It's a go-kart. Duh. And one of the
boy says, who gave you this? And I looked at him. I said, my daddy gave it to me. My daddy gave it
to me. I'll tell you that story. And I'm done to tell you this. You can leave winter fest and be
content with riding your little bicycle of Christianity, just peddling as hard as you can
with your own power, trying to get somewhere exhausted and fatigued and overwhelmed and tired.
and you i just i gotta keep pedaling what are you pedaling for next winter fest i'm just gonna pedal
for that or you can trade the bike in for something with a little bit more power come on somebody
you don't need your own power you need the holy spirit's power now you hey you can pedal your bike
all the way to heaven and i'll see you there but between now and the moment i breathe my last breath
I say greater is he on the inside of me than he that's in the world.
Fill me with the power greater than my own power.
Give me purpose.
Give me destiny.
Give me freedom.
Let me walk free because whom the Son set free is free indeed.
You don't have to ride your bike any longer.
You've got Holy Spirit power.
I'll count to three.
Listen to me before you move.
If you want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and you desire to receive your prayer language,
the gift of tongues,
I count to three, you run to this altar.
Before you move, listen to me.
Don't you wait on one other person to move.
It's not about them.
This is about you and the gift of the Holy Spirit
that God wants to give you.
If you want the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and to receive your prayer language,
the gift of tongues, one, two, three,
come to this altar now.
Come on.
Once you get here, hands up.
no hey no talking no talking except to Jesus come on lock it in lock it in hands up
hands up come on hands up
thank you Holy Spirit thank you Holy Spirit thank you Holy Spirit just sing the chorus
Ria, where are you? Just sing the chorus for a moment because they're still coming, but I want
to sing this. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place, fill the atmosphere.
We're going to keep it right here for now because I'm going to give you some things that I want you
to do. Come on, lift your hands all around this room. Thank you, Jesus.
Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.
Come flood this place.
Fill the atmosphere.
Come on.
Your glory, God.
Our hearts long to be overcome by your presence.
Hands up.
Holy Spirit, you are welcome.
Come flood this place and fill the others.
Your glory.
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long.
To be overcome by your presence, Lord.
We say, Holy Spirit, you are welcome.
You are welcome.
Oh, Lord, come to love this place and fill the atmosphere.
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by your presence, Lord.
All right.
I need the production team to help me.
I have two final slides, and I want to go back to the how do I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
if we could put that on the screens for these students.
I want to be very careful here to tell you
that there are steps to receive the Holy Spirit.
He is God.
He is God.
But I don't just want you to respond
and not know what to do
because this is not hyper emotion.
This is friendship.
It's intimate friendship with the Holy Spirit.
So if you've come to this altar,
I know it's a big room
and there's a lot of moving parts,
but if you've come to this altar
because you want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
the gift of the Holy Spirit,
you want to receive your prayer language
the very first thing that you have to do is you have to make room for God.
What does that mean, pastor?
That means you've got to repent.
You've got to let the Holy Spirit purify you, cleanse you.
There's some stuff in your heart, some stuff in your life,
and you've got to make room for them.
So I want to take 30 seconds or so.
Listen, even though you've asked Jesus to come into your life,
we're not perfect.
Only he is perfect.
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
But if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, let's make room for the Holy Spirit.
Let the convicting power of God highlight some things in your life that you need to give to God to make room for him.
Hands up high. Come on, hands up high.
And I just want you to say, Father, forgive me.
Remove every area of my life that is ungodly.
Every area of my life that does not align with you, your word, your will, your way.
the Bible says in Acts, repent and be baptized and you shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Repent. Come on right now. I repent of my sin. As a matter of fact, I want you to say the sin out
loud, not so that somebody else can hear you, but because you think you've been able to hide it and
cover it up. God already knows it. He just wants you to confess it. One John one nine, confess your
sin to God and he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all
unrighteousness. That's what this moment is about. It's a cleansing. Cleanse me, God. I make room for
you, God. I make room for you, God. I want the things of this world out of my life, and I want
more of you, Holy Spirit. I want more of you, God. More of you, God.
This is where, hold on one second.
This is where so many students miss it.
I've done a lot of youth camps.
I've led a lot of moments like this.
I've pastored for a lot of years now.
Many people, they come seeking the baptism
when really you need to seek the baptizer.
Chase after God.
Go after God.
Hard after God.
So it's just like you as a child going to your parents
and saying, this is what I want.
You take that request to God, to God.
So here's all I'm asking you to do.
I want you, when I tell you to lift your hands,
open your mouth, and you can't do this.
No, no, no.
Pour out your heart.
Hands up high.
Hearts open wide.
And say it out loud.
Say it out loud.
I want to be filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I want to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
I don't want to live my life on my own power.
I want your Holy Spirit power.
Now I'm going to stop trying to help you.
And I want 10,000 students to lift your volume above a whisper.
And I want to hear you cry out to God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
One, two, three.
Come on, lift your voice.
Come on, lift your voice.
I want more of you, God.
I want more of you, God.
I want more of you, God.
Come on, tell them.
I don't know what else to say.
Here we go.
I'm going to help you.
All you have to say is hallelujah.
That's the highest praise.
Come on.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Come on, let me hear that.
Hallelujah.
Now receive him by faith.
Let that hallelujah turn into the gift of tongue.
Come on.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Lord, I make room for you.
God, I'm chasing hard after you.
And now I receive your Holy Spirit.
I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Baptize me this morning.
Give me the gift of the prayer language of tongue.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.