Winterfest: Messages for the Generations

Eli Bonilla Jr declares that we are living in a God moment and that this generation cannot afford to pretend anymore. In a world filled with confusion, emptiness, and darkness, he calls young people to stop settling for sideline Christianity and step into real Holy Spirit power.

Sharing a deeply personal story from his church in San Antonio, he recounts the tragic loss of a young man named Cross whose final written word was “overflowing.” In the middle of grief, in the back of a crack house, the gospel was preached and hundreds responded. What the enemy meant for evil, God turned for good. The message is clear. Light does not wait for darkness to leave. Light shows up.

Drawing from Genesis 1 and Acts, he reminds the room that the same Spirit who hovered over the waters and raised Jesus from the dead now lives in believers. God is still saying, Let there be light. The call is for a generation marked by audacity, a holy attitude against the enemy, and bold action fueled by the Holy Spirit.

This is not about hype. It is about overflow. It is about becoming light in dark places and refusing to settle for survival when God has called you to victory.

What is Winterfest: Messages for the Generations?

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.

I feel like I'm in a

Feel like I'm in a God moment that we're in a God moment right now

In this room in this nation and on this planet right now. God is moving in ways that we can't explain in

ways that

disappoint the religious

That make those that feel like they have control nervous

But for those that have ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying, we are getting

excited that God is about to do what He promised He's going to do something new, something

better, something better.

He's got something better.

And you know, it's really difficult.

It's really difficult to change.

It's really difficult to change because what we are, who we are, at times are a combination

of the things we've chosen to do, chosen to say.

But it's in God's presence that he brings new alignment and he begins to bring us a revelation

of who we truly are, not who we think we are.

And you know what I believe tonight, I believe this, is that tonight God will not bless who

you pretend to be.

And I think that the time of pretending has long since been over.

And I think for whatever reason, there was a grace in a season for people to get away

with pretending, not that God honored any of that, but I think there was a level of

grace for that but I think we're in a generation now where there is no more

grace for pretending there's only only enough capacity for the real no more

capacity for the fake and as I was thinking about the message tonight my

wife is here she's in the room my three kids she's Wonder Woman she's she's

tackling all three of my kids they're side stage right now she's doing a great

job. You know if they got a picture of them they could put them on the screen. I want to honor them

because they're here with me. Is there somewhere here? Yeah that's them. We took that uh we took

that picture today believe it or not. We went out to Niagara Falls today. I'm from Texas y'all. You

know how much faith it took me to get me outside in some snow? But you know as I was talking I was

I was talking with my wife, I felt,

sometimes you get this as a preacher,

you feel at a loss.

Like it's not that you're not prepared,

it's just you feel as prepared as you are,

you feel under prepared.

I don't know if any preachers have ever felt that.

You're like, how much more can I study this?

Can I know this?

But still there's like a void inside of me

that's like, there's more, there's something there

that I don't know.

It is that groaning. It's that feeling on the inside and as we began to get closer to our time

I felt the Lord begin to stir inside of me that God wants to do something new and

I and you know, I'm not gonna lie. I took I took a fat nap today y'all I was taking a nap

Taking a siesta as we say I'm half Dominican half Mexican

So shout out to all the Caribbean's in the room. Any Caribbean's in the room?

Yeah

I know my audience.

So I took me a little siesta and

I

Heard three words from the Lord. Are you guys okay with me? Just sharing them?

So not necessarily in my notes. I just put this on the notepad and it was from the Holy Spirit and

In a way, I'm not good at alliteration

So I knew it was the Holy Spirit because there's no way I picked three words with the same letter

You know, they all start with the same letter, right?

These are the three words that I believe the Lord wants to speak over us tonight for a generation

That's in dire need of the Holy Spirit like never before. I

Think the first the first word is audacity

We have lost our

audacity

now for those in the room that you don't know what

audacity is

It is the willingness to do whatever

Even if it offends

We are so caught up in

this

cultural moment where we're afraid to offend people and

You know what? I don't even think it's just offending the sinner

I think it's offending our brother and our sister sitting next to us

Well, they're gonna think I'm somebody if I step out and I pray and I and I go and I actually start that Bible study

And I actually start to believe God and we're so worried about what other people around us in church think

Let alone with the world things. We already know what the world thinks the world hates us because they hated him first

We get that

But whatever happened to a generation that says that they had a little bit of audacity

They said I don't care what anyone thinks. I don't care if they think that I'm better than everyone else

I'm gonna step out in faith if no one gets out of this boat. I'm gonna get out of this boat

I'm gonna be Peter. I don't care if the other 11 disciples look at me and say oh my god

Who does he think he is walking out on that water? You know what? I think I am a man that trusts God a

man that believes God

There's nothing harder or there's not a a a a

Posture more difficult

than the posture of righteous audacity.

When you do something people say, "Who do you think you are?"

You know when I started serving God at the age of 16,

I remember many, many, many people

that had every type of opinion about the way I followed God.

Because you know I was really going for it.

When it came to pleasing friends and doing whatever I wanted to, I was really out there.

But then when God saved me, guess what?

When God saved me, I didn't mellow out.

My personality didn't change.

God took what my personality was and said, "I'm going to use that instead.

You're going to be loud for me.

You're going to be out there for me.

You're gonna you're gonna you're gonna get people together for me for my name all the

Things that you are unique to you all of the gifts all the talents all of that

I'm gonna use it for you and it's gonna be loud and it's gonna be out there and I had to I got lit

Ladies and gentlemen, I gotta say it to you this way. I

Have to get over the awkward

If you're gonna follow God you got to get over the awkward and you gotta develop a little bit of audacity on the inside of you

said I don't care if people don't think I can or they say it's impossible I'm gonna say it's

possible because I serve the God of the impossible I'm gonna step out I'm gonna go where he's asking

me to go. I'm tired of sideline Christianity where we look at culture and we say oh that's

just the way it's going to be no no no no I'm gonna have the audacity and say it's going to

change in Jesus name and you know what I'm not gonna pray it over the thing

I'm gonna pray myself into the miracle you know I think many times we pray for

miracles to show up other places when you're the miracle you're praying for

God changed my school awesome he's gonna change you God changed my family all

right he's gonna change you as a son as a daughter I don't care if your your

parents are unbelievers the Spirit of God knows how to talk to generations and

hearts from fathers to sons and sons to fathers but he's waiting for a generation

to have a little bit of audacity to say I'm not gonna wait for anybody else what

are we waiting for there is no other time than now I get the privilege to

pastor an inner-city church alongside of my father in San Antonio Texas and

We just buried one of our young people.

It's in his mid-twenties.

He just started getting his life right.

He's coming to church.

We're an inner city church, so it's a lot of drug backgrounds, a lot of gang backgrounds

for a lot of the people that come into our church.

And one of the guys that came to our church, he had a history with that, but he started

He's getting his life in order.

Young wife, two kids.

He's in his mid-twenties.

Last weekend we had a church retreat.

It was three days.

And after the second day he was out.

And he was gunned down.

Because they wanted to rob him.

And you know, I think about, his name is Cross.

His name is Cross.

And remember getting the news because that morning, that Sunday morning we had, we celebrate

the end of our retreats on Sunday mornings and so that retreat just

happened and he was one of the men on that retreat and it was five minutes

before service and I get the news I'm in my office one of the other leaders and

my mother were really broken what takes place there and I have to go back in and

I was advised by pastor my father to speak to the group and to tell them of

the passing of cross and all death stated

And at the end of these retreats, in second day, we have this exercise where they have

this poster board.

On one side of the poster board, they write one word that describes how they entered into

this retreat with God.

And mind you, maybe you come from a rough neighborhood so you probably could imagine

some of the things that were written on there, violence, addiction, depression, all these

different things.

The one that he wrote was emptiness, that he was completely empty.

So you write down on the first side as you enter into this retreat process, but at the

end of the retreat you turn it over.

give them an opportunity, try another word, to describe now after their experience specifically,

after their experience with the Holy Spirit. And all that Sunday morning I hadn't had a

chance like number one we had just found out that he had passed away. But I hadn't seen,

I hadn't seen his post-it board, I didn't even know that if he had it filled out.

Remember the way that we found out was his mom called, his mom called us.

She obviously devastated, but she's a woman of God.

She says, "You know, I believe that my son, he found God this weekend and changed his

life."

Though his life ended in tragedy, we know where he's at right now.

She's like, "By the way, I got his poster board."

Pastor, would it be okay if you went up on stage

and you showed the people?

Showed the people who he was at the end of his life.

Then three days before he wrote "Eptiness"

I got the poster and I looked at it

and I turned it over.

And all I read was he wrote this simple word.

Over flowing.

(congregation applauding)

I think about how tragic his life ended

and for him to have written that

was the last thing that he wrote.

And I think what chokes me up the most is because

just me being, I don't know,

maybe I just gotta get a thesaurus, I don't know.

I would have put, 'cause he's put emptiness

And I thought on the other side, it would just be filled.

'Cause that's the opposite of emptiness, right?

That he would have been fulfilled, that he had filled.

But that man had faith.

He said, "What happens with me is not done with me.

It's got to overflow, it's got to go somewhere else.

I got two little girls and I got a wife

and what happened here has to go somewhere else."

We remember, you know, where he got gunned down,

It's a it's a it's a pretty notorious crack house in San Antonio on the east side of the city

With the backlog it's it's called after hours is where everyone from after the club

They go to spend 2 a.m. To 6 a.m. At this place

It's essentially an illegal gathering place and that's the place that he he got gunned down and we went

We went and and had a

A vigil for him. His mom called and said, "Hey, can we call and have a memorial there?"

We had a memorial there at after-hours.

In the back of a crack house

Me and 35 of my squad from the church showed up

We said no, the devil's not gonna get the last word. There's a word. Cross already gave us the word and the word is overflowing

So what started with him is not gonna end with him

And you might know this whenever tragedy strikes all of a sudden out of the woodworks every single person you've ever met

or been associated with tends to come around in a moment of tragedy and

I don't know if I would have ever got the audience with this specific group of people, but his mother

Oddly enough her name is heaven

Pulled me aside. It's just a pastor. I

Need you to share the gospel

with everybody here

people were drunk, people were high, cussing, exes fighting. it was a mess. it was about 200 of us

there. the news showed up. it was so much chaos. but in the middle of that I heard one word.

because as the Lord I said God this can't be the end for crossing he told me it's not

and he showed me the people that gathered around me said with the enemy meant for evil

I'm about to flip this community over for good.

I'm about to change something here. I'm gonna use it.

And I'm gonna tell you this. Look, there were guns there. A lot of guns. We Texas, all right?

For real, for real. We got guns. A lot of guns.

But an audacity came over me.

I wish someone would act up right now in the back of this crack house as I give the gospel.

I don't care what gang affiliations are here. I don't care how many gangs are here. I don't care. We even have one of the...

from the front and I said no no no no. God is gonna get glory in this moment even in an unnatural place.

An audacity is gonna come up on the inside of me and I'm gonna begin to declare the gospel.

And by the way we let every single person there in the sinner's prayer for salvation. For every

single person in the back of a crack house after hours in the middle of a tragedy with candles

behind me and a weeping mother with a poster board that I said do you want to

leave empty? Do you want to continue to come to this crack house and after

hours? Hey think about this. This is to show you how little partying will fulfill

you. If partying was enough why do they even need to have an after hours?

Because it's never enough.

Party at the friends house.

It's never enough.

They take it to the club, but it's never enough.

They take it to the crack house, but then it's never enough.

Then I got to go to after hours, but it's never enough.

And I looked at a bunch of people that had filled their schedule with debauchery and

I said, do you want to trade debauchery for destiny today?

Do you want to believe that your emptiness doesn't have to remain that way?

Do you believe you can leave overflowing?

Since then we're getting a lot of testimonies from people, lives turning around and things

like that, but look young people, God is raising up an audacious generation from moments like

that.

I wish I could make it a cute moment. It's like that's good for a Bible study

I I'm not talking about I literally I'm telling you I was behind the crack house given the gospel and over 200 people got saved

We need more of that. We need more salvation on the streets. I love that. He's doing it in the church and

As much as I'm preaching it to you and you're like hey come to my neighborhood. You're in your neighborhood

They know who you are in San Antonio, they know where to find me

But what about you?

when they're in darkness is there a lighthouse? someone filled with the

Spirit of God and the fire of God inside of them. before the vigil even got going

there were people that got up there in grief that were not believers they got

there in grief and they were they were mounting their frustration the council

woman was there and the cussing and the fussing that they're figuring things out

and I was listening to what they said I said there's no hope here these tears

are going nowhere what they're saying is it's falling on deaf ears this will

continue unless somebody stands up and as much as I want to get mad at culture

for being culture that's what the Bible said it's gonna be the world gonna be

the world. Darkness is gonna be darkness. But that's why God created the light.

He created it because there was darkness and he said he can be dark no longer.

So I'm gonna give you just three verses and then we're gonna have a chance to

respond. In Genesis chapter 1, make it real easy for us tonight. You alright with that?

Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 through 3.

says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth

was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters and the Spirit

of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light."

And there was light. Tonight it's very simple. I believe that the prophetic word for you

tonight is the first words we hear from God in the Bible. Let there be light.

That the light would shine in the dark places through common people.

Places that you would overlook, underestimate, look normal.

And as I was considering what I wanted to share tonight and the response that I believe

the Lord wants to lead us in tonight, I was considering this.

That we may be like those that look like the earth in verse 2.

Formless, empty, and dark, but the Spirit of God is hovering.

The Spirit of God is waiting.

The Spirit of God is near.

The Spirit of God is close.

And in a world that now is spiritually this way, without form, what is formlessness?

is without identity. Confusion fills our culture. Confusion fills our generation.

But the Spirit is there waiting. The Spirit is there watching. It was also

empty. And when I think about emptiness, I think about cross. Well I said then it

was overflowing and and the Bible speaks that that's the Spirit was hovering. When

and filled all the space that it was also dark and that God did not have to

create a son I don't know how you explain it

but if God says it though it may be impossible to comprehend or believe if

If God said it, it is done.

So what does the Bible say?

He said let there be light and what's there, wait, no.

He said let there be light and there was light.

So I told you I was going to give you three words.

I only gave you one.

You're the last two and then we're going to have a moment to respond to the Spirit of

God that looks at your life and says I see that darkness let there be light I

see that confusion let there be light I see there's a void there let there be

light and guess what you're gonna overflow with light it's not just gonna

be light for yourself but you're gonna become a lamp you're gonna become a

lighthouse you're gonna become a fire that wherever you go you're gonna shine

the glory of God and you will not be a victim to circumstance but instead you'll

carry victory wherever you go. So number one, audacity and number two attitude.

We're not mad enough. We're not mad enough. Or better yet, we're mad at all

the wrong things. When's the last time you were angry at the devil? Now you're

too busy being angry at the person next to you. sorry nah nah not the person literally

next to you. I know. I'm not trying to start anything. but can I tell you this Ephesians

chapter 6 reminds us of this that we do not battle against flesh and blood but

against principalities and powers of the dark places. ladies and gentlemen let me

tell you there is a war going on right now and the worst thing you can fall for

is for the enemy. Who can I say this? If you can see it, you can see them, they're

not your enemy. That person you're blaming, your parents, your siblings, even

when you get in the mirror and look at yourself,

there is an unseen enemy and we have not been mad enough at him. How dare

him? Touch the people of God. How dare him get into your life? When's the last time

you had an attitude on the inside of you that said devil get your filthy hands off

of my life. You can't have me anymore. That's not who I am. I will not fall into

this again. I ain't gonna listen to what you have to say. You know the Holy Spirit

of God gives you that. Man can I tell you something? I'm gonna speak from my

testimony because maybe you're just hearing this and this this sounds a

Preaches good, but how is it applicable? I remember being 17 years old. That's at 16

I got saved but at 17 we meant we were we were starting this Bible study at my school and we we began to get all the

All the friends together and people start getting safe and I remember one time

One of one of the young ladies at our Bible study she was diagnosed with cancer

We weren't sophisticated we weren't over complicated

We weren't fancy. I didn't go to I wasn't at Bible school. I was in public school and so we were figuring things out

Reading as much Bible as I could but I knew I didn't know much

But I remember when she got diagnosed with cancer

How mad we got at the devil

And not only did we rebuke the devil off of her life

But we said because of that we're gonna evangelize even harder now

You thought you had problems before you start messing with our people watch this not only are we gonna have audacity

We're gonna have it with a little bit of attitude

We're gonna put our chest out and we're gonna declare that the devil has no place here and that the name of Jesus will be lifted

high

We met at all the wrong stuff

And you know what I remember I remember we declared over that young lady and guess what she had stage four cancer and in one week

She got completely healed

She got completely healed

And you know what because of that there was a lot of people that started coming to Bible study I

Believe the Holy Spirit needs to bring our attitude back church

We got to get an attitude back, you know what I love I love looking back at the prophets they didn't care

Look at me crazy. You know who else didn't care Jesus didn't care

Sometimes we look at like pattycake Jesus and he's like, oh my gosh

He has a little lamb and he's bringing the kids to him and he's doing up

Nah, he was like he he felt like the old the 5,000 he fed the 5,000 they got around him and they were like

Oh man, what else you got for me? And he's like, oh, yeah

Well, this is what I got for you guys. Uh, if you want to have part of me

You gotta eat my flesh drink my blood and they said

The vampire sounding looking

They all thought he was crazy

And you know Jesus then

So what and you know what he does he turns to his disciples and he says y'all gonna leave too. I

Said oh Jesus, please you only got 12 left. You lost about 15,000 people there. He turned around with some attitude. He's like bet leave

Hello Peter stands up. He says oh

Oh, I think he knew what time it was. He said alright Jesus relax. We're not them

We're your guys and we got no place to go because you're the only one with words of life

What's so what's that to say that's to say

Get some audacity and let the Holy Spirit begin to give you some attitude towards the devil and don't worry about who you offend

Those that remain around you are the ones that are meant for you the ones that got set aside for you

by the way, everybody else that leaves there will fake anyway. And they came with terms

and conditions like an iPhone. That unless you met all of them, which by the way, they

have so many terms and conditions like an iPhone, there's no way you can please them

anyway. How many times have you let them down? How many times have they not come to the party?

Or they didn't pick up the phone? And when you were down and out, they were not there

for you. What about we just let those people go, get some audacity for God, get an attitude

him and say devil get out of our face we're gonna live boldly for God and it

doesn't matter who sticks with us because whoever stays with us guess what

they're gonna get the word of life for them as well oh good Lord all right we're

making it through guys good Lord this is so untraditional of me to do it this way

but this is for somebody in this room your middle school and your high school

need for you to come to an altar like this stop throwing yourself a pity party

stop making your depression your identity stop calling yourself an

anxious person when God did not call you an anxious person he called you a son he

called you a daughter he told you above not beneath the head and not the tail oh

Holy priesthood called out once. I'm sorry. I'm getting I'm getting mad at the devil for you

You live the life so long you think that's actually who you are

That you are problem child

That you are no good that you can't get it right that you're gonna be addicted the rest of your life. That's the enemy

He's a liar

Tonight some of y'all need to get I know y'all in a hotel room

I don't want you get kicked out of your hotel, but you'll need to find a place tonight

Somewhere and you need to grab hold of something and say God. I am different and devil is a liar

I know the truth about God for my life

Tired this weak Christianity you ain't gangster

It's can I tell you it's easy to be a gangster

Ask all your gang banging friends how they got in because they had nothing better to do

Really it might be real or not

They know interesting stories about how people get into gangs

I ain't heard and I haven't heard a single interesting story of someone getting into a gang

It's been my cousin my dad or I was just hanging out. It was just my friends

That's easy

Easy to just do whatever is available to you

Now there's a lot we all church folk in here, so I don't think there's any gangsters in here

Hey, don't worry if you were gangster, don't worry

Jesus is the most gangster. All right, you can fall. He's the OG for real for real only God. All right. It's all right

All right. All right. Hey relax relax relax relax

But what I'm saying

What I'm saying is this it is so easy to just do what everybody else is doing

doing but if you do that you need to stop complaining because you're a part

of the problem how dare we complain about the thing we

participated as if we were left powerless in orphans when the Bible says

we are not left as orphans and we are not left as powerful as a matter of

fact is what Jesus says to his disciple it is better for me that I leave so that

you can receive the promise of the Holy Spirit that has been set aside for you

because when he comes upon you you will receive power not just a message some

message that comes with power the Greek word dunamis where we get the word

dynamite where we get the word dynamic where we get the word of explosion where

it says the moment the Holy Spirit gets a hold of me when I enter into something

It has no choice but to change.

That's the Holy Spirit of God that gives me audacity, attitude, and the last one, action.

may my prayers not only be words but may my prayers also be action you don't

just pray with what you say you pray with what you do

my actions are a prayer before the Lord

and you know what I found every time I've trusted God and every time I've

stepped out as I mentioned earlier before if the band could join me concluding.

If the time I've stepped out I found power.

I may not have felt powerful but I've always overcome. I'm gonna say that again

because that's good.

I may not have always felt powerful,

but I've found I've always been able to overcome.

And you know,

tonight,

I could,

I could position this moment just for you to be filled

with the Holy Spirit, but I think that would be dishonoring

number one to cross, but number two

to what the Bible promises.

But they weren't just filled with the Holy Spirit,

they were overflowing with him.

Came out of what they were saying, what they were doing,

even at their appearance and

Oddly enough in the upper room

What does the Bible say happened?

The sound of a rushy mighty wind filled that place and what landed on them

fire on

Their heads and on their tongues

Which is amazing

That God answered his promise with light once again.

He could have answered with anything else.

Think about it.

In the beginning he said, let there be light and there was light.

What happened in Pentecost?

It was a rushing wind.

How do you speak?

It's wind out of the mouth.

the wind and it was a sound like a rushing mighty wind and what happened as the cause after the

rushing wind? Light, fire, all of a sudden creation began anew and said hey I am making a new people

a new light in the world and it's not going to be a sun it's not going to be the stars it is going to

to be the people of God that are destined for the darkness of this earth to bring back

form and functioning to all the different places.

So I was out there in that vigil giving that word to those people and I realized this is

my let there be light moment.

And tonight is your let there be light moment.

I don't know what darkness you're in,

what emptiness you feel,

but what I do believe tonight is the Holy Spirit

of God is in this room.

And he's not gonna give us

a normal

ministry

moment.

I believe tonight God wants to give us power.

Power.

real power, doing a miss power.

So this is what I want.

I want everyone to stand to your feet.

So I believe that the Holy Spirit is in the strong.

As you stand, I'm about obedience to the Lord.

I'm gonna read one last verse that I don't even get a chance to give to

Romans chapter 8 verse 11 says that the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives

in you.

Just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead,

He will give life to your mortal bodies

by the same spirit living within you.

Want everyone to bow their heads

and close their eyes in this moment tonight?

The Holy Spirit is not an optional entity.

It's not an ethereal being, He's not a cloud,

He's not a phantom.

He is a person of the Godhead and equal standing to the father and the son and he is in this

place tonight and tonight you could either choose to be the same, settle, think that

you have it and you're good or tonight the world that you heard you believe

it's for you you're tired of being abused by your addiction you're tired of

being abused by your environment by the atmosphere around you by the devil who

speech to you, harasses you, and tonight you are choosing to say Holy Spirit of

God. Overflow. Overflow in my life. I don't want to settle. I can't settle. You cannot

afford to settle. You can't afford to try to still just get by and survive. No, God

has so much more for you. The world's in dire need of Christians that have some

audacity and have some power and have overcome some things. And tonight the

Holy Spirit offers that. So with your eyes closed and your head bowed, I want you to think

about you. Not about your neighbor. Remember what I told you. Sometimes we're

not audacious with our faith because we're afraid what people are gonna

think around us. Right now it's about you.

Will you trust the Holy Spirit tonight with your life? Will you trust Him with

all of your life. Will you believe that He has everything you need and more?

Heavenly Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit that's already hovering in this room, that

was activated by your word that the spirit and truth came upon a formless empty dark

world and light and creation was made possible.

I thank you that tonight that same light is in the room and God that we will not have

just an experience for you to fix things which you will, heal things which you will, free

people which you will but God tonight we will say overflow overflow that you

would overflow if that's you and you want everything from the Spirit tonight

you need to run up to this altar right now I believe that the Holy Spirit of

God is in this place come on get out of your seat whoever you are it could be

everyone. I don't care. God changed the world with 12 people. I don't even need

everyone to leave their seats. I just remember there was a handful of us in

our high school that believed God and we weren't, we weren't the most popular, we

weren't the best, we didn't have everything together but we believed that

there wasn't God that knew us, called us, said you're not powerless anymore. You're

meaningless anymore. You're not meant to be bound. You're not meant to be addicted.

You're not a statistic.

Thank you Holy Spirit, thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you Holy Spirit, thank you

Holy Spirit. Thank You Holy Spirit. Thank You Holy Spirit.

Just want to be really clear tonight. I'm not interested in big altar calls.

That's not, I've been there done that. We've done big altar calls. Plenty of altar calls.

But can I tell you that if you came here believing truly that the Spirit of God is not just for your neighbor, it's for you.

You may have came up here because your friend came up here.

You know what?

Take one moment, one second to say, "God, I know I followed my friend, but I know this

is for me too."

Take a moment, take a second.

I don't want to rush through this.

Sometimes we get to the, okay, preachers start praying, and then we completely forget that

the posture of our heart matters before the Lord.

You know what the Bible says about the day of Pentecost?

they were all in one spirit. There wasn't multiple spirits in the room with different agendas and

like oh I hope he sings my favorite song or I hope they pray my favorite prayer or I hope we get loud

right now or I hope they quiet it down. No no no no no they were in one spirit. They were in one spirit

and you know what one spirit means to me and what I believe that it meant in the bible is that they

were all desperate for one thing. They did not settle for anything else. They didn't care about

anything else. The 120 got together and they said hey it's the Holy Spirit of us

we don't have anything we don't have any options it's just the Holy Spirit and

tonight I promise you this if you say God there are no options it's just you

it's just you I promise you the Holy Spirit will meet you he'll meet you he

He knows you. He knows you. He's better yet, He's known you. He's known you.

He sees your affliction. He's already heard your cries. And now He's come down to rescue you.

so you could be a better version of yourself. But to make you brand new, the brand new version

of you by the way, has audacity. The brand new version of you by the way, has an attitude

with the devil. Doesn't let him get a foothold. The brand new version of you takes action

and is not afraid and has courage and says come hell or high water, I'm going to step

I'm gonna speak I'm gonna act I'm gonna stand and even if no one else agrees

Me and God are good enough

So this is what I want us to know you're already here

I want you to just lift up your hands before the Lord. This is remember. This is about you and God

Once again, we rushed through this. I know sometimes and I want to make this clear

Pastor why do we lift up our hands? We lift up our hands to say God I surrender to you that all that means is God

Not my way not my plans. Not what I want is what you want

These open hands that you lift up before the father says God

place in me

Place in me what you want. Give me what I need

Give me your Holy Spirit

So I'm going to begin to pray.

As I begin to pray, what I'm going to ask you to do is I want you to pray for yourself.

And I'm going to make it very simple.

Talk to God like He's your friend.

Like He's a friend sitting across from you.

And whatever you need of the Lord, even if it's just Holy Spirit, I need you.

You can pray that prayer over and over again.

What if, what if you prayed it with all of your heart tonight?

What could it look like?

Come on, let's begin to pray.

Holy Spirit, I pray right now that you would begin to pour out, pour out your spirit on

all these believers, all these young people.

Oh God, would you bring back an audacity, an attitude, an action?

it's only found in your spirit it's only found in the Spirit of God it's only

Spirit we receive you oh we believe you oh we receive you come on can you just

begin to pray that come on we're at the beginning of a moment this is not this

is the beginning let's stir it up prayer warriors and leaders can we can we begin

to pray in the spirit. Can we begin to stir up the spirit? Come on if you're

sitting down can you stand up out of reverence for the spirit of God we have

the ability? We're gonna unite in one spirit tonight and we're gonna believe

that every young person that is looking for a touch of the Holy Spirit will find

it tonight. Holy Spirit right now. Come on students start praying this. Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, I want you.

Holy Spirit, I need you.

Holy Spirit, touch my life.

(speaking in foreign language)

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit.

Come on.

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit.