How many of you remember the very first phone that you had? How many of you are in the building and the first phone you ever had was an iPhone or an Android? Yeah. Y'all are young.

I did not get an iPhone or an Android as my first phone. The era I grew up in, my first phone was not an iPhone. I grew up in the Nokia 3310 era. Where are my Nokia 3310 holders? That thing was insane. You could use that thing as a weapon. You could throw it at someone, you could throw it on the floor — it was literally indestructible.

Everything inside of me wanted a Nokia 3310, but I didn't get that. What I got was a hand-me-down. I got the Alcatel One Touch. I remember it was the first polyphonic phone, which means it could actually do multiple notes at once, and I was like, this is crazy. And I remember buying ringtones. Remember when we used to do that? I'm dating myself here. You'd buy a ringtone and you just wanted someone to call you. Then the phone would go off and people would hear the Backstreet Boys and you'd be like, that's me. And then ring-back tones — when you paid so that other people could listen to the Backstreet Boys while they called you.

When we started the church, one of the things we did was have coffee meetings. We'd sit down with so many of you, hear your story, and tell you what we knew God wanted to do here in Chandler. Now imagine we're having coffee, we're in deep conversation, and all of a sudden my phone rings — it's the Backstreet Boys — and I pull out my Nokia 3310 and act as if that's completely normal.

How many of you would look at me like I'm kind of crazy? You'd say, "Hey Brad, let me teach you about Phoenix. We're technologically advanced here. There have been some upgrades made available, because now you can actually get an iPhone."

Brad, why are you talking about phones at the beginning of a series on the Holy Spirit? Here's why. Because I think for so many of us, we are still carrying around a Nokia 3310. So many of us are carrying around an old understanding of who God is. And I'm here today to announce that there is an upgrade available.

You don't have to settle for something else. You can have the Holy Spirit in His fullness. There is more to God than just reading your Bible and checking it off the list. There is more to God than just coming to church and hoping that's going to be enough. There is more to God than just saying a prayer. The Holy Spirit wants to come, He wants to be within us, He wants to lead us and guide us. And I think for so many of us, we're rejecting the Holy Spirit because we don't really understand who He is.

Have you even heard there is a Holy Spirit?

As we start this series, I want you to know there is an upgrade available. Because I think for a lot of the American church, sometimes we're afraid of the Holy Spirit. When you think of the American Trinity, sometimes it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scripture — and the Holy Spirit is in the corner because we're saying, "Don't be weird. Don't do all those weird things." No. The Holy Spirit is our enabler. He is our helper. And sometimes we neglect who He is.

You need to know this isn't a modern problem. All the way back in Acts, you see people still gaining an understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. If you have your Bible, go to Acts chapter 19.

While you turn there, Acts 1:8 is a key verse for what Acts is. Jesus is talking, and He says at the beginning of the book: you will receive power. Say power. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That word is dunamis — it's where we get the word dynamite. You'll receive that kind of power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Why? He says, because you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The power isn't just for us. It's so that we can be enabled to be witnesses. And the entire book of Acts follows that pattern. Chapters 1 through 7 are them reaching Jerusalem. Chapters 8 through 12 are them reaching Judea and Samaria. Chapters 13 through 28 are them reaching the ends of the earth. So when we come into the story in Acts 19, you are in the ends-of-the-earth section of Acts.

It says this: "When Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples, and he asked them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' They answered, 'No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.'"

I think that describes so many people in the church today. You can be saved, you can be coming to church, you can be doing all of those things — but if someone says, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" you're like, "I don't even know who the Holy Spirit really is." He's kind of like that weird guy who comes to the family reunion that you don't want to talk to, but he's there, because he's family. And we're like, "Okay, you can sit in the corner, but don't do anything weird."

The question I want to ask you today is this: have you received Him? My prayer is that by the end of this series, the Holy Spirit won't only be someone you talk about, but someone you talk to — that you'll know Him, that you'll develop a relationship with Him.

Jesus promised another advocate

If I'm honest with you, it's incredibly challenging sometimes to talk about the Holy Spirit, because it's hard for us to get a picture of who He is. When I say God the Father, do you have a picture of who the Father is? You can picture someone sitting on a throne. You don't know what He looks like, but you can picture it. When you hear about Jesus, you can picture Jesus. You've seen the paintings, or you've watched The Chosen.

I remember the first time I went to watch The Chosen. I said, "I'm not going to do it." Because a lot of times Christian media is kind of weird — the movies aren't that good — and I didn't want to ruin it. But eventually people said, "No, you have to watch it." So I sat down and put on the first episode, and toward the end of that first episode I was about to lose my mind. I was about to cry.

You need to know this about me: I'm a crier. I cry at Super Bowl commercials. "That's so sweet, did you see the dog?" I'm just a wreck. My wife, up until that point, had cried maybe twice in our marriage. She is not a crier. I'm the crier. I hold all the emotions for all of us. And in that moment I'm watching The Chosen and I look over to see if it's doing anything to my wife — and she's a puddle. And that just gave me permission.

I just missed Jesus. I was so taken aback by who Jesus was. And we were talking, and we had this moment where we said, can you imagine what it would be like to be the disciples? To have Jesus with you. To walk with Jesus. For Him to say, "I wouldn't do that," and you say, "Okay, thank you, Jesus." "Hey, I wouldn't go there." "Oh, thank you, Jesus, I'm going to listen." It would be so amazing if Jesus was right here with us.

The crazy thing is that toward the end of Jesus' life — you can see this in the last chapters of John — Jesus is talking about someone who is to come. He's talking about the Holy Spirit. You see it at the Last Supper. In John 14:15 He says to His disciples, "If you love me, keep my commands."

There are two ways you can read that. One way is: if you love me, prove it. If you love me, show me that you love me. Or you can read it from a tree-of-life perspective, which says: just love me. If you love me, you'll do what I want you to do. Just love me, and you'll do what I command.

Some of you are in this place where you've been trying to follow the ways of God and you are struggling. That addiction has got you. That financial trouble has got you. Your marriage is falling apart and that's got you. You're trying to trust God and you're trying to will your way to do it.

Let me show you something. He says, "If you love me, keep my commands." And then He says this beautiful word: and. In other words, what I'm about to say is connected to what I just said. "Love me and you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate who will never leave you."

That word advocate is a legal term — someone who helps you when you're in trouble with the law. And if you read the Old Testament, we were all in trouble with the law. We needed an advocate. He says, "I'm going to send an advocate."

But what I love about this is He doesn't only say, "I'm going to send you an advocate." He says, "I'm going to send you another advocate." If you read the Greek, it means of the same kind as the first. So what He was saying is: I have been your advocate, but I'm going to send you another advocate.

There are many ways to translate this word. Sometimes it's translated comforter. I am a comforter, but I'm going to send you another comforter. I'm a mediator, but I'm going to send you another mediator. The Greek word for advocate there is paraklētos. Para means alongside, and kaleō means to call. In other words, the Holy Spirit is someone who is going to come alongside you.

You've heard those words before. If I say parable — ballō means to throw, para means alongside. Jesus would tell a story. He would throw a story alongside a truth so that you could understand it. That's what preachers do now when we tell stories or illustrations. We're trying to illustrate something so you can understand a truth.

He says, "I am sending someone who is going to come alongside you, who is the same kind as the first." So I'm in this place saying, man, I just wish I could have Jesus right next to me. And Jesus is saying, no — I'm sending you another who is just like me, and He's going to be with you, and He's going to lead you and guide you.

The funny thing is, we say, "If Jesus was with us, I would listen to Him." But when the Holy Spirit speaks, we don't want to listen. We say, "Man, those disciples are so hard-headed." Jesus says, "Don't do that," and they say, "Oh, we're going to do it." And we say, "I would never do that if Jesus was standing right next to me." But the Holy Spirit says, "I wouldn't send that text," and you say, "Watch me." "I wouldn't watch that show." "Oh, I'm not like the disciples. I'm not hard-headed. Watch me." We do that all the time.

The Holy Spirit wants to speak to us in everything that we do. And Jesus says it's going to be better. John 16:7 — "But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the advocate won't come. But if I do go away, then I will send Him to you."

What is Jesus trying to say? He's saying, I'm going, and I'm not sending you a downgrade. I'm not sending you a Nokia 3310. The one who's coming — it is better for you.

Why? Because Jesus was with them in one place; the Holy Spirit is with us in every place. Jesus was with them for a season; the Holy Spirit is with us forever. Jesus was beside them; the Holy Spirit is inside of us. Jesus showed them how to live; the Holy Spirit empowers us to live the way Jesus wants us to live.

The Holy Spirit is not an accessory in my life. He is the very air that I breathe. He is the fuel I need to do the things God has called me to do. But so often we want to reject Him because of bad experiences or things that have happened in our lives. And there is so much more of God. You just have to say yes.

1. He is a person, not a force

We reject Him because we don't understand who He is. So I want to help you understand. Here's the first thing I want you to know: He is a person, not a force.

Pastors will say, "Have nothing to do with those Holy Ghost people." I grew up charismatic, so people were saying, "Be careful of Brad. You can't be around Brad. Those people are weird. Those Holy Spirit people are weird." No. When you say that, you're not rejecting an idea. You're not rejecting a concept.

The Holy Spirit is not a force. This isn't Star Wars. "Luke, use the force." The Holy Spirit is not a force. He is a person.

Let me show you this. John 14 says, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate who will never leave you." And I want you to underline this in your Bible: "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you."

Notice: Scripture never calls the Holy Spirit an it, because He is not an it. He is a He. He is a person. Why is that so important? Because you will never develop a personal relationship with someone you do not see as a person.

One of the challenges — the reason it's so hard for us — is that you never actually see the personal proper name of the Holy Spirit. When you meet God in the Old Testament, at first His name is God, and then eventually He reveals His personal proper name and says, "My name is Yahweh." Then you start reading about the Lord. And eventually you get introduced to this man by the name of Jesus.

But the Holy Spirit — throughout Scripture, He is the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew, He is Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of holiness. In Greek, He is pneuma hagion, the Holy Spirit. Which means this: it's appropriate, when you're talking about the Holy Spirit, to say the Holy Spirit. But when you're talking to the Holy Spirit, you can just say, "Holy Spirit." Holy Spirit, I need your help. Holy Spirit, I need your comfort. Holy Spirit, can you do what only you can do? Holy Spirit, I'm going into this meeting right now and I need your help.

How do we know He is a person? Because people think, they choose, and they feel. They have mind, will, and emotions. Trees can't do that. The force can't do that. A person can. And the Holy Spirit has all three.

A. The Holy Spirit has a mind

Romans 8:27 — "And He who searches our hearts," that's the Father, "knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."

John 16:13 — "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own, but He will tell you what He has heard, and He will tell you about the future."

In order for the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth, He has to know all truth — which means He has to have a mind. And He wants to do that for you. I can't tell you how many times I'm reading my Bible and I get to a passage and I don't know what it means, and I'm reading commentaries for hours, and I feel the Spirit of God saying, "Hey, what are you doing?" "Reading your Word." "Do you want to ask me what it means?" And I'm like — oh, wait. I can do that. Holy Spirit, what does this mean? And it's crazy how all of these other Scriptures come and all of a sudden I start understanding exactly what that passage is saying.

He wants to lead you into all truth. That's one of His roles. But don't get weird about it. The Holy Spirit will never contradict Scripture. So if you say, "The Spirit of God told me to divorce my husband" — that ain't the Spirit of God. That's another kind of spirit, and you need not listen to that spirit.

The Holy Spirit wants to teach you. And that encourages me so much: we have God inside of us who is trying to reveal truth to us. Isn't that beautiful?

B. The Holy Spirit has a will

1 Corinthians 12:11 says the Holy Spirit distributes gifts as He determines. He has a will.

Acts 16:6, on the second missionary journey of Paul, says: "They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia."

Has anyone ever been forbidden to do something by the Holy Spirit? You're driving home and you take that same way every single night, but for some reason one night you feel forbidden to take that route. Has anyone ever felt that? Or you're talking to your kids and you say, "I need you not to go to that sleepover," and they say, "Why?" And you say, "I don't know. I don't have a reason. There's just something in my spirit telling me that's not okay."

Or you're a business guy and all of a sudden that deal looks really good, but in your spirit you're like, I don't know what it is, but I just feel like I'm not supposed to do that. If you're a student and you're with that friend group and you feel like you're not supposed to be friends with him, you're not supposed to go to that party.

The Holy Spirit can forbid us. He can speak to us. He can lead us. He can guide us. But if we don't know He's a person, we're never going to listen. We're going to call it a coincidence or a feeling. But the Spirit of God is trying to get something inside of you.

I remember having so much doubt as to whether or not I could hear from the Holy Spirit when I was in South Africa, when I was deported for those two years. I said, "God, why didn't you tell me this was coming?" And I got to a place where I thought, maybe God only speaks through His Word, and the Holy Spirit can't direct me. He can't be specific with me.

And I remember praying this prayer: "Holy Spirit, can you teach me to hear your voice?"

My visa finally came through. I was going to the embassy the next day. It was high stakes. I had to go get passport photos taken, and they were very specific about the way they needed to be taken. So I went to my nightstand and grabbed 200 rand, which is the currency in South Africa. And the Holy Spirit said to me, "You don't need 200, you just need 100."

And I said, "But I kind of want to take 200, just in case. I'd feel easier." He said, "No, you only need 100." Have you ever felt like God is telling you to do something and you want to do it, but it seems so silly? I left 100 rand behind and took 100 rand with me.

I went to the first passport place and asked, "Can you do this photo?" They said, "Absolutely." "How much is it?" "60 rand." Good — 60 rand, I'm fine. I pay. And then they say, "By the way, we can't meet one of the requirements."

I'm going tomorrow. Businesses are about to close. I don't have any time. I asked, "Is there any other place that can do it?" They said, "Yeah, there's a place down the road. They can do everything you need." And I said, why didn't you tell me that?

So I'm driving down the road thinking, this place cost 60. I've got 40 left. Is it going to work? I walk into this place and it's beautiful. It has everything I need. One of those bougie places. I ask, "Can you do this?" "We can absolutely do it." "But it needs to be specific — it needs to be glass and laminated." "No, no, we've got you." "Great. How much does it cost?"

Thirty-nine ninety-five.

And it was just this moment of the Holy Spirit saying, "No, I can still speak. I can still lead. I can still guide. You just have to listen to my voice." I needed those moments so much, because we wouldn't be in Phoenix if I had not listened to the Spirit of God.

What is it that He's trying to say in your life? How is He trying to lead you? How is He trying to guide you? Again — if you do not believe He is a person, you will never develop that relationship with Him.

C. The Holy Spirit has emotions

Ephesians 4:30 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit can be grieved. How is He grieved? He grieves when we have sin in our lives that He's been convicting us of and we choose not to listen.

And you need to know this: when you do that long enough, the Bible talks about searing your conscience. You burn your conscience in such a way that — if you've ever known a burn victim — when you burn, there is no feeling there. Some of you are saying, "It's so weird, the Holy Spirit doesn't speak to me about that thing. He used to speak to me about that thing, but He doesn't anymore." Our consciences have been seared.

And if that's ever happened to you like it's happened to me, we have these moments where we say, "Holy Spirit, forgive me. Jesus, forgive me. Can you restore that sensitivity?" And you'll hear that still small voice.

My encouragement to you is: pay attention. When the Holy Spirit speaks, pay attention. When you feel forbidden to do something, pay attention. The Holy Spirit is a person.

2. He is God, not the junior partner

You might say, "Okay Brad, that's awesome, but there are many people in my life I don't trust. Just because He's a person doesn't mean I'm going to trust Him." So I know what He is. He is a person. But who is the Holy Spirit?

Here's my second point: He is God, not a junior partner.

A. He is God

When someone says stay away from the Holy Spirit, as I heard throughout my upbringing, you need to know this — they're not saying stay away from an idea, a force, a concept. Let me translate what they're saying. Stay away from God. The Holy Spirit is God.

I'll show it to you in Scripture. Acts 5:3. Ananias and Sapphira sell a property. This is the early church — people are selling their properties and giving to the church so they can help care for the poor. These two sell their property and give some of the money to the church, but not all of it. And Peter knows.

Peter says, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?"

You could have given half and just called it half. You don't have to lie and say you're giving all of it while you keep some for yourself. He says, "What made you do such a thing? You have not lied just to humans, but to God." He says, "You have lied to the Holy Spirit," and then he says, "You have lied to God." And when Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

He is not just an angel. He is God.

It's strange how sometimes we can be uncomfortable with this. I can stand here and say, "God the Father is my God," and you're like, great. "Jesus is my God" — tracking, tracking. And then I say, "The Holy Spirit is my God," and sometimes I've talked to people and there's a pause. And if there's something in you when I say the Holy Spirit is my God, there is some kind of lie the enemy is trying to place in your life to keep you away from the empowerer that Jesus sent to enable us to live the life He has called us to live.

We have to recognize that the enemy is trying to get us away from some of the best parts of who Jesus is.

B. He is distinct

He is God, but He is also distinct. You see Him all throughout Scripture. In fact, you see the Trinity in single verses all the time. John 14:16 — "And I," that's Jesus, "will ask the Father, and He will send you another advocate." Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, in one verse. John 14:26 — "But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name." Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus, same verse. John 15:26 — "When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me." Holy Spirit, Jesus, Father.

At Jesus' baptism you see all three of them in one moment. Jesus is baptized, He is in the water, the Spirit descends upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and then God the Father says, "This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased." All three in one single moment.

He is distinct. He is separate. And He is a person. Notice this: a lot of times when we think of the Holy Spirit, we think of a dove. It says He descended in bodily form like a dove. That's a simile. It didn't say He descended as a dove. He descended in bodily form. The Holy Spirit is a person within the Godhead.

C. He is equal

Not only is He distinct, He is also equal. He is not a junior partner. The Holy Spirit was the third to be fully revealed. That doesn't make Him third in importance. You see Him in the beginning. Genesis 1 — "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered."

As you read the Old Testament, the Father is introduced to us throughout the Old Testament. Jesus is introduced to us throughout the Gospels. The Holy Spirit is introduced to us in Acts and throughout the rest of the New Testament. He is the third who is fully revealed. That doesn't make Him third in importance. He is equal.

In fact, I love it, because in the Trinity you get this incredible deferment. God the Father glorifies the Son. The Son points to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit points back to Jesus. It's almost like — you're pretty awesome. No, you're pretty awesome. No, you're awesome. They defer to each other, but every single one of them is equal, and they are God.

Matthew 28:19 — Jesus says, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name" — singular — "of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." That puts them in equality. 2 Corinthians 13:14 — "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." When Paul blesses the church, he blesses them by all three. They are equal.

3. He is our best friend, and He's not weird

So not only is the Holy Spirit a person, not only is the Holy Spirit God — some of you are saying, "Okay, I get that He's a person and I get that He's God, but is He going to make me weird?"

Here's my third point: He is our best friend, and He is not weird.

The Holy Spirit is not weird. People are. Have you ever met people who were Holy Spirit people and they were weird? Let me just tell you — they're just weird. If they didn't have the Holy Spirit, they'd be weird. The Holy Spirit didn't make them weird. They were just weird.

There's a stat that says one in three people are weird. Do me a favor — look to the person on your right. Now look to the person on your left. And if neither of them is weird, then I'm joking. It's not one in three. It's actually one in two.

The Holy Spirit is not weird. You can be a normal person and believe in the person and the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I love this verse. 2 Corinthians 13:14 — "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Notice the words Paul uses. When he describes Jesus Christ, he says, may His grace be with you. When he describes God, he says, may His love be with you. And when he talks about the Holy Spirit, he says, may His fellowship be with you. The Greek word there is koinonia, and it means a close, intimate relationship.

The Holy Spirit wants to have a close, intimate relationship with you. And in this first part of the series, before we talk about anything else, I just want to encourage you to let Him in. Let Him have access to all of it.

In the 21st century we have seen so much power of the Holy Spirit move — so many revivals that broke out. What the Holy Spirit is doing in our lifetime is remarkable. In the last 26 years, we have seen more salvations than in the prior 2,000. The Holy Spirit is doing something significant, and I think the enemy is afraid of that. So he'll do whatever he can to keep you from giving the Holy Spirit the access that is needed.

There's so much controversy, some of it specifically around the gift of tongues, which we'll talk about. It's not something to be afraid of. And in a time when people are now afraid of the Holy Spirit — no. The Holy Spirit wants to move. The Holy Spirit wants to speak. He wants to lead you. He wants to guide you. And my prayer is that you do not allow a bad review or a bad experience to keep you from something good — the best of what God has to offer.

Have you received Him?

I want to end today the same way I began. Acts 19:2. Paul asks this question when he's talking to some disciples: did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

And my question to you today is this: did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Some of you might say, "Brad, what do you mean? When we get saved, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us." You're right. That's called the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes and lives in you. He's inside you. If you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside you. He is your seal.

But how many of you have ever had a family member or a friend come and live with you that maybe you didn't want, or you kind of didn't like, and you were just trying to do the Christian thing and open up your home? It is possible for someone to live with you and for you not to have received that person. You can live in my house, you just can't go in my fridge. You can be in my house, just don't go in my nightstand. You can be in my house, just don't grab my phone.

It is possible to have the Holy Spirit in you and not have fully received Him.

So my question is this: the Holy Spirit has given you all of Him. Have you given Him all of you? Holy Spirit, I want you in every single place. Can you empower me? Can you lead me? Can you guide me? If there's sin in my life that you've been convicting me of that I haven't been listening to — Holy Spirit, forgive me. I want you to speak. I want to hear your voice. I need you.

We can't live this life without the power of the Holy Spirit.

I think there are three groups of people here. Some of you are door closers. The Holy Spirit is knocking. He's a gentleman. And you're saying, "No — bad experience, bad review, I heard something. I don't want that." And as your pastor, as someone who loves you, I want you to experience all that He has, and I'm begging you to open the door.

I remember when I was 13. People sometimes see me on stage and don't realize I'm the least likely person to stand up here. Before 13, when I was in a small group, I couldn't even speak in front of six people. If I was asked a question, you'd get a shrug. I couldn't speak. And I had a significant encounter with the Holy Spirit when I was 13, and everything in my life changed. Literally everything. There was Brad before that moment and Brad after that moment.

Some people are door blockers. You'll crack open the door — you stay in your corner, don't make me weird. I want the Holy Spirit, but I want you tucked in. I want you on your best behavior. I don't want to be at a gas station saying crazy stuff, as if the Holy Spirit is going to possess you and make you say things. It doesn't work that way. But you're kind of cracking open the door.

My prayer is that all of you will be door openers. That you'll say, "Holy Spirit, you have access to every single part of my life. I want you to speak. I want you to lead. I want you to guide."

My prayer for this series, across all four weeks, is that I can teach you what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life. But you won't experience that if you haven't received Him.

So — have you received Him?

Here's what I want to do. I want to take 30 seconds, and I want all of you to just ask the Holy Spirit: Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me? Prayerfully — what are you saying to me? What is it that you want me to do? Go ahead and ask Him.

Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you for the people who need to make that call, who need to have that conversation, who need to say sorry. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the restoration you're going to do in marriages as we listen to your voice.

Some of you have never given the Holy Spirit access to all of those parts of your life. I just want you to say: Holy Spirit, I give you access. Every part of me is yours. Lord, my life, this church, my family — every single part of it is yours. Fill me. Baptize me. Do what only you can do. Every part of me, I give it to you.

There are some people here who haven't experienced what it is to be led by the Spirit, because you don't follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the seal we're given as believers when we start to follow Jesus, and some of you have never taken that step. If that's you, I want to tell you that today is the day. I implore you to say yes to Jesus.

The Bible says we've all made mistakes. God sent His Son Jesus to come to this earth and live the life we couldn't live. He died on a cross for your sin. The punishment has been paid, and you can be restored to relationship with Jesus. You just have to say yes. The Bible says if you believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, and you declare with your mouth that He is Lord, you will be saved.

If you're here and you've never done that, I'm going to pray, and I want to encourage you to pray this with me: Dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe you came to this earth, you died on a cross, and you were raised so that I can have life. I make you my Lord. I make you my Savior. I'm going all in with you. In Jesus' name.