2010 Senior Pastors’ Conference – Session 2 – Tom Stipe

·         During the planning sessions for the conference, Chuck had asked a pointed question: “Can we continue in the Spirit.”

·         We are not going to find a model for the church from the ‘70’s – because this is 2010.

o   However, the Spirit is still the same.

o   Calvary Chapel began in the Spirit – and He does not change.

o   “Dude, age happens. But not for the Holy Spirit.”

·         Tom’s text – Acts 1.

·         Luke was witnessing to Theophilus – he was witnessing to a friend.

o   How would you like to get Luke & Acts as personal letters?

o   The story of the Christian church.

·         The two (the Gospel and Acts) are closely tied together, because if you have an experience with Jesus, you will have an experience with the Church – the two go hand-in-hand.

o   There are those who say that it’s not necessary – Luke would disagree.

o   Acts is a story that has no end – until the Rapture.

o   The Acts carry on the life of Christ.

·         The Holy Spirit gave commandments – and the Church’s job was to fulfill them.

o   “I hope God commanded you to go where you are as a pastor.”

o   “If the Holy Spirit has not made a command to you, please don’t go out – do anything else.”

o   If you have not heard from God Almighty, don’t go into this line of work.

·         Imagine spending 40 days with the resurrected Jesus – “Unlearned men?” I don’t think so!

·         The many infallible proofs have to do with the Resurrection.

o   Whatever proofs He gave were convincing!

o   Easter wasn’t once a year for these people – it was all the time.

o   The message of the Gospel always involves the truth of the Resurrection

§  Because if Jesus wasn’t alive – what would they say?

§  I mean, really?

o   The church is empowered when it is saturated with the truth of the Resurrection.

·         Easter is a sad time for church plants –w here all the people take their families to legitimate churches {{OUCH!!!}}

·         The Resurrection was something they talked about all the time.

o   Everybody knew that Jesus was crucified – it was done in public

o   They needed to keep talking about & focusing on the Resurrection.

o   Everybody knew He was crucified – they needed to know He didn’t stay that way!

·         Tom likes to do a “Thomas Sunday” a week after Easter – to talk about questions & objections.

·         By the deeds of the church & a profound part of their witness, they told the world of the reality of the Resurrection.

·         The church didn’t know when He would appear during those 40 days – it was good practice!

o   Expectation is a good thing

o   They were prepared for the presence of Jesus & the Holy Spirit

·         Evidently the Baptism of the Spirit was kind of a big deal.

o   The Gospel is about the reign of God over the hearts and lives of those who trust in Him, not about kicking out Rome.

o   “BUT you shall receive power…”

o   The power of the church comes from the Holy Spirit and not from man.

·         Tom was asked at his ordination, “Are you an Acts 1:8 Christian?”  ;D

o   That’s a great question to ask ourselves.

o   Are we?

o   Christians were filled fresh & new with the Spirit when new challenges & new opportunities present themselves.

·         We are just pennies in God’s pocket that He can spend wherever He wants to.

o   “It’s called surrender.”

o   Ordinary Christians could do extraordinary things because it wasn’t them but the power of the Spirit in their lives.

o   The Spirit is an absolute necessity – because this work will wear you out.

·         When He ascened, did they miss Him terribly immediately?

o   They had to be staring up in heaven for a while, since angels had to come and tell them to stop staring up in heaven.

·         Have you ever wondered about the other guy (not Matthias)?

·         Did Jesus allow them to be without Him long enough to long for His presence – and that’s when the Spirit came?

·         Sometimes, Tom misses the drama of beginning in the Spirit.

o   The early days were crazy.

o   As part of the drama, Chuck allowed anybody in – and that got exciting at times.

o   “…he let in carnal, and backslidden, and drunkards, and druggies, and even Baptists!!!” 

§  (Tom was a Methodist youth director when he started coming to Costa Mesa.)

o   Sinners come with baggage – and lots of it.

·         Tom got fired from his first ministry job (at the Methodist church) for two things: falling in love, and getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.

·         While some people have a calling to evangelism, we are all called to share our faith – to put Jesus in our lives on display.

·         “They were all with one accord in one place.”

o   I hope we find that reality, too.

o   “with one accord…in one place”

§  Perhaps in this place {{AMEN!!!}}

§  At this point there were three things that were true of the disciples:

·         One, they were humble, broken

·         Two, they were obedient – when they were told to stay, they stayed, when they were told to go, they went.

·         Three, they were expectant – perhaps the biggest thing of all.

§  Jesus told them to wait – so they were expectant.

o   At Costa Mesa, they knew something was going to happen, that God would show up in power.

§  Every single night.

·         Continuing in the Spirit requires beginning in the Spirit.

o   Finishing in the Spirit requires beginning and continuing in the Spirit.

·         The rest of this week, the rest of our lives, can be filled with stories of men changed by God the Holy Spirit!

·         The people at Fuller asked Lonnie Frisbee, “what do you read?”

o   His response: “The Bible and Foxes’ Booke of Martyrs”

o   They got into such trouble – many students got saved & filled with the Spirit.

·         The Bible equates the filling of the Spirit with boldness

o   i.e., the supernatural ability to serve the Lord.

o   BTW – refills are free!

·         This is what we are going to attempt to do this week {{EXCITED!!! SO EXCITED!!I}}

·         Francis Chan wrote The Forgotten God

o   The equality of the Persons

o   The Spirit is not the church janitor

o   He is the driving force that changed the way they thought, talked, acted, worshipped

o   He applies the truth & reality of the Gospel to our lives

·         Tom calls the “discernment” types “The court of the women.”  LOL!

·         They built into the schedule for this conference more time for fellowship, for seeking, for worshipping.