Encounter Sunday June 2025

Robert Kennedy

Matthew 3 ESV

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

For the Jews…

A celebration in gratitude of the harvest.

For the Christians

The Outpouring of The Holy Spirit.

The gathering of the wheat.

Baptize = to wash, to immerse, to submerge, to overwhelm.

We are baptized “in the Name of Jesus.”

We are baptized “ with The Holy Spirit.”

Acts 19

19 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

The baptism in water is a public declaration

“I am a follower of Christ”

Spirit baptism is supernatural empowerment for living and for service.

Baptism = to overwhelm

Luke 24

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

1. I’m sending the Promise.

HE / Jesus WILL BAPTIZE YOU

WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE

SO IT’S SOMEONE JESUS SENT

JOHN 16:13

WHEN HE, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU INTO ALL TRUTH.

2. Clothed with power.

THE POWER TO LIVE AN OVERCOMING LIFE

Romans 8

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

THE POWER TO LIVE AN OVERCOMING LIFE

“Holy Spirit”

We often want The Spirit without “The HOLY.”

SPIRIT BAPTISM IS

THE POWER TO LIVE AN OVERCOMING LIFE

THE POWER TO PUSH BACK DARKNESS

THE POWER TO INCREASE HIS KINGDOM.

3. The promise of The Father.

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Joel 2

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Luke 11 ESV

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

4. Wait until you receive.

Luke 24:49

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 2 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

THEY WERE “ALL” FILLED.

Brian Loudermilk

I.  God does not allow us to go through difficult days alone 

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT)

 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

A.       God is merciful and is the source of all comfort.

B.       God comforts us in all our troubles.

-              The root word in the Greek for comfort means to stand beside a person, encouraging and helping a person in His or Her time of trouble.

-              John 14:16 – He fulfills this role most fully through sending the Holy Spirit.

II. God teaches and produces fruit in the difficult days

(2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT)

4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

A.    As we experience His comfort and peace we can then learn how to stand with others through their difficult days.

B.    He produces spiritual fruit in us

Romans 5:3-5

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

III. God brings us to a total reliance on Him in the difficult days 

(2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 

* The truth is that sometimes God allows us to have more than we can handle alone.

-              Our difficult circumstances do not dictate our faith, rather it is an opportunity for our faith to be put into action.

-              Our difficult circumstances take the control we so desperately desire away from us and place us into a place of dependency on the grace of God to meet us and sustain us.

-              Our difficult circumstances produce an unwavering trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty.

IV. God is who we look to for deliverance from our trouble

(2 Corinthians 1:10-11 NLT)

10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. 11 And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

A.    We can be confident in Him as our rescuer.

B.    We need to be people that pray for each other’s difficult circumstances.

Mark 16

17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed. 19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 20 And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.