2014 Acts 29 New Jersey Regional Conference – Founded on the Word, Driven by the Spirit – with Josh Kouri in North Brunswick, New Jersey, Monday, April 28, 2014
If you've been the Emmaus City site as of late, you know I'm still working on getting up my notes for the 2014 Thriving Frequency conference and the 2014 Acts 29 North America conference. But before 2014 comes to a close, I also wanted to get up my notes for the Acts 29 New Jersey Regional conference | Founded on the Word, Driven by the Spirit that I went to back in the spring.
Before I went to this conference hosted by Jacob's Well, I had never heard of Pastor Josh Kouri or Frontline Church. In 2005, he planted Frontline Church in downtown Oklahoma City and now there are four congregations composed of multiple communities meeting across central Oklahoma. More importantly, Josh loves Jesus and has a joyful filling of the Holy Spirit that is a pleasure to listen to and behold. Here are two of the sessions from this regional:- Founded on the Word with Pastor Josh Kouri (35:22 minutes)
- Driven by the Holy Spirit with Pastor Josh Kouri (29:27 minutes)
For my notes, I've titled the two sections a little bit differently, but I think my notes honor Josh's intentions and they continue to deeply shape me. Let me know if they help shape, inspire, empower your view for how God has, is, and will continue to work through His Word and His Spirit among His sons and daughters.
1) Jesus – the Word of God made flesh – was driven by the Holy Spirit
When Jesus came, He constantly needed the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, from the beginning to the end.
As the Appointed One, the Holy Spirit Reveals Jesus to Those Who Seek Him | "Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 'Lord, now You are letting your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentile, and for glory to Your people Israel.' And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed'” (Luke 2:25-35).
As the Promised One, the Holy Spirit Fills Jesus with Wisdom and Understanding | "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. ... And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him" (Isaiah 11:1-2; Luke 2:40).
As the Holy One Who Resists Temptation and Sin, the Holy Spirit Fills Jesus with Power to Speak and Teach with Authority | "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ... And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all" (Luke 4:1, 14-15).
In Serving Us and Dying for Us, Only through the Holy Spirit Could Jesus Offer Himself | "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:14).
As the Holy Spirit was necessary for Jesus' Gospel Proclamation + Kingdom Demonstration through His Incarnation, Revelation, Holiness, Teaching, and Atonement, so Jesus gave His Holy Spirit for us, His Church, to continue His ministry with His power where He has sent us | "'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.' ... And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, 'you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. ... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8).
Only by the power of the Holy Spirit will we see our teaching of the gospel come with power, will we see sickness healed, will we see the powers of darkness pushed back, and will we see people willing to give all of their lives for the glory of Jesus.
2) Jesus' Church can only make the Word become flesh in every area of our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit
We want to be a people that are all in on the Word of God and all in on the Spirit of God. It will require the Holy Spirit for our ideas and dreams of a lesser life to die in us so that God can plant His ideas and dreams of an abundant life in Christ in us.
" ... I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:7-14).
Somehow Jesus says that the Spirit in His ministry in the Church is going to be better than Jesus' earthly ministry in the flesh. Do you pray like this is true? Do you live like this is true?
1) The Spirit (i.e. Helper) is going to flip our persecution into conviction and confidence in what Jesus is going to do in us and through us.
Sin: He helps us see how we rejected Jesus, the only One who can save us, when we sin
Righteousness: He helps us see that only Jesus can be our righteousness
Judgment: He helps us see that only Jesus can conquer sin, Satan, and Death
With the above all in mind, we can safely and securely declare: "Guilty as charged, give me the mercy of Jesus." And we can receive the mercy of the Father through faith in the Son by the power of the Spirit.
2) The Spirit is going to guide us into Jesus' Truth.
Because He is not going to contradict the Word of God He inspired others to write, we know the Holy Spirit will grow a greater desire to repent of our sins like we find Him doing with others in the Word (ex. Psalm 51) as He provide us with a greater love for the Word (ex. Psalm 119).
3) The Spirit is going to glorify Jesus in us and through us.
The Spirit takes what is Jesus and gives it to us so that He makes us more holy (i.e. sanctifies) as Jesus prayed for us in John 17:12-18 and 20:21-22: "'While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.' ... 'As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
The Father delights in His children through the work of His Son and the work of His Holy Spirit. He manifests His love in us so that we can cry out, "Abba, Father" and love Him and love others for the glory of Jesus.
– Sully
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