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Sunday, May 16, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Dance

Scripture: John 14:15-31 ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

Selected Readings on the Holy Spirit

Genesis 1:2 ESV Genesis 1; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=ESV

2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Ezekiel 36:26, 27 ESV Ezekiel 36; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+36&version=ESV

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

John 14:16, 17, 26 ESV John 14; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14&version=ESV

16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Acts 1:8 ESV Acts 1; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+1&version=ESV

8 “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.”

Acts 4:31 ESV Acts 4; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4&version=ESV

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 2:38 ESV Acts 2; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2&version=ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9, 14 ESV Romans 8; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8&version=ESV

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Galatians 4:6 ESV Galatians 4; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+4&version=ESV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Ephesians 1:13 ESV Ephesians 1;https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&version=ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Romans 5:3, 4, 5 Romans 5; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5&version=ESV

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 8:26 ESV Romans 8; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8&version=ESV

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV 1 Corinthians 3; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+3&version=ESV

16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV 1 Thessalonians 5; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians+5&version=ESV

19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22, 23 ESV Galatians 5; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5&version=ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV 1 Corinthians 12; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+12&version=ESV

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Romans 15:13 ESV Romans 15; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15&version=ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV 2 Corinthians 13; https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+13&version=ESV

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

"Made perfect."

— Hebrews 12:23

Hebrews 12 ESV and Audio

Recollect that there are two kinds of perfection which the Christian needs--the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus, and the perfection of sanctification wrought in him by the Holy Spirit. At present, corruption yet remains even in the breasts of the regenerate--experience soon teaches us this. Within us are still lusts and evil imaginations. But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work which He has begun; and He shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but perfect through the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. Can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? Can it be that this spirit, which often cries, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this sin and death?" shall get rid of sin and death--that I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace? Oh, happy hour! may it be hastened! When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself. Then my spirit shall have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit's fire. Methinks I long to die to receive that last and final purification which shall usher me into heaven. Not an angel more pure than I shall be, for I shall be able to say, in a double sense, "I am clean," through Jesus' blood, and through the Spirit's work. Oh, how should we extol the power of the Holy Ghost in thus making us fit to stand before our Father in heaven! Yet let not the hope of perfection hereafter make us content with imperfection now. If it does this, our hope cannot be genuine; for a good hope is a purifying thing, even now. The work of grace must be abiding in us now or it cannot be perfected then. Let us pray to "be filled with the Spirit," that we may bring forth increasingly the fruits of righteousness. Daily Devotional Spurgeon's Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Audio: Spurgeon's Evening - Saturday, May 15 2021 pm

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“Come Holy Spirit” 1707 by Isaac Watts

“JESUS, KEEP ME NEAR THE CROSS” 1869 by Fanny J. Crosby

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Message: The Dance

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Scripture: John 14:15-31 ESV

John 14 ESV and Audio

SERMON NOTE

Sunday, May 16, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Dance

Scripture: John 14:15-31 ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

The Dance: What does it mean to really love God?

Here in Jesus’ last night before He goes to the cross, we encounter some of the most tender words in all the Scriptures. In the upper room, Jesus pours out His heart to His disciples, and teaches us how to live in the love of God, because living in the love of God is everything.

These verses form John 14:15-31 are notoriously difficult to outline because Jesus keeps circling back time and again to the same central theme as he invites us to live deeply in the love of God. We’ll approach this passage from three angles:

1) Our Love of God

2) God’s Love of Us

3) The Life of Love

Our Love of God (vv. 15, 21, 23, 24)

• Our love of Jesus naturally and necessarily flows into an obedience to Christ’s law of love.

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

1) Our Love of God: What does it mean to really love God? Our love of Jesus naturally and necessarily flows into an obedience to Christ’s law. This fundamentally boils down to loving God and loving people. So, if you really love Jesus, you’ll grow in love for one another. But that’s not always an easy thing to do. We desperately need direction, wholeness, and courage from Jesus to do that well. We cannot do it on our own; which brings us to the next point.

God’s Love of Us (vv. 16–17, 26–31)

• The Spirit enables through us ...

• ... what the Son commands of us ...

• ... so the Father delights in us.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

2) God’s Love of Us: The only way we’ll ever be able to obey Christ’s law of love is through the enabling work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables through us what the Son commands of us so that Father delights in us. You want to know how hard love is? It takes all three persons of the Triune God to form us into people of love.

The Life of Love (vv.15–23)

• Love God > Obey God > Love People > God’s Presence

• The Triune God is inviting us into the Dance.

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

3) The Life of Love: There’s an important progression here: Love God --/ Obey God --/ Love People --/ God’s Presence. Here’s the logic: to love Jesus is to obey Jesus; to obey Jesus is to love one another; as we live in loving obedience, Jesus asks the Father to send the Spirit; God’s indwelling Spirit is His presence in us. Perichoresis is the Divine dance of eternal loving embrace, each person of the Triune Godhead lovingly self-giving unto the others, and welcoming and receiving one another into themselves with unrestrained, overflowing intimacy, delight, and everlasting joy! Do you realize what this means? To be united to Jesus by faith is to be “in Christ” and to have “Christ in us.” And if we share a perichoretic relationship with Jesus, and Jesus has a perichoretic relationship with the Father and the Spirit, then to be in Christ means we also have the Spirit and the Father in him. The Triune God is inviting us to share in the Dance.

Takeaway: Will you have this dance?

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Message: The Dance Sermon Q&A

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Pastor Philip

PASTOR TO PEOPLE

This past week my Grandpa, Eugene Eldon Miller (January 7, 1932–May 10, 2021), peacefully went home to be with Jesus. Grandpa loved his county, having retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Air Force. He loved his family dearly and would brag about them to anyone who would listen—and to those who wouldn’t. He loved Jesus Christ, modeling a life of faith, devotion, and love to his dying day. But most importantly, Jesus loves him. And that makes all the difference in the world and in eternity.

Would you be praying for my family this week, especially my Grandma LaVerne, his wife of 67 years, as we have his memorial on Tuesday and grieve with resurrection hope? Thank you for being my church family in a moment like this. It means the world to me.

You are loved, more than you know!

Pastor Philip

Philip Miller Senior Pastor

Four generations of Miller men. L–R: Philip’s father Duane, Jude, Pastor Philip, Grandpa Eugene

In Loving Memory

Lt. Col. Eugene Miller, USAF Ret.

January 7, 1932–Monday, May 10, 2021

Lt. Col. Eugene Eldon Miller, USAF Ret., 89, of Kansas City, MO passed away peacefully on May 10, 2021. He was born on January 7, 1932 in Phillipsburg, KS to George and Leona Miller.

Gene earned a BS from Kansas State University and had a rewarding 20 year career in the United States Air Force, where he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following his career in the Air Force, Gene spent 10 years as a recruiter for DeVry Institute and then as a reservations agent for America West Airlines.

He married LaVerne Joyce Soyland on June 7, 1953 in Everest, KS. They moved to Kansas City from San Bernardino, CA in November of 1974. In addition to LaVerne, survivors include two sons: Duane Miller of Chesterland, OH and Scott Miller of Littleton, CO; sister, Shirley Partch of Loveland, CO; eight grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Monday, May 17, 2021 as well as from 10:00-10:30 on Tuesday May 18 at the Meyers Northland Chapel in Parkville. Funeral services will be conducted 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the chapel, with Gene’s grandson, Philip Miller presiding. A private committal service with military honors will take place at Leavenworth National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Officers’ Christian Fellowship (www.ocfusa.org) or Dallas Theological Seminary (www.dts.edu). Memories of Gene and condolences may be shared at Meyersfuneralchapel.com/Gene-Miller/

Filed Under: Northland