Christians and alcohol. Few topics are more common in our culture and more ignored in the pulpit. In this sermon, Pastor Harold Warner takes Ephesians 5 head on and asks a blunt question: Are you living under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of the Holy Spirit?

Preached in a season of “holiday cheer,” this message exposes the cultural propaganda around drinking, walks through the Bible’s real portrait of alcohol, and presses into the thing that actually matters: your testimony, your calling, and being filled with the Spirit.

Scriptures Mentioned:

• Ephesians 5:15–21

• Galatians 5:16–21

• 1 Peter 4:1–5

• Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:29–35

• Romans 13:13–14

• Romans 12:1–2

In this message you will hear about:

• “Sipping saints” and why the line is never as clean as people pretend

• The war between flesh and Spirit, and what alcohol is really feeding

• Why the Bible’s “ad” for drinking looks nothing like Madison Avenue

• Noah, Lot, Nabal, Belshazzar, and the wreckage that follows drunkenness

• How Christian liberty can become a stumbling block for weaker believers

• Why a Spirit filled life is not optional if you want to impact people

• The power of a clear cut, no nonsense testimony in a foggy world

If you are wrestling with the “gray areas,” or if you have quietly opened the door to “just a little” alcohol, this sermon will not stroke your conscience. It will confront it, and then point you to something far better: a life filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Chapters

00:00 Welcome, intro, and sermon setup

00:31 Text in Ephesians and direction of the message

00:49 Turning 60, family reunion, and midnight karaoke exit

02:08 “Sinners do what sinners do” and Christian witness

03:20 America’s drinking problem and “sipping saints”

05:03 Holiday Cheer: Living under the influence

07:23 “You’ve wasted enough of your past life”

09:12 Spirits vs the Holy Spirit: where your stimulus comes from

11:34 The war between flesh and Spirit

15:22 College culture, deception, and open doors to the enemy

19:47 The Bible’s beer commercial: Proverbs 23

23:53 Testimony, liberty, and not stumbling weaker believers

30:34 Last days warnings and the need for clarity

37:58 New life, renewed mind, and breaking from the old life

44:20 “Is this bud for you?” and the call to be filled with the Spirit

Show Notes

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO WORLD EVANGELISM

Locate a CFM Church near you: https://cfmmap.org

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