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The Power of the Holy Spirit is For You, Today.

What is the Holy Spirit? Is it a ghost? A weird feeling? Or something more?

In this week's powerful message, our guest speaker, Cornelius, gets real about the Holy Spirit. He shares his own incredible story – from a life-changing encounter as a young man that left him seeing stars, to seeing God move in miraculous ways in one of the toughest places on earth. This isn't about abstract theology; this is about a real power that is available to every single one of us, right here, right now, in Jordanthorpe.

Cornelius breaks it down for us, looking at three key moments:

The message is simple but profound: The same Spirit that empowered Jesus and the first disciples is not just a story in a book. He is here for you. He gives us gifts – not to make us look super-spiritual, but to make a real difference in the lives of people around us. He gives us power to overcome the challenges we face and to bring God's life and hope into our community.

If you’ve ever felt like there must be more to faith, or if you’re facing a situation that feels impossible, this message is for you. Get ready to be encouraged and challenged to ask for the power of the Holy Spirit in your own life.

Bible References from the Sermon:

 

 

Transcription

Hallelujah, I'm excited, and you don't know what I'm excited about, well I'm excited because

there's lots going on in MCF.

This week we were in Baitmore with Ross and Steve in the park which was amazing, yesterday

we were here with Lily's Cloth Bank, it was amazing.

You know, MCF is doing so much stuff in the community, reaching people, right there, amen.

Today I'm going to speak about an amazing topic, when Nick sent me a text, can you speak

on, can you put the first one on, what is that?

The Holy Spirit, it's not the Holy Spirit, it was only like a dove, the Holy Spirit came

upon Jesus, like a dove.

But there are many pictures of the dove, I've got a few pictures for today just to help

emphasize the message, as well I put some verses in there to help you understand, because

this morning I'm going to talk about the Holy Spirit, it's powerful, the Holy Spirit is

emotional to me, because I've got a history with the Holy Spirit, and therefore I want

to bring this morning the Holy Spirit to you, and I want to pray that the Holy Spirit will

work in you, and come to you, and therefore open up your hearts and let God do a work.

First of all, what are the most important events in a person's life, there are a few

you think may be like, you know, getting married, or whatever, you know, getting your first

car, no no no, I'm going much deeper, for any person, most important thing is to be

born, amen, you're here on earth because God created you, he loves you, he wants you,

you are wanted, and that's how you came on this earth, amen, number one.

Number two, Jesus coming into your life, when you receive Jesus, something happens, when

you start to believe what he has done, something comes in you, because God loved this world

so much that he gave his only son, for you, if you believe, you will not be condemned

but receive eternal life.

So the second most important part for your life is that you receive Jesus.

Now the third part, the third most important event is, next verse, the first I'm going

to talk about today, the verse I received, Acts 1 verse 8, you will receive power from

on high when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Now it's very controversial because there are many different denominations and churches

who talk about it or don't talk about it, but my experience, most important part, was

first to receive Jesus, secondly to receive the Holy Spirit in my life, that's what I'm

going to talk about this morning, I want to make it as easy as possible for you to understand,

we're going to go into the word, can you do the next one, go into the word and I want

to look at the Holy Spirit in three parts, in three periods, I'm going to look at Jesus,

how the Holy Spirit worked in Jesus and then secondly, the apostles, when Jesus left this

earth, we want to look at the apostles, what he did and then we want to look at 2025, today,

is the Holy Spirit still operating today, is he still working today, so that is where

we are going.

So when I started writing my notes, I came quickly up to ten pages because there's so

much to talk about the Holy Spirit, but don't worry, I'm very good at summarizing so I'll

bring it back to, watch the time, watch the time, we're going to start, the Holy Spirit,

I'm talking about most important events in your life, but the biggest event in history,

of course, was when Jesus came to earth, when Jesus stepped into time, from heaven into

time and he started his ministry, I mean, for the world, people say like, you know,

the most important event in history might be the empire or this king or that king or

that battle, but we all know, really, the most important event in history is when Jesus

stepped into this earth, massively important, because it changed everything, amen?

So when Jesus came, he was baptized and the Holy Spirit came upon him, like a dove, not

as a dove, like a dove, and then he went into the desert, and he went, it says, in Luke

4, he went in the desert, full of the Holy Spirit, I'm talking about the Holy Spirit

today, so you're going to hear that word a lot, full of the Holy Spirit, he went into

the desert, and there something happened in the desert, because then, verse 14, he comes

out of the desert in the power of the Holy Spirit, so something in that time of the desert,

something happened, he went in fasting and praying, and there he met the devil, he came

into a time, something, he went into a battle, and by the word of God, he conquered the temptations

the devil brought to him, he came through, and it gave him power and authority in that

desert, and after that, he started his ministry.

Now therefore I say, when you go through difficulties, don't worry too much, don't worry too much,

make sure you come through it well, with the word of God, you will come through with the

word of God, with the promises God has for you, you will come through, and you will gain

power and authority by overcoming those battles, Jesus came out of it in power and authority,

and then he started his ministry, and he went to Nazareth, and there he went into the

synagogue, and next slide, he brought up his first sermon, and he said, no no no, previous

one, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach the good news

to the poor, to send me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, boy do we need that, freedom

to the prisoners, and recover the sight of the blinds, release the oppressed to proclaim

the year of the Lord's favor has arrived, the kingdom of God has come, that's what Jesus

preached, the kingdom of God has come, this is what he preached, that was his vision,

Jesus laid out his vision before the people, they didn't like it because they pushed them

out of the church all the way to a cliff, trying to throw them off the cliff, it was

not appreciated what he brought, but this was the vision he brought, the spirit of the

Lord is upon me, the power and authority of the spirit of God is upon me to break the

powers of the enemy, Jesus had come, hallelujah, he made himself known, Jesus had come, and

that's how he started, and many places it said Jesus, he healed all, he started to cast

out demons, and we can read the gospels, he was manifesting the spirit of God, he was

manifesting himself and showing that the kingdom of God had come, and then even halfway, John,

the disciples of John, the Baptist, John the Baptist was in prison, they come to him and

they say, are you the one we expect, are you the Messiah we are to expect, or then Jesus

says, look around you, the sick are healed, the people are being set free, the dead are

raised, he said, the kingdom of God has come, I am, and so he continued a little further

on and then he comes to a point and then he talks to his disciples, the disciples say

to him, yes, some say you are Elijah, some say you are John the Baptist, because by that

time John the Baptist was already killed, and then Jesus says to them, next one, but

who do you say I am? Very important, very important, because Jesus was doing all that

stuff, he was showing the kingdom of God to people, and now, after two and a half years,

the disciples being with him, he says, who do you say I am? Did you get it? Do you understand

who I am? It's a question to us as well, who do you say he is? Then Peter stands up and

Peter, he says, you are the Christ, the Son of God, very powerful, Peter now understood,

and it was like Jesus saying, thank God they understand, because by then, the last half

year, he knew, Jesus now had achieved what he had to achieve, the disciples understood,

he is the Messiah, the Son of God, who came to this earth to bring the kingdom of God,

and now he knew he could go on to Jerusalem, to the second part of his ministry, which

was his suffering, the dying on the cross, the resurrection, that was the second part

of Jesus' ministry, and so it went, he went to Jerusalem, and there he was going into

his suffering, and he died, and then he rose from the dead, and there is that period, comes

that period, he rose from the dead, and there he showed himself to 500 witnesses, but that

period, the disciples were not quite sure what they were doing, and there was a time

even they went off to go fishing again, because they were not quite sure what was going to

happen, and then Jesus called them, and he said, I'm going to my father now, now listen

well, I'm going to my father now, he said, but you wait, wait, because something is happening,

you wait, next verse, he said, you will receive power, this is the verse, where it's all about,

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, till the ends of the earth, so the disciples who were

with Jesus, who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, they got it, now, he said to them, I'm going

now, it's now going to be in your hands, and therefore wait, the Holy Spirit, the power

of the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and then he says, second part, I'm going to give

you a job, I'm going to give you a purpose, a plan and a purpose, you are going to be

my witnesses, here in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, till the ends of the earth, you

are going to do the work now, everything I did, Jesus said, everything I did, now you

are going to do it, and that's what happened on the day of Pentecost, you know, many churches

that have Pentecost, don't know quite how to get about Pentecost, don't quite understand

what it works, what it is about, but I'm showing you today, the Holy Spirit is there for you,

hallelujah, next one, so the Holy Spirit came, I've got another picture, I found another

picture, there are lots of beautiful pictures on the Holy Spirit, I love them, this picture

is so clearly shown, like a dove, like a dove, it's not the Holy Spirit, like a dove,

he comes, he came, suddenly, suddenly, now listen to that word suddenly, because that

comes across quite a few times, because the Holy Spirit is not to be controlled, the Holy

Spirit just comes as he comes, the Holy Spirit suddenly came when those disciples were together,

they were praying and waiting, and suddenly the Holy Spirit came, and they started to

speak into new tongues, they started to prophesy, there, 120 of them were in that upper room,

together, something happened, suddenly, and the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit

was upon them, and the people outside, because there was a feast in Jerusalem, they were

outside, and they were talking like, are those people drunk, they're speaking in tongues,

what are they doing, they asked them, Peter came out, and Peter started to preach and

explain what was going on there in the upper room, next verse, Peter speaks on what will

happen, he speaks the gospel, he teaches them the gospel, he says what happened, that Jesus

had come, that Jesus now had left, and that the Holy Spirit had come, and he said, we

received the Holy Spirit as he promised, and he said, this gift of the Holy Spirit is for

you, and your children, and for all of those who are far off, Peter preaching, you know,

Peter saying, it is for all of you who believe in Jesus, who have repented, and now the Holy

Spirit is there for you to receive, for you, your children, and for all those who are far

off, is that clear, amen, nothing difficult about it, the Holy Spirit came for all who

are far off, amen.

And so, the Acts, the book of Acts, we move to the second part, the book of Acts speaks

on all those actions of the disciples, it's not really of the disciples, it's of the Holy

Spirit, and the book of Acts is really the book, the Acts of the Holy Spirit, we can

read how Peter went out with John, and there was a man sitting who was begging, and they

said, silver or gold, we haven't got, but what we've got, we give, stand up in the name

of Jesus, they started to heal, they started to cast out demons, and it even says Peter

walked through the temple, and people were sitting on the sides, and his shadow would

fall on the people, and people would be healed, so the power and authority of the Holy Spirit

was upon them, and so this whole book shows us how Peter and later on Paul, how they moved

into the Holy Spirit, actually, first I want to go to a man named Cornelius, because everything

was still among the Jewish people, and then there was a change coming, because God intended

it for all men, like he said, the ones who are far off received the Holy Spirit as well,

and so Peter was called to a man called Cornelius, Cornelius was a Roman soldier, a Roman centurion,

the Romans were enemies of the Jews, so they were not very liked, very loved by the Jewish

people, so Peter was inefficient, was called to go to this man, this centurion, Cornelius,

Cornelius was a God-fearing man, and it says, he had a vision of an angel, and the angel

said, your prayers and your giving has come as a memorial before God, wow, that's amazing,

can you imagine that is said about you, your prayers, your giving has come before God as

a memorial, wow, hallelujah, your prayers, your giving, MCF, has come before God as a

memorial, and one for six comes to pass, hallelujah, amazing, so Peter was called to go to Cornelius,

this Gentile, this Roman, to go and preach the gospel, to explain what was going on,

so Peter went, you can read the story in Acts 10, he went and went to speak and preach,

next one, and he says, he said two verses which are very important in there, because

he says, Jesus, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, how he went

around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, and when you

read that verse, suddenly my mind goes, I was in the northern hospital on Wednesday,

and you're in that waiting room, and there is so much going on, and there's so much suffering,

and you really feel like, God, break out, Holy Spirit, that song, I hope we're going

to sing it later, break out, because that's really needed here, there's such a need for

Jesus to come and touch people, for the Holy Spirit to move, and that is, that verse, Jesus

came with the anointing to break the power of the enemy, when we go out into Jordanthorpe

and Baitmore, we see, like this week, the power of the enemy is all over, but Jesus

came and we received the Holy Spirit to break that power of the enemy, amen? Second verse,

and as Peter, as he was speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon all who heard the message,

amazing, the Holy Spirit was just, he was speaking, and suddenly the power, the Holy

Spirit was moving, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, hallelujah, that's what

we need, amen. So, that is the book of Acts, how the Spirit of God came in power and was

moving, and the Gospel was going out, and the Gospel was being spread, and from there,

it went to Europe, it went to Asia, it went to Africa, the Gospel spread, and that's why

we are here today, because, next one, 2025, I'm going into a different section now, different

period, 2025, today, is the Holy Spirit working now? How is the Holy Spirit working? You know,

when I was a youngster, I went to church, and I was serious, and one day, one Sunday,

I went to church, and in the morning, and that verse, which was the first verse of Acts,

we bring up Acts 1, verse 8, the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, it bothered

me. I didn't understand it. I struggled with it, because I didn't see it in the church.

Where is that power of the Holy Spirit? I haven't got it. I said, what is it? If God

is God, if this is the Gospel, the good news, I don't want to be stuck there in, I'm saved,

hallelujah, I'm saved, I'm moving on with my own life. No! If this is true, that there

is a power of the Holy Spirit working, I want it. I need it! I was so bothered by it. That

afternoon, I went home, I had my lunch, I was sitting on the sofa, I was pondering on

that verse, going over it again and again, when suddenly, the presence of the Holy Spirit

came into the room, came upon me heavily, and it brought me down on my knees, falling

on the floor. It was heavy, and the fire burned in me, and I saw stars, and after about half

an hour, really, I saw stars, really, in my head, and after about half an hour, I was

like, my head was spinning, what's going on, what's going on? I received the Holy Spirit.

I had only one desire, and that was to serve God. My whole idea of career, of money, of

whatever, was gone. I just wanted to serve God. I wanted Jesus to work on my life. And

that same, after that same period, I immediately worked in ministries, I was open to whatever

God brought to me, and there was a ministry working with refugees, I went with them, we

went into those centers, we did Bible studies with all the groups, and, you know, I had

received the Holy Spirit, and I was just going about, as I felt led by the Holy Spirit, and

there we prayed for each one. Every day, every week, we prayed for everyone. And then there

was one man, he was called Stephen, and he came from Sierra Leone, and he was so, his

heart was so damaged because of where he went through, that he had to go to a special medical

unit. I prayed for him, we prayed for him, I prayed for all of them before they left,

and that was it. I went home, and then a week later, I was called, Stephen called me, and

Stephen said, you need to come, because Stephen was going to a special medical unit, because

his heart was so damaged, he needed treatment. Stephen called me, he said, you need to come

to the unit, you need to come to the unit. He said, the director wants to speak to you.

When I came to the place, he had organized all those people from the medical unit to

sit around, because he wanted me to pray for them, because Stephen was healed. And the

director wanted to know, he had the medical report before and after, and he wanted to

know, what have you done? I hadn't done anything. I was just a young guy who was, you know,

praying and doing just little things like that. But the Spirit of God was moving. The

Spirit of God was already operating and using, and I prayed for all those people. And just

let it go when the Spirit of God comes upon you. You just move. As he wants you to pray

for people, what Jill, who was it, just spoke about when that comes upon you, that idea

that you need to pray for someone, call someone, do it, indeed. Let the Spirit of God work

in you. So that is sort of how my life went. And then on the top of our ministry in the

Hague, we lived in the Hague, I got married to the most beautiful woman, my Sarah. And

Sarah had a similar experience as I did, so we were together 37 years ago or something.

And then we, on the top of our ministry, God called us to Mozambique. And there in Mozambique,

everything was hunky-dory, everything was fine, and we had a wonderful life, and that

was it. No, not really. Not really. Because after about eight years in Mozambique, I became

very depressed because we had very little fruit. There was nothing. We just had problem

after problem after problem after problem, and I could not see a way forward. And I felt

like, God, if this is for us to be here and to have so little fruit, what are we doing?

Was it really from you? Was this really you, God? So I had my doubts, and then God spoke.

And he said, your whisper of prayer is not going to change anything. And I said, I thought,

like, what is he talking about? Now, I had built a prayer house because I was passionate

about prayer. I built a prayer house. We went into the prayer house. We prayed in the prayer

house. But God showed me my prayers were not good enough. He said, your whisper of prayer

because quickly go in and out. I'm so busy. I'm so busy. I haven't got time to pray a

lot. I haven't got prayer. Just my quickly pray. Guys, you pray, I'm going quickly. So

God rebuked me and said, your whisper of prayer, I'm not going to do anything. In fact, he

said, that story of the disciples trying to cast out a demon, and they couldn't. And Jesus

said, now that type only comes out by prayer and fasting. And so I had fasted before, but

sort of a day or two days, whatever, a little, little. I felt like, okay, okay, God, okay,

I'm going to give it one year. I'm going to put fertilizer around that tree. You know

that story? I'm going to put fertilizer around that tree to see if it brings some fruit.

I'm going to see if it's going to do something. I'm going to fast and pray. God, okay, I'm

going to give myself to fasting and prayer. And I gave my car away, and I started to get

into the prayer house every day, moved into the prayer house. I started with a 21-day

fast. And I was there, and I read the Word, and I prayed in tongues, and my tongues developed

very fast. And after 21 days, did something happen? No, nothing happened. And then I continued.

After three months, did something happen? No, nothing happened. So I was still quite

discouraged, because I was doing it. But I said, I'm going to give it one year. So I'm

not going to give up. I'm quite disciplined and routine, and I feel like I'm going to

do it till the end. I'm going to do it till the end. I will finish by the end. And then

more problems came. Bigger problems came. And then God said, those three guys who caused

those problems, invite them into the prayer house and let them fast and pray, 21 days.

So I did another 21-day fast. And so as those guys came with me in the prayer house, about

the 13th day of that time of prayer and fasting, suddenly, and therefore I say that suddenly

with the Holy Spirit you need to have that suddenly, suddenly the presence of God came

into the prayer house, and it changed everything. Because then those boys, they didn't, they

confessed everything they could confess. They gave themselves to the Lord. I saw the angels

fighting with swords. Everything changed. It was like the presence took over our ministry,

and from there on, instead of this negative depression, everything, like I always say

it like, it is like you're pushing up a truck up the hill, up the hill. Now it's very difficult

to push up a truck up a hill. But now the truck was going down, and I was running up

behind it, because everything happened at once. So much were going for the good. God

was just moving. And by the end of that year, we had so many people wanting to fast and

pray, and we had the prayer house. Every night was full, people praying and fasting. And

then I felt like I should start a Bible school. And I did. I started a Bible school with five

students. And you know what? Our Bible school, last year we had a thousand graduates. Every

year we have over 1,500 applicants. The Bible school, and I'm not even there. And it just

goes, because the Spirit of God goes and does and moves whatever he wants to do. And that's

how it went. So that is the story of how the Spirit moved. And then suddenly, we're here

in Sheffield. We're here in Sheffield. Jerusalem, Jordanthorpe. Jerusalem, Jordanthorpe. Here

we are in Jordanthorpe. When we came two years ago, I had no idea what are we doing here,

what are we doing here, what are we doing here. You know, I love the church, but that's

good, that's nice, but that doesn't do much to me. I love the church, Jordanthorpe. I

believe God has something for Jordanthorpe. I believe God wants to move in Jordanthorpe.

He wants to do something in Jordanthorpe. He wants to bless Jordanthorpe. The Spirit

of God wants to move in Jordanthorpe. And that's why the Holy Spirit, I believe, wants

to empower us. And, can we bring up the next one? Have I forgot a few slides? Yeah. I want

us to move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You know, Paul brought all those gifts, what

Jesus did, what the disciples did, he brought it together into nine gifts. And those nine

gifts are what Jesus used, what the disciples used to bring the kingdom of God. And I said

to Nick, I said, the gifts of the Spirit we really should bring into the home groups.

And we should discuss it and exchange experiences, because people have questions. But it is very,

very much for all of us. Because there are two things I want to say about the gifts of

the Holy Spirit. They are for everyone. No one to be left out. They are for everyone.

You don't need to be a super saint to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. No. The only

thing you need is the Holy Spirit. You need the foundation as the Holy Spirit. And the

rest, like I said, I didn't even know that healing just occurred. And I did. And in Mozambique

I've seen all those gifts operating. God just uses those gifts and they will just come forth

when the Holy Spirit is upon you, when the Holy Spirit is in you. And therefore we need

really another morning of teaching to go through all those gifts, which I'm happy to do. But

I think it's a good thing to really use them in your home groups. Bring those into your

home groups. Because all of them are there for us. They're powerful. The tongues, I put

them into threes. Threes. The gifts of declaration, or the gifts of proclamation, which is really

proclaiming the heavenlies into the earth. What we did to prophesy, that little clip

we saw for the giving, that is proclamation. That is the speaking out of the prophecies.

Heavenly words. Speaking out into the earth. And we do this over Jordan Thoth. Heavenly

words. Speaking out. Over the earth. That is what we do. We bring down heaven. When

we speak, prophesy. When we speak in tongues. The heavenly language. It starts with speaking

in tongues. Now I can give you lots of testimonies of what that has done to me. And we're going

to leave that for another day. But that is sort of the word of knowledge we've just heard.

The word of wisdom. Discernment. Discerning spirit. You really need it here. Here out.

These days, the days we live in, everything goes. Everything is possible. But in God's

economy, not everything goes. Because there are demons operating everywhere. And you need

to have discernment to know what's going on. Yesterday in the clothes banks, isn't it,

Ant? You need discernment of seeing what's going on. You need to discern those spirits

which are not there to bless you, but to steal, kill, and destroy. So it's good to have the

gifts of the spirit operating in your life. Gifts of faith, healing, and miracles. I've

seen miracles happen. We had two years, no rain in Mozambique. We had a drought. Serious

drought. A famine. And we prayed and fasted. And the last time we prayed and fasted, we

all came together. One Saturday we all came together and we prayed for the last time.

Four o'clock in the afternoon, a little cloud came. And it became darker and darker. And

the rain fell and it didn't stop for three days raining. That was the end of our drought,

of our famine. So there's miracles, healing. I can tell you stories. But that is the operation,

the spirit of God operating, manifesting in your life. The gifts of the spirit. If we

want to be different from the world, that's what needs to operate in your life. That's

what needs to manifest in your life. We want to be different. We see what's happening in

the world. We read the news. We see the news. And we see what's going on. We need to be

different. We need to have the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit operating in

our life, manifesting in our lives through the gifts of the spirit. And then we will

see, the church will fill up. Then you will see how people will come in. In every ministry

of MCF, when the spirit of God, the gifts of the spirit starts to operate, we see life.

Jesus came to, the devil came to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus came to give life more

abundantly. And through the spirit of God operating in our lives, he will do that. He

will work that out. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We have a little bit of time left.

And therefore I say, if you never receive the Holy Spirit, I say put your hand up. We'll

pray for you because really, if you want the Holy Spirit to operate in power, it's for

you. It's for all of us. No one to be left out. No one to be left out. It's for you.

And we need him. This day and age, we need him. And therefore I say, if you haven't got

the Holy Spirit, if you feel like I need the power of the Holy Spirit, come here. The music

is going to play. Right? The music is going to play. We'll pray for you. I'll pray for

you because I'm passionate about the Holy Spirit. I have a history with the Holy Spirit.

I love him. Amen? Let me say a prayer first as they come up. I want to honor you, Holy

Spirit. I want to thank you, Holy Spirit, for being with us. I want to thank you, Holy

Spirit, that you come and lead and direct us, that you come and work through us to bring

the kingdom of God. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for being here. And I pray, suddenly, may

your presence come upon each one here. Holy Spirit, as we worship, Holy Spirit, touch

each person. Touch each person. Fill each person. We need you. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving your Holy Spirit. Thank you for being with us, Holy Spirit.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.