Calvary Fellowship Of Ottawa

The shock, confusion and deep mourning of the disciples is turned to Joy as they encounter the empty Tomb and the risen Savior. He is alive! And now, before He ascends to the Father, the focus is on the task ahead for His followers. We are sent to proclaim Eternal Life in Jesus’ Name. But we can only do that through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Are you sharing your faith - your absolute conviction that Jesus is Lord? Are you asking the Holy Spirit to fill you and use you?

In His prayer for all believers (“those who will believe in Me through [the disciples’] word”), focuses on Spiritual Unity, Heavenly Hope, and Perfect Love. Many see this as a mandate exhorting believers to work to build unity. It is not. We are exhorted elsewhere to seek unity (i.e. Phil. 2:1-4). But here, Jesus prays that we may be so united with Him - as He is with the Father - that unity in the church will be the natural by-product. Unity in the Body of Christ requires humility and mutual respect. That only comes as we are joined in intimate union with Jesus. How personal is your relationship with Jesus?

Have you ever realized that your expectations were different from God's expectations? Have you ever wondered what happened in the history of the Bible from when Israel split into two kingdoms until the time of Christ? This sermon starts with a fictional character who gives a true historical account of those time frame. We see the character, Aaron, unable to align His expectations with Jesus' expectations, even after He has died and rose again. Aaron wants to fight for the freedom of his people, and is determined that the Messiah will too. The sermon then goes to Luke 22 where Jesus is praying at the Mount of Olives and says, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42). We are then faced with this question: Are we aligning our will and expectations with the Father, or are we, like Aaron, unwilling to change our expectations?

In verse 3, Jesus gave the essence of salvation - knowing Him. Here He gives 1) More of what it means to trust Jesus: Holding on the God’s Word and Living it out in our lives, 2) The Assurance we have in trusting Him: He keeps us and prays for us, and 3) the Mission we have as believers: As Jesus was sent into the world, so He sends us. To fulfill our calling we need to be in the world, not of it. The challenge is to be in the world without the world getting into us!

John 17:1-5 - High Priestly Prayer - Pt.1 - Jesus Prays For Himself Here we have the true Lord’s Prayer. But, since that names already taken, we call it the High Priestly Prayer because we have recorded the prayer of Jesus as He prays for Himself, His disciples, and for all believers. His prayer for Himself is that the Father would Glorify Him through the Cross and return Him to the Glory He had with the Father before the foundation of the world. He also declares that He has glorified the Father and finished the work He was given to do. What about us? Do our lives bring Glory to Jesus?

Through the Resurrection, we are born again and have living hope. In natural birth, a baby goes through an amazing change as it transitions from life in the womb (liquid environment) to life outside (oxygen environment). When we are born again, we go through another amazing change as we are filled with the Spirit and learn to walk by faith, not sight. As we do, we learn more of what Jesus has done for us - and the glorious things He has in store for us. This fills us with Hope. Not ‘wishful thinking’ but a blessed anticipation of things to come.

Jesus tells the disciples "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." They are having a hard time understanding, so He patiently repeats it in multiple versions until they start to get it. Embedded in the passage is a key to understanding the difficult sayings of Jesus: Ask. When Jesus encourages us to “ask and receive”, we do not usually think of asking for understanding - but that’s often the most important thing we need to ask for - and receive.

When the Holy Spirit works among God’s people, He doesn’t want the attention focused on Himself. He wants Jesus to get all the glory that people will be drawn to Him and find life. Because of this, we can be confident of the Spirit’s help when we seek to glorify Jesus with our lives. In this study, we look at some of the ways we can bring glory to Jesus: Good Words | Spiritual Gifts | Church Unity | Praising Jesus | Pointing to the Cross | Trusting Jesus in Trials & Death | and Godly Living

Through the Prophetic Scriptures, Biblical Principles, and Personal Communication, the Holy Spirit shows us what’s ahead. Not just for all of us, through prophecy, but to each of us through His personal ‘voice’ to us as He leads us towards Heaven. Learning to discern His ‘voice’ to us is a life-long process that takes faith, perseverance, and a growing familiarity with the Word of God. How’s your communication with the Holy Spirit? Take time to listen and learn - it makes following Jesus a Grand Adventure!

The Holy Spirit Guides Us Like the ultimate mountain guide, the Holy Spirit is with us to guide us, personally, throughout our walk with Jesus. The key is learning to recognize His ‘voice’ in the many ways He makes Himself known to us. The first step is being convinced that He does speak directly to believers - and that He really wants to speak to you. He does. Our part is to develop our spiritual sense of hearing. Get ready, learning to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit makes walking with Jesus a grand adventure.

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. That means He is whispering truth into the heart of every living soul. We look at what is meant by that - and how this should give believers confidence in sharing Life with the not-yet-believers around them.

John 14:25-27 - The Ministries of the Holy Spirit - Pt.2 As He abides within us, as believers, the Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of the truth. The Bible is His primary source as He brings spiritual light to our minds and enables us to understand the Word of God. He also uses our daily lives as a ‘whiteboard’ on which He draws His lessons on how to apply the Word in practical ways. Not only that, He is our continual ‘prompter’ - bringing His truths to our minds just when we need them!

Trying to live a fulfilling Christian life without relying upon the Holy Spirit is Impossible. It’s also Frustrating, Discouraging and can lead to Disillusionment. In the Gospel of John, Jesus not only stresses our need for the HS, He gives us 7 Vital Ways the Holy Spirit Helps Us - The 7 Ministries of the Holy Spirit. In Part 1 we have the first and primary ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers: “… And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—“ John 14:16.

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” (John 16:1). Jesus warned the disciples about what was coming so they would not stumble. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed. To stumble is to become offended and tempted to fall away from our trust in Jesus. As believers we can stumble over persecution or suffering. We can also stumble over conflicts in the church. We can even be offended by Jesus Himself. Rather than being surprised at this, we should be prepared and face it honestly. Most importantly, we must bring our struggles to Jesus - including our struggles with Him.

In John 15:1-17, we saw the blessings of abiding in Jesus: a fruitful life. Here, in verses 18-27, we get the cost of our union with Christ: Persecution. Jesus warned us, the apostles wrote about it, and now we are seeing it throughout the world. As wickedness increases, persecution against those who represent righteousness increases as well. How should we respond? Do not be surprised; Love your enemies; Bless those who curse you; Do good to those who mistreat you; Pray for those who hate you; and, in all things, commit yourself to the Lord

John 15:1-17 - The Fruitful Life Just Adam & Eve were sent out to be Fruitful and Multiply, the Lord sends us out to be Spiritually Fruitful so that the Gospel will Multiply. In John 15, Jesus gives us the Importance of a Fruitful Life, the Key to a Fruitful Life, and the Marks of a Fruitful Life. The key takeaway is John 15:5 - “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Abiding in Jesus is settling down into Him; being at home with Him; centering your life around His presence and daily guidance. Is He a welcome Guest in your heart? Are you at home with Jesus?

Jesus has been telling the disciples that He is going away, but will still be with them (by His Spirit) - something that they ultimately won’t understand until it happens. So He also encourages them with a promise of peace, a reminder of Heaven, and an assurance of victory. Do we understand everything Jesus says? No. Can we trust Him anyway? Yes!

The disciples will carry the gospel to the world. It’s being entrusted to them. Jesus is letting them know what they’ll need to accomplish the mission. Today, the Gospel is in our hands. We need the same instructions and tools. What is needed to do God’s work? Prayer, Obedience, and full dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Simple, but all-encompassing. Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans. He fulfills that promise by dwelling in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Intimate union with Jesus involves a continual conversation with Him marked by loving obedience and the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s how God’s work gets done in our lives. What has Jesus been doing through you lately?

Life is filled with troubles, yet Jesus says “Your heart must not be troubled”. What’s the answer? “Believe in God; Believe in Me.” Believe - Trust - in Jesus. Simplistic? No. Simple. Trust Jesus, and Focus on Hope. Jesus is going to prepare a place for those who are His. And He’s coming back to take us to be with Him forever! The answer to a troubled heart is to Trust Jesus - for today, tomorrow, and forever.

Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, but He chose him anyway. Not only did He choose Judas, He loved Judas and washed his feet along with the others. That’s what Jesus does. Jesus also knew Peter would deny Him 3 times, but He chose him and loved him also. Jesus loved them both, yet one returned to Him and the other went to hell. As Paul said in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That’s Jesus-Love. And that’s what His followers are called to: the New Commandment - “Love one another as I have loved you.” As Romans 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” How are you doing? Are you repaying your debt to love others?