Christ Builds His Church: Filled With Power

·32 min·3 clips

The preacher explains how the ascension of Christ reversed Adam's expulsion, allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell directly within believers.

The episode is a sermon titled 'Christ Builds His Church: Filled With Power' delivered at the St. Albert Canadian Reformed Church. It begins by framing Christ's ascension as reversing Adam's expulsion, enabling the Holy Spirit to indwell believers directly, unlike the Old Testament where God's presence was behind barriers. The preacher then turns to the main text, Joel 2:28-32, quoted by Peter in Acts 2. He explains that Joel's prophecy of the Spirit being poured out on 'all flesh' represents a radical shift from the Old Testament model where only select prophets, priests, and kings received the Spirit for office. This promise includes everyone—sons, daughters, old, young, and even male and female servants—overturning social hierarchies. The sermon structures its exposition around three powers Christ gives His church through the Spirit. First, the power to proclaim: the Spirit enables all believers to know and boldly speak God's word, not just a clerical class, as seen in Acts 4:31. Second, the power to persevere: the apocalyptic imagery in Joel 30-31 of cosmic upheaval evokes the Exodus and points to the ongoing 'last days' period from Christ's crucifixion to His second coming, where believers walk in light while the world faces judgment. Third, the power to profess: citing Romans 10:9-13, salvation comes simply by calling on the Lord's name, with Mount Zion representing Christ as refuge. The preacher emphasizes that this calling is rooted in God's prior sovereign call to us. The sermon concludes with an exhortation to actively embrace the Spirit's fullness through means of grace like scripture, sacraments, and prayer, rather than living with just a 'few drops.' The tone is educational and expository, walking through the biblical text verse by verse while addressing the congregation directly as 'brothers and sisters.'

As heard by us

A sermon on Christ's ascension, the Spirit's outpouring, and the overlooked people Christ uses to build his church.

The episode follows Christ's ascension as the reversal of Adam's exile from God's presence, then moves to Acts 2 and the promised Spirit poured out on God's people.

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Why you'd press play

You get a sermon that meets the overlooked believer with Christ's poured-out Spirit and a call to faithful witness.

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