Key points
- 1
1The Holy Spirit is fully God, not a feeling or a force
Pastor Bill works through Romans 8:11 to show that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now lives in believers, which only makes sense if the Spirit is God Himself. He warns against treating the Holy Spirit as a vague feeling and points to Romans 7-8, where Paul admits his struggle with sin and then finds the answer in the Spirit's power, the Greek word dunamis, the root of our word dynamite.
- 2
2The Spirit shapes us from the inside out
Working through John 14, Pastor Bill shows Jesus preparing His disciples for His departure, promising another Advocate who is 'another of exactly the same' as Himself, meaning fully God. He uses his own story of an unexpected tooth extraction, where he had to sit still, listen, and trust the dentist through uncomfortable pressure and strange sounds, as a picture of letting the Spirit work in us even when it's uncomfortable, plus a story about his youngest grandchild not yet trusting that being left with grandparents is a good thing, to show why we resist the Spirit's shaping.
“We have a hard time trusting the Holy Spirit because we've had a hard time trusting the Holy Spirit”
A story from life
Story about grandchildren, including a granddaughter who has not yet learned to enjoy being left with grandparents
A story from life
Story about barely passing advanced math classes without understanding the underlying principles
- 3
3We often struggle to trust the Spirit because we've never started trusting Him
Pastor Bill explains that conviction from the Spirit is specific and always shows a next step, unlike condemnation, which is vague shame with no door forward. He shares his own experience of barely passing advanced math without ever learning the principles, comparing it to Christians who never lean into simple obedience like baptism and so find every further step of trust harder than it should be.
- 4
4The Spirit speaks primarily through His word and His people, never against it
He clarifies that the Spirit will never guide someone toward something that contradicts Scripture, pushing back on stories of vague feelings or coincidences being treated as the Spirit's voice while contradicting the Bible. He stresses the need for real community committed to the word, comparing an uncommitted small group to a book club where nobody reads the book, and using the image of elite quarterbacks who still need outside coaches to see what they can't see themselves.
“When the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, he will never guide you towards anything that contradicts the word of God”
- 5
5The Spirit sends us to testify about Jesus
From John 15:26, Pastor Bill shows that the Spirit's main job is to draw people to Jesus, but believers are called to add their own testimony alongside Him, like a courtroom's corroborating witness. He points back to Taylor's testimony shown earlier in the service, and to the man born blind in John 9, who didn't have theological answers but simply said, 'I was blind, and now I see,' as the model for how ordinary Christians point others to Christ.
Illustration
Retelling of the biblical account of the man born blind who testified simply about what Jesus did for him
A story from life
Story about making a prayer list of people to talk to about faith and seeing unexpected opportunities arise
Illustration
Analogy comparing young children's soccer, where everyone clumps around the ball, to a church that fails to spread out into different roles
- 6
6The Spirit unites us into one body, not a crowd of individuals
Using 1 Corinthians 12, Pastor Bill argues unity is not sameness, and every believer has a position to play, much like his illustration of young kids playing soccer who all clump around the ball instead of spreading out into their positions. He warns that rugged individualism, prized in American culture, is toxic to the church, since we need each other's gifts and suffer or rejoice together as one body.
“You can't say you are a committed Christian if you're not connected and contributing”
“Shame is vague and endless. It just tells you you're bad with no next step”
“Conviction that the Holy Spirit brings is specific, and it always has a door”
A story from life
Story about a grandson swallowing a polished rock he pretended to believe was candy, used as a closing picture of ignoring God
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7Trust the Rock already inside you instead of swallowing counterfeit rocks
Pastor Bill closes with a story of his grandson swallowing a polished rock he insisted was candy, using it as a picture of how believers often know the truth but keep reaching for cheap substitutes instead of trusting the Rock, God Himself, who is already within them. He urges the church to stop running to lesser things and instead be still, sit in the word, and let the Spirit's peace and power do their work.
A story from life
A video testimony about overcoming meth addiction, single fatherhood, and finding faith and baptism at Rock Point
A story from life
Story about the preacher's tooth breaking and being extracted at the dentist, used to introduce the sermon's theme
Application
Pastor Bill's challenge is simple: stop swallowing rocks that only look like candy, and trust the Rock who is already inside you. If you know Jesus, the same power that raised Him from the dead lives in you right now, so you don't have to perform your way to God or white-knuckle your way through life. Instead, sit with the Spirit the way you'd sit through something uncomfortable but necessary, and let Him do His shaping work. Ask what one thing He may already be quietly pointing you toward, and actually do something about it this week, whether that's telling someone your own "I was blind, but now I see" story, getting connected and serving instead of just attending, or finally trusting Him with the thing you've been holding back. This isn't about condemnation or shame; it's about a God who loves you enough to keep inviting you further into His peace and power.
