I want to speak to you out of Ephesians 5, about characteristics of a spirit-filled life. When someone says they believe in a spirit-filled life, they are not referring to an abstract concept. The Bible describes specific signs that follow a life heavily influenced by the Holy Spirit's presence. It is not God's will that only some would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It is a second baptism that all believers are invited to partake of.

If you live very long, you'll receive bad news at some point. Life is full of discouragement. The various events of life are guaranteed to leave you with at least a few scars. Therefore, the importance is not what happens to us but how we respond. The discouraging thoughts that come to us, do not have to go through us. We have talked about Joshua in the Old Testament and his response to discouragement, but I'd like to talk to you now about how Paul is our example in the Church Age of dealing with discouragement. We are never alone in our battle to stay encouraged.

If you live very long, you are going to face some discouragement, it is a natural part of life. When you go to the Old Testament in the book of Joshua, you see that one of the primary things God told the next leader of the Israelites was to not be discouraged -- "be of good courage." Israel faced a great task, that of setting the promised land. God knew they would face adversity and wanted to encourage them, thus these words. In the modern church age God's message carries on to us: regardless of what darkness we see in the world, we must remember God is in control.

Did you know that God talks to you? Even when you don't recognize God's voice, he is still speaking to you. I can think of many instances where I or someone I knew "had a feeling" that something bad was going to occur. God is speaking to our spirits constantly. The important part of being a Christian which brings empowerment is learning to recognize these messages and answering God's call.

I have felt impressed recently to speak on moments where I have felt God's call on me or visions to me. I feel that the next topic for me to share with you is times where I have witnessed a supernatural act from God carried out through his people. The passage of 1 Corinthians describes the spiritual gifts that have been given to the church as a blessing. It's safe to say that there are millions of Christians who are ignorant about spiritual gifts. In fact, there are probably more ignorant about them than informed. It is important to be informed for the tools God has given to equip the church. As such, I would like to share some occasions where I have witnessed these acts and the change that came about.

It is a wonderful thing to have your prayer answered by God. Some have referred to the passage of Jeremiah 33:3 as "God's phone number" in that it describes how to get God' attention. But the reality is actually quite simple: God will answer you whenever you call out to him. God will not abandon us in our time of need. His love for us means he will answer to us as a good heavenly father. God's answer to us will show us things that were hidden previously -- all we have to do is call out to him and he will answer.

Last week I shared about visions to you. While I would not say visions are an often occurrence for me, they are always a blessing to receive and do their part to reveal something to me that God is trying to communicate. In the passage of 1 Samuel, we see the biblical precedent for God speaking outside of the written word to people to directly connect with his spiritual children. At a young age the future prophet Samuel was called by God in a manner which seemed audible to him. We must keep our ears listening and not shut out what God is trying to say to us.

On this Father's day I would like to talk to you about your heavenly father. Even for those who never knew their earthly father, or had a poor relationship with them, God is there as the model example of fatherhood for each one of us. The gospel of Luke describes the story of the prodigal son, one who threw away everything his father had given him and took it for granted. And yet when he returned, the father embraced him and threw a banquet to celebrate his return. Our heavenly father holds these similar qualities of forgiveness and love for his children.