Touré Roberts - The Gift - Part 2

Today, what I want to talk about is the personality of the gift, and that gift is the Holy Spirit. Again, if we are believers, we possess it; however, it cannot be maximized without a heightened sense of awareness of the gift, knowledge about the gift, and the impartation of the gift. So, awareness of the gift—which is somewhat what I talked about on Thursday, or what I began to discuss on Thursday—knowledge of the gift, and understanding what you have. Sometimes, it’s not that you don’t have it; it’s just that you don’t understand what you have. You don’t know how it works; you haven’t been taught. And then there is impartation.

So, what I want us to look at is the Book of Acts. I’m going to examine some verses in the Book of Acts, specifically Acts chapter 8, beginning at verse 4 and continuing through 24. We’re going to do a lot of reading. As you study the Book of Acts, many people refer to this book as the Acts of the Apostles, but it is really not about the Apostles; it is the Acts of the Holy Spirit. The star in the Book of Acts is not Peter, it is not Paul, it is not Stephen; those are not the stars. There is only one star in that book, and that star is the Holy Spirit Himself. So, these are the Acts of the Holy Spirit. He is the hero of the Book of Acts. It describes how the Holy Spirit works and operates in the lives of people who believe.

I feel that, if I’m honest, and I do not mean this in a condescending way towards any movement or ministry, but I could even refer to this as it relates to me and the churches that I oversee. It seems that in a time when we should be more spiritual, we are less so. I am all for inspiration; I am greatly inspired by God. I am all for motivation; God motivates me every single day, and I do everything in my power with the resources I have to motivate those around me. However, there are certain things that can only happen by power.

I feel that, to a certain degree, if the Holy Spirit is not the hero in church, I have failed as a pastor. Seriously, the pastor should not be the hero in church. Are you tracking with me? You have an anointed pastor. Yes, I am pretty awesome—I’ll be honest with you because I do know who I am—but my wife is even more awesome. We know who we are. The reality is that if I do not connect you to the real hero, I have failed as a pastor because there are things that the Holy Spirit alone can do in your life that we cannot touch. In fact, the very thing that may make or break us is the Holy Spirit in us. Are you tracking with me?

I feel like we are in a time now where we are more excited about our leaders than we are about their Leader. This is not a new occurrence; it has happened before. It transpired in biblical days. We understand that God moves through us, and because He is invisible, all we see is the instrument He uses to move. But it was never about the instrument. The instrument lives and dies, but the move of God continues because the Spirit of God is eternal, and it is the Spirit that we must connect with.

Hallelujah! I can’t walk with you. I have an hour and a half with you on Sunday, and when I say, «May the Lord bless and keep you and make His face shine upon you, ” I’m going to jump in my car, grab a sandwich, and go home. You still have 23 and a half hours of that day, times 364 days a year. So, I have to get you to the Holy Spirit because you will never be all that God has called you to be until you embrace the Holy Spirit, until you yield your life to Him, and He shows up; He becomes your hero, so much so that you seek Him every single day. „Holy Spirit, where are You?”—not scrolling on Instagram trying to find out what’s happening. „Holy Spirit, are You on Instagram? If You are, I want to follow You.“

Every single day, „Holy Spirit, where are You? I need You. I can’t make it without You.“ It’s crazy! Let me tell you something else: everything right now in our world is heightened. We had a man in Texas last week who walked into a church and murdered a bunch of innocent people who were worshiping. Everything is intensified, and that stuff is spiritual. Now, I’m not trying to bring you down; it’s spiritual. Everything spiritual is turned up around us, and the things people are doing worldwide are diabolical, inspired by negative spirits. Everything has escalated. So, if everything spiritual around us is heightened, guess who must also turn up? We have to turn up! Are you with me? We have to turn up!

So, I want to look at this passage. I want to examine it.