Verse 32 states that the Holy Spirit is given by God to those who obey him. Now some way, way out here in one of the four far, far corners of our commonwealth has already instinctively picked up the words 'state' and 'spirit' and cannot help but think of the state spirit found in that quant and quiet, unassuming, unpretentious little, little college town in the center of Pennsylvania.

And over 1,000 years ago, which was way back in 1980 (before there was ever such a thing as a quick mart, telephone booths could actually be found, and the death of Elvis still weighed heavily on the hearts of a good number of Americans), this family of five took this trip to this quant and quiet, unassuming, unpretentious little, little college town in the center of Pennsylvania. And oh yes, in this quant and quiet unassuming, unpretentious little, little college town in the center of Pennsylvania it was football season.

Well, talk about the spirit...I said this family took a trip but actually it was a Mecca in the true sense of the term: it was a place visited by many, many people. And they all sported blue and white signs, and certainly this is appropriate to talk about here on a Sunday, because, after all, if God isn't a Penn State fan, then why is the sky blue and white?

So it was this fascinating experience for this family, one of whom was a Penn State 1960 graduate from the School of Forestry who so happened to be a classmate of Sue Paterno, wife of the world-famous Joe Paterno, the head coach of the fighting Nittany Lions.

For those who have never been to Beaver Stadium, honestly, football fan or not, it is a one of a kind experience. Even before you get to the stadium, which of course you can't easily get to because 4 billion people are trying to make it to the same place you are—and a minister can't lie—there are, on average, 4 billion people in attendance at each game—there is such a buzz of excitement before a game. There are signs, banners, campers, tents, and 1 billion pop-up tables decked and bedazzled across the rolling hills surrounding the stadium with finger-food delicacies, music and, above all, above all this hype, there is this palpable excitement. There is this spirit.

And when this family of five went to a game in 1980, one thing one of them remembers is that the Penn State cheerleaders were chanting around the grounds, cheering cheers and flipping flips with the guys shooting the girls three quarters of a mile into the air to get everyone bumped up. And this experience of these cheerleaders had such an impact that one of the five remembered it for this sermon today, the one called we have spirit, yes, we do.

We do have spirit. We do have spirit because we do have The Spirit. We have and hold a worshipful experience with The Spirit here each Sunday.  And in the name of the Blessed Spirit, our first sermon point this morning is like a cheer, a cheer we hold to, a cheer we aspire to, a cheer we follow.

Our first sermon point is this: it's not no God; it's go God.

Someone who gives me feedback shared an observation he or she heard about a worship service that happened well over a year ago. Someone said to this person, "You know, coming to church can seem like a pep rally sometimes." This person who shared this comment with me replied to the person, "Go God!"

That, like our sermon title itself, stuck. Go God. It is not, "No, God, I'm not listening to you." It is not, "No, God, not now, I'm too worried about my finances or my personal life or my health or the health of my family." It's not, "No, God, I don't have time for you in my life...it's "go God."

And it's "go God" because we are becoming even more scripturally-based. We are realizing that the Bible is not some antiquated book that is not relevant today; we are realizing just how this text speak to us, especially when we hear of how others before us, like ourselves, have tried to say no to God. Moses (you don't want me) Isaiah (with unclean lips) and David (with the prophet Samuel...I'll take the youngest son in the fields) and others have all heard God and their first reaction to what God would have them do is this: "no."

But they, like us, they, like our 12 disciples who have heard the call and have come forward to serve and to be a service to God, say "Yes, I will go, God."

Even when it's "Go God," there may still be troubles.Let's look at our text to show you what I mean. Here Peter and the other apostles have just come off with saying what in verse 32? Please read the verse that started today's sermon again with me now. "We are witnesses to these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him."

Here are Peter and the other apostles...and even with the Holy Spirit, the one that freed them from prison the night before, even with the Spirit, that had enabled them to heal hundreds who came to Jerusalem to see them and hear the word of Christ, even though they were empowered to speak to the Sadducees as they did, what happens next in the text is that they were flogged.

They were flogged! Even with their faith, they endured hardships! In fact, it was because of their faith that they endured hardships.

And this leads to our second point. Obeying God does not make troubles disappear. Obeying God makes troubles appear far, far less challenging.

I'm going to share with you the most recent visit I had with Bob Klenk. For anyone who doesn't know, Bob is a member of this church and devoted his professional life to Mountain View and he someone I will always admire, and one reason I will always admire Bob Klenk is his attitude. Bob, you know, is suffering great physical hardships. That's a fact, folks. He's in a rehab center and can barely move his arthritis is so bad, yet Bob always remains positive. Oh, I'm sure he may have a moment or two, but when asked, even this past Wednesday, how this World War II vet has that "Go God" attitude, he says, "You know, I was eleven when my dad died, and that was at the start of the Great Depression. And during the war, the things I saw could crush you...but I didn't see these hardships as ways to an end, I see, even today, hardships as I way where I can learn something.

Peter and the apostles don't have anything on Bob Klenk because they are like him. Here's our second point again. Obeying God does not make troubles disappear. Obeying God makes troubles appear far, far less challenging. And they are far, far less challenging because it isn't, "No, God," it's "How can I go with you, God. How can I do what I need to do for you, God."

We are closing with point three which ties points one and two together. Here's point three. Accept the Spirit in your life. Let the Spirit of God guide you, not your own self.

In other words, do not be guided by your own whims, your own desires, or even your own conscious. That will lead to nothing but a short loop that gets you back to where you started faster than one of those Penn State cheerleading girls is launched into the stratosphere by those muscle-packed guy cheerleaders who, if in front of them you even thought that cheerleading is a sport for girls only, they could crush you like an empty soda can. No, do not be guided by your own whims, desires, or even inner direction. Be guided by God, and do not do this alone.

The third point in last Sunday's 11 AM sermon was that God is not in a box. God is everywhere. Remember that? And God is everywhere, but we need to come to places where we can get and then understand God. We need to come to places where we can see God and know he's here. We need to come to places where we know God is near and understand just how God is talking to us, and places like that are here, here in this church.

We talked about Penn State and Beaver Stadium today. We talked about how, in that crowd, you could so easily catch the excitement and the energy of the game down on the field. In her children's sermon today, Ellen talked about how one isn't very much, but how a whole lot sure makes a difference. In a crowd, catch and see what a difference God is making in your life. In a crowd, in a group like you find here, learn. In an excited crowd like you find here, adapt. In a crowd like you find here, a crowd that loves and is learning to serve the Lord in new not selfish or self-fulfilling ways, listen. In a crowd like you find here, one where we are blessed by the Spirit because we are obeying God and in obeying God we are building deeply spiritual lives—deeply spiritual lives some honestly thought we'd never get here at First Congregational-UCC, give in. Give in to the Spirit. In a crowd where the love of God is not stone cold but rising like the sun did through that empty tomb some two thousand years ago, grow.

We have The Spirit, oh yes, we do.