The Church Empowered | A Message on Acts 2:1-13

Introduction
Pentecost is one of my favorite seasons of the Christian year.  I guess I love all the Red!

But I also love the Church and Pentecost marks the beginning of the Christian Church.  So, in a sense, Pentecost is the Church’s birthday.  

Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish festival celebrated fifty days after Passover.  It marked the wheat harvest, and also commemorated God giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.  (That is a significant connection, because it is the fulfillment of an OT prophecy.  Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” 

The Holy Spirit speaks to every believer (if they will listen) to show us how we should live. So originally, Pentecost remembered how God gave Moses the Law to show people how to live.  Jesus was crucified at Passover.  50 days later, at Pentecost, God gave believers the Holy Spirit, so the Law would be in their heart.

Acts 2:1
¹ On the day of Pentecost^[a] all the believers were meeting together in one place.

One Church
The very first thing that struck me in this passage (and I want to point out here) is where it says:  “all the believers were meeting together in one place.”  There were at that time there were about 120 believers. That’s about the size of our congregation.  (Half of our congregation meets during the early service and the other half meets at 11 AM.)  This was an important time for the church and they started out together.  There would be times when they couldn’t all meet together.  They would often meet in homes.  The size of the early church also grew rapidly making it hard and impractical for them always to meet together in one place.  But here at this tender moment, they were altogether in one place.

In our own church, we worship at different services at different times.  We have enough space righ tnow to do it all in one place, but some people prefer to worship in one place or another and some prefer one time or another.  And that’s fine.  I want you to worship in a way that is meaningful for you.  (I actually am praying for more people–and I hope yo will too–so that we actually have so many people coming we need to worship in 2 services to accommodate all the people.)  But I hope we will always know that at the core of our being:  Stark Methodist Church is one church.

And it is important that we guard that understanding vigorously.  Next Sunday, we will be together literally in one service at 10:30 in the chapel.  

And I pray we will always see that Christians are One Church–whether we worship  at Stark, or Jackson First Baptist, or a Church up in Dalton, or one in Africa.  Christians belong to one church.  It is the Lord’s Church.  We do not compete against each other.  We are one family, all with the same mission.  Any understanding that is less is unacceptable.

Acts 2:2-13
² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,^[b] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” ¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³ But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”

God’s Spirit Makes His Home in His Temple
The scene at Pentecost in Acts 2 is the same thing we saw happening when God’s Spirit filled the Holy Tabernacle in Exodus 40 and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8. 

These 2 sacred spaces were where God chose to meet with people on earth in the OT.  And God’s presence in these places was manifested by rushing wind and a pillar of fire.  We see these same elements at Pentecost when God’s Holy Spirit fills the people of His Church.

What does that mean for us today?  It means, if you follow Jesus as Lord, God’s Holy Spirit lives in you.  You/we are God’s Holy Temple.  Let that sink in…

Miraculous Signs with Purpose
Besides the rushing wind and the tongues of fire dancing over everyone’s heads, there were other signs something incredible was happening.  Everyone started speaking in other languages (languages they could not previously speak)!

This is significant–not just because it was an amazing miracle.  Throughout the OT, God’s desire was to rescue the whole world from sin.  He chose Abraham and His descendants–the Israelites–to be His representatives to the world.  God wasn’t playing favorites in this.  He chose Israel for a purpose–to be a light to the Gentiles.  From the beginning, God wanted to rescue all the nations–every tribe and every tongue.

So at Pentecost, we see God making this possible.  He has miraculously enabled Christians to speak in all the languages of all the nations gathered in Jerusalem.  It’s not just a cool trick.  It has a purpose.  Now Christians can tell the Good News about Jesus to everyone in their own language.  And that’s what they do.

The Gift of Tongues Today

I think we need to rediscover and own the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues.  And I don’t mean the incoherent speaking in tongues that is often spoken in Pentecostal denominations.

What I mean is we need to rediscover speaking the language of people around us so they can understand the Good News about Jesus Christ personally. 

You don’t have to speak a foreign language like French or German to speak in tongues.  Your neighbors, co-workers, children and grandchildren need to hear about Jesus.  And God has put you in their life so that they can hear about Jesus from you.  For some reason, they know you and trust you.  And you have the ability to share the truth about Jesus in ways they will listen to.  You may not believe you can do it, but if God can make the Disciples i Acts chapter 2 speak foreign languages they never knew how to speak, then God can most certainly supernaturally give you the words to say to tell the people in your life about Jesus Christ. 

God wants the whole world to know Him. And He has chosen you and me to tell them.  And He’s filled us with His Holy Spirit so we can do it.

A Holy Commotion?
Now, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost caused quite a commotion.  The roaring of a mighty windstorm followed by 120 worshippers suddenly prophesying in a multitude of different foreign languages left everyone in Jerusalem amazed and perplexed.  

What can this mean?   Some people thought it was evidence that God is doing something profound.
Others were skeptical/cynical and scoffed and wanted to dismiss it for one reason or another.  “Oh, they're just drunk, that’s all!”  (Even though it was too early in the morning for anyone to be drunk yet.)  It was a holy commotion that got everyone’s attention and got people talking.  

I gotta say, a lot of people are talking about Stark Methodist Church right now.  What are they talking about?  Well, one topic of conversation is me.  I’m the new guy–the new pastor.  People around Jackson have heard.  Stark has a new pastor.  

After 26 years of ministry, I have developed a special sense.  I can often sense when people are talking about me.  Maybe it’s a gift God gives pastors.  Maybe it’s just an awareness that develops when you live in a glass house for so many years.  But I know people are talking about Stark because you got a new pastor and they’re wondering if that’s a good thing or what it means, etc.

But there’s another reason people are talking about Stark.  I’ve overheard conversations about us.  Some of the things they talk about are good things:  “Stark’s just had their chicken stew.”  “Stark’s got their River of Life coming up.”  Some of the things are a bit embarrassing to me, if I’m being honest.  I overheard someone talking, saying something like:  “What’s going on over at Stark?  They having some kind of squabble about installing TVs in one of their buildings.  All hell’s broke loose…”

One thing I’ve learned from for 26 years of being a pastor who is always in the public eye, you can’t stop people from talking about you.  (And it can be annoying because half the time they don’t even know what they’re talking about.)

But I’ve also learned you can use all the attention as an opportunity to show people Jesus.  John Wesley, caused quite a stir back in the 1700s as part of a dramatic societal revival with thousands of people giving their lives to Christ.  He had a great quote that said something like, "Light the church on fire and people will come from all over just to watch it burn."

And that’s what I hope Stark Methodist will always do.   I hope we will use every opportunity to show people and tell people about Jesus.  That’s what I plan to do with my life and I hope it’s what you will do too.  Because that’s what Jesus commissioned us to do & it’s what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do. 

There will always be scoffers who try to dismiss us.  “Oh they’re just a bunch of old fashioned religious zealots!” “Oh, look:  another church fight.”  But that’s OK.  We’ll just be busy using the power of almighty God to help change the world.

Is the Holy Spirit Still at Work Today?
I have one last point I want to make today.  Because some people ask the question:  “Does God still do miracles today like He did in the Bible?”

There is one school of Christian thought that says the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer active today.  This is known as “cessationism” and it says certain miraculous gifts mentioned in the NT such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, and miraculous healing largely ceased about a hundred years after Christ.

I want you to know, I am not a cessationist.  I am a continuationist.  I believe Christians today have access to the same miraculous power of the HS that the early church had.  We can still do all the miracles we read about in the Bible if God wants it.

If we don’t experience that same power  as in the Bible, it is not because it is unavailable to us.  It is because:

• We don’t look for it or have faith in it.
• We aren’t focused on God’s mission like they were in the early church.
• Or, God has helped through the church to establish more natural means to accomplish things (for example, the healing arts through medicine)

But I believe with all my heart and will lead this church with the understanding that God continues to be actively and supernaturally involved in our lives through the power of the HS.  
We are the same Church as the Church we read about in the book of Acts.  
We are a Church empowered by God’s HS to speak boldly and truthfully about Jesus Christ (even in foreign languages if necessary).  

Through the HS, we can pray for healing and expect it, perform miracles, prophecy in the name of God, and do a multitude of other miraculous things that help change the world.  Through the HS, we can be an answer to the Lord’s prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

But, in order to access the Holy Spirit’s power, we must be committed to doing the work of His Kingdom

Closing
So, let me ask you something this morning:

What would happen if the people of Stark Methodist Church truly believed the Holy Spirit still works today?

What would happen if we stopped treating the book of Acts like ancient history
and started seeing it as our family story?

Because the same Holy Spirit that filled those 120 believers in Acts chapter 2
is the same Holy Spirit available to us today to help us change our fear into boldness,
break down the barriers with our neighbors, and bring healing to a broken world.

Church, we are not powerless.  We are not abandoned.
We are not merely preserving traditions and maintaining buildings.
We are on a mission from God to tell people about Jesus and bring God’s Kingdom on earth:
to our neighbors, to our children, to the broken, to the lonely, to the lost,
to every tribe and every tongue.

So my prayer for Stark Methodist Church is this:
May we be a Church full of the Holy Spirit.
May we be a Church full of love.
May we be a Church full of courage.
May we be a Church that speaks the language people need to hear so they can know Jesus.
May we be a Church that causes a holy commotion in Jackson because the Spirit of God is alive among His people.

And if people talk about us…
let it be because they see Jesus in us.

 

Jesus Ascended (Why That's A Good Thing) | A Sermon on Acts 1:6-11

Introduction
We’ve been looking at stories where the resurrected Christ appeared to His followers.  We have not studied them all of them; only some.  Here is a full listing is in your sermon notes.  

Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus
Mary Magdalene – John 20:11-18

The Other Women – Matthew 28:8-10
Peter – Luke 24:34
Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus – Luke 24:13-35
The Disciples (Thomas Absent) – John 20:19-23
The Disciples Including Thomas – John 20:24-29
Seven Disciples at the Sea of Galilee – John 21:1-14
The Eleven in Galilee (Great Commission) – Matthew 28:16-20
More Than 500 Believers at Once – 1 Corinthians 15:6
The Apostles at the Ascension – Acts 1:6-11

We have one more story to look at today–the day the resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples and then ascended to heaven.  And I want to consider why His ascension is a good thing.

Acts 1:6-11
⁶ So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

⁷ He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. ¹⁰ As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Parallel Emotions
It is fitting that this year Ascension Sunday coincides with Graduation Sunday, because there may be some ways the emotions of both events intersect.  Graduation is often a time of tearful emotions for many reasons.  Graduation is both an end and a beginning.  It is the end of many years of striving and learning; it is the culmination of much hard work, many successes, and possibly a few failures.  It is saying goodbye to one era of life, but also welcoming the beginning of a new adventure and new ways to learn, grow, and mature.  Graduation is the natural progression of a healthy child turning into a young adult and “putting away childish things” in order to walk bravely into the future clothed in wisdom, purpose, and responsibility. 

As a parent whose last child graduated just one year ago–making Kelly and I empty nesters–I am keenly aware of the bittersweet joy that comes for parents when a child graduates.

The Disciples may have had similar emotions as they watched Jesus ascend into Heaven.  Here was a man they followed faithfully for 3 years–dedicating their lives to Him and the Kingdom they hoped He would establish.  They saw Him brutally executed on a cross, buried in a tomb, and remarkably rise to life again on the third day.

All of this–especially the last part with the resurrected Jesus appearing many times over 40 days–was joyful and overwhelming.  And now, Jesus ascends to Heaven to sit on the right hand of the throne of God.  Just as graduation is the natural progression of a child growing into adulthood, Jesus' ascension to sit on the throne in Heaven is the natural progression of the Lord of all now that He has fulfilled His earthly purposes.

When you think of a graduating son or daughter, part of you (as a parent) wants them to stay a “child” forever.  But that would be as unnatural as an infant that never graduates from drinking milk to eating solid food.  And thus it is for Jesus Christ.  He is Lord of all the universe—King of kings and Lord of lords, the Son of the Living God.  It would be unnatural for Jesus to not be sitting on the throne up in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So as much as the Disciples may have wanted Jesus to remain with them on earth forever, perhaps their hearts also swelled with pride to see their Lord ascend into heaven to take His rightful place on the throne.

“Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
While Jesus was with them, the disciples kept asking, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”  This wording reveals a subtle error in their thinking–one that often creeps into our own thoughts in this life.  The Disciples were Jews from Israel–a proud people who wanted independence for their nation.  They wanted Jesus to “free Israel and restore their Kingdom.”  

As for us, we may not be so concerned with the restoration of Israel, we have our own “kingdoms” we want restored.  For some it is the kingdom of our health.  For others, it is the kingdom of Family relationships and marriage, or maybe financial stability and security.  Or we may want peace of mind and emotional well-being, purpose, meaning, and hope for the future.  All of these are good things, and ultimately Christ may restore the blessings of each of these (but always in His perfect timing).  We do not know the day or the hour when our prayers for these blessings will be answered.

Jesus reminded His disciples (and us) not to get caught up in worrying about when our prayers will be answered.  He sends us His Holy Spirit to empower us to be witnesses who tell people about Jesus–in our own neighborhoods, in our community, and even to the ends of the earth.

Jesus Ascended to Heaven
After saying these things, Jesus ascended to heaven.  Picture that for a moment…

The disciples watched Jesus go up to heaven in a cloud.  They watch for a long time, until they could no longer see him.  Still the gazed up into heaven for a long time. 
Two angels had to rouse them from their staring.  They told them something that defines one of the core teachings of Christianity:  “Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!  

We recite our belief in this every Sunday in the Apostles’ Creed:  “I believe… He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, almighty and will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

So we believe Jesus will return.  He is coming!  And we should work to be ready, because we do not know when that will be.  So we should always be ready.

And It’s A Good Thing!
And I want you to know that Jesus’ ascension is a good thing.  Some may wish that Jesus was still on earth with us today like He was with the Disciples.
(To be sure, Jesus is with us and will never leave us—in a sense—but I mean, Jesus is not with us in the flesh no as He was with the Disciples back then. He is with us spiritually.)  Jesus said His ascension to heaven was a good thing.  In John 16:7, Jesus said, “...it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”  

This Advocate is the Holy Spirit. God sends the Holy Spirit to live inside every person who follows Jesus as Lord.  Jesus took on flesh to live as one of us.  Though He is Divine God, He squished His divinity into the limits of our human flesh.  He lived by the limiting laws of time and space that restrict all of us. For instance, Jesus could only be in one place at a time. 

But the Holy Spirit can be with all believers everywhere at once and is not limited by time and space. 
The Holy Spirit lives within us, giving constant personal guidance and conviction.
The Holy Spirit empowers every believer for ministry, not just those physically near Jesus.
The Holy Spirit helps us understand Scripture and discern God’s will.
The Holy Spirit gives strength to resist sin and grow in holiness.
The Holy Spirit comforts us in suffering and reminds us we belong to God.
The Holy Spirit unites believers across the world into one Body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit produces spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, and patience in us.
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to build up the Church and reach the world.

With the Holy Spirit, all the power of the God of the universe is at our disposal to do the will of God and complete Christ’s mission to restore His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.  But we must always remember is it His Kingdom, not ours.

So, Jesus ascended into Heaven to sit at the right Hand of God the Father, Almighty.  And that’s a good thing, because it means we can receive the Holy Spirit when we choose to follow Christ as Lord.  Next Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost—the day God poured out the Holy Spirit on the Church.  I invite you to wear red next Sunday to help commemorate the event.

Closing
As we close, I invite you to image Jesus ascending up to take His throne in Heaven.  The disciples wondered when Jesus was going to retore their kingdom.  In your own heart, think of the “kingdoms” you want restored:  health, family, peace, finances, purpose…

Now I invite you to open your hands and surrender those kingdoms to Christ.  Don't worry about when or how Jesus will restore those kingdoms in your life.  Trust Jesus to do it His way in His time.  Meanwhile, take upon you the power Christ offers to be a witness for His Kingdom.

"Jesus, we release to You our worries about the things in our lives that are broken. We trust that You will retore these things in our life according to Your holy and perfect will and timing. We trust You. Help us to focus on Your Kingdom and receive he power of the Holy Spirit to be effective in Your mission. Amen."

The Message We Proclaim | A Sermon on Luke 24:44-49

Introduction
Ann Barnes passed away this morning as I was writing this message.  Her friends and family are shocked and grieved--myself included.  And many of us are struggling to process it.  Our hearts go out to Rusty and their family.  

At times of lose like this, our hearts hurt and we have many questions. We wonder about hope as we suffer and see people we love suffer.

And providentially, our Scripture today gives hope as it asks a very important question:  What is the message Christians proclaim to the world?  I hope you will listen with especially attentive ears.  Let us begin with the Scripture.

Luke 24:44-49
⁴⁴ Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,^[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

The Core Message
Jesus gives us the core message of Christian hope in verse 47.  We are to preach to the whole world: “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”
Moments like this—when we come face to face with the death of someone we love, who left this world too early and so unexpectedly—remind us that life is fragile.  The message of forgiveness is incredibly important.

Ann Barnes was a sweet, sweet soul.  I have not known her as long as most of you, but I have known her long enough to know she was a true follower of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was her Lord and Savior.  She loved Him and served Him. And He welcomed her Home today.  He saved by His grace through faith when she repented of her sins followed Him.

And so today I do not need to fear for Ann, because I know she is in Heaven with Jesus.
Her body is made whole.  The health issues she struggled with over the past few years are gone.
She no longer has to suffer the brokenness and evil of this world (no more pollical ads…).

Suffering
Jesus showed His Disciples from Scripture how the Old Testament clearly foretold how Jesus must suffer, be killed and rise from the dead on the third day.  This was part of God’s plan.  Jesus had to suffer.  He suffered for our sakes.

We suffer too.  We suffer because of sin.  Sometimes it is because of our own sin, but more often it is just because of sin in general.  The world is broken because of sin.  And this sin sickness infects everything we experience.  Yet our suffering would be worse if it had not been for our Savior—the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53:5-6, it says of Jesus, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Jesus suffered for us to lessen our suffering.  Were it not for Him, the suffering we experience—as unbearable as it already is—would be completely unbearable.  We would utterly collapse and be crushed under the weight of it.  Yet Jesus took the greater part of our suffering on His own shoulders.  He has given us enough space to hear God’s call for repentance.

Repentance
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus preached:  “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”  Those who follow Jesus make their start when they choose to repent of their sins and follow Him.  To repent literally means to turn away. 

We repent by turning away from our sin and turning toward Jesus.  We turn aside from a following the path of sin to follow the path of Christ.  No longer do we choose to live for ourselves and our own plans.  Instead, we follow Christ.
We give Jesus control of our destiny, realizing His plans are better than our own.

So, we are faced with two real choices.  We can continue to live our lives as we please.  Or we can surrender control to God, repent of our sin, and follow Jesus.  There is no middle ground.  Jesus is either your Lord or He is not.  We all have to decide.

There are real consequences to the choice we make.  If you continue to live as you please, you will eventually be separated from God forever in the fires of hell, tormented for eternity.  You may enjoy some pleasures in this life (though I would argue they are an illusion), but you will ultimately pay for all your sin with eternal suffering.  

But you don’t have to.  God offers you forgiveness and peace through Jesus Christ.  If you repent of your sin and follow Jesus, you can be saved.  You will suffer some in this life, but you will ultimately spend eternity with God—the source of life—in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is no more sin or suffering or death.  And so, you must choose: will you continue in sin or repent and follow Christ.  

I pray today you will choose Jesus if you have not done so already!

Our Part
Those who choose Jesus as Lord have work to do.  Jesus has done His part.  Now, it is time for us to do ours.  And what is that?

Our part is to preach Jesus’ message of repentance for the forgiveness of sin to the whole world.  This is our most important task.  It is our mission.  It is why we are a church.  

You can take away everything else we do as a church and we will still be a church if we are faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ who preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  But if we do everything else—River of Life, preaching, teaching, music, Sunday school, Acorn Circle, etc.—but do not preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then we cease to be a legitimate Christian church. 

And it is not just for the pastor to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  It is for every follower of Christ.  You may never stand in a pulpit and preach a sermon, but you will preach by every word you say or don’t say and by every thing you do or don’t do.  God has laid before every Christian a congregation to hear the message we preach.  For me, it is in the pulpit (and also on social media and on the internet and wherever else I can use my witness to spread the Gospel).

But for you, it may be as a mother talking to your children.  Or as a Father.  
Or it maybe as a teacher by the way you interact with your students in a school.  
Or as a nurse tending to patients and talking with co-workers.  
Or as a grandparent grandparenting.

You can fill in the blank with whatever roles God has given you.  He has put you there for a reason.
Every Christian is to influence their own circle of influence with the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And we should not feel overwhelmed with the task.  For Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to do it.  It is the same Holy Spirit who enabled the Peter to preach and win 3,000 to Christ.  It is the same Holy Spirit that in Acts enabled believers to speak foreign languages and perform other miracles and caused the Church to grow exponentially, though it was sorely persecuted.  The some Holy Spirit empowers you to be a witness for Christ. 

Closing
So, in closing, I want to implore you with two things.

1. If you are not yet a Christian, won’t you choose to be one today?  Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus.  None of us know how long we have in this world.  And once you leave it, it will be too late to repent.  So repent and turn to Jesus today.
2. If you are a Christian, dedicate yourself to the main calling of every follower of Christ—to be His faithful witnesses who preach the message:  “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”

The Holy Sprit Story | A Pentecost Sermon on Acts 2:1-8

Introduction
Today is Pentecost Sunday. Last Sunday was Ascension Sunday. Today is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost literally means “fiftieth” in Greek. That’s where the name comes from. It is the 50th day after Passover. If you're Jewish, you would reckon it from the Passover. For Christians, it is the 50th day after Easter. So we reckon it from Easter. Easter and Passover fall in the same time, but it is the 50th day.

Timeline:
Easter Sunday—you know Jesus rose from the grave—and He appeared to His disciples. Then, over the course of 40 days, Jesus appeared many different times in many different ways to many different people. We have looked at several of the stories of the resurrection over the last several weeks since Easter. For 40 days, Jesus appeared in resurrected form to people. Then He ascended into Heaven, and 10 days after He ascended into Heaven was Pentecost Sunday—the Pentecost Sunday that we are remembering today.

What is Pentecost?
What is Pentecost? It was originally the Jewish holiday that celebrated the giving of the Law of Moses to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Remember that? Way back in Exodus, as the Israelites—slaves—left from Egypt, they were wandering through the desert and went up to the mountain, Mount Sinai. Moses went up on top of the mountain, and like it shows in the movie with Charlton Heston, God gave them the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, right? He brought the Law down—it was the Ten Commandments, but it was also all the Law that is in the book of Moses, or the books of Moses—so that the people of Israel would know how to live as God’s people.

Every year, the Israelites wanted to remember that special moment, and they celebrated Pentecost with a feast 50 days after the Passover. Now it’s important to keep that purpose of Pentecost in your mind. What was the purpose? To remember that God gave the Israelites—what? The Law. Okay, good.

It is also known as the Feast of Weeks, because they saw it as a week of weeks. A week of weeks—how many days are in a week? Seven. So they thought, well, let’s say seven weeks of seven days. Here’s a little math—you didn’t know you were going to do math when you came to church today! Seven times seven is what? Forty-nine. Very good. You know your times tables still, even after all these years. Seven times seven is 49. Then, after the 49 days—the week of weeks has been observed—on the 50th day you have the Pentecost feast. And what does Pentecost mean? Fiftieth, right! So on the 50th day, they celebrate it.

So we’re going to read the story of what happened to the disciples on the celebration of Pentecost—50 days after the Passover, 50 days after Jesus rose from the grave. It comes from

Acts 2:1-8
¹ On the day of Pentecost^[a] all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,^[b] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

A Moment Rich with Symbolism – God Wrote His Law on Christian’s Hearts
Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks or the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, celebrated the day that God gave Moses the Law in order for them to live as God's people. To represent God to the whole world, they had to know how to live. So God gave them all of these different rules and regulations and ceremonial laws so that they would stand out among the nations as holy and different from everyone else, so that they could show the world who God was. They celebrated that every year.

But of course, if we’ve ever read much of the Bible or known many Bible stories, we know the problem was that the Israelites were constantly not following God’s Law, right? And it could be because they forgot the Law. There were many times that they forgot the Law. There are a couple different times I read in the Scriptures where it says they discovered the book of the Law—it was hidden. It was kind of like the Bibles that we sometimes stick on a shelf and don’t ever read and forget about.

They forgot about it, and then they found it, and they would read it and say, “Oh my goodness, we’ve not been doing these things.” Sometimes it was because they forgot. Sometimes it was because they were rebellious people and they didn’t want to do what God told them to do. They wanted to do things their own way. Anybody ever felt like that? We all do from time to time.

So, in the Scriptures it was often looked forward to—it was a vision and prophesied—that one day there was going to be a change. For instance, in Jeremiah 31:33, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied:

“This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”

This is talking about a future time that’s coming when the Law is not going to be written on stone tablets like we see in the movie The Ten Commandments, and it's not even necessarily going to be written in a book like we have in our Bibles. It’s going to be written on our hearts and put in our minds.

Jeremiah says this is the way it’s going to be in the new covenant: “I’m going to put my law in their hearts and in their minds.” So, on the day of Pentecost, as they are celebrating the giving of the Law, something amazing happens. God sends the Holy Spirit—His own Holy Spirit—to come and dwell in believers’ hearts. So the Law of God is now inside those who believe in Jesus Christ and seek to follow Him.

That can mean a lot of different things, but one thing it means is this: now it’s not just that we have to go to a book to see what God has said. God Himself is living inside us. We have Him right there with us all the time—everywhere you go, everything you do, no matter what time of day it is—God is inside you.

And the Holy Spirit is telling you, “Look, you know you ought not be doing that.” You feel it. There’s a conscience inside you that’s saying, “Oh, I shouldn’t do that.” If you’re listening, it will guide you.

Another thing that it’s saying is that the Law of God is not just something written externally that you follow because you’re supposed to be obedient. Now, it’s something that’s in your heart. It’s something that you actually want to do. As you recognize how much God has loved you and what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross, when you begin to really feel that in your heart—know that in your heart—it’s not just that you are obeying the rules because you’re supposed to. Now you are obeying the rules because you want to honor God. You want to show Him that you love Him. You want to do what makes Him happy. So you actually now begin to have your heart transformed into something that’s not rebellious but wants to be obedient. As the Holy Spirit writes the Word on your heart, it begins to change.

This all happened at Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts, as they were remembering the first time God gave them the Law. It’s a moment that is rich with symbolism.

A Moment Rich with Symbolism – Christian’s Became God’s Temple
First of all, we see how Christians became the new temple—the new tabernacle. Think about this. In the story, it tells us that there was the sound of what? A mighty rushing wind. The word that it uses—the Greek word—is pneuma. The Hebrew word is ruach. It means—it’s hard to translate it into English directly—but it basically means the Spirit/Breath of God.

We see this throughout the Scriptures. Go all the way back to the beginning of your Bible, Genesis 1:2. In Greek, it says pneuma. In Hebrew, it says ruach. It is the Spirit/Breath of God that is hovering over the waters at creation. And then what happens? God speaks. And when you speak, what happens? Your breath comes through your vocal cords and makes sound. The Spirit/Breath of God speaks and says, “Let there be light. Let there be stars in the sky and a moon and a sun. Let there be land and let there be water.” So the Spirit speaks, and these things come into existence.

Then, in the second chapter of Genesis, God forms Adam from the dust of the ground, and then it says that He breathed into his nostrils and brought him to life. The Spirit/Breath of God comes into Adam and brings him to life.

Another example is the story in Ezekiel 37—a wonderful story. Ezekiel the prophet is walking along—maybe he's on a hike—and he comes across a valley that is filled with dry bones. Imagine that. Have you ever been walking in the woods and seen some old bones on the ground? Like an old deer that died or a squirrel or something, and the bones have been there and rotted away. But he sees a whole valley full of bones, and these are not animal bones. These are the bones of an army that was slaughtered and left in the field, and now it’s just dried, bleached bones.

And God says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” Ezekiel’s smart—he’s not going to say. He just simply says, “Well, You’re God. You’re the one that knows.” And God tells Ezekiel, “Speak the Spirit/Breath into the bones and they will come alive.” And he speaks, and the bones stand up, and flesh comes back on the bones, and they become living people once again.

And God says to Ezekiel, “This is what I’m telling you. This is a vision. You spoke the message as He commanded you, and breath came into the bodies, and they all came to life as a great army.” Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel.”

So as the Spirit of God comes along to these dead, dry bones, He says, “This is what My people are like. They’re like dead, dry bones with no life in them.” At that time, the tribes of Israel had been scattered and dispersed. There was no hope to bring them back together. And God says, “But I am going to bring My people Israel back together with the Spirit/Breath of God.”

Now, at Pentecost, the Spirit/Breath of God dwells inside every follower of Jesus Christ. And this is represented in the Scripture we read today by tongues of fire that come to rest upon the heads of every Christian that’s gathered there in the room with the disciples.

This also is rich with meaning, looking back through the Old Testament. You go back to the time when the Israelites were going through the desert and they had a tabernacle tent where they would worship God. It says that by day, a pillar of cloud would rest on the tabernacle. And at night, the pillar of cloud would glow red with fire, representing the presence of God that was dwelling in the tabernacle.

It says whenever the cloud or the pillar of fire would move off of the tabernacle, that was the sign to the Israelites: it’s time to move. God is moving. So they would pack up the tabernacle tent and they would hit the road, and they would follow God wherever He was leading them.

That was what happened in the Old Testament. But here, in Pentecost in the New Testament, the pillar of fire is now resting over—what? Is it resting over a tent? No. It’s resting over the people who believe in Jesus Christ and are following Him.

The tabernacle was a portable temple where God dwelt among His people. But in the New Testament, we are the tent. We’re the tabernacle. Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ—because of Pentecost, Christians have become the new temple of God. We are the people of God. We are those dry bones that were out in the field, dead and lifeless, but we have been brought back to life to fulfill the purposes that God gave His people.

The Believers Spoke
Acts 2:4 says, “Everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”

Now, a lot has been said about speaking in tongues. Of course, we often look to our Pentecostal brothers and sisters because they like to speak in tongues in their services. And if you’ve ever heard it, it can be either an amazing, awesome thing—or a really freaky thing if you’re not used to it.

But I want to point out that in this instance in Acts 2, they are not speaking gibberish. They’re not speaking some unknown language or even an angelic language. These were real languages that people spoke on earth—the languages of all the different ethnic groups that were gathered in Jerusalem at that time from around the world.

If you read farther down in the chapter, it tells you about the different nations represented—Parthians, Medes, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and more. These Galileans, who didn’t know how to speak those languages, were suddenly, supernaturally enabled to talk in them—languages they had never learned before.

Why? It was to fulfill God’s original intent for Israel. The original purpose for God’s people was to be a light to the Gentiles—to represent God to the whole world—to help the whole world come to know God and follow Him.

We can see that purpose spelled out throughout the Old Testament. God always intended for Israel to be a witness to the nations—a beacon of light pointing the world to the one true God. This calling is fulfilled and expanded in Jesus and in the Church’s mission to make disciples of all nations.

They Spoke First
And I want you to notice something else important, too. The believers started speaking in tongues before there was anybody there to hear them. They were all Galileans in the room, and all of a sudden, they started talking in other languages—each one speaking a different language.

They started speaking in tongues in verse 4, but the outsiders didn’t come to hear them until verse 6. There was nobody else there—it was all believers, all disciples. Everyone else was outside doing their own thing.

Why did they come running? It says, “When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.”

So imagine all the people milling around. It’s like if we’re here gathered in the church building, and there are people out there going to Ace Hardware, trying to beat the Baptists to lunch. All of a sudden, they hear something happening inside our church—a mighty rushing wind—and a bunch of people start talking. They can't quite make it out, but they know something amazing is happening. And they come running to see, “What are those disciples doing? What’s going on in there?”

When they get there, that’s when they hear the believers speaking in their own languages.

The Spirit gave them the gift to speak in other languages. The believers responded to the Spirit. They obeyed. And the noise drew the crowd.

There’s a quote I love, attributed to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. He said something like this: “If you will light the church on fire with the Holy Spirit, the whole world will come to watch it burn.”

Have you ever seen a house catch on fire? If you see something like that—a car on fire, a house on fire—everybody comes to see it. It’s usually a bad thing, a destructive thing. But fire can be a good thing too.

When the church is filled with Holy Spirit fire—when we catch fire with the Spirit and we start doing the amazing things God calls us to do—people want to see it. They start coming to see why.

Why is that important for us today?

We don’t need to wait for the crowds to show up. We don’t need to wait for more children to come. We don’t need to wait for something else to happen.

The Holy Spirit of God—who created the stars in heaven, the mountains around us, and filled the oceans with water—lives inside us and enables us to worship and witness boldly.

So let the Spirit speak through you. Don’t wait for something else. Go ahead and be obedient. Be filled with the Spirit’s power. Use the gifts that He gives you. Worship boldly. Witness boldly. Live for Jesus boldly.

Live out loud. Speak the truth. And it will draw the crowd that needs to come and hear it.

We often want to wait for the “right time,” but Pentecost calls us to be the spark—the spark that gets things started. The Holy Spirit works through bold obedience before the results are visible.

Conclusion: Be the Spark
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed everything. God no longer dwells in a temple made by human hands. He dwells in His people.

His people—the Church—now includes all nations, not just Israel. And His law is no longer just carved in stone but is written on our hearts.

But don’t miss what happened first: the believers didn’t wait for the crowds to gather before they spoke. They simply obeyed. They opened their mouths. They spoke as the Spirit gave them the ability.

And then the crowds came running.

So I ask you: what would happen if you did the same?

What if we worshiped boldly—even if we looked around and noticed some people were missing?

What if we served generously—even before we knew exactly what was needed or how it would all work out?

What if we shared the gospel—even if we weren’t sure anyone was listening?

But we decided we would live the way Christ called us to live. And we would speak out and be bold.

The fire falls before people respond.

So don’t wait.

Don’t hold back.

Be the spark that ignites those around you.

Live out loud.

Speak the truth.

And watch how the Spirit draws people—people who need to hear the good news, who need to be part of the love that God has for us, who need to find the reconciliation with God and with one another that comes through Jesus Christ.