Sermon Tone Analysis

Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds

Part 66: Stories of the Spirit’s Power

Acts 1-4

February 19, 2012

Intro: Lent

Before we begin, I want to let you know about an opportunity and a challenge I have for the church.

Q How many of you know what Lent is?

Q How many of you participated last year?

Lent is one of the oldest Christian traditions, beginning in the 3rd century.

It basically consists of a partial fast for 40 days leading up to Easter (based off of the many “40’s” in the Bible – Jesus in wilderness, Jews wandering, etc).

~* It is not in the Bible, but most Christians observe Lent and find it to be a valuable Christian discipline.

Most of us grew up in informal churches and have never observed it, others grew up observing Lent, but as an external exercise.

~* But we wanted to invite you to join us, so we can do it together.

Of course the first question is “why on earth would I do that?”

Here are the reasons I want to do it:

1.

I take Christ’s death and resurrection more seriously.

Forty days remind me that Jesus gave up his life for me.

Fasting represents mourning, a chance to mourn his death.

At the same time, it gives me greater reason to rejoice at his resurrection (cf.

Orthodox Christians don’t eat any meat for 40 days).

2. Fasting is an act of repentance – I want to take this time to repent of my sins which put Jesus on the cross.

3. Willingly giving some physical thing that is perfectly acceptable up helps me shift my focus from my physical appetites to my spiritual needs.

So here is how it works – I would encourage each of you to choose one thing to give up:

~*

~* Meat

~* Candy

~* Alcohol

~* Coffee

~* TV

~* Internet

It should be something that you will miss.

The beginning on Ash Wednesday, the February 22nd, you go without that thing until Easter.

~* Here’s the cool part: Sunday is a celebration, so it is not right to fast on Sunday – you get Sundays “off.”

If you interested, check it on the communication card.

We are continuing on our series through the Bible.

We have finished up the entire OT and the Gospels, so now we will be in Acts for three weeks, then on to the Epistles.

Prayer

Scripture reading: (Peter)

Historical stories

Q How many of you enjoyed history in school?

It should be a crime to be a boring history teacher.

History is stories and we are wired to enjoy stories.

~* The essence of a story is “what happens next?”

The book of Acts is basically a collection of stories that show what happened next:

Q What is going to happen to this group when their leader goes?

How did we go from a group of 120 without a leader hiding in a room in Jerusalem to ten’s (perhaps 100’s) of thousands stretched across the known world in 30 years?

Here are Jesus’ followers, still shell shocked by everything that has happened: Jesus made this group of blue collar Jews question everything they thought they knew.

First they thought he was the Messiah because of the miracles, but then he doesn’t act like they thought, then he was executed but then raised from the dead.

After all this, Jesus hangs out with his little band of followers and gets them ready life after he goes home:

Acts 1:6-8 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This statement as the outline of his entire book – begins with the power of the Spirit, then tells the stories about the church’s mission in Jerusalem and Judea, moving out to Samaria, then to the ends of the known world.

Apparently this was a picnic lunch, out on Mt.

Olives, which is lovely at that time of the year.

It was “a Sabbath walk outside the city,” about 4,000 feet, or from here to Chuck Wagon.

So they are out there, eating and talking to Jesus, he gives these final marching orders, then:

Acts 1:9-11 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?

This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

So they go back to Jerusalem and hang out in big room with hundred other followers.

While there, they take care of some business, including replacing Judas, because he kind of betrayed Jesus and killed himself.

Ten days later was Pentecost.

Now Pentecost was a pretty fun Jewish holiday, it was their Harvest Party, so lots of eating and drinking, and having a great time.

It was also when a lot of Jews would be in Jerusalem.

~* Pentecost would be a spiritual harvest for the disciples.

Acts 2:1-7 Then the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?”

The tongues of flames and the speaking in tongues are pretty cool, but those are just miracles that happened to these guys.

And this is what gets all the attention.

~* So many Christians have been sidetracked by whether or not tongues are for today, or when baptism of the Spirit occurs.

I am more interested in what the Spirit did in these early disciples, and what he continues to do in us.

And in these first couple chapters of Acts we get to see a great case study: Peter.

A failed test

Peter had always been a bit of a loose cannon, firing of his mouth at one moment, and cowering the next.

Flashing back just two months prior:

Luke 22:54-62 Then seizing [Jesus], they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest.

Peter followed at a distance.

55 But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.

56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight.

She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

57 But he denied it.

“Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.

61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.

Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

After the resurrection, Jesus forgives and restores Peter, so he knew he was forgiven, but even still, he must have wondered what he would do the next time, if there was a next time.

Q Have you ever felt like you have failed God?

You can know you are forgiven, but you are not sure what you will happen next time.

You think you know what you’d do or wished you’d do, but until you get there, you are not sure.

Q When push comes to shove, will I fail God again?