PENTECOST SUNDAY 2018

The Message of Acts Chapter 2. The Day of Pentecost (2:1–47)

Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.

The Message of Acts Chapter 2. The Day of Pentecost (2:1–47)

Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.

The Message of Acts Chapter 2. The Day of Pentecost (2:1–47)

Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.

The Church was born at Pentecost

Text:

The Church was born at Pentecost

Pentecost has become a Sacred day on the church calendar to reminds us of the victorious life giving power that is at our disposal.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

The Holy Spirit Comes

On the day of Pentecost 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, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

The Holy Spirit Comes

On the day of Pentecost 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, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

Pentecost was the second great festival of the Jewish year a celebration of harvest when the firstfruits, (first harvested crop of produce) of the grain harvest were presented as offerings to God. In a similar way, Pentecost symbolizes for the church the beginning of God’s spiritual harvest of souls in the world (people coming to know Him personally).

The events during this particular Pentecost celebration marked a dividing line between the Holy Spirit’s occasional presence and temporary empowerment on certain individuals, as seen in the OT, and His continual presence and sustained EMPOWERMENT now available to all of God’s people. On this particular day, He filled the believers with His presence and remained with them.

We at RED Community Fellowship believe this to be true as we are getting ready to to birth His Redeemed Empowered Disciples Fellowship

A celebration of the harvest

Our Mission Redeemed Empower Disciples, Cultivating Unity in the Community by spreading the love of Jesus Christ and growing the Kingdom of heaven and or slogan is (Get Ready-Get Set-Let’s Grow)

THREE NEEDS FOR HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERMENT

1) WE NEED TO BE EMPOWERED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT BECAUSE WE NEED POWER to be victorious in our personal lives

I. WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT BECAUSE WE NEED POWER to be victorious in our personal lives, witness and ministries

We can see in God’s word that God did not dare ask His people to do His work without giving them the ability to do it.

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

We can see that Jesus knew we needed His Holy Spirit to live the Godly lives and to be VICTORIOUS

2) WE NEED TO BE EMPOWERED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT BECAUSE WE NEED POWER to be victorious to be a His powerful witness

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."

We can see in God’s word that God did not dare ask His people to do His work without giving them the ability to do it.

Illustration:

-- A lady went to a jeweler to have her watch fixed. He disappeared to the back and soon returned with it running perfectly.

--Surprised, she asked how he could fix it so soon. He told her it only needed a new battery.

--Battery? Battery? No body said anything about a battery. I’ve been winding it every morning!"

--A lot of Christians do not realize the inner power of the Holy Spirit to handle things they think they must take into their own hands.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Without the Power of the Holy Spirit the message of the Gospel rest in man’s wisdom, we should understand that without Him we Won’t make much of a difference in this world.

we should understand that without Him we Won’t make much of a difference in this world.

For Israel, it was a harvest of grain

3) WE NEED TO BE EMPOWERED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT BECAUSE WE NEED POWER to make disciples

New Living Translation Chapter 1

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.”

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.”

THIS WAS PETER and the disciples Before Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit took a group of fisherman, former prostitutes, ex-religious leaders, tax collectors, and various family members of Jesus and the other disciples

Before Pentecost.

Before Pentecost the disciples were scarred

They lacked faith

They did not fully understand God’s plan

After Pentecostal fire fell however,

They were united as never before.

Nothing earlier had welded them into one united force,

It took the fire of God’s Spirit to do this

THIS IS PETER AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS GIVEN

Peter Preaches to the Crowd

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,

‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on my servants—men and women alike—

and they will prophesy.

19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below—

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

20 The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives.

21 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved.’

New Living Translation Chapter 2

Peter Preaches to the Crowd

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,

‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on my servants—men and women alike—

and they will prophesy.

19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below—

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

20 The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives.

21 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved.’

We as the last day Church need the EMPOWERMENT of Jesus Holy Spirit more than ever, it seems that it is extremely hard to find the TRUE followers of Jesus, even people who say the are flowers of Jesus look more like the world than they look like Jesus

Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, and so are we and the church without HIs Holy Spirit is we are dead.

Because of Pentecost we reap a harvest

Power to be a witness

Ability to be renewed and transformed

Life in his presence

Because of Pentecost, His power is abundantly available to us that believe.

We are a Pentecostal Church

Meaning we identify and seek after the fullness of the Spirit just as they did at Pentecost

I believe that we need a harvest of the Spirit of God in our lives once again.

As witnesses we cannot afford to stop seeking to be filled with His power

As The church we cannot afford to remain the same, we need to be transformed

As His Children We cannot afford to ignore His immediate presence

We as a church need that Pentecostal power once again.

Prayer…

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On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

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."

Illustration:

-- A lady went to a jeweler to have her watch fixed. He disappeared to the back and soon returned with it running perfectly.

--Surprised, she asked how he could fix it so soon. He told her it only needed a new battery.

--Battery? Battery? No body said anything about a battery. I’ve been winding it every morning!"

--A lot of Christians do not realize the inner power of the Holy Spirit to handle things they think they must take into their own hands.

1. You can see from our text that God did not dare ask His people to do His work without giving them the ability to do it.

This is why they were asked to wait in Jerusalem until power from on high descended upon them.

The message of is simple Apart from the Holy Spirit no-one can preach the Gospel as God wants them to do.

with the Holy Spirit we can make a difference

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Without the Power of the Holy Spirit the message of the Gospel rest in man’s wisdom

the Bible tells us in that in the Last days the Church will have a "form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof"

That is a way of saying that we the Church will be putting more emphasis on externals [show] rather than on internals [empowerment by the Holy Spirit]

God forbid

3. We need to be like The New Testament Church that saw the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the NORMAL experience for empowering believers to preach the Gospel

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ILLUS:

There is an inner mechanism that makes the difference.

For the Christian the Holy Spirit is that inner Mechanism

To help us make a difference in this world

II. WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT BECAUSE WE as a church we NEED TO BE TRANSFORMED

When 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.

1. Why WAS THERE A the symbol of fire when the believers received the Holy Spirit?

a. Fire is the symbol of transformation!

b. Fire changes whatever it touches.

2. Lets look at some ways the Holy Spirit works to Transform us

And formed them into a united group…we call the church

Before Pentecost.

The disciples were scarred

They lacked faith

They did not fully understand God’s plan

After Pentecostal fire fell however,

They were united as never before.

Nothing earlier had welded them into one united force,

It took the fire of God’s Spirit to do this

ILLUS:

There once was a blacksmith who had two pieces of iron which he wished to weld into one. He took them just as they were, all cold and hard, and put them on the anvil, and began to hammer with all this might, but they were still two pieces, and they would not unite. At last he remembered what he should never have forgotten. He thrust both of them into the fire, took them out red-hot, laid one on the other, and by one or two blows of the hammer they soon became one.

What makes the church work in our day?

God’s Spirit

There has never been a program that has dramatically transformed people’s lives

Brought them from all walks of life

And turned them into a united group that can actually accomplish something

It takes God’s Spirit to do that

the Church was birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit,

Society won’t be transformed until the Church is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

III. As His Children We cannot afford to ignore His immediate presence

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

1. The fire that appeared on the heads of each believer in the upper room has a connection to the Old Testament:

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When Moses was dedicating the tabernacle,

Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

And Solomon was Dedicating the temple

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

supernatural fire from the presence of God fell on the sacrifices.

b. This indicated to the people that God had accepted the tabernacle and the Temple as His dwelling place

The proof of his acceptance was the supernatural fire that fell from heaven.

The Apostle Paul uses the term temple to indicate that under the New Covenant our bodies are the Temple" of the Holy Spirit

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

2. At Pentecost, the individual believers had tongues of fire over them,

Supernatural fire from heaven …

Once again God sent His own fire to demonstrate that from now on He would accept the "temple" – the individual as His dwelling place,

So that the believer is a "temple" of the Holy Spirit.

The Church - would now become the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit.

As the temple of the Holy Spirit tells us that we are not our own any longer

In fact what it is telling us is that we are not alone any longer either

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I thank God for the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life

I thank god for that relationship

I also know that unless I build and maintain my relationship I can easily have that relationship come to a halt

ILLUS:

One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.

Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance,

and though they are "clothed with power" ()

They find themselves out of gas.

In

, instructions were given that the fire that fell from God should never be permitted to go out,

it was to be attended constantly around the clock so it would never go out.

c. So should the fire of the Spirit of God in our lives,

it should never be allowed to go out!

The Bible says

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;

The people of God that are walking in the Spirit

Flowing in His gifts

Cherishing his presence

And stirring up the fire he has placed within us

Are going to make a difference in this world in these last days.

PENTECOST SUNDAY 2018

PENTECOST THE CHURCHES BIRTHDAY