Morning Message Text: Acts 2: 14-21
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Morning Message:
Today is the day on our church calendar that is set aside to embrace and remember the power of the Holy Spirit. We can read over and over the wonderful facts of how God’s Spirit came upon the disciples and all who were gathered together on that day. I think that we have to move beyond the wonder of it all. We really need to dig into what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means for our lives. At some point in our Christian lives, we need to stop simply marveling at the works of God and be involved in them. The Holy Spirit should not feel like a mystery to those who belong to Jesus. Jesus left the Spirit to help us live out our faith in him and to be used for the benefit of the Christian community. In other words, we should be looking for ways to use the Holy Spirit in our lives to make a difference for God’s kingdom. Give that some thought. How are you making a difference?
As true followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is meant to be a positive force in our lives, and we can accomplish great things for God’s kingdom when we allow God’s Spirit to flow through us in a proper, righteous way. As believers we have nothing to fear from God or the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is important here to differentiate between true believers and non-believers. I want to get into a story in God’s Word but first I want you to know and realize something very important. It is dangerous to pretend to be a follower of Jesus simply for the benefits. In Acts chapter 5 verses 1-11 we read the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. This story is many times misunderstood by the Christian community, and many think of it as being a very harsh punishment for untruthfulness. This is a completely wrong reading and interpretation of this text. This was the church in its infancy, and it was continuing to grow at an amazing rate. What Ananias and his wife Sapphira did by selling their property and lying about the amount of the sale showed their true nature. They were not born-again Christians willing to live in community with the other believers and in communion with God. They were imposters, and instead of being filled with the Spirit they were filled with the lies of Satan. All through scripture we see instances of God dealing harshly and swiftly with those who are evil and stand in direct opposition to the betterment of His people. I will give you three examples of this kind of action by God in scripture and you can read them later. Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10), Achan (Joshua 7), and King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26). These are all examples of evil people who attempted to bring evil into God’s chosen community.
Our scripture today reminds us that a day is coming, a day that will be known as the great and glorious day of the Lord. Who will that day be great and glorious for? For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. This is a fact that should weigh heavy on the hearts of all Christians. On that glorious day when God judges mankind, he will deal with the evil and those who have refused his grace and the free gift of salvation through Jesus his son. Why on this day of celebration of the Holy Spirit do we dwell on the judgment of God? Jesus gave us this gift of the Holy Spirit to help us to convince the world of God’s love and forgiveness. It is God’s eternal desire that none would perish and that all would accept the way that he has made available for the forgiveness of sins, and his Holy Spirit moves in us and in this world for that purpose.
My daily devotional reminded me of this, and I want to share it with you. Church historians use a phrase for how the Early Church grew in Jerusalem following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They call it “gossiping the Gospel.” By that, they mean that the Gospel spread rapidly among friends and family members in the tightly-packed, extended-family conditions in Jerusalem. This really got my mind racing about the possibilities for us in today’s church. I preach to you all of the time about the dangers of gossiping and the negative effects that it can have on the church community, but today I am giving you permission to gossip. Not about your neighbor or your friends and family, not about others in the church and their personal lives, but you have permission to gossip the Gospel. I want you for just a moment to imagine the good that you could do, the difference that you could make for God’s Kingdom by simply gossiping the Gospel. Consider all of that time that you spend on Facebook talking about people whose lives are none of your business, all of that time on your phones digging into lives and things that should be of no concern to you. Simply turn your conversations about others into conversations about Jesus.
Here is what could happen if we would simply gossip the Gospel. Three thousand were saved at Pentecost, more were added daily, the number grew to five thousand, more were increasingly added, the numbers kept multiplying greatly, and then the Gospel spilled out of Jerusalem into Judea, Galilee, and Samaria where churches multiplied. This could and should still be happening today. The same Holy Spirit who empowered and led the first-century Church is empowering and leading the twenty-first century Church. What is different today? With all of our technological advances and improved methods of communication, we have stopped gossiping the Gospel. Find your place in the “Church growth” movement today by sharing Christ in word and deed with those who need the Gospel. You have my permission to Gossip the Gospel.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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