20200531su- DAY OF PENTECOST / Anchor: ACTS Chaps 1 & 2
CALL TO WORSHIP
SERMON SYNOPSIS It has now been 50 days since the Lord was resurrected from the dead and appeared on a Sunday evening behind locked doors to the eleven. Just 10 days before Jesus was witnessed ascending upwards, through the clouds into heaven. Jerusalem is packed with thousands of men who are gathered as required three times a year, this being the First Fruits gathering, Part of the Festival of Weeks. High on the agenda today is to select the replacement to Judas Escariot, the one who betrayed the Lord. The Apostles are eagar to learn and share of the promise to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
OPENING PRAYER Lord God Almighty, Author of the Universe, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, we gather on this Lord's day to worship and to receive the Word of Truth through the Holy Spirit that in-dwells us, by way of Holy Scripture. Open our ears to hear, open our hearts to receive as we nourish our Souls in Your very presence. On this day in Jerusalem, thousands were received into Salvation through Jesus the Christ, and the promised Holy Spirit filled these precious disciples with power and boldness. A by-product of which is LOVE from on high. O Holy Spirit, let us feel Your presence in us this day. Grant us great courage to step out and share that which we have received with others so that they too can be filled and glorify You our Creator, Amen and AMEN.
SERMON Through Biblical history, PENTECOST was the FIRST FRUITS of HARVEST, one of three annual required gatherings at the temple in Jerusalem that every of-age male must attend to present themselves before the Lord.
The first sheaf offered at the Passoverand the two leavened loaves at Pentecostmarked the beginning and ending of the grain harvest, and sanctified the interval between as the whole harvest or Pentecostal season. Psa 147:14 He makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat. Thus God brings about a healthy harvest to satisfy the Souls of His people.
Some Theologians would argue that Pentecost marked the birth of the Church. With great respect I would submit that although the PENTECOST allowed for the Formal Public Presentation, in a GRAND manner, The miracle of the Promise that the HOLY SPIRIT is poured into all who confess CHRIST as their savior, the CHURCH had already exsisted before this day.
The Church of Jesus Christ rose to life the very moment that the 12th Disciple was anointed and pressed into service by Jesus. It was at this moment that the Master began to teach, to Disciple, His chosen core, the first congregation of His flock. With tenderness, love and with authority. Jesus began to nurture and guide these tender hearts; preparing them for this magnificient debut before thousands and thousands in Jerusalem.
A vital part of this day was to select a replacement to take the place of JUDAS ESCARIOT, the man who betrayed Jesus. Following prayer and the casting of LOTs, the 12th Disciple slot was filled; Act 1:24-26 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen (25) to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." (26) And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. The eleven laid hands on their new brother and prayed commissioning him to the ministry of Almighty God.
Act 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. { there were about 120 of them gathered with Peter} (2) And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
NOW, my dear beloved friends, I ask you to be patient with me as I try to clearly explain how much of a REALLY BIG DEAL this speaking in TONGUES was. Not only were the impowered disciples, who having just received the Holy Spirit, SPEAKING in tongues that they had previously not known, The People HEARING them were HEARING their own language being spoken even though the speaker was not speaking in that tongue. CONFUSED? Allow me to explain:
You may not have had this amplified in this manner before, so , bear-with-me...
Lets say that YOU and another friend is standing next to me and we three are listening to a fellow speak to us. All three are hearing his speech at the very same time. Here is where it starts to get good: The fellow speaking to us is speaking in, lets say, ARAMAIC. None of us understands that language but I am hearing him speak in perfect ENGLISH. My FRENCH friend on my LEFT is hearing him speak, at the same time in perfect FRENCH. The friend to my RIGHT a HUNGARIAN and while the speaker talks in ARAMAIC, the HUNGARIAN hears in perfect HUNGARIAN. WOW!
THIS, BELOVED, SHOWS THE MAJESTY OF THE MIRACLE OF TONGUES delivered to THOUSANDS of those gathered in Jerusalem from many lands on this day of Pentecost. This was a VERY, VERY BIG DEAL! Not only were those Holy Spirit Filled speaking in foreign tongues, THE masses were Hearing them in THEIR OWN TONGUES!! AT the SAME TIME!!! Can I Get an AMEN??
Act 2:7-11 They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? (8) "And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? (9) "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God."
Peter, also filled to the brim with the Spirit of God delivered a most eloquent sermon to the masses explaining point by point the Gospel of Christ Jesus and pointed to their connection to His death and now the Resurrection. He laid the blame for His crucifixion at their feet.
Act 2:37-41 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (38) Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." (40) And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" (41) So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
SUMMARY From the very first verse in Genesis, all the way to the last AMEN of Revelation JESUS is there. Thousands of years of "New Beginnings" always bringing those who stray back in correct alignment with the promise of Everlasting Life of Joy and Peace. Jesus is that common silver rope that extends from one end to the other, from the Beginning to the End, never drooping, ever straight, never listing but always being our absolute guide to eternal bliss. Three Thousand Souls were welcomed into the kingdom of God on that Pentecost day. Just before our Lord ascended into the heavens from that mountain top, He asked Peter THREE times Do you love me? Unlike that day in the Temple courtyard where Peter denied JESUS THREE TIMES, He was now whole and leading others to know the Savior in the most intimate way possible, through the Gift of Salvation. ARE YOU SAVED?
CLOSING PRAYER Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank-you for the blessing of sharing Your Word with us on this, Your Day. As Holy Scriputre reveals in the book of John; Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Your eternity and unchanging ways brings wonder and awe to us in unspeakable ways. As much and we know about You, O Lord, the more we know that we don't know. Our thirst for knowledge thus grows and grows. Light our paths for us, Father, as we go our way this week. Brings us back safely to gather next Sunday, on Your Day and open our souls to know Your attributes. Let us feed the hunger we have to know you more. In the Name above all names, Jesus the Christ, AMEN.
DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, Ye heav'n-ly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen
BENEDICTION AND CLOSE Rom 1:7 {Modified} to all who are beloved of God within the sound of my voice, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE Psa 147:14, Act 1: 24-26, 2:1-4, 2: 7-11, 2: 37-41, Jon 1:1, Rom 1:7
UPDATE: Summer Schedule; Tomorrow is June 1st, and with the start of a new month, we will also begin a new series of study that prayerfully will extend well into October. The title is THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. Each Sunday we will pull from several theological sources a well rounded examination of those characteristics that only our Creator can display. I think you will find it a wonderful and edifying study and bring you ever closer to a greater understanding of how Awesome and Majestic He truly is. We will get it started next Sunday, June 7th, I hope you will all be here. Finally, I'm trying to find a way to administer Holy Communion {The Lord's Supper} to you on that day as well. Pray that the Lord will open that door for us so that this Ordinance and Expression can return to our service.
Until we meet again, God go with you, AMEN.
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