The Power of Pentecost

The Power of Pentecost          Acts 2:1-21

Feast of Pentecost— Providence of God:

There was the spirit of being in one accord (v.1):
Acts 1:4-8: 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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”

There was the Spirit’s infilling (v.2-4):
Ephesians 5:18: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesian 1:19-20: and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength which He produced in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.

There was witnessing—devout people heard the Word (v.5-11):
Acts 1:8: 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.

John Wesley: “I do not fear that the people called Methodist shall ever cease to exist either in Europe or America, I only fear that they shall exist as a dead sect having the form of religion, but not the power thereof, and that undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

Evangelism Jesus Style

Sermon scripture: John 4:26-29, 39-41
John 4:6-29
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. )
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

John 4:39-41
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41 And because of his words many more became believers.

We must move from a come in movement to a go out movement.

Jesus Style of Getting Their Name:

    • One on One

 

    • Broke down walls-ask for something normal,(v.7)

 

    • Started where she was (v.10)

 

    • Built up trust (vs.13-14)

 

    • Sense of longing (v. 15)

 

    • Accepted Her (vs. 16-18)

 

    • Sidetracks—Brings her back (vs.19-24)

 

    • Disclosure (vs. 25-26)

 

    • She receives living water (v.29)

 

    She invites others (vs. 39-41)

Have a plan
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.
Matthew 4:18-20

The Person Behind the Need

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:26

  • We are all called to service.
  • But what is service?
  • Mission Trips
  • Blessings
  • Deeper Needs

    • Do You Know Your Own Story?

    Do You Know Your Own Story?
    How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
    And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
    And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
    Romans 10:14

    “To watch Skit Guys video used for this sermon
    click here”

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    Call to action

    The Christ-Filled Life

    Sermon scripture: 1 Peter 1:17-25
    17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
    18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
    19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
    21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
    22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
    24 For,
    “All people are like grass,
        and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
    the grass withers and the flowers fall,
    25 
        but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
    And this is the word that was preached to you.

    Jesus Christ Redeemer and Lord: (1 Peter 1:19-21)

    Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
    Isaiah 53:4-6

    
Love One Another Fervently: (1 Peter 1:22-25)

    A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
    By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
    John 13:34-35

    Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
    Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
    Psalm 119:89, 105

    A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
    Isaiah 40:6-8