Acts 2: 1-4, Narrate 5-14 then read (14 – 21)
Today is Pentecost Sunday , The Birthday of the Church, The scripture today tells of an exciting time , strange things are happening, Tongues of fire touching people, folks speaking in unknown languages, power is being poured out and the disciples are out of Hiding ,not living in fear anymore. They seem to have acquired a boldness about them like never before. What is going on? I tell you what’s happening the Holy Spirit has arrived and with it Power!!!!!
What happened? From the birth of the church till now where did it go? Its seems that the church is shrinking more and more each day. People find every excuse in the world to cow tow to the ways of the world. We act like we have been defeated.
People come into churches all over this world acting like we are defeated, have you read the Bible? Victory is ours, we will not be defeated Jesus will prevail!!!!!
Let me tell you what I believe is the one thing that can turn our churches around…. POWER!!!
Not our power but the Power of the Holy Spirit working through us. I think we have gotten out of tune with the Holy Spirit. It’s not gone, that same Holy Spirit poured out on the day of Pentecost is alive and well in us today , but we gotta use it, we gotta realize that its already been given to us but we must harness it in order to move forward in our efforts to do Kingdom work. I want you to do something to help you realize scripturally that you have the Holy Spirit in you. Look at your neighbor and say “Jesus is Lord” 1st Corinthians 12: 3 says that without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say “Jesus is Lord”. Then the scripture goes on to clarify the gifts of the spirit.
Now we all may have different gifts but we all have the same Holy Spirit in us and that is where our power comes from we just have to utilize it. As Christian we just aren’t living up to our full potential until we harness the power that God has given us through the Holy Spirit.
Let me show you… (Visual Illustration) I can push this vacuum around all day long trying to clean this carpet. I may move some dirt around, I may even break out in a sweat, I’m going through all the motions but it appears this vacuum just isn’t doing a good job. No matter how hard I try by itself this vacuum just isn’t working.
But, when I connect it to its power source it comes alive and you can hear it working and picking up things and can even see the difference in everything it touches. This vacuum must be connected to its power source in order to live up to its full potential and expectations...
I want you to realize something about the church and each and every individual in it. We will never reach our full potential as a Christian until we get connected to our Power Source. And our Power Source my friends is the Holy Spirit. If the church is to survive and grow it will be under the power of the Holy Spirit. That same Holy Spirit that was poured out with the sound of a rushing wind and tongues of fire at the birth of the Church is the same Power that we have available to us today.
So what’s wrong…? Why are our churches and denominations in such a terrible state? I think it’s because we just haven’t connected to our power source well enough to live into our full potential. So what can we do to get plugged into the Holy Spirit?
Well we have got to truly turn our lives over to God. We must become open and receptive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have to listen to that still small voice, we need to follow the direction of that nudge or feeling that we have. We need to believe that with Christ all things are possible. The more we try and listen for direction of the Spirit through our prayers and our meditations the more receptive we become to what God would have us do. We must claim that scripture that says “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”
So what’s this power of Pentecost all about? Well it isn’t about a denomination it’s about the Church
Preaching faith and opening up to the Holy Spirit and believing that we can do things that we never even dreamed were possible that we can achieve anything through our faith and the power that God has given us. What does it mean? It means that if we have faith even the size of a Mustard seed we can say to the mountain, MOVE and it will be moved!!!!! Whatever mountain is in the way, whatever obstacle is in our path, we have the power to move it out of the way and overcome. We can achieve anything through Christ.
The Power came upon the disciples that faithful day because they were of one mind and one accord. They prayed together, they fellowshipped together, sharing meals and dreams and ideas, they encouraged each other and lifted each other up. We have got to follow that example.
We can’t get caught up in petty things like what color the carpets going to be, or if the paint needs to be beige or tan. We have got to practice a little give and take. We are here to help each other in our journey.
In the firefighting business we had a 2 in 2 out rule. Now this rule basically said that if two people were in an IDLH situation ( Immediately dangerous to life and health) there had to be at least two fully equipped firefighters outside this danger zone ready to intervene and assist if necessary. Basically it meant someone had your back if things got tough.
That’s how we have to be with each other in our churches, if a brother or sister is struggling, if they are hurting if they are in danger of falling by the wayside we must be ready and equipped to intervene and assist them. We have got to be there to offer encouragement and praise to each other when things look impossible. When we work together as one we increase the output of our Power.
Professional speaker Joe Larson once said, "My friends didn't believe that I could become a successful speaker. So I did something about it. I went out and found me some new friends!" There’s wisdom there. Many of us can think of times when encouragement from a friend made all the difference in the world.
We must develop a triumphant Spirit, when we have a winning Spirit and an attitude of triumph it becomes contagious. When we see someone overcoming sickness, financial difficulties and just winning spiritual battle after spiritual battle it’s catching we realize we can overcome to. We begin to acquire boldness.
Look at Peter When he spoke to the crowd that day in a spirit of boldness it became contagious the Bible says that 3000 souls were added that day and that souls were added to that number every day the Spirit was contagious. Brothers and sisters there is no limit to what we can do when we become receptive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and we unite together in prayer, faith and encouragement.
The Church will never be what God fully intends it to be unless we develop a passion to reach out beyond these four walls to tell others the Good News. We will never reach the full potential that God has in store for us without focus and commitment and passion.
When we have the passion that the early church had for introducing boys and girls, men and women, to the man from Galilee, when we get that same passion that the early church had about introducing people to Jesus Christ, we will discover a power that we never ever dreamed possible.
Pentecost my friends is about receiving Power. It started with a small group of people that turned this world upside down.
We can be an empowered people, we can do great things, we just need to be Open and receptive to the leading of Gods Holy Spirit. We must Encourage and pray for each other living in Christian fellowship with others. And we must be willing to be the hands and feet of Christ spreading the Good News boldly through our actions and deeds
When we do all these things we will begin to develop a passion and zeal that will empower us to do great things for the Kingdom. We just need to CATCH THE SPIRIT
