Today is Pentecost, & hardly anyone realizes it. Yet, this day is important, because Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, & God has given us the wonderful opportunity of being a part of it.
Isaiah 26:20-21
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.
21 See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed on it;
the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
1 Kings 17:2-16
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
• The Lord is commanding Prophet Elijah to go and hide for some time
• Go to Zarephath and meet the women and stay there.
1 Kings 18
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth
It is in the 2nd chapter of the Book of Acts that we read about the beginning of the Church. The first chapter tells us of Jesus meeting with the apostles on the Mt. of Olives & telling them that they are to be His witnesses to all the world. He also tells them that they are to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power from on high. Then He ascends out of their sight.
So they go to Jerusalem to wait & pray. And now I want to read the first 12 verses, & then skip down to vs’s 14-16. Please listen as I read those verses.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven & filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated & came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit & began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
(Acts 2:14-16)
In the midst of all this excitement, the apostle Peter spoke up & got the crowd’s attention. Then he said to them, “Fellow Jews & all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel…”
“Peter replied, ‘Repent & be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you & your children & for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
THE CHURCH WAS CREATED BY GOD.
Who was this Peter?
• A man who was the first disciple of Jesus.
• A man who was in the time of transfiguration
• A man who was with Jesus in the garden of gethsemane
• A man who followed Jesus in the High Priest house when he was arrested
• A man who betrayed Jesus
• A man who cried bitterly and asked forgiveness.
Mark 16:7 ( Jesus says Inform Peter also).
ILLUSTRATION.
I don’t know if you remember or not, but several years ago radio stations were running some commercials for two major Christian denominations. And both sets of commercials were saying almost the same thing. They were advertising for their members to come back to them. Maybe you heard them.
And the reason was because the expression on their faces had given them away. Their faces were aglow in anticipation of the wealth that soon would be theirs. People knew that they must have found something very special. So a crowd followed them out of town.
CONCLUSION
This morning, if you’re lonely, or tired, or feel taken advantage of, then know that within these walls there are people just like you.
So we can come without pretending. We can just be ourselves with all of our warts & blemishes & scrapes & scratches, & find love & acceptance, because that is what the Church is to be, the family of God. We invite you to become a part of that fellowship this morning as we extend the invitation of God.
