Praying our way to Pentecost
Introduction- Good morning Church
I think if we took the time to look at the church:
We would see that the church is more than brick and mortar, a building.
It is more than what happens inside that building.
The church is the body of Christ (physical) and it is each and every one of us who profess Christ as savior.
When we realize that and don’t try to make everything the church does happen inside that box or building, or determine if the church is a success based upon how many people are in the building on Sunday morning, I believe we will see the church the way the Lord sees it.
The early church met in homes. The early church learned about the church after following Jesus and doing what Jesus did
The day of Pentecost was followers of Jesus waiting on God to empower them to be the church, yes, the church was started after Pentecost, Jesus Himself instituted the church and said that the gates of hell would not and could not stop the church of Christ.
Prayer- Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. The 50 days after the ascension of Jesus where the Holy Spirit of God fell and filled believers with His presence. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit into a believer’s life can transform the person and through that person can change a world. We take a moment this morning to allow you Lord to speak to the hearts of your people and that today we would be the people you desire us to be and accomplish those things that you said we could when you have empowered your people to be the church that you desired us to be, in Jesus Name! Amen.
When you think of Pentecost, we are drawn to Acts 2 where the 120 believers and followers of Jesus were in the upper room waiting on God to do something amazing.
You cannot deny that when the Spirit of God fell that people in the room spoke in many tongues or languages.
You cannot deny that those who heard these tongues in their own language were amazed that Galileans spoke to them the truth of God.
But to think that Pentecost was strictly about the speaking of other languages is to miss the message of the gospel and miss the church being empowered to go into the world and make a difference.
After a 36 day prayer devotional that lead us to Pentecost, we see very quickly that prayer is more than asking God for what you need, it is more than seeking answers, it is drawing near to God and allowing God to draw near to you. It is inviting the Holy Spirit of God into your life and allowing Him to empower you for service.
They were in the upper room ten days waiting on God and not knowing exactly what they were waiting on- I think anticipation has value as we wait on God. They were in prayer in one accord desiring for God to show up and He did not disappoint. The lessons learned were many.
Matthew 6:6- “But when you pray go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 7:7-8- “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
John 14:26- “ But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”
I would like for our main text this morning one verse Acts 4:31
Acts 4:31- After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Let that sink in and repeat verse
We need God’s plan, God’s purpose to be fulfilled in our lives and in our churches. The disunity in our culture and the decline in ministry must be abated. We must turn to God for His leading, we must seek His will in prayer together. This time of prayer will be unifying for us as a region. God says when we seek after Him with all our hearts, He will be found. (Jeremiah 29:13)
I believe the most important decision a person will ever make in their life is wither they will accept Christ as their Lord and savior. The second most important decision for a believer is wither they will surrender to the Lord and allow the Holy ‘spirit of God to empower them and lead and guide them in their lives and their decisions of life.
Pentecost is not a denominational thing as some would like to imply-
Holiness is not a denominational thing- both come from the presence of God in our lives that transform us and work in our lives- Pentecost is the Holy Spirit of God coming and dwelling in a believer’s life. Holiness, which is a big deal in the belief of the Church of the Nazarene. Holiness is thinking like God- bring all our thoughts under the captivity of Christ and surrendering our lives to Him. Holiness is not perfection, it is obedience to Christ and allowing Him to lead us and guide us through this messed up world with power far beyond our own capacity and our own wisdom. We cannot do that without Him. Some on you are pretty smart but you cannot have the mind of God without God dwelling inside of you directing you life and your path and you surrendering to Him your decisions.
Back to our text, after they prayed, after they come together in one accord, God shows up and they were all filled with the Spirit of God and began speaking God’s word boldly.
Desire the presence of God, they stopped what they were doing to make sure what they were doing would accomplish that. Accomplish what? Experience God!
Come together in like mindedness and in unity as a church to see God move.
God shows up and they are changed and never the same- they began speaking God’s word boldly-
People that saw them saw a change and Acts 4:13 says “that they took notice that these men had been with Jesus”!
Acts 2- And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Peter a Spirit filled believer stands in the temple court and proclaims that what has happened was prophesied and from God that in the last days after Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father that He would send the Holy Spirit. “I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and your daughters will prophesy.”
To Christians, Pentecost was an experience. It is not a denomination; it is not Pentecostalism; it is not the holiness movement; it is not a doctrinal system of beliefs. It is an experience every child of God can receive according to Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39 NKJV). (SermonCentral)
I want you to see that the Holy Spirit of God desires to fill a believer and empower them for service. I want to show you three characteristics that happen…it is not limited to these three but here are three things.
He desires to dwell within us
Corinthians 6:19
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”
Acts 2:38
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and 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.”
John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he (person) will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
He is not a God that just wants to be called upon as needed but desires to dwell and be a part of your everyday life.
Remember me telling you this- that God convicts and Satan condemns- Holy Spirit moves you towards Jesus- Satan will always condemn and push you as far away from God as he can. He dwells in you so that He can lead you toward God and not away from God.
So many Christians know Jesus but do not know the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives,
He will empower the believer
Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:26-27
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Psalm 51:11
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The power here is not a stronger faith- it is divine power to be witness for Jesus. There are no geographical boundaries that a spirit filled believer cannot overcome. The Spirit within them, the promised Holy Spirit empowers them to do more than what their limited talents and strengths would give them. The authority coming down from on high…hallelujah
Jesus set your people on fire! Allow us to use the authority and power given us as believers to see you do some amazing and wonderful things in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit seals us (Stay with me)
I do not have to wonder everyday if I am still a child of God. He says that our spirit will bear witness with His Spirit. We know that we know that we are the children of God. There is only one way to lose what God has given you and that is to choose that you don’t want it anymore.
Sad, several Christian singing artist after 20 years singing for the Lord are suddenly standing on those same stages and proclaim that they are no longer Christians. God help us to not be seduced by the enemy and lose the greatest gift God has ever given us.
Big names
Joshua Harris- author the popular book “I kissed dating goodbye” instructed everyone not to date, not to kiss, not to date. The most terrible relationship book ever written but it sold like crazy. Almost twenty years later, he admits it was a mistake. Then stands and proclaims he is no longer a Christian-
Marty Sampson- Australian song writer that stood up in 2019 and said that he does not believe the bible is true anymore. That he feels the best he has ever been after admitting it out loud.
Why do I say them? They have stood and said these things themselves. I say it because you better get your eyes off man and on Jesus so that if someone falls they don’t bring you down too- sealed in Jesus…NOT ANY PERSON
Ephesians 2:13-14 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
To accomplish these works, the Holy Spirit comes into the believer.
Close-
Internet close- wherever you are, you can build an altar and speak to the Lord-
your here this morning and you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and savior…that is the first thing that you need to do this morning. Experience the Lord and give Him your life, accept that you are a sinner in need of a savior. If you have already done that, today you say that you want the empowered life and the leading of the Holy Spirit of God in your life. Lord today I surrender my life to you and desire that your Spirit direct my life, that you would lead and guide me in the decisions of life. I want more of you Holy Spirit and less of me so that I can live today the life you desire for me.
Let’s pray-
