Langham/Field Dalling 30-05-04
Introduction:
There are, in my opinion, only three major celebrations in the Church Year.
1. Christmas when we celebrate the Birth of Christ
2. Easter when we celebrate the Death and Resurrection of Christ and
3. Pentecost (or Whitsun - for the Anglicans!!) when we celebrate the birth of the Church as recorded in our reading this morning from the Acts of the Apostles.
Today is Whitsun – Pentecost Sunday and is a time when we celebrate the grounding of the Church –as was recorded in our reading from the book of Acts this morning.
In one of the first articles that I wrote in Lynx, back in October 2001, I asked the question: Why do we have over 600 Churches directly or indirectly dedicated to an obscure Jewish carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth?
When Jesus died on the Cross on Good Friday in AD 29, conventional wisdom would have said that this was not a sensible way to start a world religion. Yet a world religion it has become!
How did an obscure carpenter from Nazareth,
who never wrote a book,
who never held high office,
who never led an army and
who died an ignoble death on a Cross
become the Man who has affected civilisation as we know it today more profoundly than any other.
May I offer you an answer to that question in my final service with you?
1. Part of the reason lies in the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead – an event that we remember at Eastertide every year.
And St. Paul records that there were at least 514 men who actually witnessed Jesus’ resurrection before he ascended into heaven.
2. But another part of the reason is that - at Pentecost - God’s Holy Spirit came in power on the Church, to enable them to share preach the Gospel effectively.
I find the book of Acts (and especially Acts 2) exciting - as it tells the story of how the Early Church spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in their communities
But the power of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in Acts 2, is not just an interesting historical tale and no more.
Charismatic and Pentecostal churches have rediscovered the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit in their preaching of the Gospel today.
And interestingly these are the fastest growing Churches.
They have discovered a dynamism which is reminiscent of that first Pentecost.
Indeed one church in Seoul, South Korea has a congregation of ¾ of a million people – though they don’t all turn up to church on Sunday at one sitting. But they don’t have problems with the quota either!!!!
So what was this event at Pentecost in AD 29 so special?
Jesus gave his Church the Great Commission in
Mt. 28:19 and 20 just before he left this earth.
He told them “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you till the end of the age”
It must have been very daunting to the disciples.
Yet Jesus gave them very clear instructions how they were to go about it.
In Acts 1, 8 Jesus said
But you shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnessses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
In other words, Jesus himself would enable them to fulfill the Great Commission.
So how did He do that?
By giving them the Power of the Holy Spirit – as was recorded in our reading from Acts 2.
There were three principles for success in
fulfilling the Great Commission and growing the Church.
1. The disciples obeyed Jesus
2. They needed the Power from on high
3. They shared the message with those around them and earthed their experience in God’s word
1. The first principle for success was that the disciples obeyed Jesus
Why, in Acts 1:8 were they told to wait before bearing witness to the Resurrection of Jesus? I don’t know other than because Jesus said so.
If we are going to be servants of Christ, we have to learn to do WHAT he tells us to do.
Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until power from on high comes upon them.
So what did they do? They spent their time in prayer – in anticipation.
In Acts 1:14 we read:
“They all joined together, constantly in prayer”
They got ready for action.
Prayer is the power house of the Christian life.
Prayer is the preparation for everything that we wish to do in Christ. It puts us in touch with HQ – with our Commander in Chief.
As John Penny has always reminded me: “Martin, don’t forget to say your prayers!”
2. The second principle for success was the gift of the Holy Spirit – the Power from on high needed to preach the Gospel.
God asks us to be willing – but we don’t have to preach the Gospel in our own strength.
The Church isn’t our worry – it’s God’s worry.
Maddy has a wonderful expression when I worry:
“Why pray when you can worry!!”
If we are going to do God’s work, we need to do it in HIS strength and not our own.
The Acts 2 experience made the disciples changed people.
Let us look at the change that happened in the Apostle Peter.
i) Before the Acts 2 Experience
I am sure you all recall how Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed twice:
One of these denials was recorded in Luke as follows:
Then a maid seeing him (Peter) as he sat in the light and gazing at him said "This man was also with Him" But he (Peter) denied it saying "Woman, I do not know Him". (Lk 22:56)
Peter didn’t have the power to stand up for Jesus in front of a maid of the High Priest.
ii) After the Acts 2 Experience
However after the Acts 2 experience we see a transformed St. Peter. In Acts 4, we see Peter who was scared to proclaim Christ in front of the High Priest’s maid.
Now we see him proclaiming Jesus in front of the High Priest himself. And if you read Acts 4 you will see that Peter wasn’t timid.
In fact, he was so direct and bold that you might have been tempted to give hinm Dale Carnegie’s book “How to make friends and influence people” for Christmas.
After Peter had spoken, St Luke records the effect it had on the Jewish Council in front of whom he was speaking:
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they wondered."
What was the result of the Pentecost experience in Acts 2.
The believers were given a boldness to witness to what they had experienced.
How did the crowds react in our reading this morning?:
St. Luke records
"And they were all amazed and wondered saying" Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?...we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."
(Acts 2 vv.7- 12)
3. The third principle for success in preaching the Gospel is that the disciples earthed their message in the Scriptures
The only Scriptures that St. Peter had - was the Old Testament.
The New Testament hadn’t been written.
Peter was well versed in his Bible.
He was able to earth his experience and the experience of the other believers in Scripture.
Many of the Sects get away with their false teaching because folk don’t know the Word of God.
God has revealed himself in the Scriptures and any genuine Christian experience will be biblically based.
Peter quotes the book Joel (Joel 2:28) a book that had been written over 800 years earlier.
What is happening here - Peter says conforms to Scripture. Joel prophesied it.
Conclusion
I find it of great comfort to know that growth in our churches is not my worry. It’s God’s worry. Particularly as I go to New Romney.
But I also know that the Lord has his hand on the work that is going on here. It will be an exciting time – for God does have a plan for us all.
We are called to do work with God by spreading the Good News.
Although the growth of the Church is not our worry, as disciples we have three responsibilities.
1. Our first responsibility is to hear and obey what God is saying to us.
The disciples listened to Jesus’words in Acts 1 and stayed in Jerusalem - and were fervent in prayer
2. Our second responsibility is to take the opportunity to share our faith.
Peter stood up among the people in Jerusalem and to the opportunity to explain the Christian faith to them. And 3000 were converted in one day!
3. And our third responsibility is to earth our Christian experience and our message in God’s Word – the Bible. In other words, spend time reading and studying the Bible.
So in conclusion
Whitsun – Pentecost Sunday - challenges us
1. to pray –
2. to read our Bible and
3. to be willing to use those opportunities that God gives us to share our faith with others.
