If worship is boring,
then who am I worshipping?
Acts Series: ¡§Completely Irreligious, Yet Radically Christian¡¨ Part 3
Pastor Jeff Christopherson
January 26, 2003
Acts 2:1-13
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ¡¥SPIRITUAL¡¦:
1. Worship flows from my Heart.
¡§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 and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.¡¨ 2:1-4
HOW TO EXPERIENCING HEARTFELT WORSHIP:
A) True worship is a Response to God¡¦s Presence.
¡§¡Ka sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire¡K¡¨
B) True worship is both Individual and Corporate.
¡§When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place¡K and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit¡K¡¨
C) True worship is more Internal than External.
¡§The time is coming,¡¨ declares the LORD, ¡§when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel¡K¡§This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,¡¨ declares the LORD. ¡§I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.¡¨ Jeremiah 31:31, 33
(external expression flows from internal experience)
¡§¡Kbe filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.¡¨ Ephesians 5:18-19
2. Ministry focuses Outward.
¡§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. Utterly amazed, they asked: ¡§Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?¡¨ 2:5-7
What about the Gift of Tongues in Acts?
A) They were understandable human languages.*
*dialectos, languages (vs. 6, 8)
*heteros, different tongues, other tongues (vs. 4)
B) They were God¡¦s strategic way to share His message to unbelievers.
C) They were validation of God¡¦s message as it expanded from Jerusalem to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
Principle: The intent of Spiritual Gifts is ministering to others ¡V not to myself.
(note the problems Paul faced with a ¡¥pseudo-spiritual¡¦ group in the church of Corinth: 1 Corinthians 12-14)
¡§For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.¡¨ John 3:6
3. Barriers fall Between People.
¡§Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs¡Xwe hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!¡¨ Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ¡¥What does this mean?¡¦¡¨ 2:8-12
Is there a power that can unify the divided nations of the earth without subjugating them? Is there a way of making people one, without at the same time making them all the same? It is precisely that sort of unity which the Holy Spirit brings. And He declares His intention in the matter right at the beginning, on the day of Pentecost¡K the Pentecost tongues were a pointer to the way in which the Holy Spirit was going to break down social barriers and create an unprecedented kind of internationalism. Unlike the imperialisms of men, the Spirit had no ambition to homogenize the people of the world into a uniform culture.*
*Roy Clements, The Church That Turned the World Upside Down; 20, 23
¡§In Christ¡¦s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.¡¨ Galatians 3:28 (Message)
(Jesus) ¡§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.¡¨ Acts 1:8
¡§After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.¡¨ Revelation 7:9
4. Rejection often follows an Encounter with God.
¡§Some, however, made fun of them and said, ¡§They have had too much wine.¡¨ 2:13
¡§Now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.¡¨ 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NLT)
Scripture passages from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
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Home Church Discussion Guide: BEING SPIRITUAL
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1. When have you most felt like a ¡¥fish out of water¡¦? What did you learn from that experience? 2. Pentecost occurs 50 days after the Passover (when Jesus was crucified). This means the early disciples were waiting together in Jerusalem for one week (Jesus spent 40 days with them) for whatever God was going to do. What thoughts and emotions do you think the disciples were going through at this time? 3. Why do you think God waited until Pentecost (see Deuteronomy 16:9-11) to give the Holy Spirit? 4. Read Acts 2:1-4. If you were one of the 120, what would be going through your mind? 5. Read 2:5-13. How does being filled with the Spirit relate to; a) experiencing true worship? b) bearing witness to Jesus? c) the breaking down of barriers? d) experiencing persecution? 6. When have you experienced a spiritual empowering by God to become His witness? How can we allow the internal presence of God¡¦s Spirit in our lives to cause us to be used in a supernatural way by Him?
㦠2003, Jeff Christopherson, The Sanctuary
