Too Much Wine? Series

They had too much wine

This is going beyond hiding in a room, they have now spent time with the risen Christ and are starting to see who they are, and so they have gone out, without really knowing what would be next.

Intro: The world is a very busy place, we live in a very strange time, where people hurry from one place to another, trying to find any way they can to save some time, but all the while the biggest problem people face is being bored. We live in a frenetic tornado of activity, but very little is getting done. Even within churches, we can often see this, we can get everyone really busy, but the end result is often not lives changed, people coming to Christ, but just tired people. So for all of us figuring out what it will mean to be the church for this time, and this place, we want to see how we can make sure that we are in the midst of the action that Christ is calling us into.

So today we get to look at a really fun passage, in the beginning of Acts, which for many is seen as the birth of the early church.

Who is there: First disciples of Jesus, as well as some other followers of Jesus, and then there was this other bunch of random people around.

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Following is the sermon of Peter: which is the people’s Stories and history, and what Peter’s story was.

36 key to the sermon: God has made Jesus lord and Christ, this one you have crucified. Lord and Christ, what does that mean? Lord: He is truly ruler over the earth, with none more powerful, but also LORD, God himself come down. As well as Christ: he is the one sent of God, the anointed one. A sent one to a people who will be sent.

And there are some pretty amazing things that come out of there...

To some degree, we are going to play with the order of the questions, because the one question near the end of those first 13 verses is such a great question for us to read whenever we get into the bible:

What does it mean?

First, Pentecost

The text says that It was the day of Pentecost,(now - whenever you get to a big word, significant word in scripture, look back, because there is usually a story behind the story, an idea or back story that is the basis of the present story).

Pentecost is part of a bigger event, because for Jewish people, there are a few things that are foundational, things that are a part of their very fibre... one of them is creation, understanding the creation story and the God behind it and the rhythm of creation, another is the exodus, of which Pentecost is a part of.

And so we are going to go through the quick view of this

Starts with Passover, with the lamb, this is the first month of the year. (this is like our lives, with the mess of our lives, can we get a new start, and this is a celebration that God is offering a tomorrow that is different than today, and that is the core of the exodus story, this is the God of hope) These slaves are promised that things will not stay the same and that there is hope; they have a meal and are awoken to say that it is time to go.