What It Means To Be A Pentecostal

Title: What Does it mean to be a Pentecostal

To discuss this question we must talk about the Holy Spirit.

Text: ACTS 2:1-4

The most remarkable aspect of this era that we live in is The pouring out of the Holy Spirit

Many times people in the church relegate the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to an historical event.

The simplest way to understand the reason for the outpouring of the spirit is that

The Holy Spirit came to make Jesus real To make God personal To draw us And correct us

The Holy Spirit is not just a doctrine, he is a person He has probably been the most misrepresented and maligned person of the trinity He has been ignored and grieved

But God has used Pentecostals to raise up a standard to hold fast to the integrity of the person of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecostals don’t relegate Him to an "it", we personalize Him, and he personalizes God.

Tonight I want to proclaim to you that we are a Pentecostal Church

-Not because we like fancy titles -Not because we speak in tongues -Not because we want to separate ourselves from other denominations -NOT BECAUSE WE THINK WE ARE BETTER

but we are a Pentecostal church

Because we believe every Christian deserves to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit… The promise of God…

John 14:15 "If you love me you will obey what I command, and I will ask the father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever -

GOD HELP US TO BE THE CHURCH GOD INTENDED THAT WE WOULD BE.

PRAYER

I. WRONG EMPHASIS

From the beginning there has been a receiving of the Holy Spirit,

but a wrong motivation or emphasis in the heart of man as to the use and purpose of that gift -soon developed.

Acts 8:9-10 "Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great., and people both high and low gave him their attention and exclaimed

"This man is the divine power known as the great power"

vs 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of hands he offered the Apostles money and said "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

Simon desired the power, because he wanted people to look at him. He had an inner desire to be seen as

"The divine power known as the great power"

In recent decades there has been an emphasis upon persons receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit for an -Inner illumination, -A spiritual power -An emotional release

But the thrust of the New Testament is empowerment

Not for our sakes

II. The real purpose Empowerment For Service.

For you and I have a great task before us in this day of PENTECOST

Matthew 28:18-20

? I ask you Is he going to leave us powerless to perform this service.. NO...

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me".

It occurred to me

If God has set before us a Harvest/ and a great commission to reap that harvest.

If God has set before us a Job to do then he will surely set before us the equipment for the Job.

I believe that God gives his disciples the right tool for the right job.

Now you would not use

-a wrench as a hammer -knife as a screw driver -a piece of paper as a dust pan using the wrong tool for the job.

instead you would use a hammer to drive a nail a screw driver for a screw and a dust pan as a dust pan.

Men and women’s efforts and ingenuity cannot accomplish the task of the harvest, of taking the gospel to the whole world.

Many churches try to use the wrong tool for the job set before them.

They use - Skill, - Intelligence, - Money, - Beauty, - Reputation - Eloquence of speech - Talent

They say, "Let us build the most beautiful and friendly church in town and then we will have fulfilled the great commission.

They do these things, because they think that putting their best foot forward is God’s way of completing the task.

What God Really Wants

Are yielded people divinely empowered by the Holy Spirit.

God intended that the task of taking the gospel to the whole world take place through a people who replicate the POWER OF JESUS

not Wall Street or Hollywood.

We are a Pentecostal Church

And you should wear the badge of Pentecostal with honor

III. Marks of a Pentecostal Christian?