Acts_2
Scripture
Acts 2:17-21, 38, 41 NIV
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Peter replied, “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.
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Observation-What does it say?
It was the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was the Greek name for a festival known as the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament. The Greek Word means fifty and is the fifty days after the Passover. In the Book of Acts, it signified the beginning of the church age, after Jesus’ ascension, when the Holy Spirit came upon the Believers. (Source: gotquestions.org)
Understanding-What does it mean?
The Holy Spirit empowers our ministry and makes it more effective to the lost.
Acts 2:17-21, 38, 41 NIV
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Peter replied, “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.
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Observation-What does it say?
It was the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was the Greek name for a festival known as the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament. The Greek Word means fifty and is the fifty days after the Passover. In the Book of Acts, it signified the beginning of the church age, after Jesus’ ascension, when the Holy Spirit came upon the Believers. (Source: gotquestions.org)
Understanding-What does it mean?
The Holy Spirit empowers our ministry and makes it more effective to the lost.
God will use whatever means necessary to get our attention and to make our ministry more effective to the lost. When the Holy Spirit came upon the Believers at Pentecost, they were able to speak in different languages. Although they were Galileans, the Word of God spread to those who spoke different languages because of the Holy Spirit’s work in each of their lives. A total of 3,000 people repented, were saved and baptized that day!
Life Application
Be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Whether it is speaking in tongues, prophecying or healing, God distributes the Holy Spirit’s gifts as He wills in order to edify the believer and the Church. We believe that those gifts are still being distributed today!
For the next couple of months, Pastor will be preaching on the book of Acts and the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Every Wednesday evening starting tomorrow, we will have worship nights from 7-8p. On one of those nights, January 23rd, Pastor Gary will be leading a very special night of prayer geared specifically towards being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Please join us!
Dear Lord, we pray that we wouldn’t hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, whatever that looks like, and that we would be open to all the gifts of the Spirit that You desire us to have. Thank You that the power of Your Spirit is still alive and available to us today! I pray for an abundance of salvations and baptisms as a result of His work through us and that we would experience the same power of ministry and love that the early church did. Amen.
-Michelle Gaddi