Wednesday with the Word Wheat Street Baptist Church Rev. Ralph Basui Watkins, MFA, DMin, PhD Servant Pastor / Teacher Lesson #4: January 30, 2019 The Power in You and the Church: Keep on Pushing Acts 2:1-13 Vision: We exist to develop mature disciples of Jesus Christ who make a real difference in the world by actively seeking the love, justice, freedom, liberation and peace of God. We are the church in the heart of Atlanta with Atlanta its heart! This is what love looks like. On the day of Pentecost all the Lord s followers were together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak. CEV When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among 1 of 5
them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. NRSV When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all [a]with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. NKJV All Together: You find whenever God moves in the book of Acts in ways that empower the church, they were all together. This is doesn t mean they were in the same place but what it means is that they were on the same page. They had a unity, they had a togetherness, they were on one accord. The Power of Being Vision Focused They are being empowered to fulfill the vision / mission God has given them: Acts 1:8 8 Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. When they call new members to the team what is their mission? Acts 1:21-23 21-22 So we need someone else to help us tell others that Jesus has been raised from death. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very beginning. He must have been with us from the time the Lord Jesus was baptized by John until the day he was taken to heaven. 23 Two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas, known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. It is interesting they, don t question the vision and they act on the vision. Acting on what God has called you to do should take so much of your energy and time you don t have time to worry about what other folk are doing. Your mission has to be to fulfill God s vision for your life and for this house. When you are consumed by the vision from God and making that vision come to life become focused and defend your time to get it done. When we center and focus on the vision, understanding the vision, praying the vision, and living the vision it is in doing this that we develop unity around the vision (personal and the church). 2 of 5
If there is a vision how do we have di-vision around the the vision? If the vision is God given, how can there be di-vision around the Vision? What creates dissension and division in the church? What creates dissension and division in your family / life? What is your vision for you life and ministry? Is your vision written down? If you don t know where you are going any road will get you there! Acts 2:3-4 3 They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak They saw fire, they saw the presence of the Holy Spirt. So we can see the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowered them. It empowered them to speak in a new lanquage. Scholars are divided if this means they spoke in tongues or if they were literally speaking different / new languages. What we do know is God gave a new word in a new way. The Holy Spirit brings a fresh word in a new way. If we are preaching the same old sermons, teaching the same Bible Studies and Sunday School the same old way then there is an absence of the Holy Spirit. A manifestation of the Holy Spirit is a newness, a fresh fire, a new way! Do you see the Holy Spirit in your life and ministry? What in your ministry or life is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit? What is God doing in you and through you that is new, different, exciting and empowered by the Holy Ghost? They were doing something they had never done before. This is what God calls us to. God does not call us to repeat what we have done but rather God calls us to follow God where God leads and to allow God to make us new. If you aren t being re-newed and doing new things for God then you aren t growing. If you aren t growing you aren t maturing. If you are not maturing then you are not following. Mark 1:16-19 3 of 5
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Follow me and I will make you fish for people. 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. NRSV They left all to follow Jesus. They left what they knew to become what they could not see. Jesus says, Follow me and I will make you! As you follow God what is God making in and out of you? Where is God calling you to follow? Where are you going / growing in God? There is this constant refrain: The Formula: Leave + Follow = Make What are you leaving? What do you need to leave or stop doing that is getting in the way of you becoming what God wants you to become? Matthew 28:19-20 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Where are we going? Can we expect to grow if we don t go? The Formula: Leave + Follow + Go = Make Acts 2:5-11 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of 4 of 5
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs in our own languages we hear them speaking about God s deeds of power. NRSV When you are empowered by the Holy Spirit you ought to be doing something that is amazing. Something that even blows your mind. The people were amazed and astonished because of what they heard and what they saw. People who didn t believe what they saw but it was so amazing they couldn t look away. What are you doing, what is the the church doing that is so amazing people can t look away? What amazing things does God want to do through you? What moves is God trying to make in your life that will lead to amazing stuff? Acts 2:12-13 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? 13 But others sneered and said, They are filled with new wine. When you are doing major stuff for God by the power of the Holy Spirit it might look stupid. People might call you drunk but that is OK! What we do shouldn t make sense to the world and we must be Okay with that. We might look like we are out of our mind but know better because we know God and what God is doing. Side Note: When the day of Pentecost had come it was the Jewish feast day, fifty days after Passover, commemorating the the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai (see: Leviticus 23:15-21). This passage exhibits the rich associations with that event (see: Exodus 19-20). 5 of 5