Happy Birthday

Pentecost  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  36:26
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"Happy Birthday Christian Church". Based on Acts 2:14-21. Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian Church since this is the celebration of the Holy Spirit coming to be with us, just as Jesus promised. Peter began the celebration with preaching which is where we get our example of preaching in church.

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Notes
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Opening prayer, dedication
Music ministry
498 Peace Like A River
195 Nothing But the Blood
In the Hands of Christ My King
Word of God - Liturgist
Acts 2:14–21 ESV
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Message: “Happy Birthday”
Today is a “two-fer” Sunday
First, Today is Memorial Day Sunday
A day set aside to remember those who died in military service
They gave all they had for our country, for our freedom and for each one of us
Second, and more significantly, today is Pentecost
The birthday of the Christian Church
So, today’s message will combine celebrating church and remembering those who died securing the freedom that allows us to gather in this very church
What a great thing, to celebrate a birthday
I know that when we celebrate family birthdays
As many people as can possible make it all come together in one place
You might recognize that as the title from the message last week, “In One Place”
All because before we can celebrate together, we have to BE TOGETHER
We gather at church functions together for a variety of reasons, and more than one reason
To praise God
To learn more about God
To encourage our faith family
and to be encouraged as well
Our family birthday gatherings are similar
We get together because we genuinely like each other
We do NOT all agree on everything, but we love and respect each other and we are not so self-absorbed as to think we are perfect
We like to hear what’s going on in the lives of our family members
We like to offer support and encouragement
And, of course, we like to eat (I mean we always learn something new)
As we gather to celebrate the birthday of the Christian church, how can THAT be relevant to our lives today?
Stay tuned
Our core text today started in verse 14 of Acts 2, which is later than most Pentecost sermons
Here is a quick catch-up to what happened before this passage
Jesus told His followers that He would have to leave them, but to wait and Jesus would send the “Helper” or Holy Spirit to be with them (and us) always
In Acts 2:1-4 we get the description of what happened on Pentecost
Acts 2:1–4 ESV
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
All these people from different places and different values and different languages
They all experienced the Holy Spirit come into the room
They could understand regardless of their history or language
Those who were “in the Spirit”, the Believers, boy they had an experience
And there were those who rejected what they were seeing and hearing and accused the Believers of being drunk or whatever
In response to what God had just done AND the unbelief of some,
Peter gives this great sermon which was where our core text began in Acts 2:14ff.
This is truly the beginning of the church
God shows Himself
There are those who doubt and criticize and disbelieve what God has clearly done
So, God calls on a person, a preacher to proclaim the truth boldly
Obedient preachers have been dispelling the lies of the culture since the beginning of church and we continue today
So, if you get tired of hearing messages that attack the culture of doubt and sin, just know that is exactly what God has commanded since the beginning of church
Takeaways-Christian Church
1.Replaces cultural Lies with Biblical truth
There is a great struggle between the culture and the Christian Church
We talk about culture wars and the like
The culture changes, sometimes very quickly
And not ALWAYS for the better
The culture is absolutely against the institutions the God created
I say “against” because when you change and redefine the institution, it is absolutely “against” the original design
So, preachers and ALL Believers should boldly speak out against
Redefining marriage (institution)
God designed marriage as being between one man and one woman
The value of life in all stages
God says to value life in the womb and wheelchair alike
The family is responsible for teaching children
Husbands and wives have the primary job of instruction
To let the government instill values is an abandonment of parental responsibility
Men-shepherd your children
This is what we have been talking about in our Men’s Group
The Bible is clear in the mandate for families to teach their children
Do not give that role away to the government or even the church
It is appropriate to partner with the church in teaching, but the primary role belongs to you
And this is a daily requirement
I promise that on Judgment Day, God’s truth is all that will matter
Families will be held responsible for what children have been taught
The government and the schools will not be in that position as institutions
We MUST each do our part as defined by God, not what the culture things for the day
And the church is responsible for clearly and boldly teaching and professing biblical truth
Takeaways-Christian Church
1.Replaces cultural Lies with Biblical truth
2. Proclaims the Gospel to Everyone
When Peter said in Acts 2:14, “Men of Judea and ALL who dwell in Jerusalem”, this was just he beginning
Speaking against the Jewish cultural belief that only Jews were God’s people was big
This was setting the stage for the evangelism that Paul would engage in later
The idea that the Gospel message is for everyone of all nations, all origins of birth, both genders, rich and poor
This is significant because we are ALL God’s people, united under Christ once we believe in Him
In other words, once the Holy Spirit enters us, as He did the Church in Acts 2, then we are no longer Jew nor Greek, gentile or whatever
We are now Brothers and Sisters in Christ-all children of God
One of the best confirmations of the “oneness” or unity we should be enjoying comes from Peter in his sermon
Peter cited Joel 2:28-32 where God is speaking through Joel
Let’s just look at Joel 2:28-29
Joel 2:28–29 ESV
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
We could spend the whole sermon here
God will pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh
That’s what happened on Pentecost
Everyone who was open to God received the Holy Spirit
Young and old
Male and Female
Master and Servant
All became Brothers and Sisters in Christ
In the context of what is going on in the culture today
Some would consider it mean or even hate speech that I said “male and female” as if there was not another option
Sorry, but the creator of the universe made us male and female only
To put it in common car language,
If you buy a car with and replace the fuel injection system with a carburetor and super charger
Don’t even think about going back to he manufacturer when something doesn’t work
Aftermarket modifications impact your warranty
So, God pours out the Holy Spirit to everyone, but not everyone will be receptive
Others will initially receive the Holy Spirit only to try to change the details of the arrangement later
“Thank you Lord for coming into my life, now about those Commandments”
Surely, you know that marriage doesn’t mean what it did way back when
Surely you wouldn’t want to interfere with love
Surely you wouldn’t want us to get married until we had a chance to make sure we were perfect together in every way
Surely you would want us to entertain people to get them to church and keep the kids happy
No, from the very beginning of church we are called to hold fast and stay true to the Word of God
That is to say, we are all welcome to receive Christ which requires that WE change
Recall Acts 2:21 from our core text today
Acts 2:21 ESV
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved, but calling on the Lord requires submission to the Lord too
We are not allowed to change the Word of God or to try to change Jesus to our personal or cultural desires or likes
Therefore, we “Proclaim the Gospel to Everyone”
But we let no one attempt to change the gospel message
Remember that the true Gospel comes from God, not mankind
This is the perfect segue to our third Takeaway about the Christian church
Takeaways-Christian Church
1.Replaces cultural Lies with Biblical truth
2. Proclaims the Gospel to Everyone
3. Teaches sin and repentance
While the culture attempts to normalize and redefine what is good
That’s what we learned in Isaiah 5:20
Isaiah 5:20 ESV
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
From the beginning,
Church has been required to call sin sin, not to try to or allow sin to be redefined
And we can’t talk about sin without talking about repentance
That is the ultimate response to Peter’s sermon as reported in Acts 2:38
Acts 2:38 ESV
38 And Peter said to them, “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.
First, we must Call on the Lord
Second, we repent-we need to see what that word meant in the Greek
μετανοέω (metanoeō): repent, to change one’s life, based on complete change of attitude and thought concerning sin and righteousness
We absolutely MUST CHANGE our lives, not change the rules!
As your pastor, I implore each of you to change your lives by turning from sin and turning toward Jesus and His righteousness
That is the best way to honor and celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church
To complete in obedience what the Christian church was designed to be
Takeaways-Christian Church
1.Replaces cultural Lies with Biblical truth
2. Proclaims the Gospel to Everyone
3. Teaches sin and repentance
4. Celebrate the Christian Church by being the Church God created
As we near the end of this message, How does this connect with Memorial Day?
Just as we honor Jesus and the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation by living a life that shows appreciation for the benefits of His sacrifice
By boldly professing our faith in Jesus
By turning from our sin and toward righteousness
By loving all of God’s creation enough to share the gospel widely
After all, Jesus bought our salvation with His very blood
We need to honor those men and women who gave their lives in service to our country
This country provides us great opportunity regardless of our birth-rite
This country provides us great freedom
To speak freely
To gather and worship our God freely
To even disagree with the government in the moment
Those who gave their lives in service this country secured and preserved our freedoms with their blood
For that we should be forever thankful
So, let Memorial Day be about more than a day off work and a day to party
More importantly,
Let Pentecost be about more than a celebration of 50 days
Let Pentecost be more than just a day we say the Easter Season is over
Let Pentecost be marked with a true birthday celebration
Where we give thanks for the Holy Spirit
With renew our decision to accept Jesus as Lord
a Day when we actively repent by turning from any sin in our lives
And truly embrace the breadth of the Christian Church
All are welcome as we are
Even as all must change as we turn from our sin and turn toward Jesus and His righteousness
All united as brothers and sisters in Christ
May we be a country of freedom who blesses God as we seek His will for us all
Happy birthday church!
AMEN
Closing Hymn/Invitation:
Holy Spirit
Pastoral prayer/Benediction
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