Happy Birthday

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