A Powerful Church

Acts 2:1–4 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Introduction

Today were going to finish up our series on the OG Church.

This series has been spread out over a few weeks but today were going to conclude it.

Recap

Just a quick recap to this point

We have been looking at the origional church in the book of acts

and through it we have been discovering the hallmarks of the church

the things that made them who they were..

that enabled them to live as christ’s followers,

to reach many in their communities..

and see the church grow in exponential ways..

Gather

we started by looking at the hallmark that the early church MADE A POINT TO BE TOGETHER REGULARLY

they made a point to gather

and be together..

we talked about the importance of phyically being in church when possible and gathering with other like minded believers

and we talked about the impact that has on our christian faith.

Community

taking this further, we looked at the hallmark that the early church didnt just simply meet up.

but they practiced the biblical concept of community..

they werent just together regularly..

they did life together..

They took care of one another..

and made sure no one in the community had need..

going as far as selling everything they had and distributing what they had..

they prayed together, sang together, and studied together

and this community enabled them to be thier best for christ and be the hands and feet of Jesus

Bold

Then, a couple of weeks ago we discovered another hallmark of the church..

that being that the early church was a BOLD CHURCH

they were a church that was not afraid to share the gospel of Jesus..

They were not afraid to witness for Jesus

and even suffer for Jesus..

in fact they embraced and took joy in suffering for jesus..

we saw that They were convinced he was who he said he was and because of this,

being empowered by the holy spirit, they were a bold testimony that reached many

We talked about how God is still looking for a bold church today..

a church that will boldy proclaim his name to all they encounter..

and I challanged you to take th roman road tracks we gave you to go and witness to one person..

and I hope you did.

Final

Today were going to conclude our series with one of the most notable hallmarks of the early church

one that the entire book of acts is known for..

one that is the root of who we are as a church and a denomonation ..

that being that the early church was a church not a weak and fearful church..

they were a powerful church

A Spirit Filled and empowered Church..

A church that saw the power of God operate through the body of believers in many wonderful ways..

and caused the church to, as acts 17:6 says..”Turn the world upside down”

This morning I want to remind you that this same power is still avalible for you and I today..

The Church is baptized..

When the book of acts opens

We find the apostles and 120 of the followers of Jesus in an upper room

waiting..

And they are waiting because Jesus has instructed them to do so..

Acts 1:4 (ESV)

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;

Fortold

but this is not the first time this coming event has been fortold..

From the begining of the gospels we find that scripture tells us of the event that is about to take place in this room..

John the baptist before JEsus begins his minsitry proclaimed it...

Matthew 3:11 (ESV)

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Jesus fortold it to the disicples while he was walking with them..

John 14:26 ESV

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 16:7 ESV

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And now Jesus has been cricified, burried, raised, and assended..

and he tells them, dont leave jerusalem until you receive the promise of the father...

Spirit poured out..

and as the group is gathered in this upper room what john prophecied and JEsus promises takes place..

Acts 2:1-4 records

Acts 2:1–4 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Spirit is poured out on the believers in the upper room..

and not just in a momentary fasion as was in many times in the old testament when the spirit would come upon people..

this is new..

this is a permanant baptism of fire..

THEY HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO THE CHURCH

And with him a new power for believers..

a FRESH BREATH…

THE POWER OF GOd THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT..

THE CHURCH IS BORN AND BEGINS LIVING THIS NEW EMPOWERED LIFE..

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING..

imediatly we begin to see the drastic change in the church and its believers..

The power to witness

The first thing we see is this power emboldens the church to be a witness..

they are emboldened to share the gospel and the testimony of Jesus ..

Witnesses

through this series weve seen how Peter in this moment goes from couward to fruitful evangelist..

and 3,000 people are saved..

and weve seen how the apostles will stand in the temple on multiple ocassions and declare Jesus, even after suffering..

and multitudes cames to salvation..

The power of the holy spirit given them the boldness and annointing throughout the book of acts to witness far and wide..

planting new churches and expanding the body of believers to every known city through the world..

but witnessing is not the only thing we witness with this new power..

Change

We find ordinary people.

flawed and failing people..

whos lives are forever changed and empowered to live for Jesus..

Miracles

we see the miraculous take place through the new church..

individual

By the time we end the book of acts we will see over 20 specific miracles…

lame men being healed..

prison doors flinging open..

the dead are brought back to life..

demons are cast out..

Words are given..

miracle after miracle takes places..

Multiple

ANd then their are 9 addtional times where we see clusters of miracles takes place as well

places in scripture where we see that poeple or groups of people did groups of miracles!

or saw signs and wonders..

My Point

Its important that we recognize that..

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES ON THE CHURCH THE CHURCH IS EMPOWERED TO LIVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IN THE EARTH..

TO BE HIS RELFECTION, HIS HANDS, AND HIS FEET

AND THEY TURN THEIR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN FOR HIM..

It Didnt End there

I want to remind you this morning that contrary to the belief some within the church at large..

the outpouring of the holy spirit did not end with the apostles..

and it was not only for the apostles..

It did not end with the book of acts..

it did not die with the early church..

Others in Acts..

in fact we need go no further than acts to see this..

The bible says that all those in the upper room was baptised in the holy spirit.. 120

not just the apostles..

later in acts 8:17 the samaritains receive the holy spirit..

in acts 10 the family of cornielus.. a gentile group.. receives the holy spirit..

so it wasnt just the apostles even in the book of acts..

Through the years..

but after acts..

church history records that the thread of pentecost was carried through the centures by others in the faith as well..

groups throughout history who expereinced the power of pentecost in thier lives..

and modern history records this as well..

Shearer Creek Storehouse

in 1886 RG and richard spurling got fed up with baptist doctrines and left their organizations to found what would later be known as the church of god..

then 1896 in camp creek north carolina.. at shear school house..

the 10 year old church of god gathered for revival

and the power of the holy spirit fell on a group of formly baptist..

and the church was baptised in the holy spirit..

Azuza Street

in 1906 william seymor gathers a small group of poeple for prayer in a room on azuza street in los angelos California..

while they were praying the holy spirit was poured out and they willed with the holy spirit and began to speak in toungues..

the revial lasted almost 10 years..

Asbury University

even more recently..

in 2023 on the asbury university campus in a normal chaple service..

something began to stir..

and what was suposed to be a single service lasted 16 days..

There were reports of students being filled with the holy spirit and speaking in other toungues..

later this revival would spread from school.. to school..

both religous and secular..

and god would pour his spirit out flesh once again in a wide way..

I want you to understand this morning that God is still pouring out his spirit on the church....

HE IS STILL EMPOWERING BELIEVERS AND HIS CHURCH..

HE HAS NOT STOPPED FILLING BELIEVERS WITH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

He is still empowering believers to live a bold and powerful life as a witness for him.

AND HE WANTS TO EMPOWER YOU AND I

Why does God want to empower us?

I want to talk really quick about why god wants to empower the you..

tell your neigbor you..

There are many reason for the church to be empowered..

1. to help us live like Jesus..

Romans 8:26 ESV

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

The spirit helps us to live our life for JEsus ..

He helps us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind..

Ways

John 16:8 says he shows us the boundrys of what is sin..

Galatians 5:16 tells us he gives us power of temptation..

1 Peter 1:2 tells us that he sanctfies us, helping us be more and more like Jesus

Ephesians 1:17 tells us he gives us wisdom..

Acts 13:4 tells us he is a guide..

HE IS THE POWER THAT HELPS YOU SIMPLY TO BE THE CHILD OF GOD YOU ARE CALLED TO BE!

Fruit

he also produces fruit within us..

that makes us more like Jesus

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Paul tells us that if we will learn to walk by the spirit.. or live according to the holy spirit..

we will not gratify the desires of the flesh..

HE EMOWERS US TO LIVE LIKE JESUS!!

AND HE DOES THIS WITH A PURPOSE!

BECAUSE HE WANTS OTHERS TO SEE THE JESUS IN YOU AS WELL

2. to help us be a witness for him..

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Most people think that the most important part of being will with the spirit is speaking in toungues..

and while speaking in toungues is an important language..

and is the initial evidence of spirit baptism..

Jesus says in acts 1:8 that the primary objective of spirit baptism is being a witness..

SHARING THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS WITH THE WORLD

AND MORE SO THAN ANYTHING THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS US TO LIVE OUR LIFE RIGHT WITH GOD SO WE CAN DO WHAT JESUS SAYS IN MATTHEW 5:16

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

GOD USES US TO REACH OTHERS

Its one begger helping another begger find the bread of life..

God empowers us to be a witness..

Again.. We see this through acts..

Acts example

It was the power of the holy spirit that enables peter to stand on the balcony and declare Jesus.

It was the power of the holy spirit that enables stephan to face death and describe the son of man on the throne..

it was the power of the holy spirit that embrazed paul to speak with authority across the land..

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US POWER TO BE WITNESSES FOR JESUS!

3.To help us serve the church body as large..

Through the power of the holy spirit god gives gifts to individuals in the body to serve the body at large..

1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

What is a gift?

a gift is a supernatural ability given by the holy spirit to a person, for the purpose of serving the church and their own faith..

and there are many gifts..

1 Corinthians 12:4–11 ESV

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

there are many gifts..

and they are given at the discresion of god..

and their purpose in the church is to edify, encourage and even correct the body..

About God...

These gifts and more, are not given for noteriaty..

or to make somone more important than another..

YOU BETTER WATCH WHO CALLS THEMSELF A PROPHET..

Simon the sourcerer

Remember simon the sourcerer?

He wants to buy the gift of the holy spirit for his own profit?

and peter rebuked him.

because the gifts are not about you..

they are simply god working through you and i for his glory..

but God gives us gifts..

4. to help us change the world for Jesus..

Acts 17:6 ESV

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

Mark 16:17–18 ESV

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

God wants to use you and I to change peoples lives..

to see them healed..

delivered..

encouraged..

saved..

And living for him..

So how does God empower us?

God wants to fill you.. (Music)

I want to tell you this morning..

God wants to fill you with his spirit

he wants you to have an overflowing portion of his spirit that will enable you to live and empowered life..

baptize

And god doesnt just want to fill you..

baptise you..

Remember what John said?

Matthew 3:11 (ESV)

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

what does that mean?

Baptize

Already have a portion..

If you know Jesus, the holy spirit already lives in you..

It was him who help you come to Jesus in the first place..

He is the one who revealed you sin to you..

he is the one who applied the blood of Jesus to you are repentance..

and he is the only who sealed you as a believer..

so you already have the holy spirit in you..

Baptism..

but what god wants to do this morning..

is baptise you in the holy spirit..

the word in the new testament greek for baptism is batizo..

And it doesnt just mean to dunk..

It carries the idea of a sunken ship..

and where you are emersed in the water..

but the water is in you as well..

GOD WANTS TO BAPTISE YOU IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

HE WANTS HIS SPIRIT OVERFLOWING OUT OF YOU..

AND YOU IMERSED IN HIM..

HOW do we receive the holy spirit??

so how do I receive the baptism of the holy spirit?

Know Jesus .. the baptism of the holy spirit is for the believer..

aks him..

receive it and speak it in faith..

You say well I dont want him to make me do silly things

he wont..

You say will I speak in toungues?

yes.. speaking in toungues is the initial evidence recorded through acts multiple times of spirit baptism..

You say, Ive already been baptised before..

come and receive a fresh portion..

God wants to give you more..

Are you ready to be an empowered church?