UNLEASHED: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

IT WAS A NORMAL TRIP TO COSTCO

WE GOT OUR USUALS

THEY SAY NEVER GO GROCERY SHOPPING WHILE YOU’RE HUNGRY

I HAVE ONE TO ADD: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR KIDS GROCERY SHOPPING.

WE PROCEEDED TO THE CHECKOUT AND GOT IN LINE

THAT’S WHEN IT HAPPENED

MY SWEET DAUGHTER SEES SOMETHING AND SAYS SAYS SOMETHING. NO FILTER:

“DADDY, WHY DOES THAT LADY HAVE A SAMPLE CUP ON HER HEAD?”

THE LADY IN QUESTION WAS WEARING A BONNET THAT TO MY DAUGHTER RESEMBLED THE SAMPLE CUPS FROM THE VENDORS AT COSTCO.

SHE WAS ALSO STANDING 5 FEET AWAY AND I HAD NOWHERE TO HIDE

TRANSITION: WE LAUGH (MOST OF THE TIME) WHEN OUR KID SAYS SOMETHING UNEXPECTED, BUT WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE WHEN JESUS SAYS THE UNEXPECTED?

PENTECOST

TODAY IS PENTECOST SUNDAY

IT MAY COME AS A SURPRISE TO SOME THAT PENTECOST DID NOT BEGIN IN ACTS 2

WE WILL EXPLORE THAT TODAY, BUT THAT’S NOT THE UNEXPECTED PART.

YOU SEE, THE PENTECOST FEAST OF ACTS 2 HAS AN IMMEDIATE CONTEXT AND A DISTANT ONE AND AN ONGOING ONE.

SLIDE: WHAT IS PENTECOST?

TO ANSWER THIS WE MUST BEGIN WITH THE DISTANT CONTEXT

IN HEBREW IT’S KNOWN AS SHAVUOT= FEAST OF WEEKS

RABBIT HOLE

SIDE NOTE: THERE ARE 3 MAJOR FEASTS THAT GOD GAVE ISRAEL TO KEEP DURING THE EXODUS AND WILDERNESS WANDERING.

EACH OF THEM FOLLOW THE LUNAR CALENDAR AND THEY FOLLOW THE HARVEST TIMES OF THE YEAR.

WE NORMALLY ONLY THINK OF THE HOLIDAY’S, BUT IT’S HELPFUL FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THEIR CONNECTION TO LIFE.

BEFORE PASSOVER, THERE IS THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD WHERE ALL OF THE LEAVEN IS REMOVED FROM YOUR HOUSE, THEN THE PASSOVER MEAL, THEN THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS.

THESE ALL COINCIDE WITH ONE ANOTHER. THE FIRST FRUIT IS THE BARLEY HARVEST.

BARLEY ISN’T THE CHOICE GRAIN, BUT IT WAS GENERALLY WHAT IS GIVEN TO THE POOR. IF YOU WERE IN A DESPERATE SITUATION, THE BARLEY HARVEST WAS GOOD NEWS THAT GOD WAS PROVIDING FOR YOU.

ON THE FIRST DAY AFTER THE SABBATH AFTER PASSOVER, THE PRIEST WOULD STAND ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT WALLS AND WAVE THE GREEN SPRIGS OF THE FIRST FRUITS AS AN OFFERING TO THE LORD.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE? THE FIRST DAY AFTER THE SABBATH AFTER THE PASSOVER.

PAUL SAYS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15:19-20 ESV

1 Corinthians 15:19–20 ESV

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

THE SPRING FEASTS POINT TO JESUS SACRIFICE, HIS REMOVING OF OUR SIN, AND HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.

NOW, THAT BRINGS US TO PENTECOST.

BACK TO PENTECOST

IT’S CALLED THE FEAST OF WEEKS BECAUSE GOD INSTRUCTED ISRAEL TO COUNT 7 SABBATHS AFTER PASSOVER TO REGATHER IN JERUSALEM FOR ANOTHER MAJOR FEAST.

YOU MUST KEEP THE SABBATH, SO THERE’S 7 DAYS IN A WEEK, 7 WEEKS LATER= 49 DAYS, BUT YOU HAVE TO WAIT A DAY AFTER SABBATH, SO YOU GET 50 DAYS. THIS IS WHAT THE NAME PENTECOST MEANS= FIFTIETH.

OVERWHELMINGLY, THE GRAIN PRESCRIBED FOR OFFERINGS TO GOD IN THE TEMPLE WAS WHEAT.

AFTER THE BABYLONIAN EXILE, WHERE YOU COULDN’T BRING OFFERINGS TO THE TEMPLE, THIS FEAST TOOK ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FOCUS.

SLIDE: WHEN YOU’RE FAR FROM GOD, HOW CAN YOU BE MADE RIGHT?

WHILE THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS THE PRIESTS WAVED THE GREEN SPRINGS, AT SHAVUOT, THEY WAVED 2 BAKED WHEAT LOAVES. HOLD ONTO THAT, WE’RE GONNA COME BACK TO THIS NOTE LATER.

AT THE FEAST OF THE FIRST FRUITS, GOD WAS PROVIDING FOR THE POOR, AND AT THE FEAST OF WEEKS, GOD IS PROVIDING FOR ALL THE CHOICE SACRIFICE.

JUST LIKE PASSOVER, EVERY JEWISH FAMILY WAS EXPECTED TO GO TO JERUSALEM FOR THIS FEAST.

JERUSALEM IS ON A MOUNTAIN.

BACK IN THE EXODUS, THE JOURNEY FROM THE RED SEA CROSSING TO MT SINAI IS ABOUT… 50 DAYS.

WHAT HAPPENED AT SINAI? GOD GAVE MOSES THE LAW ON 2 STONE TABLETS.

2 STONE TABLETS - 2 WHEAT LOAVES

IMMEDIATE CONTEXT

THE CHURCH DOESN’T CELEBRATE PENTECOST FOR A HARVEST FESTIVAL JERUSALEM, THOUGH.

LET’S READ WHAT HAPPENED IN ACTS THAT HAS CAUSED THE CHURCH TO CELEBRATE FOR NEARLY 2000 YEARS.

READ: ACTS 1:1-6 ESV

THIS IS 10 DAYS BEFORE THE DAY OF PENTECOST

WHAT JESUS JUST SAID IS THE MOST UNEXPECTED INSTRUCTION, AND HE WAS ONLY GETTING STARTED.

JERUSALEM

JESUS INSTRUCTS HIS DISCIPLES TO GO BACK TO JERUSALEM

THE CITY WHERE THE JEWISH LEADERS WHO WANTED JESUS CRUCIFIED LIVE

WHERE THEY WERE ACTIVELY TRYING TO DISCREDIT THE REPORTS OF HIS RESURRECTION.

AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS, IT’S HARD TO QUESTION SOMEONE WHO YOU WATCHED DIE AND NOW SEE THEM RAISED FROM THE DEAD.

THE PLOT TWIST

IN VS 6 THE DISCIPLES INTERPRET THE RESURRECTION AND JESUS’ INSTRUCTION AS, “THE MESSIAH IS HERE, AND WE GET A SECOND CHANCE SINCE HE’S BACK FROM THE DEAD. NOW WE WILL MARCH INTO JERUSALEM AND TAKE THE KINGDOM BACK FROM ROME AND GIVE IT TO ISRAEL.

IT’S THE PERFECT TIME JESUS. ALL THE PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER WILL BE HERE. THIS IS IT!!

NOW JESUS IS GONNA SHOW THEM WHO’S REALLY KING OF KINGS… THAT’S WHAT THEY THOUGHT, AND THEN JESUS SPOKE SOME MORE…

READ: ACTS 1:7-9 ESV

THEY EXPECTED JESUS TO SHOW HIS POWER THEN, BUT JESUS FLIPS THE SCRIPT

BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER!!

SLIDE: PENTECOST IS ABOUT POWER.

DON’T STOP READING

I’M AFRAID THAT IN THE CHURCH, WE LIKE THE DISCIPLES, ONLY READ VS 8 AND GET REALLY EXCITED ABOUT POWER.

THE DAY OF PENTECOST IN THE CHURCH SHOULD BE ONE VERY CLEAR MESSAGE AND CALL TO EVERY BELIEVER, BUT INSTEAD WE HAVE TURNED IT INTO EITHER A DAY IN THE PAST OR A DAY TO PERFORM.

SLIDE: THE POWER WASN’T ABOUT A GIFT, IT’S ABOUT THE GOSPEL.

JESUS DIDN’T SAY “YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER AND BECOME MORE SPIRITUAL” HE SAID “ YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES.”

PENTECOST WASN’T ABOUT A SHOW, IT WAS A COMMISSION TO GO!

READ: ACTS 2:1-12 ESV

THE PRESENCE OF GOD HAD NOT INDWELLED THE TEMPLE SINCE THE BABYLONIAN EXILE.

THE PEOPLE CAME BACK TO JERUSALEM AND CONTINUED THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM, BUT THE GLORY HAD DEPARTED.

EVERYONE CAME EXPECTING BUSINESS AS USUAL.

BUT GOD DID THE UNEXPECTED, HE SENT HIS SPIRIT, BUT NOT TO OCCUPY THE HOLY OF HOLIES IN THE TEMPLE, IT FILLED AN UPPER ROOM AND RESTED IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE.

THE MIRACLE OF SPEAKING IN TONGES WAS THE WALL OF THE DIVISION OF PEOPLE BY LANGUAGE WAS BLOWN DOWN BY THE MIGHTY WIND OF GOD AND THE GOSPEL WAS NOT ONLY FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD, BUT NOW FOR EVERY TRIBE AND NATION!

SLIDE: MAP OF THE NATIONS

I TOLD YOU PASSOVER POINTED TO JESUS, NOW WE WILL SEE HOW PENTECOST POINTED TO HIM!

IN GENESIS 10, AFTER THE FLOOD, THERE’S A TABLE OF NATIONS LISTED.

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CAME TOGETHER AT BABEL. NOT TO SEEK TO FULFILL THEIR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE, BUT TO MAKE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES.

GOD DISINHERITED ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD AT BABEL IN GEN 11. HE SCATTERED THE PEOPLE AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

BUT IN GEN 12, GOD CALLS ABRAM FROM OUT OF THOSE NATIONS AND HE MADE A PROMISE THAT THROUGH HIM, ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WOULD BE BLESSED.

SLIDE: ACTS 2 MAP

AT PENTECOST, VS 5, WE GET TO SEE WHAT PENTECOST WAS ALWAYS ABOUT: THE INGATHERING OF THE NATIONS.

SLIDE: WHAT LOOKED LIKE A SUICIDE MISSION WAS PART OF GOD’S RESCUE MISSION.

INVITATION

SLIDE: PENTECOST ISN’T A MONUMENT IN OUR PAST, IT IS A MOVEMENT IN THE PRESENT.

THE CHURCH BECOMES POWERLESS WHEN WE STOP GOING TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.

WE ARE AT OUR WEAKEST WHEN WE FAIL TO WITNESS TO THE POWER OF GOD IN OUR MIDST.

AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO SEE EVERY SEAT FILLED IN OUR CHURCH, MY AIM IS TO SEE EVERY HEART FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.

HISTORY HAS ALREADY PROVEN THAT WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF STOPPING THE RESCUE MISSION OF GOD.

THE QUESTION BEFORE US TODAY IS:

SLIDE: WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE POWER GOD HAS UNLEASHED?

THE PURPOSE OF THIS WHOLE SERIES WAS TO POINT TO THE REALITY THAT THE CHURCH IS NOT A COUNTRY CLUB, IT IS A SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION AND THE HOURS ARE FADING.

GOD DIDN’T GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR US TO FIGHT EACH OTHER OVER GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT OR THE COLOR OF THE CARPETS.

HE GAVE US HIS SPIRIT TO EMPOWER US TO BE HIS WITNESSES TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

SLIDE: WE WERE EMPOWERED TO EVANGELIZE, NOT JUST SOCIALIZE ON SUNDAY.

IF THERE’S ANY RESPONSE FOR THIS MESSAGE I PRAY THAT IT WOULD BE THIS:

SLIDE: IF THE LIGHT OF PENTECOST WAS LIT IN THE PLACE OF OUR DARKEST DAY, THEN THERE’S NO PLACE HIS LIGHT WON’T SHINE IN YOU.

GO.

DON’T EVER FORGET BEFORE YOU RECEIVED THE GOSPEL, YOU WERE LOST AND BROKEN TOO.

NOW GO. YOU’VE BEEN EMPOWERED TO GO.

PRAY