What Does This Mean?

Series

Filled: The Power of a Spirit-Filled Church

Week 2: What Does This Mean?

Acts 2:5-13

Big Idea

When the Holy Spirit moves through the church, He creates holy disruption that awakens people to ask the right questions.

Series

Week One: When the Spirit Fills the House — Acts 2:1-4

Week Two: What Does This Mean? — Acts 2:5-13

Week Three: This Is That — Acts 2:14-21

Week Four: Cut to the Heart — Acts 2:22-41

Opening

Last week,

we looked at what happened among the believers AS THEY CAME TOGETHER IN THE UPPER ROOM

ALL IN ONE MIND AND ONE ACCORD....COMPLETE UNITY

WE SAW....AS THEY WAITED AND EXPECTED.....

SUDDENLY A MIGHTY RUSHING WIND BLEW THROUGH THAT PLACE AND...

THE FIRE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT RESTED ON EACH OF THEM

This week,

WERE GONNA LOOK at what happened when

what God was doing could no longer stay private.

OPEN IN PRAYER...…

Acts 2 does not move from a private encounter to private comfort.

It moves from a private encounter....

to a public disturbance.

OH COME ON SOMEBODY.....

Something happened among the believers that made the city stop and ask questions.

The church was never meant to be invisible....

We are not called to be loud for the sake of noise or...

strange for the sake of attention.

But when the Spirit moves through people,

there ought to be evidence that makes somebody wonder....... “What is going on over there?”

Acts 2:5–8 ESV

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

Acts 2:12–13 ESV

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

WOW....

IT SAID.....

They were amazed, astonished, PERPLEXED

and then they asked the question that becomes the doorway for Peter’s sermon: “WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?”

SO....Today I want to preach from that question: What Does This Mean?

LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND ASK THEM.....”WHAT DOES THIS MEAN”

I LOVE THIS.......

before Peter explains the gospel,

God creates a moment that demands an explanation.

TELL YOUR NEIGHBOR.......”GOD KNOWS HOW TO GET YOUR ATTENTION”

God Knows How to Get Attention

THIS IS THE first thing I want you to see TODAY....

that God knows how to get attention.

Acts 2:6 says, “And at this sound the multitude came together.”

Acts 2:6 ESV

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

The SOUND gathered the crowd before the sermon ever began.

LORD HELP US TODAY......

Peter did not start with a marketing plan.

The apostles did not pass out flyers.

Nobody had to manipulate the atmosphere.

God did something that pulled people into a moment of holy curiosity.

This is not a small detail.

The Spirit did not only fill the believers.

He also disrupted the expectations of the crowd.

THINK ABOUT IT....WHAT A MOMENT AND AN PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR GOD TO SHOW UP

Jerusalem was full of people who had come for a feast.

They had travel plans,

religious routines,

family schedules,

THEY HAD assumptions about what the day would be AND HOW IT WOULD GO.

Then suddenly......OH COME ON.....SUDDENLY

something broke into their normal.

That is often how God awakens people. THIS IS HOW HE GETS YOUR ATTENTION

He interrupts the normal.

Sometimes He interrupts through a testimony.

OH COME ON SOMEBODY.....

YOU EVER THINK YOU KNOW SOMEBODY,

THEY GO TO CHURCH OR CAMP OR A CONFERENCE one way...

AND THEN THEY come back different.

THINK ABOUT IT.....

They used to be angry, but now they are gentle.

They used to be bound, but now they are free.

I WISH SOMEBODY WOULD SAY AMEN.......

You may not understand all the theology yet,

but you can tell something happened THAT CHANGED THEIR LIFE

Sometimes He interrupts through love.....

A person expects judgment but receives mercy.

They expect rejection but receive welcome.

They expect the church to be cold, but someone remembers their name and sits with them in THEIR pain.

WHAT YOU DO MAKES A DIFFERENCE.....

Sometimes He interrupts through crisis.

I’M TALKING ABOUT THAT thing a person trusted....

begins to shake, and THEN suddenly....

the questions they once avoided...

become the questions they cannot escape.

sometimes He interrupts WHEN WE GATHER AS A CHURCH.

WE’VE BEEN THERE....

Worship becomes more than singing.

Prayer becomes more than JUST words.

Even a visitor can sense, “Something DIFFERENT is happening here.”

The point is this:

the Holy Spirit can create moments that make people pay attention.

That should challenge us.

OR....Have we become so predictable,

so manageable,

so explainable,

that nobody has to ask anything?

OH COME ON CHURCH.....

Have we reduced church to something people can observe without being confronted by God?

OH MY LORD HELP US.....I DON’T WANT TO BE APART OF THAT....

WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO NOT BECOME THAT

PASTOR CHRIS....WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR THAT?

I MEAN WE HAVE TO BECOME A PRAYING CHURCH

A CHURCH THAT DEPERATLY SEEKS GOD

A CHURCH THAT BECOME HUNGER AND DESIRES HIS PRESENCE

HIS POWER

A MOVE OF GOD THAT DRAWS AND TRANSFORMS LIVES

AND AS MUCH AS WE WANT THAT....THERE IS AN ENEMY WHO DOESN’T WANT IT FOR US

AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT.

SO WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO PROTECT IT, WE HAVE EARNESTLY SEEK GOD’S FACE

The early church did not begin with a polished explanation.

It began with a holy interruption.

OH MY LORD....THIS IS WHAT WE NEED CHURCH...

GOD WE NEED A HOLY INTERRUPTION TO AWAKEN OUR SPIRITS TO YOU

(CALM IT DOWN)

Before the crowd heard Peter preach,

they had to ask, “What does this mean?”

God Disturbs Comfortable Religion

Acts 2:5 says the people in Jerusalem were “devout men from every nation under heaven.”

Acts 2:5 ESV

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

That means these were not careless people.

They were religiously serious.

They had come to Jerusalem for worship.

They respected Scripture,

tradition,

sacrifice, and sacred time.

But even devout people can be disturbed by a fresh move of God.

[Speaker note: Slow down here. This is one of the strongest teaching moments.]

That is a sobering revelation.

The crowd was not standing outside a pagan temple.

They were in Jerusalem during a holy feast.

They were close to the things of God,

but they still did not understand what God was doing.

OH MY LORD....UNDERSTAND THIS.....

It is possible to be close to sacred things and still need spiritual awakening.

OH COME ON.....

You can know the songs, the schedule, and EVEN the culture, and still need awakening.

You can be faithful in attendance and still need your heart made tender again.

LISTEN TO ME....

One of the dangers of religion is familiarity without wonder.

FAMILIARITY IS DANGEROUS

Familiarity says, “I have seen this before.”

Wonder says, “Lord, what are You saying now?”

Familiarity says, “I know how this works.”

Wonder says, “God, I do not want to miss You.”

Familiarity manages the moment.

Wonder kneels before it.

The people in Acts 2 had enough religion to be present,

but they needed enough humility to ask, “What does this mean?”

That question is powerful because it admits limitation.

It says, “Something is happening that I cannot explain.”

OH COME ON SOMEBODY......

That is where revelation often begins.

Not when we think we know everything,

but when we are humble enough to ask a new question.

OH COME ON CHURCH....WHAT DOES THIS MEAN????

Some people miss God because they already have a label for everything.

If worship is passionate,

they call it emotionalism.

If prayer is intense,

they call it too much.

If conviction comes,

they call it pressure.

But what if the first step toward renewal is not having all the answers?

What if the first step is HONEST HUNGER?

“Lord, what does this mean?”

God Makes the Message Personal

Acts 2:6 says the crowd was bewildered because “each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”

Acts 2:6 ESV

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

This is the moment that makes the crowd stop.

They are not merely hearing sound.

They are hearing something personal.

The miracle is not only that the disciples are speaking.

The miracle is that the listeners are hearing.

HE THAT HAS AN EAR LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING.......I LOVE IT

God could have made the whole crowd hear one language.

But instead, people from different places....

heard the mighty works of God in the language that belonged to them.

OH MY LORD,

CHURCH....

This reveals something about the heart of God.

God does not only speak over crowds.

He knows how to speak to people PERSONALLY.

The crowd was multinational,

but the witness was personal.

God did not treat them like a mass of nameless faces.

He reached them in their own world.

That is the wonder of Pentecost.

The Spirit does not flatten people.

He reaches them.

He crosses distance without erasing distinction.

This is where Acts 2 speaks to our mission.

We are not called to make people climb over unnecessary barriers before they can hear about Jesus.

We are called to carry the gospel across THOSE BARRIERS.

That barrier may be language,

culture, age, pain, mistrust, church hurt,

intellectual questions, grief.

LIFEBRIDGE VISION AND NAME...

WHEN WE CAME UP WITH THE NAME FOR THIS CHURCH....LIFEBRIDGE

THIS WAS THE VISION FOR THAT NAME....

TO BE A LIFE BRIDGE

JESUS SAID...I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO ONE GETS TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME

THE VISION AND MISSION OF LIFEBRIDGE CHURCH IS TO BE JUST THAT...

A BE A BRIDGE TO JESUS...... WHO IS....THE LIFE

The Spirit-filled church does not ask,

“How can we make them understand our world first?”

The Spirit-filled church asks,

“How can we make the mighty works of God plain in their world?”

THIS IS IMPORTANT....DON’T MISS THIS

This does not mean we water down the truth.

It means we remove unnecessary fog.

There is a difference between mystery and confusion.

God is mysterious because He is holy and infinite.

But sometimes people are confused because....

we made the message unnecessarily unclear.

Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit is not threatened by clarity.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN PASTSOR..

I MEAN....The gospel is deep enough for scholars and ...

simple enough for children.

OH COME ON SOMEBODY....

THE GOSPEL can confront a philosopher,

rescue a prisoner,

humble the religious,

and lift the ashamed.

OH MY LORD....ARE YOU HEARING ME????

THE GOSPEL can be preached in a cathedral,

whispered in a hospital room,

taught at a kitchen table,

and shared through tears in a parking lot.

Because when God wants to reach someone,

He knows how to make the message personal.

CAN SOMEBODY SAY AMEN???

God Turns Confusion into a Doorway

Acts 2:12 says, “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’”

Acts 2:12 ESV

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

That question is the hinge of the passage.

They are not converted yet.

They are not clear yet.

They are not ready yet.

But they are asking.

Never despise the question stage.

[Speaker note: ENCOURAGE...... parents, leaders, and CHRISTIANS.]

Some of us get nervous when people have questions.

We think questions mean rebellion......Sometimes they do.

But sometimes questions mean awakening.

Sometimes a person is trying to find the door.

A teenager asks,

“How do I know God is real?”

A coworker asks,

“Why do you still have peace?”

A neighbor asks,

“Would God forgive someone like me?”

LISTEN TO ME.....

Those questions can become doorways.

DON’T RUN AWAY FROM THOSE MOMENTS

LEAN INTO THEM

LEAD THEM THROUGH THAT DOOR

The crowd’s question gave Peter a place to preach.

Their confusion became the opening for proclamation.

This is why Spirit-filled people should not be afraid of conversations.

We DON’T need to panic when people are not immediately convinced.

Sometimes the first work of the Spirit is not to make someone agree.

Sometimes the first work is to make someone ask.

There is a movement in Acts 2 that we need to see.

In verse 12, they ask, “What does this mean?”

Later, after Peter preaches Christ,

they ask, “What shall we do?”

OH COME ON CHURCH....

That is revival MOVEMENT:

from curiosity to conviction.

God can take a confused question and turn it into a convicted heart.

So do not dismiss the person who is still processing.

Do not give up on the person asking hard questions.

Sometimes confusion means old THOUGHTS AND WAYS are breaking and the heart is opening.

The Spirit can use a question.

....WORSHIP TEAM JOIN ME.....

LOOK AT ACTS 2:13

Acts 2:13 NIV

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

God Allows Mockery Without Losing the Moment

Same moment. Different responses.

Some were amazed.

Some were perplexed.

Some mocked.

THIS is still true TODAY.

When God moves,

everyone will not interpret it the same way.

This is important for anyone who wants to live boldly for Jesus.

If you are waiting for a criticism-free calling,.....you will never obey.

If you need mockers to approve before you move....... they have become your lord.

OH COME ON....LISTEN TO ME....

The mockers called fullness..... drunkenness.

They misnamed what they could not explain.

THIS IS WHAT People still do TODAY.

They call conviction manipulation,

passion emotionalism,

holiness legalism,

surrender extremism,

and spiritual hunger......... “too much.”

But here is the good news:

mockery did not cancel Pentecost.

OH COME ON SOMEBODY.....

The presence of critics...

did not mean the absence of God.

Peter did not spend the whole moment arguing with mockers.

He answered briefly, then preached Jesus.

Do not let mockers become the center of the message.

Some people are asking, “What does this mean?”

Do not get so distracted by the people mocking....

that you miss the people searching.

The enemy would love to use...

one mocking voice to silence a....

witness THAT somebody else needs.

But AS the church,

WE must learn to keep OUR eyes on the harvest.

Because IN ACTS....before the day was over, thousands would respond.

Not everyone who sees the sign will believe.

But some will.

And for the sake of the ones who will.................. WE CAN NOT STOP.

.............STAND TO YOUR FEET............

Call to Action

Today,

I believe God is asking us to become..

the kind of church that makes people ask better questions.

Not because we are trying to be strange.

Not because we are chasing attention.

But because the life of God among us is too real to ignore.

What would happen if our love made people ask,

“Why do they care like that?”

What would happen if our peace made people ask,

“How are they still standing?”

What would happen if our forgiveness made people ask,

“How did they let that go?”

What would happen if our worship made people ask,

“Who are they singing to like that?”

What would happen if our generosity made people ask,

“Why would they give like that?”

What would happen if our homes, OUR conversations, THE WAY WE serve, OUR witness

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF IT ALL pointed to Jesus?

..............STAND TO YOUR FEET...................

Some of us need to repent of being too explainable.

We have fit so neatly into the patterns around us that....

nobody has to ask what makes us different.

Some of us need wonder restored.

We have been around the things of God,

but our hearts have become dull.

Some of us need courage for conversations.

God has placed people near us who are asking questions,

but we have been afraid to engage.

OH COME ON CHURCH...

Some of us need to stop being controlled by mockery.

We have let the fear of being misunderstood....

keep us from being faithful.

some of YOU are the ones asking,

“What does this mean?”

You feel God stirring you,

but you DON’T yet know what to do with it.

The answer is Jesus. YOU NEED JESUS

The Spirit’s work always points to Jesus.

Jesus died for our sins.

Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus is Lord.

Jesus forgives, restores, and saves.

So if God has your attention today,

do not ignore Him.

Come out of hiding.

Come out of cold religion.

Come out of confusion.

COME TO JESUS.

BEFORE WE LEAVE I WANT TO OPEN THESE ALTARS.....

IF ANY OF THIS RESIGNATES WITH YOU.....COME AND SURRENDER TO HIM TODAY.

LET’S WORSHIP............

CLOSING......

church, let this be our prayer:

Lord, make our lives a sign.

Make our love a sign.

Make our worship a sign.

Make our witness a sign.

A SIGN OF WHO YOU ARE.

LORD.......Do something among us that makes people ask the right questions,

and then give us the courage to point them to YOU.

Closing

Father, in the name of Jesus,

thank You that You know how to get our attention.

Thank You that Pentecost did not remain hidden, but became a witness to the watching crowd.

Restore wonder in us.

Deliver us from religious familiarity without spiritual hunger.

Make our hearts tender again.

Teach us to recognize holy interruptions.

LORD Help us not to dismiss what we do not immediately understand.

Give us humility to ask............“Lord, what does this mean?”

Make the gospel clear through us.

Help GIVE US love, wisdom, and courage.

HELP US BE THE BRIDGE THAT LEADS PEOPLE TO JESUS

Let people encounter Your mighty works through our lives.

And when mockery comes, make us steady.

Do not let criticism distract us from the harvest.

Keep our eyes on Jesus and on the people who are searching.

Use LIFEBRIDGE CHURCH to awaken holy curiosity in our COMMUNITY.

Let our lives point beyond ourselves.

Let the question become a doorway.

AND Let the doorway lead to YOU.

In Jesus’ name, amen.