The Power of Pentecost

Sermon Series: When Pentecost Shows Up

Part 1: The Promise of Pentecost

: 1:1-13

Part 1 of 5

Focus: During this season of Pentecost, Jesus is reminding us that the presence of the Holy Spirit is with us guiding us to all truths, promises and hopes. It is restoring resurrection and hope in our lives.

Function: To encourage every believer that Pentecost is happening in our lives each and every day. We have to be ready to experience and expect God to move by his power and by his spirit.

Introduction

It was 1990 and my cousin Nadia and I were 2nd graders at a private school in Raleigh, NC called Sacared Heart of Cathedral. It was at this school, where a few black Baptist little girls, enmeshed in the catholisism practices of worship. We attended mass, went to confession, wore uniforms and was even thought by real nuns. It was a great experience. Our cirrclum included math, science, reading and of course… The Holy Bible. I enjoyed the school. It was 30 miles away from our house. We would carpool with one the other neighobors, whose child also attended school.

As mentioned, the school was about 30 miles from my house and thus it was important that when we left, we had to make sure we didn’t leave anything and when left from school we had to be sure we had everything. That was easy to say if you were focused, but for me, that task was very complicated to the point I often left things behind. I would leave my lunch, my gym clothes, lunch money and including my homework.

This particular time, I left my homework 4 to many times and my parents had to run back and forth to assure that I had my homework turned in time. Well, this was the final time for me and my father gave me a good ole talk… he told me that I had one more time to leave my homework, and he promised that he was going to whop me for leaving it. I was afraid, but had doubt that he was going to do something. The next few weeks, I did good… but soon after that, I slipped up and left my homework. My mother told my father and he told me that when I got home that I was going to shonuff get it. He said I promised you that if you left that homework, that I was going to spank you because “aint no body got time for you not to be prepared in school”

I got in the car as if nothing had happened. I started to butter my dad up… telling him he was the best daddy in the world… I told him that I love him… try to keep his mind off of his promise. I got in the house took off my backpack, headed into my room and yall I just knew I was off the hook. But all of a sudden, my dad comes in looks at me and said, I promised you that the next time you leave your homework at school or home, I was going to get you…. And yall well you know the rest… I was crying mad, upset… but from that day on, I never left my homework at school or home ever again… why, because my father made a promised to me that keep me reminded of how faithful he was to it…

Church, that is what our father is like, whatever he tells us, he will forever keep his promises. Isn’t that good news today church that what, Jesus has promised us that he has been faithful to fulfill his promises, provision and power to us.

Context –

This is true for us because in this Pentecost season, we will experience the promises and provision, miracles, signs and wonders that God has proclaimed to us. It is important for us to know that this season that we are in, this moment of Pentecost is about the shifting of the church and the reminder that even in the absence of his body, the remenenice of his spirit gives us power to do the work that he has called us to do.

The term Pentecost can be easily related to denominational status. We know that there is the function of the Pentecostal church and its rich and rooted traditions of tongue speaking, laying of hands, and other common practices. Yet, the meaning of Pentecost is beyond this existential concept but rather we must view it in a internal meaning for the body of Christ…

Pentecost in the Old Testament - -22-43- Pentecost was a Jewish festival that happened during the Feast of First Fruits. Happening 50 days after Passover, which celebrated Israel's deliverance from Egypt, Pentecost was a time to celebrate the initial harvest feast. Israel gathered together to offer the Lord two loaves of wheat bread made from firstfruits of the grain. The Holy Spirit that breath over is known as the ru-ha – breath of God…

Pentecost In the New Testament - , the Holy Spirit comes to the apostles to fulfill Jesus's words that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to glorify God's name to all nations. As a result, we, the church and body of Christ, are called to bear witness to all nations through the power of the Holy Spirit to glorify the name of God! We recognize it as 50 days after the reccerection of Jesus. This is where we see the display of additional sings, wonders and revelation. This breath or spirit is known as the pnumu – in the greek it means the breath of God.

As we connect the two, we see ourselves working within the parameters of Pentecost. By brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but in this season of political unrest, job uncertainty, life unexplained, future sustaining, we are in need of pentecost in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I need a shift, or fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to breath on my life. Breath on my attitude, breath on my outlook, breath on my marriage, breath on my finance…. How many of you need a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit on your life.

So when we consider Pentecost we recognize it as the promise of God in spirit to the world. Church may I encourage you today, that the Pentecost Movement is about the promises that God will be with us… But how can we tap into this power?

Textual Move

We find the text this morning memoed between the monstrous act of the crucifixion and the moment of faith and assurance to the twelve. We dealt with this text as it pertains to the women and what we do next, but if we exam closer, this text gives us a prelude to the Pentecost experience. We can coin this shift or moment as the Promises of God…. Look at your neighbor and gently remind them that Pentecost is about the promises of God.

Jesus has been crucified… and now the women are on their way to the tomb… the text says in vs.1 tells us that on their way to the tomb, they had took spices that they had prepared… they went to the tomb to take care of the body of Jesus.

Move I - Pentecost is About Preparing for the promise- It is here we find that the woman, the group of them, came with the spices and fragrances to come and prepare his body. They were the women who took care of Jesus in during his life, and now we find them taking care of Jesus in his death. But when they came to the tomb, the text said that they came with something that they prepared… they took the time crushed fresh oil, mint leaves, francensense, murth... they prepared this oil on the festival day, the high day… they came to see Jesus and they were prepared to anoint his body. My brothers and my sisters, the fresh wind or pentacost is is about what you bring to the worship….These ladies came with the best oils, the that was prepared to keep Jesus body.

Church, our Pentecost experience may be limited if we don’t learn to bring something to the table. What is that something that we must bring or prepare…. ? We must prepare our very best worship when we come to church. Prepare your very best assignment when you go to work, prepare your very best prayer when you fighting your enemy, prepare your very best forgiveness when you dealing with foolishness, whatever you do, church we must prepare our very best to Christ. Why, because preparation produces prophetic outcomes… When we come and give God our best, God in return has a way of rolling stones from the caves in our lives. It is not hard to give God your best, because when you think about all God has done for you, the best he has given you, the disappoint that you survived… you owe him your best sacrifice. How dare we come to worship, go to our jobs, go through life and be unapperciative, give God your best! Prepreation means that we keep our mind on God and God alone. Prepraration means we are cognintant of distracation, negativity, devices that separate us from bringing our best to God….

Our best means we have to minimize and aim to elemnate complaining, but be prepared to tell God any way you bless me, I will be satisfied…

Let us not be guilty of bringing God what is left over, but we must give God our best.

Move 2 – His Promise to Keep His Promise

Vs. 8 leads us to our next promise about pentecost. The women get to the tomb and there were two men with white figures there…We find heaven and earth in the same place at the same time. The angels appear and say to them… Fear not… Here is what is interesting. Any ofther time, we are usually the ones, I am talking about us that sends questions to heaven… but in this story, heaven begins to ask us the questions… 1. why are you looking for the livinging among the dead, then they said, don’t you remember his words while he was in Galieee… that he would rise on the 3rd day. He is not here….

What can we learn about pentacost… my brothers and my sisters the power of pentacost and the promise of the pentacost is that He promised to keep his promise. That is why church in this season of pentacost, he is telling us… don’t you remember what I told you last week, last year, last month, in the last hour, during your last doctor appoint, during the last hard ache, during the last job promiton… the power and promise about Pentecost is that Jesus will always keep his promises.

That is why you can’t worry about things… because if he told you he was going to do it, you can write that check and take to to the bank and cash it, because if he said he is going to do it…

What did he say:

1.I will never leave you nor forsake

2.I am the way the truth and the life

3.Greater works shall you do

4.I am a winner

5.I am an overcomer

6.I can graduate

7.I am rich

8.My marriage will work

9.My family will stay together

10. I am healed

11. I delivered

12. My business will grow

13. Weath and riches are in my house

We got to remember what he said even when don’t see what he said yet…. Even through this poltical climate… remember what he said… he is the ruler and supreame being… that is why we as a church must stay woke… because if he can keep us through Reganomics, Nixon, Bush 1 and Bush 2 – Rembmer what he said…. Remember what he did….

Look at your neighbor and tell them don’t you get amnesia… but remember what he said… The enemy jobs is to make you forget what he said leading you to forget what he promised, forcing you to believe that He can’t… that is why you got be renewed by your mind… you got remind yourself of what he said….

You should get that one thing on your mind that you know that he promised you and praise Him in advance for what he said He was going to do. Pentecost then is about remembering who He was while connect the proof of the past with the pomise of the future… the proof is that rose, the promise is that he is coming back. The proof is that he healed me before, the promise is that he will heal again. The proof is that he saved me before, the promise is that he will save me again. The proof is that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as an eagle, they shall run and not be weary, walk and faint not….

Final Move – Pentacost is about Proclaming the Promise

Vs. 8 said they remember and in vs. 9 they text said that they went back and told the 11 apostles and others about what they saw… Remember pentacost is about the shifting of the Holy Spirit and God providng a move for the church. In this final move… the women had withenssed what I would like to consider the promise of the Pentecost. When you witnessed wonders of God… remember its about the signs wonders and revelations. This was certain, a wonder

A wonder is something unexplainable by natural laws. It is dubbed, "a wonder," not so much because it makes you, "wonder about it," but because it is too WONDERFUL (full of wonder) to be the product of anyone but God. Thus, the inability to wrap one’s mind around it, or to find reasons for it, "proves" it is a miracle from God.

When God does things that beyond our imagination, when the pentacost brings a promises, church we must tell people about the promises… This is the season, where you will have a testimony. The Power of the pentacost is going to shift your circumstances, switch your life, shift your understanding… I don’t know about you, but I am expecting a Pentecost promise from God.. But before he do it… I am going to bless him in advance for what He has already done.

I want you to be challenge to not only let Pentacost be about what you receive, but do like the women, what did you give… our testimony is about giving hope to somone… its about giving God our very best, it is about elimanting things that will hinder the Pentecostal promise of God… but rather allow our lives to be proof that He did what he said he would do….

1. He saved you…. Tell it

2. He healed you…. Tell it

3. He made you …. Tell it… proclaim it…