The Day of Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place

Children’s Sermon: Hi kids! Do you know which animal they say is man’s best friend? [Dog] Anyone know what kind of dog this is? (St Bernard - 1091-1153?). Big aren’t they? Saint Bernard dogs indeed were strong enough to walk through deep snow drifts and had a good sense of smell to track travelers. The Saint Bernard dogs were quite amazing in their work. They were sent in packs of two or three. There are reports of them digging to find buried bodies, but if the stranded travelers were found to be alive, one dog would provide warmth while the other went to get help. That’s a pretty amazing dog, isn’t it?

It is said that the Saint Bernard dogs were quite amazing in their work. They were sent in packs of two or three. There are reports of them digging to find buried bodies, but if the stranded travelers were found to be alive, one dog would provide warmth while

Sometimes people say the dog is man’s best friend; they’re loyal, helpful, and they can even save lives, but in the Bible today we see that God is our best friend. Jesus calls him the “Helper” today in the Bible. Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name...will (remind you of everything) I’ve said to you.” (). Without God the Holy Spirit’s help, we wouldn’t know anything about God’s love and about the way Jesus took our sins away. Jesus died a long time ago in a faraway place. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings us to Jesus so that we can have God’s love and forgiveness.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name...will bring to your remembrance (remind you of) all that I have said to you.” (). Without God the Holy Spirit’s help, we wouldn’t know anything about God’s love and about the way Jesus took our sins away. We wouldn’t know the story of Jesus. Can you imagine that? There are a lot of people out there who don’t know Jesus at all, but you do. How about as you grow older? Do you think you will need as much help doing things?

Without the Holy Spirit we wouldn’t know the story of Jesus. Can you imagine that? There are a lot of people out there who don’t know Jesus at all, but you do. How about as you grow older? Do you think you will need as much help doing things? Like getting dressed, getting a ride to church, getting your supper tonight, cleaning your clothes. Right now Mom & Dad help you with those things. Some day you’ll be on your own.

Introduction

The older we grow the more we can do for ourselves. Do you think you will still need the Holy Spirit to be your Helper when you get old? Like a Saint Bernard God keeps our faith warm by his Word. Without Him our faith would grow cold and die. We need God and his Word to keep our faith growing strong and showing us the way to heaven. Just like those travelers losing their way through the snowy mountains, we would lose our way to heaven. Let’s pray to God and thank Him for sending us his Helper, the Holy Spirit. [After prayer ask who’s man’s best friend? (Dog) Ask: what’s dog spelled backwards? (God!) God is our best friend!!]

Like a Saint Bernard God keeps our faith warm by his Word. Without God and his Word our hearts would grow cold and our faith would freeze, just like those travelers through the snowy mountains. Let’s pray and thank God for sending us his Helper.

“The Helper,” Based on

We’re talking about the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity today. Jesus calls him the “Helper” in our text for today. The word Jesus uses for “Helper” is παράκλητος. It’s actually is a compound word (it’s a word made up of two words together), one means “to call” and the other means “next to,” or “along side of.” Put it together and it means “call along side of.” Nice picture of God, isn’t it? Someone who comes along side you, who calls you next to himself, and speaks to you.

He’s your Helper.

The Holy Spirit actually goes by different names in Scripture…

“the Eternal Spirit” (, ie. ‘the unending spirit’ or ‘the spirit that never ceases’)

“the Spirit of Truth” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who communicates truth’ (sometimes rendered as ‘the Spirit that communicates the truth about God’)

“the Spirit of life” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who brings life’ or ‘the Spirit that causes people to live’)

“the Spirit of sonship”(, ie. ‘the Spirit who makes us sons of God’ or ‘the Spirit that causes us to become God’s sons’)

“Spirit of grace” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who bestows God’s grace in all its various forms upon us’)

“Spirit of wisdom & revelation” ( ,ie. ‘the Spirit who gives wisdom/reveals God’ or ‘causes us to become wise & shows us what God is like’ (or ‘… who God truly is’)

“Helper” ()

All the different names emphasize the fact that the Holy Spirit is a personal God that does things for us. Just the Father and the Son who have many different names reminding us of all they do for us, the Holy Spirit is a personal God that does many things for us, too.

To make this a little more personal for you, I’d like to lay a theological term on you: [organon leptikon] or [organon receptivum]. Which is Latin for “receiving organ.” When’s the last time you ever thought of your faith that way, like an organ of your body. Just like you have a heart or a liver or kidney, you have something called faith, and it’s like this organ that allows you to receive blessings from God, forgiveness, life and salvation. Like an umbilical chord is needed to bring nutrients and blood to the organs of an infant in the womb, we need a connection to God to bring us blessings from him.

All the different names emphasize the fact that the Holy Spirit is a personal God that does things for us. Just the Father and the Son who have many different names reminding us of all they do for us, the Holy Spirit is a personal God that does many things for us, too. To make this a little more personal for you, I’d like to ask you a question...

[organon leptikon] or [organon receptivum]. Which is Latin for “receiving organ.” When’s the last time you ever thought of your faith that way, like an organ of your body. Just like you have a heart or a liver or kidney, you have something called faith, and it’s like this organ that allows you to receive blessings from God, forgiveness, life and salvation. Like an umbilical chord is needed to bring nutrients and blood to the organs of an infant in the womb, we need a connection to God to bring us blessings from him.

When’s the last time you ever thought of your faith as an

Like any other organ, you want your faith, this organ that receives life and blessings from God to be healthy, just like any other organ, don’t you? You want to know when and if something’s wrong with it. Years ago before the X-ray, CAT scans or exploratory surgery, people couldn’t see if there was a defect with a valve or muscle in your heart, things like a broken bone, or cancerous spot on their lungs. Nowadays though, we can see these things, even in three dimensions if we want to. Looking inside your spiritual life though, is a different matter. How do you know how your faith, your spiritual life is doing?

That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. He’s the “Helper.” He helps us see these invisible things by showing them to us in his Word and convincing us of these truths. Jesus said the Spirit would help in this way: (v.26) “he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

We have Christmas that we celebrated five months ago that celebrates God the Father’s gift of his Son to us. At that time most of the world stopped to celebrate Christmas with us. Same thing last month in April when we celebrated Easter, and the fact that God the Son, Jesus, rose from the dead after dying to save us from our sins. Most of the world stopped to celebrate Easter as a holiday on the calendar, too. But then we get to today, the Day of Pentecost, a day dedicated to the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, and hardly anyone realizes it., but when you think about it, Pentecost needs to be right up there with Christmas and Easter as the three main festivals of the Church Year, because the Holy Spirit is God, too! What good would it do if God the Father gave us Jesus, born of a virgin, and Jesus died and rose again to take our sins away, but then we were born and died without knowing anything about it?!

Think of all the subjects Jesus covered with his disciples during his earthly ministry. Sin. Temptation. Discernment between right and wrong and how to judge the difference between those two things, and how to see sin in your life, or lovingly point it out in your neighbor’s life. He spoke to them about death because of sin, and what his cross was all about, and the crosses they would bear as a loving discipline from him, and training in faith in him. He taught them about prayer, and love, and peace. Most importantly Jesus showed them the way to his heavenly Father and promised them he was preparing a place for them.

Where would we be without the Spirit’s help in learning and remembering what Jesus taught us? It is because of the Spirit’s power of inspiring and reminding the apostles of everything Jesus taught and giving them the ability to accurately record and write it down that we even have the Bible today. Without the Spirit’s help and power that doesn’t happen!! The Bible is THE only source of the Spirit’s help today for people. How many people, do you think really understand sin. Not many people even understand the predicament they are in without faith-relationship with Jesus.

Bear in mind also, that, when Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, “Helper,” we don’t want to mistakenly think that’s all we need sometimes, just a little help from God, and that the rest of the time we do just fine by ourselves. That’s not the case at all…not in our beginning of faith, not in our everyday life, not ever. We were shown this in dramatic fashion in the OT Lesson. Ezekiel was looking at his people who were spiritually dead, like a skeleton, and he asked, “Can these dry bones live?” And then God said, (,) “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life...I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” See how God refers to his Spirit there, as breath and life.

That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in…he’s the one who gives us faith. He’s the “Helper” Jesus talks about in our text for today, who comes along side us and rescues us from sin and unbelief by bringing us to faith.

The Holy Spirit is called by different names…

“the Eternal Spirit” (, ie. ‘the unending spirit’ or ‘the spirit that never ceases’)

Okay, so five months ago we celebrated Christmas, and at that time most of the world stopped to celebrate that day with us. Same thing last month in April when we celebrated Easter, the resurrection of Jesus. Most of the world celebrates Easter as a holiday on the calendar, too. But then comes Pentecost, and hardly anyone realizes it.

“the Spirit of Truth” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who communicates truth’ (sometimes rendered as ‘the Spirit that communicates the truth about God’)

“the Spirit of life” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who brings life’ or ‘the Spirit that causes people to live’)

“the Spirit of sonship”(, ie. ‘the Spirit who makes us sons of God’ or ‘the Spirit that causes us to become God’s sons’)

“Spirit of grace” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who bestows God’s grace in all its various forms upon us’)

“Spirit of wisdom & revelation” ( ,ie. ‘the Spirit who gives wisdom/reveals God’ or ‘causes us to become wise & shows us what God is like’ (or ‘… who God truly is’)

The Holy Spirit is called the “Helper” for good reason. Bear in mind also, that, when Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, “Helper,” we don’t want to mistakenly think that’s all we need sometimes, just a little help from God, and that the rest of the time we do just fine by ourselves. That’s not the case at all…not in our beginning of faith, not in our everyday life, not ever. We were shown this in dramatic fashion in the OT Lesson. Ezekiel was looking at his people who were spiritually dead, like a skeleton, and he asked, “Can these dry bones live?” And then God said, (,) “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life...I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” See how God refers to his Spirit there, as breath and life.

“Helper” ()

It’s that last one we’d like to focus on today...

We need the Holy Spirit like the air we breath. We are dead spiritually without him. Paul wrote, () “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin.” Martin Luther said, “I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel.” Praise the LORD today on this Day of Pentecost that he came along side you and called you to faith through the power of the Gospel. He’s our great Helper, the One who comes along side us in life and keeps doing that, too, by the way. The Apostle Paul wrote: () “We also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”

“Spirit of the Lord” (, ie. either refers to God the Father or to Jesus Christ, but the Spirit in either case is the same - He’s God)

That’s not right, because Pentecost celebrates the work of God, the Holy Spirit. Today as we review his work to see what he does for us, let’s see him as Jesus presents him here in , as the great “Helper.”

Like I said before, most people don’t even realize what kind of condition they are in and how much they need the “Helper.”

That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in…he’s the one who gives us faith. He’s the “Helper” Jesus talks about in our text for today, who comes along side us and rescues us from sin and unbelief by bringing us to faith.

Think of all the people impacted by the Holy Spirit’s helping work on the Day of Pentecost...

Think of all the people the Holy Spirit wants to help through you.

That’s not right, because Pentecost celebrates the work of God, the Holy Spirit. Today as we review his work to see what he does for us, let’s see him as Jesus presents him here in , as the great “Helper.”

But today we’re not

We have Christmas that we celebrated five months ago that celebrates God the Father’s gift of his Son to us. At that time most of the world stopped to celebrate Christmas with us. Same thing last month in April when we celebrated Easter, and the fact that God the Son, Jesus, rose from the dead after dying to save us from our sins. Most of the world stopped to celebrate Easter as a holiday on the calendar, too. But then we get to today, the Day of Pentecost, a day dedicated to the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, and hardly anyone realizes it., but when you think about it, Pentecost needs to be right up there with Christmas and Easter as the three main festivals of the Church Year, because the Holy Spirit is God, too! What good would it do if God the Father gave us Jesus, born of a virgin, and Jesus died and rose again to take our sins away, but then we were born and died without knowing anything about it?! That’s not right, because Pentecost celebrates the work of God, the Holy Spirit. Today as we review his work to see what he does for us, let’s see him as Jesus presents him here in , as the great “Helper.”

The word Jesus uses for “Helper” here, actually is a compound word (it’s a word made up of two words together), one means “to call” and the other means “next to,” or “along side of.” Put it together and it means “call along side of.” Nice picture of God, isn’t it? Someone who comes along side you, who calls you next to himself, and speaks to you.

He’s your Helper. When God speaks through his Word the Holy Spirit is at work.

That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in…he’s the one who gives us faith. He’s the “Helper” Jesus talks about in our text for today, who comes along side us and rescues us from sin and unbelief by bringing us to faith.

In fact, Holy “Spirit” is a word in the Bible that sometimes means “breath” or “wind.” Look here: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” () The Greek word here is the same one we get our English word “pneumatic” from (“air”). Air sometimes doesn’t seem like there’s all that much to it. We walk through it all the time like nothing. But air, as you know, moving air, can be quite powerful. In the Spirit revealed himself in a sound “like the blowing of a strong wind.” ()

Now, when Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, “Helper,” we don’t want to mistakenly think that’s all we need sometimes, just a little help from God, and that the rest of the time we do just fine by ourselves. That’s not the case at all…not in our beginning of faith, not in our everyday life, not ever. We were shown this in dramatic fashion in the OT Lesson. Ezekiel was looking at his people who were spiritually dead, like a skeleton, and he asked, “Can these dry bones live?” And then God said, (,) “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life...I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” See how God refers to his Spirit there, as breath and life.

() “I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.”

Think of the Holy Spirit that way, as the breath of God.

We need the Holy Spirit like the air we breath. We are dead spiritually without him. Paul wrote, () “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin.” Martin Luther said, “I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel.” There’s that idea again, of the Holy Spirit, our great Helper, the One who comes along side us and calls us to faith through the good news about Jesus.

Martin Luther said, “I cannot by my own reason or strength…”

Most people don’t even realize what kind of condition they are in and how much they need the “Helper.”

In fact, Holy “Spirit” is a word in the Bible that sometimes means “breath” or “wind.” Look here: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” () The Greek word here is the same one we get our English word “pneumatic” from (“air”). Air sometimes doesn’t seem like there’s all that much to it. We walk through it all the time like nothing. But air, as you know, moving air, can be quite powerful. In the Spirit revealed himself in a sound “like the blowing of a strong wind.” ()

We need the Holy Spirit like we need air. In fact, sometimes the Spirit is called “the breath of God.” () “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” The Greek word for Spirit in our text is the same word we get “pneumatic” from. Air sometimes doesn’t seem like there’s all that much to it. We walk through it all the time like nothing. But air, as you know, moving air, can be quite powerful. In our reading from the Spirit revealed himself in a sound “like the blowing of a strong wind.” () It takes the force of air for you to form words. Air leaves your mouth when you do that. Think of the Holy Spirit that way, as the breath of God who gives us life. In our OT Lesson God spoke of Israel and said, () “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” That was true with Adam’s life, physically and spiritually, when the Bible says, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

In our OT Lesson God spoke of Israel and said, () “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” That was true with Adam’s life, physically and spiritually, when the Bible says, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

The breath of God brings us to spiritual life. That was true with Adam. The Bible says, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Air sometimes doesn’t seem like there’s all that much to it. We walk through it all the time like nothing. But air, as you know, moving air, can be quite powerful. In the Spirit revealed himself in a sound “like the blowing of a strong wind.” () Think of the Holy Spirit that way, as the breath of God who gives us life. In our OT Lesson God spoke of Israel and said, () “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.” That was true with Adam’s life, physically and spiritually, when the Bible says, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Think of the Holy Spirit that way, as the breath of God, that does things only God can do.

It takes air for you to form words. Air leaves your mouth when you do that.

What are we without God the Holy Spirit’s work?

In our OT Lesson God spoke of Israel and said,

He speaks through his Word and the Spirit of God is at work. But more than just a part of God, the Bible wants us to see him as a Person, the Third Person of the Trinity. You can see that the Spirit is distinct from the Father, by the way Jesus speaks about him, as the one “whom my Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.” There, you see that? You have mention of the Father, and the Son (he’s talking), and the Spirit. This shows that He’s more than just a something, a part of God, he’s Someone all by himself.

But more than just a part of God, the Bible wants us to see him as a Person, the Third Person of the Trinity. You can see that the Spirit is distinct from the Father, by the way Jesus speaks about him, as the one “whom my Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.” There, you see that? You have mention of the Father, and the Son (he’s talking), and the Spirit. This shows that He’s more than just a something, a part of God, he’s Someone all by himself.

Think of the Holy Spirit that way, as the breath of God. But he’s more than that,

Today, Jesus

There, you see that? You have mention of the Father, and the Son (he’s talking), and the Spirit. This shows that He’s more than just a something, a part of God, he’s Someone all by himself. Today, Jesus

So the Holy Spirit’s more than just a “helper.” So what is he then?

The Bible says, . St. Bernard, one of the early church fathers (so the actual St Bernard, not the dog) in a letter written to Pope Innocent: “What can they, who are servants to sin and prisoners to the devil, do by themselves to restore the righteousness once it is lost? For that reason the righteousness of another is given to those, who have lost their own.”

The Bible says, “As for you…”. Martin Luther said, “I cannot by my own reason or strength…” St. Bernard, one of the early church fathers (so the actual St Bernard, not the dog) in a letter written to Pope Innocent: “What can they, who are servants to sin and prisoners to the devil, do by themselves to restore the righteousness once it is lost? For that reason the righteousness of another is given to those, who have lost their own.”

So the Holy Spirit’s more than just “helper” where most of the time we do just fine on our own. So what is he? The Greek word Jesus uses here...

St. Bernard (The actual St Bernard, not the dog) in a letter written to Pope Innocent: “What can they, who are servants to sin and prisoners to the devil, do by themselves to restore the righteousness once it is lost? For that reason the righteousness of another is given to those, who have lost their own.”

“the Eternal Spirit” (, ie. ‘the unending spirit’ or ‘the spirit that never ceases’)

“the Spirit of Truth” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who communicates truth’ (sometimes rendered as ‘the Spirit that communicates the truth about God’)

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 141). New York: United Bible Societies.

“the Spirit of life” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who brings life’ or ‘the Spirit that causes people to live’)

“the Spirit of Truth” ()

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 141). New York: United Bible Societies.

“the Spirit of life” ()

“the Spirit of sonship”(, ie. ‘the Spirit who makes us sons of God’ or ‘the Spirit that causes us to become God’s sons’)

“the Spirit of sonship”()

“Spirit of grace” (, ie. ‘the Spirit who bestows God’s grace in all its various forms upon us’)

“Spirit of wisdom & revelation” ( ,ie. ‘the Spirit who gives wisdom/reveals God’ or ‘causes us to become wise & shows us what God is like’ (or ‘… who God truly is’)

is like’ (or ‘… who God truly is’)

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 141). New York: United Bible Societies.

“Spirit of the Lord” ()

“Spirit of the Lord” (, ie. either refers to God the Father or to Jesus Christ, but the Spirit in either case is the same - He’s God)

“Helper” (John)

“Spirit of glory” ()

But Pentecost is an important day because it celebrates the work of the the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. Pentecost is sometimes also the birthday of the NT Church, so we have that reason to celebrate it as well!

The Day of Pentecost

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