What Should We Do?

Welcome

Today we will read in the book of Acts a portion of Peter’s sermon from the day of Pentecost.  The previous parts of this passage including the details of the event of Pentecost (the outpouring of the Spirit in the upper room and the miracle of each hearing this sermon in their own language) will be looked at later on Pentecost Sunday.  Today’s reading includes the conclusion of Peter’s sermon and the response of those who heard it.  

We are going to talk about the importance of the revelation power of the Holy Spirit on people. The Holy Spirit is always speaking but it takes belief to be aware of His voice.

Prayer

Acts 2:36-41

As I read this it is kind of like watching a movie and as you get into it you think you know where the plot is going but then through the skill of a good writer, director, producers and actors things end with a giant plot twist.

BAM things do not end like you think they will and you are left maybe shocked, surprised, or maybe even a little disturbed.

Thats what we have here, All of the sudden Peter moves from talking about the man Jesus to Talking about Jesus a Lord. It was kind of like the lights finally came on in the hearts and minds of the crowd…They thought they were simply hearing about a man but everything Peter had preached proved the Jesus was more that a man...

Jesus is Lord

This is what pierced their hearts. Think about it…it was bad enough when people knew they were the cause of a man’s suffering…but when presented with evidence that Jesus was God. I cannot imagine the fear and dread that must have grabbed their heart.

They knew they had messed up and they desperately wanted to make things right. What do we do?

Peter then lays out that they are to Repent and be baptized. Realign their view of the world and Multiply believers.

Repent and Be Baptized

What were the to repent from? They were not being told to repent of moral failures here but they were told to repent from their rejection of Jesus as Messiah.

This gets lost because for many modern day Christians there in no real argument that Jesus is the Messiah…so we jump right to things that are contrary to Christian living.

The problem with this when we are talking to those who are not believers is they do not have the same moral code as we do. So to tell them they need repent or turn from their wicked ways before they embrace Jesus as Lord is counter productive.

It is not until one turns away from unbelief to belief that they can receive and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit which then guides us into Christian living. The call to repent and be baptized also made it public that one was now identified with Christ.

Galatians 2:20 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is what initial belief looks like. One cannot follow Jesus until they first believe. I know this sounds elementary but for so many this gets lost because we want to fix everyones behavior instead of lead them to a deep relationship with Jesus.

Peter then speaks hope into not only the lives of the crowd but on generations to come and to the rest of the world

39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.

There is a theological term here that is called the doctrine of prevenient grace. That is very simply stated that before a person can seek God, God must first of seek the person. The Holy Spirit is continuously going ahead of all human kind seeking to to connect with all people even if they do not know it…

Once a person or a people stop rejecting Jesus as Lord the Holy Spirit has freedom to really move. This is why in scripture many times when someone was saved it was followed by the phrase “and their whole household.”

This is not a patriarchal ideas that the rest of the family was saved because the man told them to be. They were saved because the power of the Holy Spirit changed the person in such a way that it could not be denied....They spoke to the people they were closest to by their transformation....

Once we accept the truth of Jesus as Lord the Holy Spirit is free to change our minds, hearts and our future for the better.

The Holy Spirit Realigns our outlook on life

All of the sudden things that secular culture see as important are seen for what they are. Traps and obstacles to really living. The trap of unbelief for the crowd convinced them to help crucify Jesus. The obstacle of Jesus not being the type of Messiah they though the needed convinced them that Jesus was not Lord.

But as the Holy Spirit spoke through Peter and they recieved the Message of Jesus as Lord....awareness of who Jesus was sparked a deep need to be made whole…and revival broke out in the crowd and over 3000 people were added as believers that day!

It is worth while to point out that 3000 believers were added…not 3000 disciples… before we can become disciples we must first believe our need of salvation and that Jesus is indeed our salvation…I think in our zeal to make disciples we forget to lead people into belief.

Holy Spirit Wants to do this agian

The Holy Spirit is in this moment is speaking to hearts all over the world. The Holy Spirit is speaking to people all over Broken Arrow…The Holy Spirit may be trying to make himself know to you right now.

The question is...will we be a conduit of the message of Jesus Christ resurrected to the people of the world…will we be the voice of salvation like Peter to those who do not believe?

The Spirit has already tilled the soil. Even in the unprecedented days we are in Holy Spirit is still revealing himself to those who will listen. This is the promise we have. That if we will repent, realign God will use us to reproduce believers even in these days.

This may be an odd message to preach when our ability to get out and talk to people is limited. It is also odd when many of us are having a hard enough time keeping it all together ourselves. We are tired, scared, frustrated and some of us are wondering if we are going to make it through this thing at all.

The temptation is to think only about me or the people closest to us…but the Holy Spirit reminds us that our ability to change the world comes from believing in Jesus for our provision and giving out of not only our abundance but out of our need.

This is exactly what was going on with the 120 in the upper room…yes they were seeking God but they had no idea what it would look like to receive the Holy Spirit. But until they believed in the words of Jesus they would not receive the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

We cannot change the events in our world. Corona Virus is here…it’s serious…and we must deal with that reality. But we must not and we cannot surrender our minds and emotions to a fear that renders us Hopeless, and Helpless.

Today We Must Embrace Belief over Fear

You and I as a church have a future…it is bright…it is going to be incredible…and it will not be anything like we thought it would be 2 months ago. All we can do is trust and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as we walk into uncharted territory.

Will you take this walk with me? Will you join me in repenting of self sufficiency or holding on to a paradigm that is gone forever so we can live in the coming revival for our city our state and our world?

Will you join me as I continue repent, realign and make new disciples following the lead of the Holy Spirit? I promise you will be glad you did. Lets look forward to the future God has for us…

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

It’s Time…It’s time to move forward in faith and stop being stuck in fear.

As we prepare to come to the table together lets ask God to show us where we need to embrace Him more and give us fresh ideas and insight on how we will not only step into the future with confidence but how we will be become a multiplying community developing deep, growing relationships with God, our world, and one another in whatever normal will be in the right now and in the future to come.

Communion