All Together in One Place

Acts 2:1-3 (NRSV)

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them

As we look to take Bethel to the next level it is important that everyone in here realize the power we have

Because if we feel powerless because of our situation, our age, our so called limitations, our location, or even our finance we are putting limitations on ourselves that God has not

My prayer is that everyone in this church would be a boundary breaker

That we would embrace Holy Ghost fire so much that we shake the foundations and people come from all over to see what’s going on

That’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost

The word says they were all together

in one place

How many know that the Holy Ghost can’t come when we all ain’t together

The Holy Ghost can’t come if this ain’t a place for everybody

When we are all together in one place

when we are on one accord

God can do things

I’m reminded of Genesis…

In genesis when the were united they sought to build a tower to the heavens and God said when they are together in one place they can do anything they put their minds to

Pentecost is a move of God to empower us to break self and socially imposed boundaries

yes self and socially imposed boundaries

we know about the struggles we face socially

but i declare the social external opposition we face would have much less power over us if we broke down the boundaries we impose on ourselves

last night as Rosalee and I were watching “When they see us”

One mother said to her son “They may hate us but we won’t hate ourselves”

I am convinced that is we would just walk in the power God has given us and love who God has made us to be

If we would stop abusing ourselves and allowing ourselves to be abused

If we stop modeling our lives on everyone but Jesus

We could be somebody

we could really do some damage

but far too often we limit ourselves based on what other folks say

but I came by to tell you this morning

it don’t matter what anybody says about you

the only thing that matters is what God says about you

You are beloved

You are favored

You are precious

and you are unstoppable

Pentecost was first instituted in the book of Exodus which remembers and embodies God bringing people out of slavery into their own land with their own harvest and bounty

Pentecost means “fiftieth” and was fifty days after Passover, 

Pentecost is a celebration of freedom and equity

We as Christians celebrate Pentecost

7 weeks after Resurrection Sunday

We commemorate the coming of the Holy Ghost on the church

and when the Holy Ghost shows up here in Acts the word says Peter links it directly to the prophecy of Joel

which said “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female slaves,

in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

Understand the power of what had taken place and the point the scripture is making

Far too often we link what happened on Pentecost to a mere miracle of speaking unintelligibly

but to be very clear it was a miracle of hearing and being heard

God’s good news was being spoken and understood to folks no matter wether they were from Europe, Asia, Judea, Africa or Palestine

Then the entire book of Acts is a boundary breaking event where people otherwise thought to be outside of God’s grace and power are brought in

regardless of class or social status the Holy Ghost had come to equalize things

I don’t know about you but that’s good news to me

wasn’t it Jesus who said I must go but when I go I will send you another ADVOCATE??

In other words I been here fighting for you but when I am home I’m gonna send you the holy ghost to live on the inside so you can fight for yourself

and when we are all together

in one place

the collective empowering nature of the Holy Ghost ensures us victory

We see this in how Pentecost has been a major game changer for black folks

we understood what happened on the day of Pentecost to be an equalizing, democratizing and empowering move of God that broke down barriers and exclusion based on race and gender

Many consider Acts chapter 2 to be one of the most influential passages of scripture that led to the black church movement

The Modern Pentecostal movement began with W. J. Seymour, Charles Harrison Mason and the Azuza Street Revival of 1906-1909 in Los Angeles,

At Azuza, blacks, whites, Mexicans, and Asians alike sang and worshiped together even while segregation and discrimination was growing elsewhere

African American women understood Acts and Joel for gender equality in ordained ministry because the passage says, "and your daughters shall prophesy."

Jarena Lee is the first black woman on record to make a plea for the recognition of her ministry with Richard Alien and his AME church

She uses the quotation of Joel's prophecy in Acts as the opening caption to her spiritual biography

Julia A. J. Foote, a member of the AME Zion Church and preacher of the nineteenth century, practiced her ministry until around 1900

In her spiritual autobiography, A Brand Plucked from the Fire (1879), she describes her call to ministry in terms of Acts and Joel’s prophecy

Does anybody in here know what it feels like to be shut out?

Has anybody in here ever been considered unworthy or less than?

I’m here to tell you today that because you got the Holy Ghost

-can’t nobody keep you down

-can’t nobody shut you out

-can’t nobody block your way

God has given you the power to break boundaries

to have your own harvest

Can you imagine what’s possible if we all get together and wait on the Holy Ghost?????

There is power in being all together in one place

See when we get together the Holy Ghost is in the midst and we encourage one another

We should encourage each other to break boundaries

If you don’t take noting else from this message today I need you to take this

We cannot underestimate or minimize the Unifying boundary breaking nature of the Holy Ghost

the intent and power of the Spirit is to reach those whom would otherwise be deemed as other

have you ever been considered the outsider, the unpopular one, the last one picked on the team, the one people made fun of, the forgotten one, the least likely to succeed, has anyone ever told you you will never be anything?

If so you need to rejoice because the gospel is primarily for you

You the one God is setting up for a blessing

because when you embrace the work of God in your life

God will empower you to break boundaries

your haters will look at you

after God has elevated you

after your changing the game and calling the shots and they gonna wonder what happened

that’s how we got the first black PHD

the first Black astronaut

the first black engineer and supreme court justice

and we keep changing the game

because when others said we couldn’t do it

God said yes you can!!!!!!

When we are all together in one place it enables us to hear and be heard

we have a shared language and culture

and even though we come from many different places and back grounds

we understand each other

and when somebody comes in the door broken and hurt

because we all been there before

we got a word of encouragement

and we also got a testimony

and when you come in the door hurting

the shared language of love

says something to you that you need to hear

I want you to know that’s the Holy Ghost

translating even our mumbling and our grumbling……

if we create a space where people can hear and be heard

where the gospel is preached

the broken are lifted up

the unloved are loved

the forgotten are remember

and the despised are cherished

the resources are shared and the people are empowered

turn to somebody and tell them “I love u….I need you to hear me…”

finally when we are all together the Holy Ghost equips us with fire

what happened on the day of Pentecost was public and disruptive

It moved people outside the community to pay attention

Bishop Ingram often says

people won’t come out to watch ice melt

but they sure will come in droves to watch fire burn

Holy Ghost fire ignites conviction and changes people’s lives

If we’re going to break boundaries and change the game we gotta get on fire…..

Moses was called to ministry by fire

God showed up on Mt Sinai in fire

the Word says the Lord your God is a consuming fire

the children of Israel were guided in the wilderness with by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire…..

Jeremiah said it’s like a fire shut up in my bones

John the baptist said I baptize you with water…….

Can you imagine

what happens

when we all get on fire——all together——in one place????

(no matter how old, young,God wants you on fire)