Sunday, May 27, 2018

Pentecost Matters – Part 1


Acts 2:1-4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday in our Christian church year. Pastor Kyle was perfectly between tow Sermon series, so gave a message on this defining moment in communicating with God. The term Pentecost comes from the Greek Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē) meaning "fiftieth" (50th). It refers to the festival celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, also known as the "Feast of Weeks" and the "Feast of 50 days" in rabbinic tradition. The festival so named is first spoken of in Exodus 23:16 as "the feast of harvest," and again in Exodus 34:22 as "the day of the firstfruits" (Numbers 28:26). From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks, i.e., forty-nine days, were to be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day. 

Acts 2:14, 16-24 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. and on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord ‘Shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” 

For Jewish Believers in the Old Testament times, Pentecost represented a commemoration of God giving the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) at Mt. Sinai. For New Testament Christian Believers, the Christian festival of Pentecost is celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter. A celebration of God giving the Holy Spirit.

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on Pentecost Sunday in the next post.
In Christ, Brian

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