Hymn # 385 O God, to us Show Mercy
Words of Assurance: 1 John 1:9 (ESV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God's Will for Our Lives: Roman 12:1-18
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Hymn # 683 Praise Him! Praise Him!
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Sermon: As the Spirit Gives Utterance
Notes:
Intro:What is the most common fear among people? Bugs, critters, death?
The most common fear is speaking out in public. Public-speaking is a huge fear for a great many people. This regardless of the size of the group.
But...... God calls for us to be a witness. This of course means that we need to be able to speak of him to those that God calls for us to speak...regardless of how many he gives for us to speak.
(Ergo the need for me to teach the lad public speaking skills.)
So here we find the disciples huddled together in a small private room. They had been busy..found someone to fill in the group of disciples to replace Judas, but for the most part they were not doing that which they had been called to do.
How are often are we like this? How often do we let others speak? How often are we busy about tasks but we don't actually speak out to others about Christ? How much of our lives is given over to witnessing about Jesus? We often don't think about our surrounding world as being the mission field that God has placed us in.
Fear so often so often stops us. We fear not being understood. We fear being mocked. We so often don't speak as we should.
We need to remember that we have received power from Jesus through the Spirit. It is this Spirit that changed the disciples. That Spirit gave them utterance.
The people around them were gathered together by the same Spirit that gave the disciples the ability to speak. The Spirit helped them to speak in a way that they could be understood...in this miraculous ways....he let the talk in the language of the people gathered.
(So like when people go to different parts of the world and learn to speak the language of the people there, like how people write the bible in such a way to meet the language needs of a younger generation).
The Spirit helps us to clearly present the gospel to the listening audience. We are to be witnesses to him.The Spirit is the one who makes sure the message gets through.
The Spirit does this will today. He is not confined to only working through the disciples or in people in days gone by. The Spirit works in us NOW to help us speak to whom he calls us to speak. It doesn't matter what our concern or fear is....The Spirit does the job. We need to rely on him, to trust him to do the job that he does so well. Trust the Spirit that Jesus himself has given us. Trust him.
Jesus has not stopped working in us. His work has not finished. It all just continues. It matters not if we have all the answers. We merely need to open our mouths and talk. We need to just rest in that knowledge.
Hymn # 244 Spirit, Strength of all the Weak
Hymn # 53—1,2,3 Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
Hymn # 53—4 Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah