Acts 2:1-4 - August 24, 2009

Acts 2:1-4: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. NIV

Pentecost – Part I

The day of Pentecost came. Those first believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to go forth and proclaim, in word and deed, what the Living God had done in Jesus Christ. It was a motley group comprised of women, fisherman, the uneducated, and others who had seen something in Jesus that worth forsaking all else. In one sense the day of Pentecost can never be repeated. It was a once-for-all historical moment, much like Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It was the very moment in history when the promised future of God, the Age of the Spirit, when God would bring renewal to the earth, came bursting forth into the real space and time of the Present Age we still live in. History would never be the same – and that first Pentecost marked the extension of God’s renewal project to the ends of the earth. Hallelujah. God is on the move!
But though this was a once-for-all watershed moment in history – God desires us to have an ongoing “Pentecost.” We now live in the Age of the Spirit, and God’s plan is for us to have the continual abidance of the Holy Spirit, his filling of us, his praying with us, his dwelling with us, his speaking to us, and his guidance over our lives (see John 16:12-15) – so that we may be the witnesses to the world that there is One who has a final and more powerful word than the death the hangs over all humanity. Even when the believers had just received the experiential outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 2 chapters later the Spirit came again to those same believers and actually shook the place where they were meeting, and enabled them afresh to speak the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31). Imagine for a moment the media reaction today if something like that happened! Oh Do it Lord! How about right on CNN prime time?! How about on American Idol?! "He didn't just go there did he?...!" Oh I sure did! Imagine in such a way that the powers that be have to acknowledge that there is something else, Someone Else, at play! I know one brother from Ghana who had witnessed a church building during worship literally being shaken and what appeared to be flames engulfing the roof – yet actually not burning it! Looks like God is still at work – he didn’t stop at the burning bush with Moses! Nor did he stop at the tongues of fire on those first believers.
Oh Holy Spirit, would you come and fill us, your people, afresh. Oh how we want to be close and intimate with you that we ourselves would be renewed so that whatever the challenges in life we can be filled with joy, life, and power, to go forth and bring your hope and life to those around us. Would you renew your Pentecostal act in our midst once again Oh God! Maybe its been a while since you’ve experienced what you know is true of God. Don’t necessarily look for the ways God has moved in your past – simply join with Habakkuk and cry out to the Lord, “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day…” (Hab 3:2) Cry aloud to the Lord, "Come Holy Spirit, Come.”