2012- Releasing Our Church Potential

Thank God that He keeps His Promises

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem , and in all Judea and Samaria , and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

1.      The power promised was not force or political power.  Israel had enjoyed superiority under David and Solomon.  Those days had come and gone.

2.      The ability to “be” more than to “do”.  To be witnesses rather than to do witnessing.  Evangelism is a process, not just an event.

3.      The power came from without, not from within.  It was supernatural to enable them to be effective in their presentation of the gospel.  The power came when the Holy Spirit arrived and not before.

4.      The believer were to be witnesses of Christ to others and not to themselves.  They were to make disciples not to themselves, but to the risen Lord.  Matt 28:18-20

Jesus told His followers to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:4–5). The disciples obeyed His command, waiting for God's next directive. As they prayed, God adjusted their lives to what He intended to do next. As they prayed, a unity developed among them. For the first time the disciples used Scripture as their guide in decision making (Acts 1:15–26). The day of Pentecost arrived, and the city of Jerusalem filled with pilgrims from around the world. When God released His Holy Spirit upon the disciples, He had already filled the city with messengers who would carry the Gospel to every nation. Prayer had prepared the disciples for their obedient response.

The drama that unfolds in Acts chapters 2 and 3 coincides perfectly with the meaning and significance of the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) which was then underway in Jerusalem .  The diverse crowds that packed the city to celebrate the festival became a ready audience for the events that took place.

There were three great annual feasts in Jewish life:  The Feast of the Unleavened Bread (or Passover), the Feast of Weeks (or Harvest, or Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths or Tents) John 7:2-10.  On all three occasions, thousands of Jews made their way to the temple in Jerusalem .

The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost took its name from the fact that it occurred seven weeks, or 50-days after Passover.  Each family offered thanks to God for the just completed grain harvest by giving the firstfruit of its produce to the temple priests.  Pentecost was a day of celebration; no work was carried out.  Everyone was expected to participate…husbands and wives, parents and children, servants, priests, widows, orphans, even visitors and foreigners.  The days of slavery in Egypt were recalled, and the people were reminded to observe God’s Law.

On this day, then, God’s Spirit chose to descend on the 120 believers gathered in the Upper Room. The event followed by 50 days the death of Jesus on the Cross and turned into a spiritual harvest: 3,000 people responded to Peter’s proclamation of the gospel Acts 2:41, becoming the firstfruit of the church.

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.

As believers, we are called to proclaim the message of Christ to unbelievers in the best way we know how, being faithful to the truth.  That’s really all that Peter did.  (Acts 2:14-36), but his speech produced dramatic results