Acts 2 & Luke 15 Pentecost Sunday 2004
The Spirit of The Father
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, and the heart of the Father is for the lost.
Pentecost Story: Acts 2:1-41
The emphasis in church on the Spirit is often on His comfort, his gifts, his fruit. The Pentecost story has an emphasis on the power of the Spirit & on his effect on the lost.
Often times when we tell the story of Pentecost, we place the emphasis on the spectacular – the mighty rushing wind, the tongues of fire, the ability to speak in other languages, but Jesus’ emphasis is on the speech that Peter gives.
Jesus says in Acts 1:8 “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."
With the way that we have experienced the Spirit in the last number of years, you’d think that he said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will fall on the ground and shake, …you will roar with laughter, … you will shout out…” No, he says “you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.” It is not that we reject these other outward signs of the Spirit’s presence in someone’s life, but the promise is that we will be witnesses!
This is not too surprising, since as we have been seeing over the last few weeks, the heart of God the father is for the lost, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father.
The heart of the Father is described by Jesus in Luke 15.
Have you ever lost something important to you? Do you get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach?
Three stories of the lost Luke 15
Lost sheep read verses 1-7
Lost coin
Jesus tells the story of this woman who has worked hard for very little pay. But each time there was a little left over, she would put it aside just in case it was needed in the future. She had collected 10 silver coins in all over the years, ten days wages –it is her nest egg, her fund for a rainy day, her emergency cache. She had bundled the coins up and kept them on a shelf. Every once in a while she pulls the bundle down, opens it up and sees the fruit of her labor. One day as the light is fading and the days work is finished, she pulls the bundle down and opens it. There are only 9 coins! One has gone missing! She grabs the broom and lights a lamps and begins to sweep her whole house to find the missing coin. She reaches into the last corner with her broom and hears the clink of metal against stone. She brings the lamp down low, and there in the pile of dust is her lost coin, now found. She immediately runs out into the street with the coin to tell her friends and neighbours the story and they rejoice over the newly found coin.
Lost son
Summarize it.
How many of you have ever lost a child momentarily? How did it feel?
3 pictures of God:
the shepherd, - in spite of all hardships, continues to seek until sheep is found. The one who is missing is far more on the mind of the shepherd than the one ones who are safe. Last week I told you that you are priests of the most high God. You are also shepherds, or pastors. The call to become the father, is also a call to shepherd lost sheep into God’s fold.
the woman, - emphasis on the thoroughness of the search – God will not leave a place on earth unswept until he finds his lost ones. We are God’s broom, we brig the light into dark places to find the lost coins
the father - the others are lost unknowingly, the son chooses to be lost - if the father would go search, he would only drive him away, so he waits - not patiently, but expectantly
When the Holy Spirit of God comes upon the church, he drives them out on to the street to find the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. We like to think of ourselves as a “Spirit-filled church”. If we are so Spirit-filled, what are we doing in here?
I say this a bit facetiously, since the new born church is described constantly meeting together and breaking bread. Meeting together is part of who we are as a church, but we must know that part of being Spirit filled is having God’s heart for the lost, and getting out there to seek them out. If your involvement in church means that you have no time for your non-Christian friends, you need to re-think your schedule.
The call to become the father is a call to seek out the lost
Reminder on how we do that from Luke 10 – sending out of the 72
5"When you enter a house, first say, ’Peace to this house.’ 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ’The kingdom of God is near you.’
Bless – one of the father’s roles is to bless the children. We need to pray for God to bless those we want to see reconciled with God. When God does bless them we can say, like Peter did at Pentecost, “this is God!”
Relate – the Pharisees are angry because Jesus is doing just this. Christianity is about relationship with God and about relationship with each other, it makes sense that we build relationships with those we want to see reconciled to God.
Heal – meet their felt needs – the sheep needed to be found, the son needed clothes and food, Jesus healed people everywhere he went. We must pray for people for what they need – it gets God and them into the same room and introduces them!
Proclaim – when the experience the presence of God through prayer, like the people did at Pentecost, we get to explain it to very attentive ears!
Party – all three stories end with a party – we must celebrate the return of the lost!
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father
As we answer the call to become the father, we must receive the Spirit of the Father to give us his heart, and to give us the power to effectively live out that heart.
We have been told that there is an openness of the climate in Toronto right now. Cast your nets on the other side. Go back to people that were not interested in the past and talk to them again.
1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers & sisters, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[1] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Ministry for the filling of the Spirit for evangelism or seeking the lost.
