Podcasts about on pentecost

On Pentecost something epoch happened! The Spirit baptized every believer and, literally, fired them up! They then hit the streets and declared the wonders of God...and they received mixed results. Pastor Dave inspires us to declare the wonders of God while leaving the results to God.

Pentecost Sunday commemorates the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the early church, fulfilling the promises of Jesus and John the Baptist. After Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the disciples gathered in Jerusalem as instructed. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled them with power, symbolized by tongues of fire, enabling them to boldly spread the gospel—marking the birth of the Christian church. This day reminds believers that the same Spirit lives within them, uniting all in Christ, empowering them for service, and continuing God's promise to all who are called.

Acts 2:1-21 On Pentecost the disciples proclaimed the gospel. Through their words the Holy Spirit unleashed his saving power. The Foundation Preacher Podcast is provided to you by WELS Congregational Services. The Foundation resources were created to help churches allow the gospel message heard in worship, to echo throughout the week. Listen to multiple pastors discuss sermon topics for the church season. Find more of The Foundation resources at: welscongregationalservices.net/foundation-yr-c-2

We have been looking for weeks at how Jesus prepared His disciples for ministry. He trained them personally, supernaturally opened their eyes to understand the scriptures, and instructed them to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, they were filled with the Spirit and were absolutely empowered to be the witnesses He had called them to be. They had everything they needed... or did they? Today we will look at one more critical element in the makeup of the mature, effective follower of Christ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Pentecost, the Jesus changed the game forever when the Holy Spirit was released onto Jesus' followers. That ministry is still alive today which is why we celebrate the gift of supernatural ministry fueled by the Holy Spirit. Today Danny & Natalie recount this epic event and bring it into our day-to-day. If you enjoyed this message, please review and share this message with someone who needs it. Connect with us at www.FamilyLife.cc If you would like to support our mission financially, here are some ways you can donate to our church: Tap the text to the right to give via our Church Center App. Venmo/Zelle: Send to info@familylife.cc Text any amount to 84321 Visit www.FamilyLife.cc/Giving for more options. Thank you for listening and thank you for your generosity.

On Ascension, we talk about the ongoing work of Jesus. On Pentecost, we talk about the work of the Holy Spirit. It seems fitting, then, on Trinity Sunday to talk about the Father that we might better understand our one God. Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

On Pentecost weekend, 2024, four URC churches gathered for worship and fellowship in Greensburg, IN. Those churches were: Ascension Reformed, Madison Reformed, Indy Reformed, and Christ Reformed.   

Friends of the Rosary, This Pentecost Sunday, with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and disciples, the Jewish crowd of that time experienced the miracle of tongues. This supernatural event recalled the story about the tower of Babel, when men, enslaved by pride, attempted to build a tower that would touch the heavens. To punish their sin, God confused their speech. Sin causes confusion and division. On Pentecost, Lord Christ came to gather all men into His Church, uniting them to Himself. This should result in creating one family of nations again. The gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit unites us. Love is the common language, that should be spoken into all nations. Come, Holy Spirit, come! Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • May 21, 2024, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

On Pentecost, Pastor Mike preaches on the experience of God and how that relates to the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of truth. Pentecost, Year B: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17 https://www.gofundme.com/f/ZionsStoneChurchRepairFund

Today we will reflect on Pentecost; the great harvest feast of the Jewish people. We will focus our reflection on Acts 2:1-13, The Gift. On Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus' resurrection and 10 days after his ascension to heaven, Jesus sends his Spirit to empower the church and to carry forward his last instruction to go make disciples. The Spirit gives us the gift of communication and courage to go into the world to share the Good News.

Pentecost, what does it mean? It was at this time that Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, sent the Holy Spirit to not only come upon His people but to indwell them. On Pentecost, God kept His promise to send the Helper to us. Now we live in His power and eagerly await His return. This message was preached by Pastor Erick Cobb on May 19, 2024.

Pentecost Sunday 2024 Archbishop Aquila joined Spirit of Christ in celebrating the parish's 50th anniversary. On Pentecost we celebrate the birth of the Church and the coming down of the Holy Spirit. Note: Due to recording issues this audio is imperfect and stutters in and out at points. We are working on a fix. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm 

On Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, empowering them for the work that Jesus had…

On Pentecost, Deacon Walt celebrates the birth of the Church and the descent of the Holy Spirit. He emphasizes how the Holy Spirit brings light into darkness, empowering believers to spread the love and teachings of Jesus through acts of kindness and compassion.

On Pentecost, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on his disciples, just as he promised. The Holy Spirit continues to pour blessings into our lives.

Acts 2.1-12 To be a Christian is not so much having a certain set of beliefs that give meaning to our lives. Instead, to be a Christian is to be initiated into a community with practices and habits that actually transform our lives. Which is just another way of saying, we only ever learn what it means to be Christians by watching other Christians and doing what they do. To be Christian means being together. Which, of course, isn't easy. After Pentecost, the story of Acts tells of the great challenge of being the church. The church stand for, preaches, and speaks the language of the heart that runs completely counter to the language of the world. The world worships the first, the greatest, the found, the big, and the alive. God comes for the last, least, lost, little and dead. The world runs on deception and destruction. The Spirit conveys grace and mercy. The world is full to the brim with bad news. Jesus comes bringing Good News. On Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, the tall and the small, the sinners and the saints, the found and the forgotten. Not because we earned it or deserved it. But because we needed it. And we still do...

On Pentecost, Pastor Brenton talks about the 3rd person of the trinity. The post The Person of Holy Spirit appeared first on Gospel Mission Church.

On Pentecost, Joanna invites us to reflect on God's promise that the Holy Spirit is for everyone. How might the Holy Spirit equip us to step out to be who God is calling us to be? (Acts 2: 1-12)

On Pentecost, Marc teaches on the Holy Spirit and the gift He is to ALL who believe.

On Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit draws us all into the Prophetic Call.

In the Easter season, we have heard Jesus promise his disciples over and over that he would send the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, the wait was finally over. Like a powerful tidal wave, the Holy Spirit was poured out. He came to saturate Jerusalem with the message of the Savior. Jesus did and said so much that the apostle John would later surmise by the Spirit that the whole world would not have room for the books that could be written about Jesus' words and works. As we celebrate the festival of Pentecost once again today, we have “The Holy Spirit Sent with Testimony”. Our sermon comes from Ezekiel 37.

Language changes over time, and that leads to new slang with each new generation. This creates a gap in understanding between generations that is not unlike the gap between the disciples and the visitors from many countries they met on Pentecost. How could they share the Good News of Jesus when they didn't understand the language of those they encountered? On Pentecost it was the work of the Holy Spirit that enabled everyone to hear the message in their native language. But what about today, how do we share the Good News, when generation gaps, cultural differences, or even actual languages separate us from others? Pastor Stephanie reminds us that it is a gift to be able to learn how another communicates even if we have to take classes or ask for a translator. “Actions speak louder than words” is especially true when there's a barrier to communication: serving our neighbors, sharing a meal, or even just taking time to play can help build bridges to better understanding each other.

The Church celebrates this Sunday the Birthday of the Church, Pentecost Sunday. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and gave them power to proclaim the works of God to all. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit in our time.

Friends of the Rosary: All of the great theophanies in Christ's life occurred during the course of prayer. After His baptism, for instance, when Jesus was praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. Likewise, it was during prayer at night that the transfiguration took place on Tabor. During the Annunciation, it was while Mary was praying that Gabriel delivered his message, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. On Pentecost, a small community of Christians, including the Holy Virgin and the Apostles, were praying for the coming of the Paraclete took place. Today, the same is true at Mass. Through prayer, we prepare our souls for the advent of the Spirit. Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel A. | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • July 28, 2023, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Acts 2:1-13 and 2 Timothy 1:3-14At Pentecost, the church was born with power from the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost and through the Bible, we read about people who had powerful faith, and we are called to have that same kind of powerful faith too!Orchard Community Church8180 Telephone RdVentura CA 93004www.OrchardVentura.orgContact us at Info@OrchardVentura.orgOrchard's Streaming and Song Select CCLI# 160190

Scripture: Acts 2:1-21, GNT As the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the Hebrew believers thought they knew why they were there. It was a festival to celebrate the giving of the law and really to celebrate the founding of their nation. They drew their energy from their national identity, but was something more happening? The disciples of Jesus found a new power source: the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost and beyond, that same Holy Spirit empowers us.  Connect with the Canton UMC!

Christmas. Easter. Pentecost. Fr. Walsh tells us these are the three big Feasts in the Catholic year. On Pentecost, the Lord gives us the gift of His Spirit. In order to take full of advantage of this gift we need to be open to what the Lord is calling us to do. The question is asked, what ministries can we be involved in?

Acts of the Apostles 2, 1-11. "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together." Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches to a group of High School students at Ernescliff College in Toronto. On Pentecost the Church was born in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit promised by Jesus descended on the apostles and disciples. Cardinal John Henry Newman reminds us that the Holy Spirit gives life to everything, and He turns “sinners into saints”. Music: The Meeting of the Waters Arranged and played by Bert Alink. Thumbnail: The Feast of Pentecost. Engraving by Gustave Doré in the Illustrated Bible.

What does it mean for us that the Holy Spirit is alive around and within us? On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, we're exploring one of Jesus' stranger word pictures. It all has to do with an ancient festival, the Dead Sea and of course the book of Revelation. Hey... it's our birthday, so we have to party!

On Pentecost, we look at the work of the Holy Spirit. His primary work is to create faith in our hearts through the gospel. And he also pours out many other gifts on his church, so that we can share with others the good news about Jesus as well.Pastor Pat Brown preached this sermon at Bethany's Sunday worship on May 28, 2023.Learn more at bethanyappleton.org

Meeting the Moment: PentecostActs 2:1-21Pastor Christopher EkChristmas, Easter, and Pentecost, the three biggest celebrations of the church year. On Pentecost, God was doing a new work that empowers all of our lives today. Listen this week as we hear how the Holy Spirit empowers us for daily life and mission. 

On Pentecost, what do we miss because of our self-protective cynicism? Can we make room for mystery? Can we make room for God's Spirit? Can we learn to trust?

On Pentecost, Marissa explores the way the texts talk about the Spirit and about the gifts she brings. Then, the congregation is asked to consider their own work, their own hope, their own message. All of us receive the Holy Spirit through baptism. What is it she has given you? What does she ask of you?

On this episode of Preaching the Text, John Hoyum and Steve Paulson discuss the texts for Pentecost. On Pentecost, the church receives the gift of the Holy Spirit with tongues of fire, enabling the apostles to preach in many languages. Though many interpreters focus on the way in which Pentecost connects to the giving of the law at Sinai, or the reversal of Babel's confusion of tongues, this episode emphasizes how Pentecost marks a transition. Before, the coming of Christ was always future-tense: he's coming. But at Pentecost, the word changes: now Christ is here. At Pentecost we receive a present Christ, not an absent one. Support this show 1517 Podcasts Craft of Preaching

From May 7 through May 28 there will be a time of fasting and prayer for Israel and Jerusalem. The idea was conceived by Mike Bickle, the pastor of International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Visit the website www.isaiah62fast.com to access information about this event, including a six-minute video by Pastor Bickle. I encourage you to participate in this prayer event if you feel led. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to help create the burden for Israel and the Jewish people within the worldwide Body of Christ.   Show Notes: The goal of the Isaiah 62 Fast (www.isaiah62fast.com) is for more than a million people to be in prayer 24 hours a day for 21 days to see the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. Started by Pastor Mike Bickle it has already grown to hundreds of thousands of participants. This event will begin on May 7 and end on May 28, which is the Day of Pentecost.   On Pentecost there will be a gathering at the southern steps of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which I am hoping to attend. Hargrave Ministries had already scheduled a trip to be in Israel during that time, and we plan to be part of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast that will take place on the first of June. I am excited to connect with this focused time of prayer because I believe it will expand the burden for the Jewish people and Jerusalem within the Body of Christ. Many Christians still do not have the revelation of what God is going to do in the end-time surrounding Israel and the Jewish people.   I think it is a fantastic event and we should look to see it be tremendously successful, not only in reaching the Body of Christ, but also in the effectiveness of the prayer itself for Israel and Jerusalem. Isaiah 62 contains many beautiful promises over Israel, and now the Body of Christ from around the world is part of their fulfillment by being the watchmen on the wall to remind the Lord what He has said concerning Israel.   Key Verses:   •       Isaiah 62:1–12. “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent.” •       Romans 11:17–21. “You, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree.” •       Psalm 102:13–18. “This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.”   Quotes: From the Isaiah 62 Fast website (www.isaiah62fast.com):   •       “A collaboration of several thousand ministries—including Lou Engle, Jason Hubbard, Mike Bickle—are calling 1 million believers to participate in a global solemn assembly (May 7–28) to fast in various ways and to pray for the Lord's purposes for Israel AND to ask Him to raise up 100 million intercessors for Israel according to His promise in Isaiah 62:6.” •       “This will be the first time in history that far more than 1 million will continue 24 hours a day for 21 days in praying for God's promises for Israel. The uniqueness of this prayer initiative is itself a sign of the times and an acceleration of God's set time for a generation yet to be created to engage together in His purposes for Israel (Ps. 102:13, 18).”   Takeaways:   1.    The potential impact of this on the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem is going to be amazing when they learn how many believers are crying out to God for the fulfillment of the prophecies over them to come true at this time of Pentecost. 2.    We work a lot with Israel and the people who live in Israel and Jerusalem, and they are always touched by the love and the drive that Christians have for them. It gives them a strength in their own faith and their own belief in the Word. And we want to do this with this event. 3.    It is guaranteed by God that His promises to Israel will be fulfilled. He will never reject His people no matter what they have done, no matter what they are doing today. He will make a new covenant with them, and they will all know Him from the least to the greatest. He will forgive their sins. He will bring them forth as the nation that He has always promised that they would be in His presence to stand before Him.

(Acts 2:4-13) On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to communicate in languages they did not previously know so that all people could hear the gospel. As we learn more about the miraculous sign gifts given on that day, we discover more about both God's heart and His power. (07017230120) 

Acts 2 Mnemonics Chapter 2 – On Pentecost, the church on earth is new. Chapter 2 – Peter baptizes a crew. Acts 2:1 – “They” here is…

At a time when animal sacrifices symbolized atonement and purification, Jesus introduced the new way to His Father. On Pentecost, God sends the Holy Spirit marking the beginning of the apostle's ministry on earth. Dive into the Holy Spirit's coming and what it means for Christians now.

At a time when animal sacrifices symbolized atonement and purification, Jesus introduced the new way to His Father. On Pentecost, God sends the Holy Spirit marking the beginning of the apostle's ministry on earth. Dive into the Holy Spirit's coming and what it means for Christians now.

The New Testament uses several unique images to represent the person and work of the Holy Spirit. One image shows the Holy Spirit as fire. On Pentecost, following the sound of rushing wind filling the house where the apostles were staying, what appeared to be tongues of flame rested on each of them. They were immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, and their lives were changed forever. Fire is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament uses several unique images to represent the person and work of the Holy Spirit. One image shows the Holy Spirit as fire. On Pentecost, following the sound of rushing wind filling the house where the apostles were staying, what appeared to be tongues of flame rested on each of them. They were immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, and their lives were changed forever. Fire is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Day of Pentecost, June 5, 2022 The Spirit Marches Victorious Through the WordFirst Reading: Genesis 11:1-9. At Babel, sin led to God confusing people's language. Grace would lead God to share the gospel in many languages on Pentecost.Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21. On Pentecost, the disciples proclaimed the gospel. Through their words, the Holy Spirit unleashed his power.Gospel and Sermon Text: John 14:23-27. Give Thanks for the Holy Spirit!The Holy Spirit can give us the strength and the push to share the Gospel when we might typically be too shy or hesitant.As forgiven disciples of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit working around our weaknesses to accomplish God's will.Pastor Ron Koehler

“Today we celebrate the great gift which God poured out upon us all on the Day of Pentecost. When the Spirit came down to those disciples they were changed, transformed.  Their spirits were recharged with life and power. They came back to life. And that same promise is made to us, today.” On Pentecost, Br. Geoffrey Tristram gives us a wake-up call – to pray.

God pours out His healing love for me by cleansing me through water and the Word, giving me life and salvation. When I suffer, my first inclination is to trust my strength, wealth, or reputation. This tempts me to doubt God's unequivocal word of promise. But, despite my doubts, God's Word is powerful and always does what it says, pointing me to Jesus, the Word made flesh, who heals my diseases and cleanses me from the sickness of my sin granting forgiveness and eternal salvation for the sake of Jesus, who died and rose again for us. On Pentecost, Christians commemorate the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's activity continues today. Through the preaching of the Gospel and Baptism, the Holy Spirit calls and gathers believers to Christ and His Church. The Spirit works among people of every nation and language—among all to whom the Church is sent to proclaim the Gospel. For this reason, Christians pray for the continued outpouring of the Spirit and for the fulfillment of His sanctifying work. May your eyes be opened and your heart be filled as you celebrate the ever-present Spirit of God this week, and as you receive the empowerment of God for the journey ahead.

A Sermon for Whitsunday Acts 2:1-11 by William Klock   Last Sunday we recalled the Ascension of Jesus and remembered it's significance—that it offers a powerful visual confirmation of his lordship over creation.  And yet many Christians fail to make that connection.  For many, the ascension just means that Jesus isn't physically present with us anymore.  And I think this has happened because we as the Church have too often neglected to understand the events of Jesus' life and the life of the early Church within the context of the big story of God and his people.  When we do that me miss the deeper significance of pretty much everything.  For the last century or so, Evangelicalism has been dominated by a theological system that understands Jesus' kingdom essentially to be an entirely future reality.  And that leaves the Church spiritually impoverished.  Think of our study of Revelation and themes it stresses: tribulation, perseverance, and kingdom.  But if the kingdom is only a future reality, perseverance in the face of tribulation becomes impossible—or something we must do soley on our own strength.  Now Pentecost.  Something similar has happened with Pentecost.  Not necessarily in the same way, but nevertheless, we've allowed a cheapened view of things to downgrade what Pentecost actually means.  In the case of Pentecost, a lot of Christians have turned it into little more than a personal experience.  And as much as the reality of Pentecost is a personal experience for us as Christians, when that becomes our main focus, we tend to lose the bigger picture, the big picture of redemption. So let's back up to the Ascension for a moment to get some perspective before we head into Pentecost.  Again, the point of the Ascension is that Jesus has taken his throne and that he will reign from there until, as St. Paul says, every last enemy is put under his feet—until every enemy of God and his people, of his kingdom and his new creation has been conquered.  And if Jesus is reigning, that means that his kingdom is here and his kingdom is now—even if its full consummation is still future.  This is what the Old Testament points to throughout its pages.  It's what the New Testament affirms about Jesus and his coming and his mission.  Kings don't take their thrones without their sovereign rule being inaugurated and that's as true of Jesus as it is for earthly kings. As I've thought about this I've come to suspect that one of the major reasons we've missed the reality of God's kingdom is that we haven't fully grasped the mission of the Church—of God's new creation here on earth.  We pray every day, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” but we never fully grasp just what we're praying in those words.  And that's what I want to talk about this morning.  And that brings us back to Pentecost.  What's the significance of Pentecost?  Why is Pentecost important? The best place to start is our Epistle from Acts 2 this morning.  St. Luke tells us there of this amazing thing that took place as the Holy Spirit came in a rush of wind and fell on the disciples in something that looked like tongues of fire.  Suddenly they were praising God in other languages.  Jews from all over the empire were there and heard these Galilean men telling of the mighty acts of God in their own languages.  None of these visitors was quite sure what was going on.  Some of them thought the disciples were drunk.  And that's when Peter stood up and gave his first sermon.  He began with Joel's prophecy as he walked the people through the Old Testament and then explained how Jesus, in his death and resurrection and then in his ascension not only fulfilled those prophecies, but how Jesus actually fulfilled Israel's failed mission.  As he says in verse 36, “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” It's an amazing picture Luke gives us, but as we read it we probably missed the really significant little note he gives us right at the beginning.  In verse 1 Luke begins by telling us that all this happened “when the day of Pentecost arrived”.  And we think, “Well, of course…this is why we refer to that day as Pentecost!”  What a lot of people don't realise is that it wasn't Luke or the Church that decided to call that day Pentecost.  That day was already called Pentecost.  That's what the Greek-speaking Jews called the day fifty days after Passover—“pente”, “fifty”.  In Hebrew it was called the Feast of Weeks—specifically, seven weeks after Passover.  And the connection between this Jewish festival and what happened on that day Luke tells us in Acts when the Spirit descended on the disciples is important. Passover and Pentecost go all the way back to the beginning of Israel's story in the Exodus.  Remember back to the first Passover.  The Lord sent his angel to take the lives of the firstborn of all Egypt.  But he made a provision to spare the firstborn of Israel.  He gave Moses instructions for the people: Each family was to slaughter a lamb.  They were to eat the lamb and they were to paint its blood on the doorposts of their home.  When the angel of death saw the blood of the sacrificed lamb he would literally “pass over” that home and spare those inside.  The next day the Lord led his people out of their bondage in Egypt.  He rescued them again as he parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could escape Pharaoh's army and he led them to Mt. Sinai in the wilderness where he gave them his law.  The law he gave to the people through Moses was the charter of his covenant.  To be God's people is to manifest his glory and his faithfulness to the world.  “On earth as in heaven,” as we pray.  That was Israel's calling and it had been ever since the Lord had called Abraham: to be a light to the gentiles so that the nations might know the glory of the Lord and be drawn to him.  The Lord wrote his law on tablets of stone so that Israel would know what to do to fulfil her mission and ministry—that she would know what it is to live in covenant with the Lord.  God rescued his people, leading them in an exodus from their bondage to the Egyptians and on the fiftieth day he met them and gave them his law.  That was the origin of the feast of Pentecost.  And that was its significance for Israel down through the years.  At Passover they remembered how God had rescued them.  Year after year they sacrificed lambs and painted the blood on their doorposts to remind them of the way in which the Lord had saved them.  And every year, fifty days later they commemorated and celebrated the giving of the law that taught them how to live as the Lord's people. All of that's packed into that statement Luke makes in Acts 2:1 about the day of Pentecost having come.  And that points to the meaning of Pentecost as we remember and celebrate it as Christians.  On that last Passover of the Old Covenant era, Jesus went to Jerusalem.  He and his friends ate that age old covenant meal in the upper room, but as they did so, Jesus gave it new significance.  Now the Passover bread was his body.  Now the wine was his blood.  The next day, Jesus gave his body and blood for the sins of his people.  And on that first Easter morning he rose from the grave, not only conquering sin and death, but leading his people in a new exodus.  This time is wasn't an exodus from human slavery, but an exodus from slavery to sin and death and into the new promised land of the long-awaited age to come. For forty days Jesus taught his people from the Law and the Prophets, showing them all these connections.  He gave his people a new mission.  And yet it wasn't a completely new mission.  It was the same mission that Israel had had all along: to manifest the glory of the Lord to the nations and to call them into covenant with him.  But this time the Lord was equipping his people as he never had before.  He had promised through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).  This is what humanity needed all along.  The law was external—written on stone tablets.  What humanity needed was a new heart, a new life, given and made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God.  And so, at his ascension, Jesus gave his disciples their mission: go out into the world, proclaim the good news—the message that Jesus is Lord, that there is a new and eternal King, make disciples of the nations, and baptise them into the God who loves and redeems his rebellious people.  Once again, “On earth as it is in heaven.”  But this is also why he told them to go to Jerusalem and wait.  The exodus made Israel God's people.  In fact, we see throughout the Old Testament that it was in the Exodus that the Lord adopted Israel and called her his firstborn.  But being adopted is different from being given the tools needed to actually live as part of the family and to carry out the mission. Think about that.  Imagine being adopted into a family, but not being told the house rules or the family expectations.  That was what Israel needed to live the Lord's adoption.  And that's the purpose that the law served when it was given at Sinai.  It was the family rules.  And just so with Jesus' disciples.  Jesus is now the Lord's firstborn.  He has taken Israel's role on himself and as we pass through the waters of baptism in faith—our own Red Sea experience—we are adopted as Jesus' brothers and sisters into the Lord's family.  But we need to be equipped to live as members of the Lord's family.  And so, on the fiftieth day after their exodus, after their rescue from slavery to sin and death, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his people.  Instead of external tablets of stone, he gave his life-giving and empowering Spirit to breathe life into his sons and daughters that they—that we—might truly live as his people, as his family.  Instead of an external law pointing us to God, God comes to us himself, pours himself into us, and turns our hearts to him.  “On earth as it is in heaven.” That day was a commissioning too.  Pentecost mirrors Jesus' own baptism.  Think back to the beginning of the story of Jesus' ministry.  He was baptised by John and as he came up out of the waters of the Jordan River the Holy Spirit descended on him and the Lord spoke from heaven: This is my beloved Son; in him I am well-pleased.  At Pentecost the Lord did the same thing for the Church.  He sent his Spirit not only to indwell us, but to commission us to carry out the mission that Jesus began.  On Pentecost the Lord declared to his Church, to all those who are in Christ: These are my beloved sons and daughters; in them I am well-pleased.  And as Jesus was sent from his baptism into the wilderness to suffer Satan's harassment and to triumph over him in the power of the Spirit, so from our baptism at Pentecost, the Church is sent out into the wilderness: to charge into the darkness with the light of Christ, to proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord and that he has conquered sin and death and Satan.  We're not called to go timidly into the world to offer people a new option on the smorgasbord of world religions.  No, we're to charge into the territory of Satan and of Caesar to proclaim that there is a new Lord, that the kingdoms and systems of this old age are coming to an end and that Jesus is Lord.  In Jesus and then in the Church, heaven and earth are coming back together, the fracture caused by our rebellion is being healed, all things are being made new, and this corrupt and broken world is being set to rights under the power and authority of the King.  Our message is one that we should be proclaiming not with timidity and fear, but with power and authority.  Ascension and Pentecost give us the assurance we need that Jesus reigns, that his kingdom is here and now, and that however bad things may look today, he will with absolute certainty subdue every enemy and return on the clouds the conquering king at the end of the age. No matter how bad things look.  No matter how bad things get.  As we've seen in the message of Revealtion, there's no reason to be afraid.  There's no reason not to have confidence in our mission.  Ascension and Pentecost should be reminders of that.  Last week we sang those words of the old hymn “See the Conqueror”:   Thou hast raised our human nature In the clouds to God's right hand There we sit in heavenly places There with Thee in glory stand   Jesus reigns adorned by angels Man with God is on the throne Mighty Lord in Thine ascension We by faith behold our own We by faith behold our own   In his Ascension Jesus gives us assurance.  He in his resurrected and exalted humanity has raised our humanity and this earthly realm to heaven.  That's one half of his final promise to restore heaven and earth.  And Pentecost embodies the other half of the promise: In sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell his people, the Lord has sent heaven to earth.  Humanity has risen to heaven with Jesus and heaven has descended to earth with the Holy Spirit and so we know that heaven and earth cannot remain sundered and separated forever.  One day they will be restored.  All that remains is for Jesus to subdue his enemies. In the meantime, Brothers and Sisters, we the Church have been made the temple of the living God.  Think about what that means.  In the beginning God created a garden temple where he and his people lived in fellowship with each other.  Human beings lived in the presence of God.  Our sin broke that fellowship.  Sin and death drove us from the garden.  Sin and death forced apart earth and heaven.  The tabernacle and the temple were built as models of that garden temple in miniature.  They became the centre of Israel's life, because in the temple God and human beings could find fellowship, even if it was a limited and broken fellowship.  Then Jesus came and he became the temple himself.  In his incarnation he united humanity to God and in giving his Spirit to us, to the Church, the Lord has made us his living temple.  In us, thanks to Pentecost, God is made known to fallen and broken humanity.  In us the new creation has begun.  And in us the Lord is working to restore his fallen and broken world to himself.  As ancient Israel caught a glimpse of heaven in the temple, so the world is meant to catch a glimpse of heaven in us, in the Church—a view of humanity and God once again set to rights through the mediating work of Jesus. And how do we do that?  Brothers and Sisters, just as Israel was given a new set of “family rules” to show her how to be light in the darkness, we as God's new Israel have been given the same.  Not a legalistic set of dos and don'ts—although it does certainly involve that—but a call to live the law of love exemplified first in the Lord's relationship with Israel and then brought to full fruit in the ministry of Jesus.  We're called to manifest faith and to manifest hope and, most of all, to manifest love to a world with no faith and no hope, to a world filled with fear and hate.  We're called to live out the manifesto, the charter given by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount: hungering and thirsting for righteousness, showing mercy, making peace.  We're called to show the world that Jesus has given us a new way of living.  In fact, it's not a new way.  It's the old way that was lost when we fell into rebellion and sin, but now it's back and it's possible because this time it's not just a set of rules carved on stone; it's a new being and a new life imparted to our hearts by the very Spirit of God living in us and giving us his new life. Brothers and Sisters, there's an awful tendency to forget all of this when we turn Pentecost into a private experience as often happens.  Pentecost is about the people of God being equipped by the Spirit to live as his people, not just privately, but publicly—not for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of the world.  Pentecost is about the Spirit bearing fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it's about the people of God being changed and renewed in our hearts that we might proclaim that Jesus is Lord.  And we do all this as heralds of his kingdom, proclaiming its good news.  That's the idea of “gospel” or “good news”.  The New Testament brings together two meanings in that word meaning “good news”.  For the Jews “good news” brought to mind the language of Isaiah.  “Good news” meant a messenger coming to a people languishing in exile; a messenger sent to tell them that their enemies had been defeated and that the Lord had returned to Zion.  To Greeks and Romans, “good news” brought to mind an imperial herald, sent to the far reaches of the empire with the message that a new Caesar had ascended to the throne.  In Jesus both of those meanings are brought together.  In Jesus we have a new and eternal King; in Jesus the Lord has returned to Zion to dwell in the midst of his people.  The power of Pentecost is the power and life of the Spirit given to us to proclaim his kingdom and to live it before the eyes of the world.  “On earth as it is in heaven.” Let us pray: O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

On Pentecost, we celebrate that we have been given an Advocate to accompany us. Poured out in wind and fire, water, wine, and bread, the Holy Spirit abides in and among us. We give thanks that God speaks to each of us, no matter our origins, language, or life path. Filled with the Spirit of truth, we go out from worship to proclaim the saving power of Christ's love and the freedom of God's grace with all the world..Scripture Readings: Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:25-27

On Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. But who is the Holy Spirit, really? Barbara Rainey helps us understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.

The Feast of Shavuot  Part 16:  Not By Works, But For Good Works  -  English only.  On Pentecost, we celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit. We also celebrate the giving of the Torah. To some people, these blessings seem to be unrelated. The Apostles, however, viewed them as interrelated gifts!  Recorded May 22, 2022.

On Pentecost, the Gift of The Holy Spirit is Given. We Also Receive the Gift of The Holy Spirit & Are Called to Share that Gift with Others. based off of Acts 2:1-21.

Why does repentance matter? On Pentecost, the people asked Peter, "What must we do to be saved?". Peter replied that they must "Repent and be baptized". Is it about feeling sorry for something we have done? Is it only about changing our minds like we might change our mind about what to wear or what to eat? Is it a guilt trip? Pastor Todd leads us through the Word of God to discover what repentance really means in God's eyes. This is not burdensome. It is transformational and liberating. Revive Church : http://www.reviveusnow.com Check out Pastor Todd's latest book, "Missing Pieces: Kingdom Revelations". https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578941201/