Acts 2: Fire from Heaven

This morning, Dave Blow continues our series on the beginning of the church as recorded in the book of Acts. What does it mean for the Spirit to be with us?

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. What part of the Pentecost story stands out to you most this week, and why?

3. Read Acts 2:1-21 (preferably in multiple translations). What stands out to you from this passage?

4. The disciples were told to wait before acting. Why do you think waiting on God can be difficult for us?

5. The sermon described Christianity as more than beliefs or traditions, but as life with the presence of God. What does that idea mean to you personally?

6. Peter changed dramatically after receiving the Holy Spirit. Have you ever experienced a season where God gave you unexpected courage or strength?

7. Pentecost broke down language and cultural barriers. What barriers still divide people today, including within churches?

8. Dave stated that Christians understand the Holy Spirit in different ways. How can we hold different perspectives while still maintaining unity in Christ?

9. Which aspect of the Spirit’s work do you most need in your life right now:
comfort, guidance, courage, peace, wisdom, or transformation?

10. Dave’s message connected spiritual warfare with everyday choices like forgiveness, hope, and compassion. How does that understanding differ from common ideas about spiritual warfare?

11. Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in our community or church right now?

12. What would it look like this week to become more open and attentive to the movement of the Holy Spirit in your everyday life?

13. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

Instagram: @theharbournewmarket
Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
Email: david@theharbournewmarket.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good morning, everybody. Well, I've gone to great expense this week to uh secure extraordinary talent to read our scripture, being Pentecost Sunday, the birth of the church, et cetera, et cetera. Who better than Emily to come and uh read our scripture this morning.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

On the day of the Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven, like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them, and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. How can this be? They exclaimed. These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages. Here we are Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libia of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. And all we hear, these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done. They stood there, amazed and perplexed. What can this mean? They asked each other. But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, They're all just drunk, that's all. Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, Listen carefully, all you fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem. Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o'clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what do you s what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my spirit, even on my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy, and I will cause wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord's of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Now don't run away, don't run away because you got the words correctly, because that was the only reason I wanted Emily to read it, because I didn't want this all that money in seminary, and you'd hate to wreck the words. So, of course, there should be reasonable compensation for such a careful reading of God's word. So please take one, because this will be a great inducement for others to come and read scripture on a Sunday morning. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Edible oil products are always good. There we go. Well, when last we gathered, we were waiting. The disciples were waiting in prayer. I was waiting with great expectation for the RV wizard. And um who knew what was gonna come next? And uh as I dove into this this week, I usually start uh at Monday kind of playing around uh with this, and uh I was kind of all over the place. Um lots of lots of thoughts on today's message. So said to Sherry, I'm heading to the trailer because the rumor is the wizard is showing up. Um suggested Sherry stay at home because I didn't need any bright ideas for jobs to be done there, although I did cut the grass and worked away on the message all morning. And at one o'clock, in came the RV wizard, and I now have no leaks, um, even less cash. Um, anyhow, it's all good. Um, and he gets to come back and do some more things. So uh thank I'm thankful for small business in the RV uh industry. Well, today we arrive at Pentecost, and uh as a church, and uh you know, if we follow the lectionary, we move from listening, we learn um to move and do as opposed to just listen and learn. And Pentecost comes with um great fanfare, wind, fire, voices, boldness, confusion. And I think it's interesting to note that the church didn't begin with a building project or a strategy session. Um, it simply began with the Spirit of God filling ordinary people. And I think that matters to us because today we often think that Christianity is just belief systems or traditions or moral teachings, which are all good. But the early church understood Christianity is life empowered by the living God. And uh, Pentecost reminds us that the church is not just an organization, it's a spirit-filled community, and as we've learned over the past few years, it can be an interesting ride. So the disciples are still gathered in Jerusalem, they're still praying, they're still waiting, not sure what Jesus meant. And then Acts tells us in chapter 2 suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And that would have been quite a moment. Not a little breeze, a rushing wind. Certainly something impossible to ignore. And then they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them. Fire. And that symbolizes throughout God's word as the presence of God. Moses encountered God in a burning bush. Israel was guided, as we know, by a pillar of fire. Mount Sinai burned with God's presence. And now the fire rests not on a mountain or a temple, but on people. So now we begin to see the shift from the old covenant to the new covenant, where the Spirit of God dwells among ordinary people. And I love this theme of the Bible and why it connects so beautifully the Old Testament and the New Testament, because God has always desired to dwell with humanity. And if you look back in the book of Numbers, something that we may not uh you know read all the time, it says, So Moses went out and reported the Lord's words to the people. He gathered the seventy elders and stationed them around the tabernacle, and the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses. Then he gave the seventy elders the same spirit that was upon Moses. And when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this never happened again. Two men, Eldad and Madad, had stayed behind in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone out to the tabernacle, yet the spirit rested upon them as well. So they prophesied there in the camp. A young man ran and reported to Moses. Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses' assistant since his youth, protested, Moses, my master, make them stop. But Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit among upon them all. Then Moses returned to the camp with the elders of Israel. So I would suggest this morning that the Holy Spirit has been active throughout the generations, but Pentecost announces something new, and that's what we celebrate because God's presence is no longer confined to a building. The Spirit of God now comes to his people directly. Now we love that term directly. We love to buy direct, cut out the middleman. Um and without getting into the weeds on various faith traditions, um, you know, we love that we can um, you know, receive uh receive God's blessing directly. Well, this should change how we think about faith, because faith, if the Holy Spirit comes to us directly and wants to interact with us personally, it's not just about attending religious events, it's not simply agreeing with doctrines, and it's not just performing spirituality. Christian faith has now become relational, the Spirit of God present with us. And we can forget this. And I know I go through seasons where we get busy, and so our prayer can become a little mechanical. We sometimes pray as though God is distant. But Pentecost reminds us today that God has not and will never abandon his people. The Spirit is present, he's comforting, it's convicting and empowering. I love the illustration of fire. Um one of my one of my pleasures is walking Kobe, our golden retriever, at the at the trailer. And uh someone gets to do the night walk, and because they're skunks on the night walk, I'm usually the nominal the nominee to go on the night walk. So most evenings, especially on weekends, there is a campfire, and nothing looks nicer, kind of at dusk, walking around the um the park and seeing these fires from a distance. You know, the the they're colorful, they look lovely. Um but then when you draw closer, it's entirely different. You feel certainly warmth, you feel movement, you know, you feel the energy, and usually there's some community. Sherry usually wonders what's happened to me because a five-minute walk turns into two hours because there might be some more just saying, and uh you sit around the fire and uh everything ends well. The point is that Christianity was never meant to be studied at a distance, and that's certainly not how the disciples um were taught. And here in Pentecost Sunday they encountered the living God, and that invitation remains with us today. Now, the spirit empowers everybody, and that's one of the most beautiful things about Pentecost is you know, it's not just kings that receive the spirit, it's not religious elites, it's not just the powerful, ordinary followers of Jesus, in this case, fishermen, women, tax collectors, you know, um common people. Acts says all of them, not some of them, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. So it's certainly not reserved for spiritual superstars. Um and it shatters the thought that, well, God can't use someone like me. God uses all of us. And we compare ourselves, don't we? We uh we often focus on our weaknesses, not our strengths. The glass is half empty as opposed to half full. We assume that faithfulness belongs to more talented or more gifted people, but we're gonna see in Acts that that is completely overturned, as Jesus' teachings from the last few months are now put into practice in the early church. My friend Peter, probably one of my favorites because of our joint-lived experience, now stands publicly before the crowd with courage and clarity. So, what changed? The Holy Spirit. So, Pentecost is not a story of you know human confidence all of a sudden, it's a story about divine empowerment. And our text this morning tells us as we move through that the Jews from many nations were gathered in Jerusalem, and suddenly each person hears the disciples speaking in their own language. And again, that's significant. The Spirit moves in ways people can understand, God moves towards people, and the miracle is not strange speech, the miracle today is inclusion. The gospel is for everyone, different nations, different backgrounds, certainly different stories. And here we see the beginning of barriers beginning to fall, be it language barriers, ethnic barriers, and certainly close to my heart, social barriers. The church immediately becomes multicultural and outward facing. And this certainly matters because over the years, I'm sure many of us have been involved in in uh assemblies that have been quite inward-facing. Um that's an easy space to to take. It's it's comfortable. Um, we love to be together. Certainly nothing wrong with that, but uh I love this vision of the church becoming multicultural and outward facing. Um because the spirit's always gonna push us outward, friends, towards new people, towards outsiders, towards those overlooked. And uh the kingdom of God is always larger than our assumptions. Well, that's one of the most beautiful things I've appreciated about our community over the years. Um I think there's usually been a desire to create space for people who may not always feel comfortable in in their previous church settings or traditional church settings. I think this has been a safe space for people carrying questions and certainly wounds, and people uncertain where they belong. And that matters, and that's going to continue to matter as we move forward. But most importantly in ways that they can receive it. So we're not called just to preserve tradition, but to embody the welcoming love of Jesus. Now, Acts says as we begin, as we move along, that some people were amazed, others were skeptical, others mocked them, saying they've had too much wine. Well, not everyone has had too much wine at nine in the morning, but um, you know, because sometimes if we assume God is truly at work, we assume that everyone will immediately understand and celebrate it. But we're going to see in the book of Acts, and for those of you who have read it, we see pretty clearly that the movement of God was often misunderstood. And uh that was okay because the work of the Spirit is sometimes to disrupt expectations, and whenever lives begin changing, we see some people rejoice, which I hope is the space we like to inhabit. Um, but some people dismiss it as not important, or it's just something weird must have happened. And a life that is shaped by grace may seem foolish to some, and forgiveness may seem weak, and generosity may seem impractical. But the church was never called to impress everyone. I think we're called to just faithfully bear witness to Jesus, and his job through his Holy Spirit is to take it from there. And again, we see that Peter finds his voice. So this frightened disciple now becomes a preacher. The man who once denied Jesus now speaks publicly with boldness, and we notice that Peter doesn't point towards himself. Look at me now. I'm a changed man. Me, me, me. No, he simply points towards Jesus. So the work of the spirit isn't to draw attention to human greatness, the spirit points towards Jesus. And Peter explains that all what was happening fulfills the prophecy of Joel. I will pour my spirit out on all people. And that's if you take one word away from today, all people, young and old, women and men, across any generation. The spirit's job is to expand the circle and continue to bring to earth the kingdom of God, which is radically inclusive. And I think as a church moving forward, we're going to be the healthiest when we reflect that generosity. I love one of the marks of Pentecost, that is courage. Before Pentecost, the disciples hid. After Pentecost, they speak boldly. Well, certainly circumstances hadn't changed. They were still basically in hiding. But now the Holy Spirit strengthens them. And so that courage is something that we desperately need today. Not aggressive certainty, not arrogance, but just quiet, grounded courage. You know, courage to love challenging people, and the courage to forgive, the courage to remain hopeful, the courage to speak truth with gentleness, the courage to live differently in a fearful world. And I would submit that the Holy Spirit still produces that kind of courage if we ask for it and we receive it. Well, this is where things can get a little thorny as we uh move uh through this chapter and uh into our understanding of the works and fruits of the Spirit, etc., etc. All people, again, that's that's the key hook here. And I think it's important to acknowledge, and many of us have experienced this, that this is that Christians sometimes have understood the work of the Holy Spirit in different ways. And that's okay. We recognize that across the wider church, faithful followers of Jesus have emphasized different aspects of the Spirit's work. Some traditions strongly emphasize dramatic spiritual experiences, gifts of tongues, healing, prophecy, visible spiritual gifts. Other traditions place more emphasis on the quieter works of the spirit, spiritual formation, character, wisdom, peace, faithfulness, transformation over time. Some Christians speak about a distinct baptism of the Holy Spirit after conversion. Others understand that the Spirit is fully present from the moment someone comes to faith in Jesus. Some traditions are expressive in worship, some are deeply contemplative and reflective. And while we may disagree on certain experiences or practices, Pentecost reminds us today that something central, nearly all followers of Jesus affirm, and that is the Holy Spirit is the living presence of God among his people. And I've experienced both. I kind of liken it to my, let's say, pre-mid-course correction and post-mid-course correction. Grew up in a Baptist church, married in the missionary church of Canada, a traditional evangelical denomination. Youth group, Christian school, the whole thing. I would say I never saw a female in a pulpit other than if she was a missionary on a Sunday night, showing slides. But certainly not on a Sunday morning at 11 a.m. That was not going to happen. And discussions took place about women in ministry, but they never seemed to go that far. And I was busy doing all the organized work of the church and never gave it too much thought. And then came a life change where I knocked on the door of a Pentecostal church and was welcomed. Sherry was visited by the pastor, and uh it was radically different. The worship was long, you know, about 45 minutes, quite expressive. I learned that people raised their hands not only when they had to go to the bathroom, but as an act of worship. I never really experienced that. Sermons were all often quite lengthy. And there was lots going on. I didn't understand it. There would be Monday mornings where I would phone the pastor and ask questions. He was loving, gracious, kind. Um, still is to this day. I think I mentioned that he sent a little note on Facebook when this the post came up about me me serving here. We are probably when it comes to the works of the spirit and all of this, East and West. But we love each other, we're on the we're on the same team. Again, the Holy Spirit is the living presence of God among his people. And I think when I look at the big picture and we move into application here, an important thing to remember is the coming of the Holy Spirit is not only about comfort or inspiration, it's also about spiritual resistance. I like that term, spiritual resistance. We hear it as spiritual warfare. Um, we hear it in a number of different ways and applications. Um I would say I've experienced that as part of my story, and never to explain bad behavior, um, but to acknowledge, especially going through a very, very dark period of life or a certainly a dark place, i.e. Um, you know, being involved in the in the prison system over the years, I would acknowledge that there's dark forces in our world, and we can uh name it in many different ways. Uh but the good news is that throughout the Old Testament, the spirit empowers believers to stand against forces of fear, division, despair, hatred, deception, and everything that works against the life and love of Jesus. Many call it spiritual warfare. Okay. While some people imagine spiritual warfare only in dramatic or sensational ways, I think the New Testament often presents it to us very, very practically and personally. You know, the Spirit strengthens all of us, ordinary people, to resist destructive patterns of the world and to live in the way of Jesus. And I believe that the courage when we ask and we receive gives us courage and wisdom and peace in the midst of struggle. So this vision of the fire of the Holy Spirit is not destructive towards people. I see it as purifying, I see it as healing, and I see it as incredibly empowering for the work of love in a broken world. And so while some of our friends in various faith traditions may imagine spiritual warfare only in the dramatic or sensational, I love the New Testament, which to me continues to present it very, very practically and personally. And strengthening, you know, strengthening all of us just to resist destructive patterns in the world. Well, hopefully that's that's a little reader's digest version. Um, we could do sermons all summer on you know the work of the spirit and and spiritual warfare, and all of it is certainly relevant, and uh we can name it however we choose to name it, but just know that God is bigger, and the Holy Spirit wants to um work in work in all of our lives. Well, as I move from a series of hanging out with my Pentecostal friends to my Anabaptist space, I've learned that um a most an important question is not, you know, have I had the same spiritual experience as someone else? Because I didn't, all right, didn't seem to. I was watching lots going on, but I certainly wasn't experienced some of that. But as I again um went to seminary with a bunch of people from different traditions, denominations, Pentecostals, Coptic priests, women in ministry, um, you know, Presbyterians, who knew women could preach? Well, they can really, really well. Um so the question then quite simply became is my life becoming more like Jesus? Because throughout the Old Testament, the clearest evidence of the Spirit is not just spiritual intensity, but I would submit character that is transformed. You know, transformed with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness, gentleness. The spirit uh yeah, forms Christ within us. And I also learned that we need to hold these spaces in humility. Some experience dramatic moments with God and the Holy Spirit, others encounter God quietly over the years. Some are moved by lively worship. Um I love it all. I every every year for the past few years I had the opportunity, I've had the opportunity to preach at a big United Church in Unionville, Central United, and uh, you know, uh an older church, um lots of stained glass and a big pipe organ. A good one. A good one, Val. And someone who could even play it, which makes it even better, because these things are made to be played well. And I showed up on a Labor Day weekend to uh, you know, to speak for my friend uh that week, and the organist played How Great Thou Art. And uh I probably hadn't heard that in 20 years, and to say I was deeply moved was an understatement. So we all worship and experience things in different ways, and God's bigger than all of our categories, and the spirit's gonna move in ways we don't expect, and certainly ways we can't control. So I think what we hold together as a as a church and hopefully as a Christian community, that the uh the spirit always points us towards Jesus. He doesn't exist to make us more spiritually impressive, but he exists to shape us into people of love and people who are compassionate and gracious and courageous. So, on this Pentecost Sunday, maybe this is what uh our takeaway is today through his Holy Spirit. First, openness. We're all invited to live with openness to the Spirit, not controlling God, not manufacturing experiences, but just remaining attentive and available to where God might use us. Secondly, an understanding that God again works through ordinary people. We don't need to be impressive to be used by God. Faithfulness matters more than status. Thirdly, the gospel is again meant to move outward. The spirit always leads towards greater love, greater welcome, and greater compassion. And fourth, the spirit creates courage. And that's hard. I acknowledge that. So we don't do it expecting perfection, we don't expect to do uh to do things perfectly and not even fearlessly, but just courage rooted in the presence of God. So in closing, just think of the old way we used to barbecue. Good old-fashioned charcoal briquettes. And you put them in there and you, well, now you take the blowtarch to it. I it looks like great fun on YouTube. And so you light the briquettes, and together they burn brightly. Now you take one and you move it off to the side, and quite quickly it grows cold. But together, the coals burn brightly for a long time. So Pentecost reminds us today that faith was never meant to be isolated. Uh, the spirit forms a people together and a beautiful community to uh to worship together and uh to create hope. And uh again, not through enemies or armies or empires, but through just spirit-filled ordinary people. And uh I would say he still does and he will continue to do so. Let's pray together, and Val will come and close. Well, Jesus, thank you for your gift. Thank you for the gift of your spirit who equips and empowers us to serve. So may we have ears to hear what you have for us. Give us discernment and ability to uh to hear your call. And Lord, I I pray against the powers of of darkness that would uh just encourage us to stay silent and to stay quiet and to stay dormant. But Lord, you've called us for a purpose. And uh we just pray that you would continue to show us opportunities to serve and to serve well in Jesus' name. Amen.