Sermon on June 9  by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture: Acts 2:1-16; 42-44

Pentecost! Now that the Spirit has been poured out, how do we recognize a ‘Pentecostal’ church?
A truly Pentecostal church is:

1. DEEPLY UNITED IN JESUS! (v1; 44-46)
The Spirit is no less than the Father or the Son. His coming, like Jesus coming was accompanied by signs and wonders.
The glory of the Pentecostal church is the unity that the Spirit gives in a fragmented world.
‘It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of C brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us.. Therefore, let him who now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other C’s praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart’ (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

2. CONSTANTLY DEPENDENT ON JESUS! (v42)
When the Spirit is poured out, he pushes an already praying community even further on their knees.
• Pentecost keeps us grounded in reality – you are not strong!
• God’s breath ‘ruach’ makes prayer natural – pray as you are where you are!

3. HUMBLY YIELDING TO THE SPIRIT! (v2-12)
The signs are just that: the Spirit’s power in the wind, His holiness in the flames of fire, His purpose in the tongues.
The beauty of the Pentecostal church is not in busy programs or frantic activity, but purity and increasing hunger for God.
Would we miss the Holy Spirit if He withdrew from us this past week?

4. BUSY SENDING FOR THE HARVEST! (v47)
The circle only gets wider!
Through the Spirit God brings in the new age where we join in the story to take Christ to the nations.
The witness of the Pentecostal church is in the powerful testimony of love, not prejudice
‘If I speak in the languages of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal’ (1 Cor. 13:1)

Remember! Without going we will be stagnating. We can say ‘Come Holy Spirit , have more of us’ because Jesus said ‘Go’. Pray that these marks would be evident here at IBC Brussels

 

Photo credit FreeImages.com/Hans Widmer