Something strange is happening here?‏

Acts 2 :1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 

1- The day of Pentecost was a harvest festival , fifty days after the Passover. We celebrate 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus. There were about 120 followers of Jesus in a room., including the twelve disciples, and Mary and some of the women. They had been instructed by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem until they were filled with power from on high. 

2- Although they were in a room with closed doors they heard the sound of a rushing wind from heaven. The wind was the breath of God. It was God speaking to his people. The wind was telling them that God was in the room. It also said that God was speaking his creative word that brings life and purpose into the world. God was about to do something decisive! As the cloud of God glorious presence filled the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, this wind from God filled the entire room.

3- Above the heads of each of them there was a holy flame that indicated the blessing of God upon each person. This was not one general fire for the entire room but one for each occupant.

4- They were all possessed with the indwelling Spirit of God..The external means of identifying this one Spirit resting upon 120 individuals was the manifestation of speaking and praying in an unknown language. Their speech was not guided by their own will or intellect but by the Spirit of God that dwelt in them. The transformation of their life and witness was starting to happen. So they spoke as God gave them utterance.

5-Jerusalem was the center of Jewish life and worship for people of that faith around the world. It was the place they came to visit in order to come close to God. Their native language might be Latin, Greek, Arabic or Coptic but their worship was done in Hebrew.

6- And a crowd of those people came to the place where the disciples were meeting because they heard their own native language spoken . It was a worship and praise in their native dialect. How surprised they must have been to hear it in Jerusalem!    

  If this happened that day in Jerusalem, what might happen in our congregation in Winter Haven

Life in the Spirit‏

Psalm 104: 24 How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures. 
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small. 
²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, 
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust. 
³⁰ When you send your Spirit, 
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works —

Take in these words and marvel at the miracle of your life. You are who you are because God has placed in you his Holy Spirit. He feeds and tends and guards your life from danger. He feeds you with feelings about his holy Kingdom, with ideas about the meaning of life and the purpose we are coming to see. Think of the playfulness of the Leviathan and know that God delights to see you play . It is not the work of your hands that keeps you alive. It is his holy will to bless you. And he keep our hearts tuned into the music of heaven. We sing "There is a balm in Gilead" and we know that he anoints us with healing. Let us praise this marvelous God with hearts and hands and voices. 

 Amen. 

the glory train‏

^{John 17: 6} “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[ your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
Who was the most famous disciple or who was the most important apostle? 


Was it Peter or Paul? That kind of question makes no sense in the life of a Christian. In the world of entertainment or sports or finance we ask that kind of question like: "Who is on top of the ladder of success or fame? Christians may make a powerful impact on their generation so we know the reputation of Billy Graham or Mother Theresa. But the credit belongs to God. A true mark of living in the Kingdom and not in the world is that we don't need recognition by other people or the media."

It's like a having a "non-compete " clause in your contract. The result is that when we are "one in the Spirit" we rejoice when our sister or brother does well. There is a sense of unity in doing God's will to bring back the world for God. The Father sent his Son with his powerful Word. He gave that Word to his disciples and they accepted that Word and recognized that it came from heaven. Their common belief that Christ is the Way to the Father enabled them to go to the ends of the earth and proclaim the gospel.
The word we speak to lift up Jesus comes from the Son and gives glory to the Father.

So may the words of our mouth and the meditations of the Holy Spirit be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our Redeemer.

We continue to lift up Tom and the people who serve at the Mission.
Amen.

The last word on love‏

You did not choose me and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. So I command you to love each other. John 15:16-17 (CEV)

Because it is so hard for us to live together in peace maybe we should just try to "get along." We wouldn't have to like each other, just respect differences and limits. That seems to be the strategy of the world. But for God that is not enough. He wants us to grow into the kind of person that his Son, Jesus, is. He will not be satisfied until we throw down our defenses and trust him. Ask him for whatever you need "in the name of Jesus." We're not imposing. Just getting closer to his grace. So Christian people, live as God made you to live. Live in anticipation of a showeer of blessings that will enrich and forever change your life. Come into the presence of the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Spirit. 
Amen.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us this wonderful chapter 15 of the Gospel of John to feed our souls. In the name of Jesus. 
Amen. 

What a difference a faith makes!‏

Acts 10:44  While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, ⁴⁶ for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" ⁴⁸ So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

The Holy Spirit broke into the house of Corneilus. He was not expected to appear because the Jewish believers in Christ did not think that Gentiles could share in their faith in Jesus. It took a demonstration of God’s handiwork to convince them that this was indeed a work of God’s Spirit. These believers had received the gift of speaking in other tongues or languages that indicated their new life in Christ.

Think of the testimonies of people who have received the Gospel of Jesus and have had a change in their lives. Deion Sanders wore a Super Bowl ring playing football for the Dallas Cowboys and played major league baseball. He had $275,000 Lamborghini.

I tried everything. Parties, women, buying expensive jewelry and gadgets, and nothing helped. There was no peace. I mean I was playing great. I got all this media attention and everything the world has to offer, but no peace, no joy, just emptiness inside.

Deion hit bottom when his wife left him and took his kids. His baseball career was on the skids and Deion was on the verge of suicide.

My life was falling apart. I was pretty much at the bottom during all this. My baseball game started to fall off and before long some of the guys on the team could see something was wrong. But I don’t think anybody ever guessed that my life was in shambles.

I was lying there in bed about four o’clock in the morning when I was awakened by these awesome lights in my room. I say it was like a 747 had landed beside my bed, and there was this incredible rush of wind that felt like a helicopter had come in with it.

I remember opening my eyes just the slightest bit and saying, “God, if that’s You, take me! Take me, Lord,” and I was trembling all over. Before long it was silent and the lights disappeared, and later that night I got up and opened my Bible to a passage that said, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew they were meant for me and at that precise moment I was delivered.

The change that came was a peace and purpose to his life. He has this testimony:”I can tell you the difference between a life without God and a life with Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind your testimony and thank God for the change he made in your life. And don’t be afraid to tell it to someone who needs God’s help. It will make your spiritual life grow. 

 Amen.

God’s Love and Ours

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

We enter into life with God through his love and he gives us assurance of that love through the Holy Spirit.  God gave us the demonstration of his love by sending his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. When we live in gratitude for that gift of love he actually lives in us. The mystery of his great love is this: we think that love belongs to us but in fact it comes from God. At this moment, all the love that I can know and experience is God's love. The gift of faith that enables me to face every obstacle and to prraise him in the midst of all struggles with pain and sorrow is the gift of God. It is an inward reality St. Paul called the inner man that is to grow under the influence of God's Word in fellowship with other believers. The testimony of the early Church was a community that shared their goods, ate together and prayed for each other; they shared God's Word and his holy supper with joy. So the goal of the Church is to share the love of God that resides in us. The story of Jesus is our calling card. We gladly share that story with all who listen and come to a knowledge of the truth. 

Check it out! Christ is alive in you. 

 Amen. 

refining the precious metal‏

^{1 Peter 1: 6} In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
It's hard to understand how going through difficulties can be a positive influence that strengthens your faith and adds a permanent quality to your life. That is the assertion of Peter and many Christian writers since him. C.S. Lewis wrote The Problem of Pain to explore what he calls the "redemptive aspects of human suffering". The idea is that we share in the suffering of Christ and learn to depend on his consolations. Our faith in Jesus is made stronger in the process. We don't seek pain on purpose but when we go through it we find our Savior is right with us. We sing, "Jesus keep me near the cross" to remind us that it was through a cross that we were given salvation. That is more precious than gold. 
We pray that all those who endure suffering might turn to the cross and find relief. Amen.