“Pentecost” (Acts 2:1-21)

Redemption Bible Church Sermon Audio

Sermon Notes

Sermon Series: Encountering the Risen Jesus

Sermon Title: Pentecost

Passage: Acts 2:1-21

Preacher: Ashley Herr

The Spirit Comes (v1-4)

Uses familiar imagery from the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures:

• wind describing the Spirit of God (Genesis 1, Ezekiel 37)

• fire describing the presence of God (Exodus 3, 13, 19, 40)

1. The Spirit empowers us, to fulfill the mission Christ has given us

The Crowd Reacts (v5-13)

2. The Spirit unites us

Peter Responds (v14-21)

3. The Spirit overcomes what divides us

• True with regard to gender (v17b)

• True with regard to age (v17c)

• True with regard to social class or caste (v18)

Reflection

1. A Prayer of Reflection: Why am I so reluctant to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

2. A Prayer of Petition: Help me to be more reliant on the leading of the Holy Spirit!

Sermon Footnotes

• “God has come to them, on them, with them.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p28)

• “Imagine peoples in many places, in many conquered sites, in many tongues all being told that their languages are secondary, tertiary, and inferior to the supreme languages of the enlightened peoples. Make way for Latin, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and English. These are the languages God speaks.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p30)

• “to speak a language is to speak a people. Speaking announces familiarity, connection, and relationality.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p28)

• “This new world order begins with collapse. God shakes foundations, especially ones that wrongly claim divine imprint.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p35)

Recommended Reading:

• Acts (from the Belief: A Theological Commentary on Acts series) by Willie James Jennings

• Pentecost (from the Fullness of Time series) by Emilio Alvarez

• He Who Gives Life by Graham Cole

• The Holy Spirit (from the Contours of Christian Theology series) by Sinclair Ferguson

• The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life by Joan Chittister

• I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed by Alister McGrath

• Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year by Robert Weber