A New Beginning

Welcome to Pentecost

There's nothing "New" here.

If you caught the Facebook advertisement for this week's sermon, you will note that I hinted at the idea that we would be covering something new this week. Sadly, there really is nothing new to present. Most of us have been through Pentecost many times in the course of our church lives and we have read and re-read this scripture. I would challenge you in this area as we move into the book of Acts. What is new for many of us is the fact that we have never experienced anything like this before. "This" as in, what we are reading on these pages in scriptures. Acts 2 is a historical moment. It happened. The whole thing went down exactly as you are reading it on the page. I'm wondering if you would like to experience something new. 🤔 Yes, just like the thinking emoji here, the mere question hopefully causes you to stop and ponder.

Have I ever experienced anything like what these twelve men or these three thousand people saw and heard on this day?

Do I want to be a part of or have anything to do with something similar to what I see described on the pages of Acts chapter 2?

Man, my pastor really looks good in red. Could we have Pentecost every Sunday?

To address the last part: Yes! We could have Pentecost every Sunday! Is that something you would like to take a little deeper? Is that something you'd like to give a little more thought to for the future? (And, yes, your pastor would be happy to wear red every Sunday, if need be.) 

What exactly are we getting ourselves into? Let take a look into Acts chapter 2. 

It's a long chapter. We are going to break it into the three parts we see here with the opening to set up what's going on in the moment. Peter's Sermon is obviously the largest part, so we will isolate that and look into what he has to say. The last part with the fellowship of the believers is essential to all that goes forward into the book and record of the new church. Here we go.

"They were all together"
When was the last time you really felt that way about your church family and leadership in your local church? Jesus told these people to go and prepare, to get ready for what was to come. So they did. They prayed together. They spent every waking moment in each others company and got their hearts together, bringing their spirits and souls in alignment with what God wanted. That is key. This day is something God foretold. Through the prophet Joel he forecasted that this day would eventually arrive.  Now it is here. Can we, at the same time, put ourselves in the shoes of these disciples and also think about our own church setting? When was the last time you really felt like everybody here was in one accord? When have you all felt like you were on the same page about what God wanted for your church and for your congregation? 

Here's another point that deserves some contemplation. When as the last time your community saw your church standing together and presenting your world with something that caught everyone's attention? Oh it is not simply a social cause or a nice pallet of well done platitudes that catch peoples eyes and ears. When was the last time that Lancaster, OH saw the Sixth Ave Methodist Church take a clean and clear stand for Jesus Christ? Have they ever? If we are to read scripture and then make a plain and clear application to ourselves and own lives, then maybe the question we should ask is - Do you want your group of people here to be a church that looks like what we are reading about in Acts 2? 

Let me be frank with you. I want to be like those men standing on that balcony. I want to preach something about Jesus Christ to other people and see it have an effect on them. I want to see people come to their knees and find Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I want to have the courage to stand up in the midst of a culture that would crucify the name of Jesus and cast him out from their midst. I want to present and share Jesus for all to see and let the chips fall where they will. 

Let me be open and eager with you. I am hopeful that you want to be just like the crowd of people gathered here this day. I hope you want to hear. I hope you want to understand. I hope you want to follow. "Follow me, as I am following Christ." were the words of the Apostle Paul to his Corinthian audience. In a few chapters we will see this audacious figure broken and on his own knees. My prayer and my passion is to see people finding Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The work begins here. Some might call it "preaching to the choir". Some might suggest or even think that those gathered here already know Jesus, so this is all just pomp and circumstance. I can't get or don't have anybody else to preach to this morning. You all should already know Jesus. So, I'm just "preaching to the choir". But, this is where it begins. In many ways, the people of Israel should have already known. If their ears and eyes had been attentive to the scriptures, if they were open and wanted to know the ways of God, then their hearts would have been looking for a Messiah. Even after his death and resurrection, God could have passed on giving them another chance. He could have moved on to another culture and said, "Hey, these guys have had so many chances. And, here they crucified my Son whom I sent to them. Lets just start over again in the Far East somewhere..." No. He doesn't do that. He is faithful to His people. Even though they haven't come through and followed him as they should, Our God carries the burden for all of us. He is the Father of Second Chances. And, he comes to them one more time with a sermon off a balcony. A message that will shake them to their core. He is here today at Sixth Avenue. If you have not been serious about your dedication and commitment to Jesus, if you have been lax and disconnected in your faith and trust to God, He is here - for you. Don't let the moment pass. This morning is your time, our time, His time. Make the most of it. 

What exactly does Peter say to the crowd that seems to get through to their hearts?
Lets take a look.

How did this church get started? There was a drive and a passion that ignited an idea like, "We need a church here on Sixth Avenue in Lancaster, OH." How acquainted are you with the beginnings of a new congregation? I would suggest that the initiative cannot begin with "starting a new church". Nope. That is what comes from being connected to the real purpose. Jesus do not instruct these twelve men to go and start a new church. He instructed them to go and prepare. Jesus wanted the twelve to go and get their hearts ready. Then the Holy Spirit came. That was God's blessing to them so that they could do the "one thing". What was the preparation all about? So that they would be ready to share the message of Jesus Christ with the world around them. They finally got their hearts in the right place when it came to putting that up front as the priority. Jesus Christ is what this is all about. When God saw that the disciples were of one accord, praying together, completely and functionally on the same page about wanting to follow, then it happens. The Holy Spirit comes and they walk out onto a balcony where people hear and see God at work in a way few get or understand. 

It shouldn't be that difficult to grasp, but we human beings get distracted easily with pomp and circumstance. We see twelve guys, speaking in tongues, as the scripture says, and many have come along and suggested that they want to do the same thing. Too many have gone after the power while not knowing what it was given for or even how to use it properly. For such people who have gone into political office or some kind of leadership position, the same scenario can be be enticing. Power without true purpose makes for a literal implosion of self and deprecation. That is exactly what we want to avoid. What we truly want to see is ourselves following John Wesley thoughts about Pentecost. The founder of Methodism saw this day as more than a historical event. He saw what happened one here as a model to be followed for the present day church. When the Methodist revival was taking off in the 1800s he saw it as a "new Pentecost" and anticipated a great expansion of God's Kingdom on earth. 

When Peter gives his great sermon here, He speaks to the people in way that could easily understand. He shares with them a history they could all relate to and it is ultimately why they are all their in Jerusalem in the first place. The Passover reminds them of their time in Egypt and why they comes to this Temple every year. They make sacrifices and offer prayers. In order for it to all be more than ritual, more than a flavorless mouthful of tasteless nonsense there needs to be a real purpose and reason for it all. Peter puts Jesus front and center and makes all the connections. Here is their Savior. Here is the One who could save them them. The salvation is not from the hands of Rome. It is from their own sin. The plea should comes back to us in "the choir". Do we really get it? Do we understand what it is we are doing here? Is it all pomp and circumstance for us? Did I get dressed up this morning and come here to sit in these pews simply out of habit and ritual? If that truly holds then we wind up in a place of self-righteousness. How many of us need a fresh commitment? When you leave your computer on for too long, the current state of your operating system can get slow or buggy. It not a terrible idea to restart once in a while. In the process, our computer grabs an update it has been missing. it gets a moment to go thru the shut down process and turn off for a moment before it comes back up to full power and is ready to be working again. In a spiritual sense, we could use a restart ourselves. We could stand to look at ourselves and gauge out commitment level. Not to ourselves or to some social cause. A true, dedicated level of devotion to nothing and no one other than Jesus Christ. Can we really say for ourselves and our consciences that Jesus is first and that he has our whole hearts?

If we can do that and if we can make that happen, with God's help and grace along with our faith, then we might see a community of people that look like this right here. 

This is not a social club. I am not the president of said social club. Our objective is not to get people to become "members" of this group as if that were some goal. We have one purpose in front of us. Make Jesus Christ first in all we say and do. Share Jesus with the world around us. See to it that people are coming to Jesus and giving their lives to Him. If our focus is correct, then our hearts will want to share what we have. The believers here know that this community supports each other and people know that they can find the help they need here. If someone is hungry, give them food to eat. If a stranger is thirty, give them something to drink. If someone is in prison, visit them and pray for them. Not because we are trying to wipe out world hunger. Not because we are trying to reform an inmate. We do what we do because we recognize that Jesus comes first. If people could find Jesus and center themselves on Him, then we might see a difference in many of the social issues we struggle with today. But, it's not going to happen unless we find the courage and the strength to put Jesus first in our own hearts and lives. 

And, so I come to you today.

We are on the precipice of something new here at Sixth Avenue. 
We are wanting to move forward. We aren't sure what tomorrow will hold or where we might find ourselves in six months. But, if you walk out this door today with a clear commitment to Jesus Christ, you're on your own. And, that might be the most dangerous thing you could do. 

Who come first? You? or Jesus?
Who has the power to save? You? or Jesus?
Can you clearly say that your life is in Jesus' hands? Or, are you still running the show? Making your own decisions? Trying to determine how everything will go for yourself and maybe even others? 

Will you make a commitment to Jesus today?
Will you give everything to Him?

You have that opportunity as we close up this morning.

Blessings

J