PASSAGE: The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost, Peter Addresses the Crowd, The Fellowship of the Believers
MEMORY VERSE: "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near" Isaiah 55:6
NOTES: (v.1-13) When the Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and they saw tongues of fire that separated. They began to speak in tongues, and each one heard the sound in their own language. Others, however, made fun of them and said that they had too much wine.
-(v.14-41) Peter stood with the disciples and addressed the crowd--telling them that these men are not drunk, but are fulfilling the words of Joel. Peter preached that God sent Jesus to die and be raised and freed from the agony of death. "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." At this, the people were cut to the heart and asked what they should do. Peter told them to repent and be baptized--"about three thousand were added to their number that day." WOAH
-(v.42-47) TRUE FELLOWSHIP: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ..Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had needed. And the Lord added to their number daily to those who were being saved."
Man, I got chills reading this. I can't even imagine what kind of fellowship that would be like! A while ago, I read a book, The Irresistible Revolution, by Shaine Claiborne, that tells the testimony of his travels in both America and India (with his internship with Mother Teresa). In one chapter, he references this passage when he is describing the fellowship that he had with the homeless people of Pennsylvania, how they were very much reminiscent of the believers back in Jesus' time. HOW COOL is that! I pray that we will continue to grow in true fellowship of the Spirit! Fill us up!
ACT OF LOVE: As y'all may know, a "liking" fad has recently spread throughout the facebook community. The status goes: "If you like this status I will post on your wall something I like about you. Make this as your status if you're up for a challenge." Well, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and post this as my status--thus using this as my act of love! Even though it seemed like everyone was doing it, I know that I was encouraged by each post that I received. So my act of love was spending maybe an hour genuinely trying to encourage others through facebook. It was quite nice! I like this trend!
No comments:
Post a Comment