The Coming of the Spirit

Good morning, church. Would you turn with me to the book of Acts, chapter 2. That is page 855 or 866 in the Pew Bible, depending on which version you have. Acts chapter 2. We're continuing our series in the book of Acts today. Let me pray for us, and then I'll read.

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

O great God of highest heaven, glorify your name in us. We ask for your help as we come to your word, Father, that by your Spirit we would behold all that he is saying to us, your church, to the glory of Christ our King. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

All right. Let me read Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 21. Acts 2, 1 through 21. Luke writes this,

Acts 2:1–21

And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered,

because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying,

Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,

Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians.

We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another,

What does this mean? But others, mocking, said, They are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven,

lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,

Let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose,

since it's only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel,

And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants in those days,

I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above,

and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness,

and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So how is it, how is it, how is it that a small group of frightened, puzzled,

and largely uneducated men and women could so quickly become a force to be reckoned with right

across the known world? How was it that this small group of men and women could, in a few short years,

be said to be turning the world upside down? How?

Well, the answer is right here in Acts chapter 2. Here Luke tells us how the seemingly unsinkable happened.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

He tells us how the church was born and where the church's real power and life comes from.

And the answer is the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit.

Acts chapter 2 is the account of what we now call Pentecost, the day when the ascended Lord Jesus sent

Acts 2 · chapter mention

the Holy Spirit upon the church in the fulfillment of His promise and in the fullness of His saving work.

This was a day in history from which there was no turning back, a historical event in God's plan

of redemption that marked a new day, the day the Holy Spirit began His new covenant ministry and began empowering the church

for its Christ-given mission.

And that means, like Jesus' death and resurrection then, Pentecost was a unique day, a unique event in history.

But just as we can learn about Jesus' ongoing significance from His life and death and resurrection,

so too we can learn today about the Spirit's ongoing significance from this event, the day of Pentecost.

And it is, is it not, important that we should come to learn about and come to know and come to behold and worship God, the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because He is the reason why there is a church at all.

You see, without the Holy Spirit, there is no proclamation.

There is no mission.

There is no conversions.

There are no Christians.

There is no worldwide Christian movement.

Everything that we have and do that is of any lasting spiritual significance is because of the Holy Spirit.

Without the Holy Spirit, we are like a sailboat without wind.

We are like a stack of wood without fire.

The glorious riches of Christ and His salvation would ever remain removed from us without the Holy Spirit.

The gospel message itself would remain ever foolishness to us without the Holy Spirit.

It is all because of God, the Holy Spirit.

So if, as a church, if as Christians, we are going to look in the right place to learn where the real source of our life and growth and mission come from,

we have to look to God, God the Holy Spirit.

So what does the day of Pentecost show us about the Holy Spirit?

What does this day help us to understand today?

Well, I want to look at three things that the account of Pentecost helps us to understand about the Holy Spirit today.

Here are the three.

Spoiler alert.

We're going to look at the Spirit's power, the Spirit's work, and the Spirit's goal.

Okay, let's consider first the Spirit's power.

We see this in verses 1 through 4 of this passage.

Luke tells us that when the day of Pentecost arrived, the disciples were all together in one place.

Now, what was Pentecost?

Well, Pentecost, long before it described a certain Christian movement of the 20th century that we call Pentecostalism, right?

Long before all that, Pentecost was a Jewish feast.

In the Old Testament, it was called the Feast of Weeks, one of the three great annual celebrations that God commanded His people to hold.

And the Feast of Weeks was a harvest celebration that took place 50 days after Passover.

And that's how it came to be called, in the Greek-speaking world, Pentecost, because the word Pentecost comes from the Greek word for 50.

So, Jews would come to Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire, all the places where the Diaspora had happened, and there were communities of Jews.

They would come from all over to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast, thanking God for His provision, offering to God the first fruits of their labors,

asking God to bless all of their work to come and the harvest to come.

That was Pentecost.

Now, interestingly, over time, in Jewish history, they had spent 40 days with Him after His resurrection.

They had seen Him ascend to heaven just over a week earlier, and they were waiting, just as Jesus had told them to, waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit.

And on the day of the feast of Pentecost, the day when the harvest was celebrated, the day when they remembered how Moses went up and ascended on the mountain and came down with God's law,

on that day, the ascended Jesus fulfilled His promise, and the Holy Spirit came in power.

And on this Pentecost, you see, there would be an even greater harvest.

And on this Pentecost, it wouldn't be God's law coming down on tablets of stone, but it would be God's own Spirit coming down, filling them, writing His Word on their very hearts.

And when the Spirit arrives, Luke says, he says it was like wind and like fire.

A sound like a mighty rushing wind fills the house, and what looks like fire comes down and rests on each one of them.

I always thought it was funny as a kid that phrase tongues of fire.

It's a sort of interesting word picture when you think of like, I think he means sort of like, you know, not like literal tongues, right?

But like branches of fire falling down on each one of them, right?

Of course, these images, wind and fire, they're images of what?

They're images of power.

And images that are fitting for the power of the Holy Spirit.

For as Jesus Himself taught in John 3, do you remember?

Jesus says, the wind blows where it wills.

You cannot see it, can you?

But you feel it.

You can feel its effects.

Wind is powerful, even though you can't see it.

And fire, well, fire is something that you can feel.

Fire, you can feel its warmth.

But you can't grab fire with your hands, can you?

It's immaterial, fire itself.

Like wind, God the Holy Spirit is invisible.

Like fire, God the Holy Spirit can't be measured or grasped.

But like storm and like fire, the Spirit of God is powerful.

But this wind and fire speak not just of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Wind and fire in the Old Testament were images of God's own powerful presence.

It was a pillar of fire, was it not, by which God led His people through the wilderness.

It was a mighty wind by which God caused the valley of dry bones to rise in Ezekiel's vision, do you remember?

So with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, God had come.

The third person of the Trinity, awesome in power, eternal, all-knowing, completely good.

The Lord, the Giver of life, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

as the church would eventually come to codify and confess in the Nicene Creed.

But in the context of the book of Acts, what does this powerful presence of the Holy Spirit signify?

What does it mean?

Well, in the context of the story of Acts, it means this.

It means that Jesus Christ is indeed on the throne.

He is indeed the Lord of heaven and earth.

Jesus promised that He would ascend to the Father's right hand,

and He promised to send the Holy Spirit,

the one the prophets of Israel had all spoken of and looked forward to.

And on Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled that promise.

Seated at the Father's right hand, He now reigns.

You see, in His ascended humanity, Jesus had forged the broken link between earth and heaven because of our sin.

And now, by sending the Spirit from the Father, heaven was coming to earth,

and the reign of our King had begun.

And just as the Spirit hovered over the waters of the original creation in Genesis 1,

bringing order and beauty and life,

So now the Spirit rushes upon the church to advance the new creation,

bringing restoration and beauty and new life.

So, brothers and sisters,

do we appreciate the power of the Holy Spirit?

Or do we just give Him lip service?

Perhaps we need a bigger view of who He is and what He's come to do.

Yes, we acknowledge the Holy Spirit, but do we depend on Him?

Or do we depend on our own strength,

and our own intellect, on our own plans?

Instead, friends, we should acknowledge,

and we should confess that whatever strength we have,

whatever intellect we have, is a gift from Him.

And we should use it in prayerful dependence on Him,

not despising those gifts or rejecting those gifts,

but using them for His glory

and depending on Him for their right use and wise execution.

In prayerful dependence on the Spirit.

You see, I wonder if you think

that the trials you're up against are too big for you,

and you've tried your own intellect

and your own strength to get after them,

but you've found them too big for the task.

Surely the disciples thought about being witnesses

to the ends of the earth and thought,

we are too small for such a big task.

And Christian, when you think about the trials before you,

the truth is,

they are too big for you,

but they are not too big for the Holy Spirit who is in you.

When God's Spirit filled the tabernacle in the Old Testament,

do you remember that story?

What happened?

They build the tabernacle,

God's Spirit comes down.

Do you remember what happens?

God's presence by His Holy Spirit

was so weighty and so glorious

and so powerful

that the priests and the people

who were gathered that day

fell to the ground

and they were unable to stand.

God's holiness was so palpable

and real

and weighty.

And friends,

the same Spirit,

if you are in Christ,

now lives in you,

in us,

the church.

It's not for nothing

that the New Testament calls believers,

calls the church,

the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Greater is He that is in you

than he who is in the world.

But, you know,

I think it's worth considering as well

that the Holy Spirit works

not just in these outwardly dramatic ways

like He did on the day of Pentecost.

As the story of Acts will progress,

we will see the work of the Holy Spirit

happening in inward and quiet ways too

as He opens people's hearts to believe.

Sometimes the wind is a storm.

Sometimes the wind is a gentle breeze.

Sometimes the fire is blazing

and you can't miss it

because it's resting on your head.

Sometimes the fire is warm

and comforting through cold nights.

Friends, so too,

the work of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, by virtue of the Holy Spirit,

our tri-personal God

batters our hearts,

as John Donne once wrote.

But sometimes the Holy Spirit

works gently and softly over time.

But consider

whether the Holy Spirit

decides in His sovereignty

to work in you in outwardly dramatic ways

or whether He decides

to work in quiet inward ways.

Remember,

it's the same powerful God at work,

the same fire,

the same miracle of His personal presence

in your life.

One way isn't better than the other.

The Holy Spirit knows just what we need

and when and how.

So this is what we see first,

the power of the Holy Spirit.

Next, we see the work of the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Spirit's work.

We see this in verses 5 through 13.

After the Holy Spirit descends in power,

the disciples,

filled with the Holy Spirit,

begin doing what?

They begin proclaiming the mighty works of God

in other tongues

as the Spirit gave them utterance,

Luke says.

Presumably,

as they're gathered in the upper room

and the Spirit falls,

they begin praising God

and the praise starts to overflow

such that they go out into the streets

and probably into the temple courts

and crowds start to hear the sound

of this praise

in all of these languages,

in these other tongues,

and they begin to gather.

Now, what does Luke mean?

What was happening?

What does he mean by these other tongues?

Well, verse 11 explains it.

You can see there.

After listing all the regions

from whence the Jews had gathered

to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost

in Jerusalem,

countries and regions

from nearly every part

of the known world, right,

Luke reports the crowds as saying,

we hear them telling

in our own tongues

the mighty works of God,

in our native tongue.

On that day,

the Holy Spirit miraculously

enabled the church

to speak languages

they did not know

so that everyone could hear

about the mighty works of God,

that is, the powerful deeds

that God had done

in and through Jesus.

Now, let's consider this scene

a bit more.

What language do you know?

Do you know what language

almost everyone spoke

in the first century?

No matter where you came from,

you could probably speak Greek.

You know, it's funny,

we say today,

we say, it's all Greek to me.

It's funny, in the first century,

that would have been like,

oh, we understand it perfectly

because we all speak

this sort of common form of Greek.

Now, why did everyone speak

Greek in the first century?

Well, because Alexander the Great,

because of Alexander the Great's

military conquests

that happened hundreds

of years earlier.

As Alexander's empire expanded

through the sword,

Greek became the language

that everyone needed to use

to get by.

It became the language of commerce.

It became the language

that connected the empire.

And long after Alexander's empire collapsed,

Greek remained

as the sort of common language

of the people.

Now, of course,

there was a benefit

of having this common Greek language,

Koine Greek,

as it's called.

It allowed people

from different cultures

to do interactions

and to do transactions

well enough.

But,

in addition to knowing Greek,

everyone there on that day,

from different parts

of the known world,

everyone also had,

what the crowds call,

in verse 11,

their own tongue.

I think of our church,

many of you here,

I'm guessing all of us here,

speak English, right?

But for a lot of you,

it's not your native tongue.

It's not the language

of your home,

your people.

It's not the language

of your heart.

Here's the point.

When the ascended Jesus

sends His Holy Spirit

upon His church

and empowers them

to advance His reign,

does it spread

like the empire of Alexander

or the empire of the Caesars

who were enforcing Latin

on their subjects?

Does it spread

with the coercion

of another tongue?

No.

God comes in their midst

and does what?

He speaks their language.

The Spirit's first witness

in the church

is miraculously

in the native tongue,

the heart language

of everyone gathered,

no matter where they're from.

You see, friends,

this is the central work

of the Holy Spirit,

to witness to Jesus Christ

in all the earth,

to take the things

that Jesus has done

and declare them

so that all can hear.

This is what Jesus Himself

taught His disciples

before His death

and resurrection.

Jesus was teaching them

about the Holy Spirit,

and in John 15, 26,

He says,

When the Helper comes,

whom I'll send you

from the Father,

the Spirit of truth

who proceeds from the Father,

He will bear witness about me.

He will glorify me.

And the miracle of tongues

on the day of Pentecost

was a sign,

was a sign

that this message

was for everyone.

Now, of course,

it was only Jews

who heard that first witness

on the day of Pentecost,

but as any reader of Acts

can see,

the day of Pentecost

also points forward

to the day

when the Gentiles, too,

would hear the Spirit's testimony

to Jesus

in their own tongue

and belief.

And that's why,

by the way,

when Cornelius,

if we fast forward ahead

in the book of Acts,

that's why when Cornelius,

the first Gentile believer,

hears the gospel

from Peter and believes,

there's this seeming

like mini-Pentecost.

In Acts 10,

the Spirit falls on them

and they speak in tongues, too.

Why?

Because God's demonstrating

in that special moment

that the Gentiles, too,

are now included

in the one family of God

around Jesus the King.

Now, there wouldn't be

two churches,

one for the Jews

and one for the Gentiles.

Just as there's one Lord,

the Lord Jesus,

and just as there's

one Holy Spirit,

so there is one church

to the glory of God,

the Father.

One church,

one people,

but many tongues,

many languages,

many cultures.

And you see,

this is what,

this is what

no earthly ruler

and no earthly empire

could ever achieve,

a united people,

united in all their diversity,

not forced into uniformity,

but liberated

into a symphony of praise.

Do you remember the event

in Genesis that happened

right before God's redemption plan

really got rolling with Abraham?

What was it that happens

right before the episode

with Abraham?

Do you remember?

Sword drill time.

It's the Tower of Babel,

right?

What happens in the Tower of Babel?

Humans, in their pride,

gather together and say,

let's build a tower to heaven

and make a name for ourselves.

So,

they build up,

they gather all their resources,

they build a tower,

they think themselves

pretty great,

God sort of looks down

at their tower and says,

oh, that's nice.

Look at what you've done.

And he says,

don't you see,

this isn't my plan for you.

My plan for you

was to go forth

and to multiply

and be fruitful

and cultivate the earth

to my praise,

but here you are

building your little towers,

consolidating power,

that's not how

this is going to work.

So,

he confuses their tongues

and scatters them

in all directions.

And the curse of Babel

that sits over humankind

is that in our alienation

from God,

we're alienated

from one another.

Literally,

we can't even speak

one another's language.

But when the Holy Spirit

comes

and testifies

in all of those languages

to the resurrected Christ,

what happens?

the curse of Babel

begins to be undone

and humans are united again,

having been reconciled to God.

Of course,

not everyone there

on the day of Pentecost

heard it as a symphony

of praise.

There were some

who mocked them

and said,

they're full of new wine.

Friends,

it's going to be the same

for the church

of every age.

Our spirit-filled witness

will face ridicule

at times,

so don't be surprised

when it comes.

But, you know,

consider at the same time,

at the same time,

consider that when

the Spirit fell upon

the church

on that day of Pentecost

and they began

praising God

for His mighty works,

their joy was so overflowing,

their speech was so

rambunctious with praise,

their voices so loud

with good news

that they could actually,

they actually could be accused

of being drunk

with new wine.

How about you and me?

When the witness

of the Spirit

comes home to your heart,

when the good news

of Jesus' death

and resurrection

comes home,

oh,

then Christians

have every reason

to be ecstatic.

Death is defeated,

friends.

sins are forgiven,

eternal life is granted.

The God of the universe

looks upon you in Christ

and He calls you

beloved.

We have every reason

to be overjoyed,

so don't bottle up

your joy, Christian.

Let the world think

we're crazy.

Our King is alive

and there's nothing

that can separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, friends,

we've seen the Spirit's power,

we've seen His work.

Lastly,

let's take a look

at the Spirit's goal.

In verses 14 through 21,

Peter stands up

and explains,

I think equally

with some jest

in his voice,

says,

friends,

it's only 9 a.m.

Obviously,

we're not drinking,

right?

Instead,

Peter,

to explain what's happening,

turns to a passage

of Scripture

to explain

what's taking place.

And that passage

is Joel chapter 2.

Joel 2 · chapter mention

And as Zerion read

for us earlier

in the service,

Joel chapter 2

Joel 2 · chapter mention

foresaw a day

when God's Spirit

wouldn't just fall

on a chosen few

amidst God's people,

a priest here,

a king there,

a prophet there,

but rather the Spirit

would fall

on all God's people,

male, female,

young, and old,

rich, and poor.

They would all prophesy.

That is,

they would all speak

forth the praises

of God.

And when the Spirit

came like that,

that would be the start

of what Peter calls,

what Joel calls,

the last days.

In other words,

the final great act

of God's plan

of redemption,

the last chapter

in God's saving plan

was unfolding

and unfurling

right before their eyes.

Peter tells the crowd

that day,

this is it.

The Spirit has come

as promised,

and the final chapter

has begun.

The Spirit is bringing

to fulfillment

God's saving work

what the Father

planned from eternity

and what the Son

accomplished

through His finished work

is now being applied

by the ministry

of the Spirit.

And the conclusion

of this last great chapter

of God's saving plan

will be what verse 20 calls

the day of the Lord.

That is the day

when Jesus,

as He promised,

returns to judge

and to save.

But as the Spirit

does His work

in these last days,

looking forward

to that day of the Lord,

as He does His work

of testifying to Christ

during these last days,

what is His goal?

Well, look at how

the passage of Joel

comes to an end.

And it shall come to pass

that everyone who calls

upon the name of the Lord

shall be saved.

The Spirit's goal

is nothing less

forgiveness of sins.

And our salvation,

that is,

our total rescue

from sin

and all sin's effects.

And what is the hallmark?

What's the centerpiece

of this rescue?

What's the linchpin,

the heart of it all?

Later in Peter's sermon

in verse 38,

he says that the heart

of this salvation

is the forgiveness

of sins.

The forgiveness

of sins.

To be pardoned

for all of your offenses

against God.

To have God

wipe your record clean.

To be reconciled

to God your Creator.

To know that God,

under whose just judgment

you once stood

because of your waywardness

and rebellion.

To know that that God

will now never bring you

into condemnation.

And instead,

He will embrace you

not merely as His creature,

but embrace you

as His daughter

and as His son.

Friends,

this is what the work

of Christ has achieved.

You know,

too often we spend

so much of our time

and energy

and deliberations

thinking about how

we can fix this problem

and this problem

and this problem

and this problem.

Not realizing

that all of those problems

stem forth

from the heart

of the issue.

That we're alienated

from God,

the source of life.

Why do we see death

all around us?

Because as humans

we're like a flower

that's been cut

from its stem

and the petals

are wilting.

So what do we do?

We try to like

spray the petals

with all of this stuff

to try to get it alive.

But it doesn't work.

Why?

Because we're ruptured

from the source of life,

God Himself.

And what Jesus

has come to do

is reconcile us to God

to get to the source,

to get to the heart

of all of our death

and decay,

to fix it

from the inside out.

You see,

this is what the work

of Christ has achieved.

He died in your place

for your sin.

He rose on the third day

to newness of life

so that everyone

who repents

and believes in Him

can be forgiven

of their sins,

reconciled to God,

and granted a life

that never ends,

eternal life,

a life that will last forever

and that begins now.

The Spirit

bears witness to Christ

so that you might hear

and so that by His work

in your heart

you might repent,

believe,

and be saved.

And the Spirit

is proclaiming

that same message

here this morning.

And every time

the Scriptures are opened

and the gospel of Christ

is proclaimed,

the Spirit goes forth

and says,

call on the name

of the Lord Jesus

and be saved.

Will you respond

to that work

of the Spirit

this morning?

And friends,

the Spirit's work

of witness

isn't just something

that goes forth

to unbelievers

calling them

to believe

and be saved.

That ongoing witness

of the Spirit

happens in believers too.

What does Paul say

in Romans?

The Spirit

bears witness

with our Spirit

that we are indeed

what?

Sons and daughters

of God.

The Spirit

will continue

to speak that word

in your heart

so that you will

continue to live

more and more

and be more

and more

who you are

in Christ.

Because you see,

salvation

in the Bible

isn't just

a future reality.

Yes,

it is future.

it has a glorious

hope and completion

to come,

but it's underway now.

For all who believe

in Christ

by the Spirit's power,

your sins are forgiven

now.

Your relationship

with God

is restored now.

You're united

to God's people now.

You're part

of His kingdom now.

And that means

life

in these last days

cannot be the same

as it was before.

for those

who know Christ

and are filled

with His Spirit.

Our life here,

the way we organize

our life

and live our life

and arrange our life

and center our life,

it cannot be the same

because heaven

has come down

to earth

and begun the work

of making

all things new.

And

for the dramatic

social change

that would take place

when God arrived

in His kingdom.

as if to say

that when God

does His mighty work,

the world

will never be the same.

It will be like

the world

is in labor pains,

but through it all,

a new creation

is coming to birth.

And let's boil that

down to you and me.

Friends,

if you take Jesus Christ

as your Lord,

it will mean a revolution

in how you live your life.

you will no longer

be in charge.

He will.

To surrender

to His loving kingship

may mean

dramatic changes

to your lifestyle,

to your goals,

to your life plan.

It may feel sometimes

like your world

is falling apart

because of its

radical newness,

because of the way

in which all the old

things you used to depend

on and live for

are no longer

now the center

of your life.

But that disorientation

and reorientation,

that's not the end

of the story

because repentance,

that is,

surrendering your life

to Jesus,

centering your life

on Him and His love,

yes,

it will at times

feel destabilizing

and risky

and deorienting.

The old world

you're used to

is falling away,

but the new creation

that God is ushering

you into

is far and away

worth it.

the Spirit is in the business

of saving you,

not just forgiving

your sins,

but remaking

your whole life,

sanctifying you,

making you holy

and beautiful

just as God Himself

is holy

and beautiful.

Just like the Spirit

came down

on the waters

of the unformed

first creation

and brought form

and beauty,

that's what the Spirit

is up to now.

He wants to take

your native tongue

and make it sing

His praise

because, friends,

that's what your native tongue

is meant for.

For too long,

the languages

of our hearts

have sung the praise

of this fallen world

with its false gods,

and what we've gotten

in return

is spiritual death.

But the Spirit

has come

to liberate you

to sing a new song,

the song

that only you

can sing,

the unique song

of your life

in the praise

of your Creator

and Redeemer,

in the praise

of the Triune God,

Father, Son,

and Spirit.

That's the Spirit's goal.

And, friends,

that's how

a small group

of once frightened,

once puzzled,

and once

in the world's eyes,

simple men and women

so quickly became

a force

to be reckoned with.

And that's how

you and I

will continue

to turn the world

upside down,

not by ourselves,

but by God,

the Holy Spirit.

Let's pray.

Amen.

come, Holy Spirit.

Come and do

your work.

Come liberate us

from sin and idols.

Come grant us faith

in Jesus,

our Lord and Savior.

Come do your work

of purifying work.

Come do your work

of gifting your church

for ministry.

Come do your work

of magnifying

the name of Jesus

in our midst.

And, Spirit,

allow us,

help us,

empower us

to keep in step

with you.

To the glory

of the Father,

in the name of Jesus Christ,

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.