Sermon Notes
Sermon: Pentecost: Transformation by Rev. Jessica Johnson
Date: June 9, 2019 Pentecost Sunday
Key Scripture Passages: Acts 1-2
Sermon Notes:
Pentecost: Festival of Harvest
Today is the Day of Pentecost. Originally though, it was not called Pentecost. It actually marks a Jewish holiday known as the Festival of the Harvest, because it celebrates the early wheat harvest, which is normally in May or June.
Another Jewish festival, known as the Festival of Firstfruits marks the day the Jews celebrated the early barley harvest. If you take the first day of the Festival of Firstfruits and count 50 days forward, then that 50th day was the day of the Festival of the Harvest (what we know as Pentecost). Because 50 days is about 7 weeks, which could be termed as “a week of weeks”, Pentecost or the Festival of Harvest was also sometimes called the Festival of Weeks.
Christians celebrate Pentecost for a different kind of harvest. Acts 1 (ESV) tells the story of the ascension of Jesus, and the calling of Matthias to replace Judas as an apostle. Acts 1:15 (ESV) states that gathered with the disciples when Matthias was chosen were about 120 followers of Christ, including Mary, Jesus’s mother, and the other women that had followed Jesus.
However, when we get to Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost, we will see that many more Jews were gathered in one place for the festival. Acts 2:41 (ESV) states, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” If 3 thousand were added, then that means there were more than 3 thousand people present at the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 (ESV). As for who was preaching that day, it wasn’t Jesus. He had already ascended into Heaven before that. No, it was Peter that was preaching that day.
And Peter was preaching the Word of God and telling the Jews about the Gospel of Christ.
Transformation of Peter and Other Disciples
How did Peter go from hiding in the shadows, denying that he knew Christ right after Jesus was arrested, to speaking boldly to thousands of Jews about Christ just weeks after the Jews had demanded that Christ die on the Cross?
In Christianity, we talk a lot about transformation. We are to become a new creature in Christ, a new creation. But what exactly is it that causes this transformation? We already know that we can’t do it on our own. The entire Old Testament is proof that humans cannot achieve salvation or transformation without God’s help. If I were to ask you what is the one thing that renews us, the one thing that transforms us, according the Christian faith, I wonder what your answer might be.
The Crucifixion
Some people point to the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. He took on the punishment for sin, so that we wouldn’t have to. Jesus’s death was our redemption, because He paid the price for us. Jesus’s death on the Cross is instrumental. Without it, we would still have to pay the price for our sins. Without the death of Jesus, neither His defeat of death and Resurrection nor what followed would have occurred.
Someone, who is completely innocent, that is willing to die for something bad that I did is one thing. But Someone, who is completely innocent of all sin, who is willing to die for every bad thing that every person that ever existed or will exist did is another. That is what Jesus did, and it would certainly be something that caught people’s attention. It is certainly one of the primary aspects of Christianity.
YET, as important as the Cross and Jesus’s death are to the Christian faith, that is not what caused Peter and the other apostles to be radically transformed. In fact, when Jesus was being tortured and executed, the 12 disciples were far from being bold. Peter is denying he knows Christ (Mark 14, Luke 22, John 18). Judas commits suicide out of guilt from betraying Christ (Matthew 27). And the rest are scattered to the winds (Matthew 26:56, Mark 14:15).
The Resurrection
Other people talk about the Resurrection as the turning point in the Christian faith. And in many ways, it is. The Resurrection is the crux of the Christian faith. Jesus defeated death and came back to life. The power of God is insurmountable; nothing can defeat God. God is the source of life, all life, and He brings us life not death as the Resurrection of Christ demonstrates. Let me tell you, if I saw someone come back to life after being dead for 3 days, then that would definitely get my attention. It would make me wonder about how they did it and if they had found some secret to eternal life or something. It may change me knowing the power that God had over death. It may make me want to follow God.
However, the Resurrection was not what radically transformed Peter and the other disciples. They had seen Jesus raise people from the dead before, like Lazarus (John 11-12) and Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5, Luke 8). Jesus had spent about 40 days with the disciples after His Resurrection, eating and talking with them and teaching them. This was not a one-time appearance. And, in spite of all that, in our exploration of Jesus’s post-Resurrection appearances, we discover that Jesus had to convince the disciples that He was not a ghost, that He was really back from the dead.
The Holy Spirit Descended
The reason that Peter and the remaining disciples came out of the shadows and began to speak boldly was that the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Whenever the Holy Spirit appears, things happen. The Holy Spirit descended upon Mary, and she became pregnant with Jesus, God’s own Son. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove at His baptism. This was the beginning of His ministry on earth. He performed miracles, cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostle Paul, and he went from persecuting Christians to being one of their strongest leaders.
And on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down in a rushing wind upon Peter, the other disciples, and all of the thousands of people that were with them. The Holy Spirit caused the people to begin speaking in other languages about God’s mighty works so that those from other countries would understand. Some on-lookers accused them of being drunk. At this point Peter could be silent no more and begins preaching.
His sermon begins like this in Acts 2:14-21 (ESV):
14 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. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘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;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
And Peter continues preaching on from there, but the coming of the Holy Spirit was a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.
When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Jews on the Day of Pentecost, this is what is known as the beginning of the church of Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s descension is what Christians celebrate on the Day of Pentecost. If the Holy Spirit has the power to equip, to empower, and to transform all of these people, then He can certainly move in your life, transforming you to be more like Christ and equipping and empowering you to do God’s will. We are all called to be witnesses of what God has done in the past, especially in our own lives as well as in the Bible. In fact, God is already active in your life, and He has given you everything you need for following Him and becoming a part of God’s kingdom and family.
Sermon: Pentecost: Transformation by Rev. Jessica Johnson
Date: June 9, 2019 Pentecost Sunday
Key Scripture Passages: Acts 1-2
Sermon Notes:
Pentecost: Festival of Harvest
Today is the Day of Pentecost. Originally though, it was not called Pentecost. It actually marks a Jewish holiday known as the Festival of the Harvest, because it celebrates the early wheat harvest, which is normally in May or June.
Another Jewish festival, known as the Festival of Firstfruits marks the day the Jews celebrated the early barley harvest. If you take the first day of the Festival of Firstfruits and count 50 days forward, then that 50th day was the day of the Festival of the Harvest (what we know as Pentecost). Because 50 days is about 7 weeks, which could be termed as “a week of weeks”, Pentecost or the Festival of Harvest was also sometimes called the Festival of Weeks.
Christians celebrate Pentecost for a different kind of harvest. Acts 1 (ESV) tells the story of the ascension of Jesus, and the calling of Matthias to replace Judas as an apostle. Acts 1:15 (ESV) states that gathered with the disciples when Matthias was chosen were about 120 followers of Christ, including Mary, Jesus’s mother, and the other women that had followed Jesus.
However, when we get to Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost, we will see that many more Jews were gathered in one place for the festival. Acts 2:41 (ESV) states, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” If 3 thousand were added, then that means there were more than 3 thousand people present at the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 (ESV). As for who was preaching that day, it wasn’t Jesus. He had already ascended into Heaven before that. No, it was Peter that was preaching that day.
And Peter was preaching the Word of God and telling the Jews about the Gospel of Christ.
Transformation of Peter and Other Disciples
How did Peter go from hiding in the shadows, denying that he knew Christ right after Jesus was arrested, to speaking boldly to thousands of Jews about Christ just weeks after the Jews had demanded that Christ die on the Cross?
In Christianity, we talk a lot about transformation. We are to become a new creature in Christ, a new creation. But what exactly is it that causes this transformation? We already know that we can’t do it on our own. The entire Old Testament is proof that humans cannot achieve salvation or transformation without God’s help. If I were to ask you what is the one thing that renews us, the one thing that transforms us, according the Christian faith, I wonder what your answer might be.
The Crucifixion
Some people point to the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. He took on the punishment for sin, so that we wouldn’t have to. Jesus’s death was our redemption, because He paid the price for us. Jesus’s death on the Cross is instrumental. Without it, we would still have to pay the price for our sins. Without the death of Jesus, neither His defeat of death and Resurrection nor what followed would have occurred.
Someone, who is completely innocent, that is willing to die for something bad that I did is one thing. But Someone, who is completely innocent of all sin, who is willing to die for every bad thing that every person that ever existed or will exist did is another. That is what Jesus did, and it would certainly be something that caught people’s attention. It is certainly one of the primary aspects of Christianity.
YET, as important as the Cross and Jesus’s death are to the Christian faith, that is not what caused Peter and the other apostles to be radically transformed. In fact, when Jesus was being tortured and executed, the 12 disciples were far from being bold. Peter is denying he knows Christ (Mark 14, Luke 22, John 18). Judas commits suicide out of guilt from betraying Christ (Matthew 27). And the rest are scattered to the winds (Matthew 26:56, Mark 14:15).
The Resurrection
Other people talk about the Resurrection as the turning point in the Christian faith. And in many ways, it is. The Resurrection is the crux of the Christian faith. Jesus defeated death and came back to life. The power of God is insurmountable; nothing can defeat God. God is the source of life, all life, and He brings us life not death as the Resurrection of Christ demonstrates. Let me tell you, if I saw someone come back to life after being dead for 3 days, then that would definitely get my attention. It would make me wonder about how they did it and if they had found some secret to eternal life or something. It may change me knowing the power that God had over death. It may make me want to follow God.
However, the Resurrection was not what radically transformed Peter and the other disciples. They had seen Jesus raise people from the dead before, like Lazarus (John 11-12) and Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5, Luke 8). Jesus had spent about 40 days with the disciples after His Resurrection, eating and talking with them and teaching them. This was not a one-time appearance. And, in spite of all that, in our exploration of Jesus’s post-Resurrection appearances, we discover that Jesus had to convince the disciples that He was not a ghost, that He was really back from the dead.
The Holy Spirit Descended
The reason that Peter and the remaining disciples came out of the shadows and began to speak boldly was that the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Whenever the Holy Spirit appears, things happen. The Holy Spirit descended upon Mary, and she became pregnant with Jesus, God’s own Son. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove at His baptism. This was the beginning of His ministry on earth. He performed miracles, cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostle Paul, and he went from persecuting Christians to being one of their strongest leaders.
And on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down in a rushing wind upon Peter, the other disciples, and all of the thousands of people that were with them. The Holy Spirit caused the people to begin speaking in other languages about God’s mighty works so that those from other countries would understand. Some on-lookers accused them of being drunk. At this point Peter could be silent no more and begins preaching.
His sermon begins like this in Acts 2:14-21 (ESV):
14 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. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘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;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
And Peter continues preaching on from there, but the coming of the Holy Spirit was a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.
When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Jews on the Day of Pentecost, this is what is known as the beginning of the church of Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s descension is what Christians celebrate on the Day of Pentecost. If the Holy Spirit has the power to equip, to empower, and to transform all of these people, then He can certainly move in your life, transforming you to be more like Christ and equipping and empowering you to do God’s will. We are all called to be witnesses of what God has done in the past, especially in our own lives as well as in the Bible. In fact, God is already active in your life, and He has given you everything you need for following Him and becoming a part of God’s kingdom and family.
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