Kingdom-Minded
Pentecost- The Gift of the Spirit
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Welcome!
Call to Worship:
‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will be my people, and I will be your God.’ ” Ezekiel 36:26-28*
Let’s pray: Gracious God, pour your Spirit into our hearts, that we would worship today with all our hearts, that our lives would be transformed by your power, and that we would carry your joy from this place into all the world. Heavenly Father, on this Pentecost day, let us feel the Holy Spirit wash over us, guiding us in Your ways and helping us to hear Your voice. Holy Spirit, our Advocate, our Counselor. Come, Holy Spirit, Teacher of Wisdom, Reminder of Christ. Come and move in this place Holy Spirit! Come, ignite our hearts with joy and confidence! We welcome You here. Breathe on us, send a fresh wind into this place and in our hearts today, let us experience You, Holy Spirit, in all Your power.
18 Praise be to the LORD God . . . who alone does marvelous deeds. 19 Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. Psalm 72:18-19*
Praise Songs
Today, we celebrate and remember the day of Pentecost. Pente means fifty, and this is celebrated seven Sundays after Easter, or 50 days after Easter. It is the day the Holy Spirit unforgettably descended upon the Apostles. Why is it that Jews from all nations happened to be together at this chosen time to introduce the Holy Spirit? They would gather at what was called The Feast of Weeks-it was a Jewish Harvest party-that happened 50 days after Passover. It is one of the three main festivals bringing thousands of Jews to Jerusalem for a huge celebration. Because they lived in different areas, they spoke different languages, yet they all came to the main temple at certain times of the year to sacrifice, worship, and celebrate Yahweh, their God.
I want to share something very cool about what God did in this moment- that, as always, if we look for it, links back to His ways in Old Testament times-bringing all events and monumental moments together.
In OT times, mysterious windstorms, fire, and lightning were typically associated with two things: God’s presence and the formation of a temple to worship God. Let’s remember for a moment.
How did God first make Himself known to Moses? A burning bush that wasn’t burning up.
What does God say to Moses as he draws near? “You are standing on holy ground,” implying the place where He was like a temple.
Later, after Moses frees the people of Israel, they travel to Mount Sinai, and a larger fire blazes on the mountain, and a wind and lightning storm kicks up. Fire symbolizes God’s presence. The mountain was God’s dwelling place; a symbolic temple.
Later yet when the tabernacle is built on the same mountain, God shows up in a column of fire hovering over it. This is now His dwelling place, and His presence is there. When Israel later built a permanent temple, the same fire showed up again as God’s dwelling glory in His temple.
As we’ll recount the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, don’t miss how God made His presence known and the connection of fire and where it rested-because that always signifies where God is dwelling. The fire rested over the apostles’ heads, meaning God’s temple was now within each one-not just within a building or one physical space like a mountain. From that moment forward, God would dwell in a living temple, in the hearts of every Jesus follower. What happened at Pentecost was a powerful message of a whole new Kingdom God was bringing about and the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, who would empower believers to live according to God’s will. How amazing is our God in how He works?
Let’s recount this event and look more closely at the Holy Spirit and what God wants us to understand.
Acts 2: 1-8, 12 NIV
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
What an awesome experience for all who were there to witness! Maybe some of you have been in places you feel a mighty rush of the Spirit moving in your midst, and it’s powerful, isn’t it? We might not feel actual wind or see flames over our heads, for that was a dramatic display to say the Spirit is here now as Jesus said would come, and to make certain there was no denying His entrance that day. His powerful entrance caused a great stir, and that stirring is what we many times feel, and it’s still happening all around the world today as the Spirit enters into a space.
What caused me to pause when I was reading this again is the question of the people being stirred, who witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit in their midst. They asked each other, “What does this mean?”
And that is a great question, isn’t it? They didn’t just witness and think Wow, that was awesome! They were stirred to the point of asking, “What are we to do with what we have just seen and felt?”
We should continue to ask questions like this, too, as we continue our journey in walking with Jesus and learning to live Kingdom-minded. When we encounter the presence of the Holy Spirit, and we see or feel His power moving, we begin to ask more and more, “What does this mean? What am I to do and/or learn from this?”
You see, Pentecost was just the beginning, and was opening a door to living spirit-filled and spirit-led lives to the glory of our Lord.
To grow in our understanding of what this event means for our faith yet today and why it’s so important for us to remember this moment, we must begin to see the Holy Spirit for who He is, a person, one of the Godhead, and through the Spirit, the power of God is manifested here on earth.
- The Holy Spirit is a Person We Are to Know.
If we only look at what happened at Pentecost as an awesome event in our biblical history we might just think of the Spirit as a movement of power at the hand of God, which the Spirit is the power of God manifested here on earth, but we might miss the great significance in why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit here.
The Spirit is our connector to Christ, our Savior, and God the Father. Each one is a person, separate in their roles and yet mysteriously unified as God. Too often in my talking with others, we can leave the Holy Spirit out of our prayers, our fellowship, our conversations, and our acknowledgement of who is guiding us. We might not fully understand who the Spirit is, or we may think of the Spirit as a thing that God uses, or an ideology of how our faith works.
But I want to show us or remind us, the Holy Spirit is a person we are called to have a relationship with, just as we do with Jesus and with God the Father. How do we know this? Scripture tells us He is a person. We always look to Scripture, and there we will find our answers.
2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
This is often used as a blessing at the end of a message or worship service. Did you catch the end? Do you take notice of the end when you hear it spoken over you? The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
Who do you have fellowship with? Things? Ideas? Or people? We fellowship with God. We fellowship with Jesus because we can picture Him in some way. We fellowship with one another, the Body of Christ. And here we are given a blessing to invite the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which tells us He must be a person we can and should be interacting with and getting to know.
What else is revealed to us in Scripture about the person of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit has a voice and speaks to us. We see this with the apostle Philip, who had been preaching the Gospel in Samaria. An angel of the Lord told him to take a desert road south from Jerusalem to Gaza. On this road, he saw an Ethiopian official over the treasury of their queen. He was in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah.
We read in Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Philip listened and went near. He was able to ask if the man understood what he was reading and then had the chance to explain the Scriptures to him. He was so moved that he asked to be baptized in water immediately. It was the Spirit who instructed Philip to go up to the man, for the purpose of this man’s salvation, once he understood the Gospel through Philip’s teaching.
We should be listening as the Holy Spirit speaks to us, for He will instruct us in the way we should go, to bring glory to God and further His Kingdom. He will keep us safe on the path of righteousness. Listen to His voice.
The Holy Spirit has a will. In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul teaches on various gifts we are given through the Holy Spirit. He says there are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit distributes them. He says to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. As he’s teaching, he is revealing we aren’t to envy what someone else is gifted with, nor are we to think our gifts are much more valuable, for the Body needs all parts working and moving in harmony. So all gifts are valuable.
Concerning the will of the Spirit, we read in 1 Corinthians 12:11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
A person has a will. As a person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit acts in the same will of God.
The Holy Spirit has emotions.
In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul is teaching on unity, maturing as the Body, and how to live Christ-like. We see instructions to let go of sinful ways and habits, to stop speaking unwholesomely, to use our words to build one another up, and to speak truthfully. And then the Apostle Paul says this and reveals something to us about who the Holy Spirit is:
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Grieving is an emotion we can understand and relate to. The Holy Spirit can feel grieved by our actions if we continue to live in ways that dishonor God and resist the Spirit’s teaching. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit by being stubborn and rebellious or even ignoring Him, for He has been sent to help us in every way, to live in peace, joy, and safety.
I liken the Holy Spirit to a gentleman who waits to be invited and doesn’t force Himself into our lives. He hangs back until we say Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. You are welcome in my life. You are welcome to take the lead and show me the way to go. Teach me and guide me; show me who my God is. Help me understand His ways. Show me who I am called to be as a redeemed child of God. The Holy Spirit is waiting for each of us to invite Him in and share our lives with Him. See Him as a person, and it will dramatically change how you interact; you will begin to fellowship with Him and enjoy that fellowship with Him all the more.
- The Spirit Fills Us With Righteous Power.
Before Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection, He told the disciples about the coming power and to wait until they had received this power.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
What happened that day at Pentecost? They were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had said.
Acts 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Awesome for them, but what does it mean for us? Well, the Apostle Peter tells us as he stood up and preached to the crowds to help them make sense of what was happening and for what purpose it was all happening. Some thought these apostles were just drunk and being foolish, for they had never seen anything like it. The Spirit revealed to the apostles what was happening and linked it back to the prophecy spoken by Joel, that all Jews would know:
Acts 2: 17-18 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
We are living in the last days is the Church era. So this means His Spirit is poured out on all of us who believe-granting us the ability to prophesy, see visions, and understand the ways of God. It’s the same Spirit that came with all power that day-granting them the ability to speak in every native language present. They didn’t know how to do that. Spirit gave them knowledge. We don’t know how do many things, but the Spirit teaches us and shows us. Through the Spirit, we have access to the authority of Jesus Christ to call down Heaven onto earth.
So we are to look to the Holy Spirit as our Teacher and Helper, to show us the way of Christ, to show us our part in His Kingdom.
- The Spirit Teaches Us Divine Truth.
John 14:26 NKJV 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
We will only ever know the ways of God and His purposes through the Spirit who makes Him known.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
The Spirit shows us the heart of the Father, His goodness, and brings understanding to all He blesses us with.
1 Corinthians 2:12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
How much more we can know and enjoy when we allow the Spirit to teach us; the blessings are infinite.
Conclusion: We remember the day of Pentecost not as a single event that remains in our past. Rather, we remember it as a starting point that launched God’s ultimate purpose of bringing forth and expanding The Church, powered through His Holy Spirit that dwells in us, for we are God’s temple. That same Spirit from Pentecost flows in us today, granting us wisdom and the ability to live holy lives. Let us give thanks for the incredible gift of the Spirit. Let us propose to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!
Romans 5:1-2, 5 Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Let’s pray.
Offering:
Final Song
Final Blessing: 2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
