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Acts 2:1-21

Pentecost Is A Repeatable Event

May 19, 2024

Pentecost

Lectionary Year B

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning!
To get started, I want to show you some pictures from different Bible stories.
Here are four pictures of four Bible stories [note: it is intentional that these pictures are being introduced/shown in a non-chronological order]:

We have today's story, Pentecost, where the disciples (including Jesus' mom, Mary) receive God's Holy Spirit. [hold up picture and then put on the ground, face-up]
We have Jesus teaching to his disciples [hold up picture and then put on the ground, face-up]
We have Jesus' baptism where he receives God's Holy Spirit [hold up picture and then put on the ground, face-up]
We have Jesus calling his disciples to follow him [hold up picture and then put on the ground, face-up]

These pictures are not in the order in which they happened and I’m hoping you can help me put them in order. [Note: You might have to give them some clues ]
Which picture and story do you think happened first? (Baptism)
That’s right! Which picture and story do you think happened second? (Jesus calls his disciples)
[Continue until done. Correct order: Jesus' baptism, Jesus calls disciples, Jesus teaches the disciples, Pentecost]
You did it! Well done!

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

In today's scripture reading, we hear the story of Pentecost.
Pentecost is when we see the disciples put into action everything they had learned from and experienced with Jesus:

We see that they spend time praying together like Jesus taught them
Then we see them receive God's Holy spirit like Jesus taught them
To the crowds, they then shared the same good news that Jesus had taught to them as disciples

The result of the disciples doing what Jesus taught them is that a whole lot of new people chose to become disciples of the disciples.
In other words, in today’s story, we see the disciples become the teachers for others, just like Jesus had been their teacher!

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

If we look at the first few things that Jesus did, we see that he [point at pictures while speaking]: Receives God's Spirit, invites the disciples to follow him, and teaches the disciples about God.
And then in today’s story, we see the disciples doing those exact same things that Jesus did.
The reason the disciples could do the things they did in today's story is because earlier on, Jesus had showed and taught them how to do it.
And guess what? Just like the disciples learned what to do from Jesus, so can we.
Just like the disciples prayed together and received God's Spirit, so can we.
Just like the disciples shared the good news with others, so can we.
One of the exciting things about Pentecost, I think, is that it’s not just a very important event that happened in the past; Pentecost is also something that can happen again and again – even today – to, for, and by us.
And that’s the good news for today. Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Thank you for the disciples...

...who learned from Jesus...

...how to receive your love and spirit...

...and then shared it with others.

Help us to do the same thing.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted May 16, 2015

Updated on April 20, 2024

Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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Supplies: Print the 4 pictures located in the PDF version of this message