July 14, 2024 Preaching | Ptr Ricky Sarthou
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
At the beginning of World War 2, the US (and the Philippines) was not directly involved in fighting the Nazis in Europe. People were “neutral”, going about their daily lives. But when Pearl Harbor was attacked, the US immediately went to war against the evil axis power. Millions of young men and women volunteered for the mission. So how does “somebody else’s” mission become our mission? When it becomes personal. Jesus had a mission that He wanted His followers to take part in (Matthew 9:36-38). He wanted us to see that “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Much of the harvest will be wasted without enough workers! God does not need us to do His work, He will raise somebody else if we are unwilling to go. But we will miss out on the privilege and opportunity to take part in what God is doing if we do not make His mission, our mission. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference!
I. THE MEANS AND THE MESSAGING
The Lord wants us to be His messengers, but we can’t do it on our own. God supplies the means for us to be messengers of the gospel. After Jesus’ ascension, His disciples continued to come together for prayer (Acts 1:13-15). When they were together during Pentecost, the Holy Spirit (the word for “wind”, “breath” and “Spirit” are closely related) came to empower them to be Christ’s witnesses (Acts 2:1-4). The Feast of Pentecost was the feast of firstfruits, and it was no coincidence that the Spirit came to empower the followers of Jesus on that day, the beginning of His church.
The Holy Spirit is the “means” through which followers of Christ can bring His message to the whole world. Many Christians get sidetracked and divided about the “end times” (Acts 1:6-7).We must know what the Bible teaches about it, but it should have a unifying factor among God’s people to create a sense of urgency to complete the mission.
How come we don’t share our faith? Some of our reasons may be that we are too busy, too shy, don’t feel equipped, don’t want to appear pushy, etc., and all of them focus on ourselves. This is why we need the Holy Spirit, only He can open people’s hearts to the gospel, and He is the answer to each of those reasons we don’t want to do evangelism. He will inspire us to create opportunities to talk about Jesus; He is our ultimate Equipper (Mark 13:11)! Simply asking, “How are you?”, “How can I pray for you?”, can open doors with those who feel you genuinely care for them. It’s not going to be easy serving God in this world; there’s a spiritual battle. To live for Jesus means that every day, we die to ourselves.
II. THE MULTITUDE
Who is the “multitude” that we are to share the gospel with? When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, God brought the whole world into Jerusalem to hear about the mighty deeds of God, and the mightiest work of God was sending Jesus for us (Acts 2:5-13). We have to make His mission, our mission! Be empowered by the Holy Spirit, go out into the “multitude” and make disciples, start a Dgroup (perhaps with 12 disciples)! You can open your home for a House Fellowship, hold Bible studies with co-workers, invite them to your Dgroup. OFWs can be very instrumental in making disciples of all the nations— from the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia, including setting up online Dgroups and house churches wherever they are.
III. THE MESSAGE
The message that we share is always about Jesus; it’s never about us; only Jesus transforms lives (Acts 2:22). Our message is that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, He is divine. Christ’s death on the cross was not accidental, and it was a victory, not a failure because He gained victory over our sins on the cross (Acts 2:23). His resurrection proved that is He is God —- that’s the Jesus who wants us to make His mission, our mission (Acts 2:24).
The message of the gospel is this, “…we are more sinful…than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” (Timothy Keller). This gospel is powerful to change lives and use them to help others have changed lives. No matter what your age may be, young or older, God uses all kinds of people.
IV. THE MULTIPLICATION
This is God’s work; He will do the multiplication, not us. But He gives us both the responsibility and privilege to do our part. Our Dgroups are to be a place where we meet Jesus, for acceptance and accountability. A Dgroup is to be Biblical, Relational and Missional (Acts 2:42-47). The early disciples studied the Scriptures together, had fellowship in each other’s homes, shared all they had with one another, and God added people to the church daily. Our Dgroups are not just for fellowship with one another, they are meant to bring glory to God as we demonstrate His love towards others, that they may come to know Jesus too. We have to be intentional, even if it’s God who does the multiplication! Like Paul, we are to make disciples (Timothy) who will make disciples (faithful men), who will make disciples (others) (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the blueprint of multiplying disciples!
The mission of Jesus is clearly and simply, “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). For those of us who are true followers of Jesus, that mission must become our mission; it needs to be personal for us. For those who have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, you are the mission! You’re the reason why He came, died, and rose again so that through His Spirit working in you, transforming your life, you can make His mission, your mission