Empowered by the Spirit: Celebrating the Church's Birth
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "The point is that when you and I are saved, we are commanded to share the gospel with everybody that we come in contact with. That's called the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18 through 20, Jesus came near to them and said, all authority has been given to me. Me and on earth, in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. Go, make disciples, teach them." [50:28]
2. "We are called to be different people. We are called to be a different culture, an oasis in the middle of a desert, a shady tree on a summer day, a cup of cool water when you're thirsty, a place to come and know you won't be rejected, that you'll be accepted and loved as brothers and sisters, as the family of God, empowered by God for eternal life together. The world changed on Pentecost. It would never be the same again. It would never be the same again. It would never be the same again. And God's church would go on to be the presence of God in this world and influence on that world. And it ought to be exactly the same today. That's what we're here for." [58:11]
3. "Today, we celebrate the birth of the church at Pentecost. We celebrate God's plan to share the good news of Jesus. And yes, the gospel is for everyone, the whole world, but it's for every one of us. Jesus loves you. He gave his life for you. And if you're lonely, and if you're tired, and if you're weary, and if you feel like you've been taken advantage of, you've been beat up, you've been abused, if you've tried everything else and you're out of options, then maybe today is a really good day to consider a rebirth. Maybe today is the day that you truly give your life over to Jesus." [59:55]
4. "The mission of the church is to communicate the love of God to a lost and dying world. You see, at Pentecost, the spirit was given to empower the mission. The early church was filled in order to pour out. I've said it over and over and over again that we cannot allow God to fill us with his spirit, to fill us with his love, to fill us with his power and not have it pour out of us. We're pitchers. We're not vaults. We're not containers. Think of it like a water hose. That's what we are. God turns on the spigot and we just pour it all out." [32:23]
5. "The moment you become a Christian, God commissions you to share this simple message with every part of your world. Amen. Amen. Amen. you who are my age, y'all might remember this happening. You'd turn on a sporting event back in the 70s and 80s, right? And you'd see this guy draping a big John 316 sign out in the middle of center field or left field or somewhere. And remember, he had the rainbow-colored wig on. Y'all remember this guy? Yeah. Well, because you're young. You're not experienced enough to understand. It's okay. Just listen. I'm going to tell you this story. It'll be good. Okay. All right. So here's this guy. His name is Roland Stewart. He got the nickname Rockin' Roland Stewart after so many years. He's responsible for this happening. His story appeared in People magazine years ago, and it's a fascinating story. You see, Roland Stewart was an alcoholic. He met Jesus. He accepted him as Savior. He became a Christian. He became a Christian, and God healed him out of his alcoholism. And one day, the idea struck him that if he could just get into major sporting events and put the Word of God before people, it'd see hundreds of thousands of people come to know Jesus Christ." [47:10]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Lastly, this morning, I want you to see the goal of the church. We've seen the creation of the church, the mission of the church. I want you to see the goal of the church this morning, and that is to establish a unique fellowship equipped for the mission of sharing the gospel. We are a unique fellowship equipped for the mission of sharing the gospel." [51:51]
2. "Isn't it amazing to see that these early Christians, after they first hear the good news, of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost, there are 3000 new converts. And by the way, as, as biblical tradition and Hebrew tradition of that day, I'm sure you understand those were the men. What were counted was the men that doesn't count the women, the children, the families that came to know Jesus Christ that day. And they began to share something that has never been shared before. They are the first fruits of the church of Jesus Christ. All of them know that they and that they've crucified Christ with their sins. But now they have repented of the sins. They've been baptized. They've been redeemed and they've been given the gift of the Holy Spirit." [53:27]
3. "This new community was like nothing that they had ever seen before. And like nothing, the world ever had to offer people. This community was rooted in love and generosity. It was empowered by the Holy Spirit to testify to the very ends of the earth of what Jesus Christ had done. It's no wonder that the church saw exponential growth in the beginning. They were devoted to one another. They loved one another. They supported one another in the mission to go and tell people about Jesus." [54:57]
4. "I hear people all the time talk about, oh, we're the New Testament church. We're the New Testament church. Really? Let's talk about it for just a minute. Because if we're truly the New Testament church, when did they meet? Oh, Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday. Some of them don't even do that anymore because the crowd was kind of small. So they just said, no, that's not what it says. It says every day they got together. They shared the word of God. They were in community together. They left everything behind and turned to their new family and spent every day, every waking moment, every trial and tribulation, every victory, everything with their new family." [56:27]
5. "The church was God's idea from the beginning. The church is the bride of Christ. There's no other plan. There's no other purpose. There's no other plan. There's no other purpose of God for how we are to share the good news of Jesus and his grace and his mercy with other people. The church is the plan. The church may never be the most popular institution in the world. Why? Because it flies in the face of everything that this culture tells us. But God wants his church to stand for the truth, his truth, and to be unshakable in our presentation, of the gospel. Because the church belongs to God. It does not belong to us. It is not ours." [30:42]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "The point is that when you and I are saved, we are commanded to share the gospel with everybody that we come in contact with. That's called the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18 through 20, Jesus came near to them and said, all authority has been given to me. Me and on earth, in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. Go, make disciples, teach them." [50:28]
2. "We are called to be different people. We are called to be a different culture, an oasis in the middle of a desert, a shady tree on a summer day, a cup of cool water when you're thirsty, a place to come and know you won't be rejected, that you'll be accepted and loved as brothers and sisters, as the family of God, empowered by God for eternal life together. The world changed on Pentecost. It would never be the same again. It would never be the same again. It would never be the same again. And God's church would go on to be the presence of God in this world and influence on that world. And it ought to be exactly the same today. That's what we're here for." [58:11]
3. "Today, we celebrate the birth of the church at Pentecost. We celebrate God's plan to share the good news of Jesus. And yes, the gospel is for everyone, the whole world, but it's for every one of us. Jesus loves you. He gave his life for you. And if you're lonely, and if you're tired, and if you're weary, and if you feel like you've been taken advantage of, you've been beat up, you've been abused, if you've tried everything else and you're out of options, then maybe today is a really good day to consider a rebirth. Maybe today is the day that you truly give your life over to Jesus." [59:55]
4. "The mission of the church is to communicate the love of God to a lost and dying world. You see, at Pentecost, the spirit was given to empower the mission. The early church was filled in order to pour out. I've said it over and over and over again that we cannot allow God to fill us with his spirit, to fill us with his love, to fill us with his power and not have it pour out of us. We're pitchers. We're not vaults. We're not containers. Think of it like a water hose. That's what we are. God turns on the spigot and we just pour it all out." [32:23]
5. "The moment you become a Christian, God commissions you to share this simple message with every part of your world. Amen. Amen. Amen. you who are my age, y'all might remember this happening. You'd turn on a sporting event back in the 70s and 80s, right? And you'd see this guy draping a big John 316 sign out in the middle of center field or left field or somewhere. And remember, he had the rainbow-colored wig on. Y'all remember this guy? Yeah. Well, because you're young. You're not experienced enough to understand. It's okay. Just listen. I'm going to tell you this story. It'll be good. Okay. All right. So here's this guy. His name is Roland Stewart. He got the nickname Rockin' Roland Stewart after so many years. He's responsible for this happening. His story appeared in People magazine years ago, and it's a fascinating story. You see, Roland Stewart was an alcoholic. He met Jesus. He accepted him as Savior. He became a Christian. He became a Christian, and God healed him out of his alcoholism. And one day, the idea struck him that if he could just get into major sporting events and put the Word of God before people, it'd see hundreds of thousands of people come to know Jesus Christ." [47:10]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Lastly, this morning, I want you to see the goal of the church. We've seen the creation of the church, the mission of the church. I want you to see the goal of the church this morning, and that is to establish a unique fellowship equipped for the mission of sharing the gospel. We are a unique fellowship equipped for the mission of sharing the gospel." [51:51]
2. "Isn't it amazing to see that these early Christians, after they first hear the good news, of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost, there are 3000 new converts. And by the way, as, as biblical tradition and Hebrew tradition of that day, I'm sure you understand those were the men. What were counted was the men that doesn't count the women, the children, the families that came to know Jesus Christ that day. And they began to share something that has never been shared before. They are the first fruits of the church of Jesus Christ. All of them know that they and that they've crucified Christ with their sins. But now they have repented of the sins. They've been baptized. They've been redeemed and they've been given the gift of the Holy Spirit." [53:27]
3. "This new community was like nothing that they had ever seen before. And like nothing, the world ever had to offer people. This community was rooted in love and generosity. It was empowered by the Holy Spirit to testify to the very ends of the earth of what Jesus Christ had done. It's no wonder that the church saw exponential growth in the beginning. They were devoted to one another. They loved one another. They supported one another in the mission to go and tell people about Jesus." [54:57]
4. "I hear people all the time talk about, oh, we're the New Testament church. We're the New Testament church. Really? Let's talk about it for just a minute. Because if we're truly the New Testament church, when did they meet? Oh, Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday. Some of them don't even do that anymore because the crowd was kind of small. So they just said, no, that's not what it says. It says every day they got together. They shared the word of God. They were in community together. They left everything behind and turned to their new family and spent every day, every waking moment, every trial and tribulation, every victory, everything with their new family." [56:27]
5. "The church was God's idea from the beginning. The church is the bride of Christ. There's no other plan. There's no other purpose. There's no other plan. There's no other purpose of God for how we are to share the good news of Jesus and his grace and his mercy with other people. The church is the plan. The church may never be the most popular institution in the world. Why? Because it flies in the face of everything that this culture tells us. But God wants his church to stand for the truth, his truth, and to be unshakable in our presentation, of the gospel. Because the church belongs to God. It does not belong to us. It is not ours." [30:42]
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