This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost. What an amazing day in the life of our church. We had over a dozen people baptized by immersion in worship and we're welcome 30 new members! In the message we focused on the coming of the Holy Spirit and what that means in our lives. In scripture we are told that the Holy Spirit brings comfort, strength, guidance, teaching, conviction and more. But perhaps most importantly, the Holy Spirit brings power.
Shortly after the day of Pentecost, in chapter 4 of the Book of Acts, we read “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.” When it comes to sharing the hope of Jesus with others I think we are sometimes hesitant. We fear we might not have the right words. We fear our sharing may not be received well. We fear rejection. But what Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, is reminding us is that we need not be afraid. After all we have that Pentecost power within us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit.
When it comes to sharing our faith, I have to remind myself all the time that we do not do this in our own strength. Like Peter, Paul and the other early disciples, we do this work in the power of the Holy Spirit. This was the point of Pentecost. The disciples were instructed to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before they began their work of proclaming the gospel. On our own, our testimony may seem to have modest impact. But with the power of God’s Spirit behind the proclamation, there is a supernatural power.
We read in the book of Acts that in the early church the Lord added to their numbers daily. Every day more and more people responded to the invitation to become followers of Christ. This didn't happen because Peter was such a skilled preacher. He was a common fisherman. This happened because the Holy Spirit put power behind his words.
You and I don't have to be John Wesley, Billy Graham or Andy Stanley to share the gospel. Even if we don't think we are very eloquent, even if we think we don't have the right words, let us not be afraid, or even hesitate, to share Jesus with those who do not yet know him. We simply have to share the hope of Christ in our own words, in our own way, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring power to those words.
I want to encourage us to share Jesus with someone this week. Invite them to church. Help them to come to know the life changing hope and joy that is found in Christ. There is no greater gift you could offer another person.
I look forward to us all being together this Sunday as we continue our series supernatural. I believe this is one of the most exciting and engaging series we've ever done. You won't want to miss this.
God Bless,
Pastor Steve