Maintain What God Has Made (Acts 2:1-11)
In his great book, One Blood: Parting Word to the Church on Race and Love, Christian minister and civil rights leader, John Perkins, writes: “There is no institution on earth more equipped or more capable of bringing transformation to the cause of reconciliation than The Church.”
The Church is to lead when it comes to unity. In fact, because of God’s empowering we are, in the words of Perkins, more equipped and more capable than any other institution on earth. What a high calling we have.
This Sunday, as we continue in our series on unity, we’ll be spending some time at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), then we’ll jump back 2,000 years or so earlier to consider a high tower that caught God’s eye in a place called Shinar (Genesis 11:1-9) and then we’ll jump forward, past Pentecost, to the city of Ephesus (Ephesians 2:11-22). We’ll be covering a lot of ground so read ahead if you can. My hope is that God will use this Sunday, and our whole series on unity, to fulfill the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-23. That we might be one.
Looking forward to our time together!
Pastor Tim
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
- Acts 2:1-11