Acts 2:1-6 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. 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. NAS
It is God’s plan for us to be filled with his Spirit and power to fulfill our God-given assignment. The gifts of the spirit are for today. We want you to be filled with the Spirit, walking in God’s power as a way of life. Consider these resources on our website to read, listen and grow in your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
https://destinyokc.com/holyspirit
In addition, we will begin a six week focus on how to truly walk in daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit functioning in the power of love and spiritual gifts on Wednesday nights 7:00-8:20 from July 14th through August 18th. This is an expression of our Destiny Christian Leadership Institute and this class will be open to all with no tuition costs. This final evening of the six weeks on August 18th will be a worship night where we pursue the heart of God putting our classes into practice.
It is very important for us to grow and mature in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We can be in touch with God’s desires as our way of life. If something grieves the heart of God, it can and should grieve our hearts as well.
Today we’re going to take a look at the Day of Pentecost from a uniquely different perspective.
In Acts 2 we see for the first time since Genesis 11 where all nations were assembled together understanding one language being spoken.
Genesis 11 is where we find the story of the Tower of Babel where God, in response, to man’s pride confused language and ethnic division emerged.
The Day of Pentecost has this sense of reversing the division. Over 2k years later on The Day of Pentecost, God empowers and commissions his church to unify and reconcile reaching beyond ethnic divisions. Pentecost was God’s grand statement of eracism.
Colossians 3:11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. NLT
Galatians 3:26-29 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Abraham was to be a blessing to many nations. The word that translates “nations” in both Hebrew and Greek speaks of ethnic groups.
Two Hebrew words were involved, variously translated in English versions: most common are nation (v 2) and people (v 3). I was aware that the Greek New Testament commonly uses the Greek word eqnos (ethnos) for the general references to ethnic groups.
Gen. 12:2 Promise to Abraham. "I will make you a great nation." New Century Version
Hebrew here for nation is “goi”, the basic general Hebrew term for an ethnicity, lineage or nation (in the ethnic sense).
God’s heart and desire has been from the beginning to adopt and bless every ethnic group without bias. We are all sons and daughters of God and any form of racism or nationalism that would position one group as supreme over another is demonic.
God used Joseph to save lives in Egypt and Canaan as well as his own family. Ruth, Esther, and others in the Old Testament all provide examples of crossing cultural barriers. It is finally in the New Testament, however, that ethnic reconciliation takes center stage.
The Apostle Paul experienced a world where ethnic prejudice often boiled under the surface. The basis for conflict in his day wasn’t skin color but ethnic differences in other ways.
Just a few years after Paul sent his letter to Ephesus, Jews and Syrians began massacring each other in the streets. The Jewish historian Josephus, lived at the time of these events. He laments that in one-hour 20k Jews were killed. Ethnic strife was a part of life in Paul’s day.
Ethnic strife and racial division is demonic. To participate in any kind of prejudiced in any way is to cooperate with the agenda of satan and rejects the agenda of Jesus who came to reconcile all men to himself with the commission of reconciliation as the result.
Most people haven’t even heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre but we are one week away from the 100 year anniversary of this tragedy. Our Governor and First Lady Kevin & Sarah Stitt have invited churches in OK to bring awareness to this horrific event.
Short video to get you started with understanding more about the Tulsa Race Massacre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yceK9LHFSA
This is the worst case of domestic terrorism in history of our nation. Americans literally dropped bombs on fellow Americans. White people like me need to listen to this history and learn from it as we grow forward together in a deeper state of reconciliation and restoration to true unity.
The body of Christ is the hope for unity and racial reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. NIV
I was surprised to learn that Oklahoma was actually a Mecca for black citizens to escape injustice and find their fortunes. Oklahoma was considered to be the beacon for the entire nation for racial reconciliation. That’s in our history. Let’s embrace that as we pursue, explore and address issues of racial reconciliation.
Psalm 133:1-3 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. NIV
Next week we want to receive communion all together as a family as we will reiterate this important topic the day before the actual 100-year anniversary of the Greenwood massacre. This will take place early in worship so please try to be punctual as we gather next Sunday and 9:30 and 11:30.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Get with somebody this week who is different from you on purpose.
The Tulsa website to learn more about The Tulsa Race Riot of Greenwood.
SPIRITUAL WELLNESS: PENTECOST SUNDAY
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
When the sons and daughters of God possess a healthy perspective fruitfulness results and the world becomes a better place.
The spirit of Ishmael (heart of an orphan) wars against the spirit of Isaac (heart of a son). This seems to be the dominating spiritual battle on the earth.
John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans… The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV
God’s plan is for us to hear the Father’s voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with this as our first question:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God in this season of your life?
Pentecost was the birth of the New Testament church revealing how it is God’s plan for us to be filled with his Spirit and power to fulfill our God-given assignment.
The Day of Pentecost has this sense of reversing the division pronounced on the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 where God scattered the nations by dividing their languages. Over 2,000 years later on The Day of Pentecost, God empowers and commissions his church to unify and reconcile reaching beyond ethnic divisions.
Pentecost was God’s grand statement of racial reconciliation.
Colossians 3:11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. NLT
Abraham was to be a blessing to many nations. The word that translates “nations” in both Hebrew and Greek speaks of ethnic groups. God’s heart and desire has been from the beginning to adopt and bless every ethnic group without bias. We are all sons and daughters of God.
2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. NIV
Most people haven’t even heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre but we are coming up on the 100 year anniversary of this tragedy. Our Governor and First Lady Kevin and Sarah Stitt have invited churches in Oklahoma to bring awareness to this horrific event to promote racial reconciliation.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. What kind of conversations do you think Christians need to have that will help facilitate racial reconciliation?
3. What is your hope for the church as it relates to race and ethnicity?
4. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has come to fruition in many ways. How have you seen our country change and grow in race relations? Where do you see that there is still room to grow?
Psalm 133:1-3 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. NIV
Next week we want to receive communion all together as a family as we will reiterate this important topic the day before the actual 100 year anniversary of the Greenwood massacre.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Get with somebody this week who is different from you on purpose.