I invite us to hear from God's word this morning from the book of Acts, Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. The day the wind blew and the church grew.

We listened to the words of Luke. On that world changing day when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting, sitting, they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven when they heard this sound.

A crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongue.

What can this mean, my friends? This is the word of our Lord.

For a few minutes I like to think about that world changing day. The day when that wind blew and the church grew here in this part of the country. We know a little bit about violent winds, don't we? We?

I remember a few years ago when I was a bit younger, about Paul's age, it was about this time of the year and I could see something was brewing. You know how high and low pressure systems collide together and I watched the winds blow that day. And they were turning up something.

And then eerily, it became very quiet. The bugs stopped bugging, the birds stopped tweeting. It was mysterious, just so quiet. And then she blew. All those clouds, they began to do their doxological dance, swirling and whirling.

And then the fire came out of the. Out of those clouds and lightning form and it shook the place where I was at. I decided maybe it would be a good idea to get some shelter. And then I watched as one cloud broke away from the rest and descended to this earth. That vortex started spinning dust all around.

Wow.

And then she blew by and the sun came out. And I walked out to see what kind of damage that storm had done. Well, indeed, some things were taken down. But I was amazed. There was a cottonwood tree that had been blown down a few years earlier by a straight wind.

And this cottonwood tree was still alive. It had pulled it up by its roots, but its roots were still there. But it was laying on its side. But after this storm, amazingly, that vortex got ahold of it and stood it straight up again.

Now, I share that vignette with you because it reminds me of what this Pentecost is all about. How God comes down in that mighty wind to renew his creation, to stand it upright the way it's supposed to be. And how he moves within his people to bring new life the way it's supposed to be today. I think about that in light of God's word in Acts chapter two, and how Peter stepped up to the mic and quoted from Joel, in the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. And God continues to pour out his spirit. I think of young men like Paul, whom God has poured out his spirit, and others who are young here today. And I encourage you, I encourage you to have that courage, not to just play out the old stories, but live out that reality of what it means to be church, where people don't just know about God, but know God.

The Holy Spirit inspires risk takers who are looking for more than an everyday, safe and comfortable life. The Holy Spirit engages us to be passionate about justice, willing to speak with a prophetic voice into the culture around us. It's willing to be the voice of the voiceless, prepared to come alongside the widow and the fatherless. The Holy Spirit nudges young and old dreamers to do more than talk about poverty, but engage the poor. Not simply have programs, but put faith into action.

Oh, oh, how I pray for the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, young and old, alive. To burn away the bondage to the empire that has often taken our imaginations. Oh, dear friends, pray for that Pentecostal power for young and old dreamers to dream God's dream and not the dreams of this world. Captivated by consumerism and power and greedy and individualism, the Holy Spirit comes to break down that power. Barriers were broken that day.

Barriers are broken. Not only age barriers, but also gender barriers. As we read about women as well, in the Old Testament, this was not so common. But here in the New Testament, it's for all. I'm reminded how the Holy Spirit that ruined the wind reminds us of the garden where men and women walked and talked and carried the image of God as they complemented each other.

Gone are the age barriers, the gender barriers, the social barriers, the educational barriers, the racial barriers.

For the Holy Spirit includes and calls God's people people, rich and ragged, scholars and unschooled, those with color and those without. The Bible says there's no distinction between Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. Praise be to God. The day the wind blew, the church grew, barriers were removed, new life wrought. This is God's moving day.

If you follow scriptures from that fall, God has this plan of redemption and includes some moves. Certainly there was the move of God in the Old Testament at Mount Sinai. By the way, on Pentecost, they would read about what happened on Mount Sinai. How that mountain shook and the fire came out of that mountain, looked like Mount Etna or something like that, that. And yet there, God gave his law to his people because they were tweeners.

They lived in between that captivity of Egypt and the Promised Land. So God gave his law to guide them. But I believe that God knew that they could not keep this on their own. But this first step is to give them that law and to remember who they are.

In fact, in that law. You read about feast days, feast days like Pentecost or Shaviot. Some of you know a little bit about those great hogs. That's what they're called. Don't you love that word?

Hogs? That feast. That's what it was in the Jewish language. There was that feast of Passover, remember? And all of these feasts had a past, present and a future component it Passover.

They remembered how God took them out. They celebrated Passover, remembering what this meant for them. That God was with them. But it also looked forward to the day in which that Passover lamb would come and pay for our sins.

There's a second moving day, and that was the day that Jesus came to us. God moved into our neighborhood and God did what we could not do, as noted, paid for our sins. But that's not the last moving day. You know, Jesus rose on a day called First Fruits. Maybe you've heard of it.

Fifty days later, they had another festival called the feast of Harvest, or Shaviot, in which they celebrated that harvest. Well, that's when the spirit of God comes, we call Pentecost. It's time for the harvest, time for people to be brought into that kingdom of God, to be that kingdom of priests. Today I remind you of that I share words from the contemporary testimony which says it very well. At Pentecost, promises old and new are fulfilled.

The ascended Jesus becomes the baptizer, drenching his followers with his spirit, creating a new community where Father, Son and Holy Spirit make their home, revived and filled with the breath of God. Women and men, young and old, dream dreams and see visions.

This is the day the wind blew and the church continues to grow. And yet, at the same time, some folks are a little, little concern about who is this Holy Spirit? Sometimes I ask the question of people and I get this deer in the headlights, like, well, not quite sure. Well, indeed, Jesus said, this spirit is mysterious. It's that promise of God.

Jesus said in John 14, Remember, I'm going to send another. It doesn't mean somebody entirely different, but just like him. Him, God to us. And he said, it's going to be good, it's going to be great, because God's going to dwell in you. Think of the book of Ezekiel, where God says, I'm going to put my spirit in your heart.

Then you'll be able to keep that law and you'll be able to show what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ. Who is that spirit? Sometimes folks get a little weird because, well, he don't want to be one of those charismaniacs. Well, I'm sorry I'm a charismaniac because it's only through the spirit of God that I can stand here today. It's only through the Spirit of God that I can bear witness for Jesus Christ.

Just simply, who is the Holy Spirit? First of all, he's the third person of the Trinity. He's not some force, not something. No, it's God, truly God, who dwells within you. 1st Corinthians 6 don't you know that your body is a temple?

The Mishkan of the Holy Spirit.

He's eternal, no beginning, no end. Holy in the sense of he's all powerful. And you experience the Spirit when you start walking away from God. He is that Spirit who convicts, but he's also the Paraclete, that is, one who walks alongside of us, who guides us in our steps, who we are called to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, truly God who is amongst us today. Praise be to God.

And yet, I do have to ask a few questions. There's a book entitled Forgotten God. Maybe some of you have read it from Francis Chan. I need to read it a couple times a year to be reminded again. And Chan asked some very difficult questions, such as, is there any difference between believers and unbelievers?

Can you tell the difference? I remember a little girl once came to me and said, you know, Pastor, you talk about God living in us. Well, God is so big and here, and he moves in me. Shouldn't I be busting out all over? Yeah.

Amen, sister.

Is that true? Is that true for us?

Do we see undeniably the work of the Spirit of God in our life, in our churches? Chan asks another question, is, do we really believe these promises of God that God moves in? I remember the Lord's Prayer. You know how it goes. But at the end of the prayer In Luke, chapter 11, Jesus tells a little story about how fathers would give good gifts to their children.

And he says, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask those who seek?

Oh, indeed, God moves in. And maybe there's a bit of fear. Why? Maybe we're a little concerned with what that Spirit might do for us or do in us.

And that's true. The Holy Spirit is not some part of God that we control. I love the way the Celtic Christians describe the Holy Spirit as the wild goose. You don't cage. You don't clip its wings.

You keep in step with the Spirit. You follow where he's leading in your life. And so I say, lord, come, fill me, fill God's people. After all, don't we want more of God in our life? I do.

We are reminded again. There are times in which we can grieve the Holy Spirit, even quench the Holy Spirit by our own attitudes and actions. Actions when we are in step with the Spirit, demonstrating Christ. Indeed, we praise God for how the Spirit works in our lives. I think of, excuse me.

The contemporary testimony puts it well, the Spirit renews our hearts, moves us to faith, leads us into truth, helps us to pray, stands by us in our need, makes our obedience fresh and blessed. Vibrant God, the Spirit lavishes gifts on the church in astonishing variety. Prophecy, encouragement, healing, teaching, service, tongues, discernment, equipping each member to build up the body of Christ and to serve our neighbors.

Oh, indeed, I pray today that you seek that Holy Spirit not for your own personal gain, but to demonstrate the love of Christ and a love for his church. The Holy Spirit comes to do exactly that, to change lives.

I could tell you lots and lots of stories of how that Holy Spirit has changed people. I think of a couple radical transformations. I remember a young man, his name was JB JB had gone or his family had gone through a very painful divorce. And JB was. Was angry.

Angry at God, angry at his family, angry at everybody around him. I tried to talk with him and try to counsel him, but didn't have anything to do with it. I moved away. And after a few years, I re engaged with JB And I couldn't believe it. He was fruity.

I mean, in a good way. The fruit of the Spirit was all over him. I said, JB what happened? He says, God got ahold of me. He broke me.

And then he moved in with his Holy Spirit. All I want to do is love him and tell others about him. I think about a young lady named Amy. Oh, she had a lot of gifts, a lot of talents, a lot of abilities. And she knew it.

A very proud person. And she bullied others. And when I encouraged her, maybe you need a change. She said, ah, I got this. Well, she did again.

I moved away and came back and was reunited with her. And she too was fruity. I said, what happened to you, Amy? God got ahold of me. I thought I knew about God, but I didn't know God until he moved in.

Now all I want to do is share his love with my community of stories and they continue to be told through people's lives here and throughout the world. For the sake of time, I need to move on and remind you that it's in all areas of life. J.I. packer once noted, only the Holy Spirit can change life, but it affects intellectual, ethical, devotional and relational. Apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers, no lively congregation, there will be no believers and no congregations.

Spirit moves in, equips God's people, gathers them from every tongue, tribe and nation into the unity of the Body of Christ. Anointed and sent by the Spirit, the church is thrust into the world. Ambassadors of God's peace, announcing forgiveness and reconciliation, proclaiming the good news of grace, going before them, with them. The Holy Spirit convinces the world of sin, pleads the cause of Christ. Men and women impelled by the Spirit go next door, far away into science and art, media and marketplace, every area of life pointing to the reign of God with what they do and with what they say.

Praise be to God for the day that the wind blew and the church continues to grow.

We are part of that and the church is marked by that Spirit of God. You turn a few verses on. You read about that familiar passage that describes the marks of the church people who responded to that gospel as Peter preached that sermon. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Repentance for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you will receive that gift of the Holy Spirit. That's God's promise to you today. And we read about they had gathered and how in a sense Babel was restored as they those four compass points are represented by all of those different countries. And they are filled. And then they go with that good news of the Gospel, just like God intended.

And as they go, they come together as communities of faith. Faith.

They devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer and notice. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. You hear it. They were devoted to the gospel.

They were devoted to one another. They were devoted to the breaking of bread and prayer because they knew their own brokenness and their dependence upon God and each other. They were all filled with that awe and they went in Jesus name. Today we celebrate what it means to be that Spirit empowered church, driven by that gospel, growing in grace, focusing on one another and the needs of our community, demonstrating the gifts that God has given to us and going in service and witness. May we be that Spirit empowered church, leaning on God's grace and for proclaiming his glory.

Ah, indeed. The wind continues to blow and the church continues to grow. Will you pray with me?

Praise be to you, Father, son, Holy Spirit, that you have welcomed us into your family, into your community. We praise you, Holy Spirit, that you are present here amongst us. We praise you that you answer that prayer that you will fill your people and send them. So as we gather at your table today, we pray forgive us of our sins. Indeed fill us with your Spirit.

We pray in Jesus name. Name. Amen.