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DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:

Holy FIRE!

A. BACKGROUND: This year we're looking at CHURCH. Where did it come from? What's Church supposed to be? What are our roots? After Jesus' resurrection he spent 40 days convincing people of his reality, laying the foundation for what became CHURCH. Jesus concluded his earthly life telling believers to take his "Good News" to all the world. Churches became the vehicle for doing that. The word "church" just means "gathering", a meeting place. Our church is even located on "Meeting House Lane".

B. TODAY, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Church!!"... Acts 2:1-12.

C. SUMMARY... Jesus told the disciples to "wait" for the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost (a Jewish holiday 50 days after Passover) that Holy Spirit manifested itself. It came as a loud, strong wind rushing through the room, with tongues of fire that settled above their head. Then each disciple began to "speak in tongues", using languages of nearby countries to tell everybody about "the wonders of God". This sparked the curiosity of a huge crowd. Peter used that opportunity to do two things. First, he linked Jesus with historic Judaism. Second, he told the basic story of Jesus: God sent Jesus to humanity where he did great things, people killed him, God raised him from the dead, so the crowd should believe in Jesus. The crowd felt guilty for the death of Jesus and happy for the resurrection; and 3,000 people chose to accept Jesus as "Lord and Savior".

D. KEY POINTS:

1. Mega Church is the popular term for really big churches nowadays. The fastest growing kind of Christianity is "Pentecostalism", sometimes called "Charismatics". They get their name and style from today's scriptures. On Pentecost they Holy Spirit empowered ordinary humans to do extraordinary things; they exhibited the power and presence of God. Those "things" are called "gifts" (charism in Greek, hence charismatic). St. Paul lists the "gifts of the spirit" and "fruits of the spirit" as proof that the Holy Spirit is within a person. They are things like healing, teaching, prophesying (speaking for God), speaking in tongues (an ecstatic conversation with God) plus love, joy, peace, self-control, and more. To summarize: Holy Spirit filled Christians and Churches show proof of God's presence audibly, visibly, and miraculously.

2. WHAT to do when YOU SIN. When the crowd felt bad for their part in killing Jesus (by collusion, silence, apathy) they wanted to know what to do. We all feel bad when we do something we shouldn't (sin). Peter's answer is "Repent, and be Baptized" (Acts 2:38). People get put off by religious church language like sin, confess, repent, but it all makes sense on a basic, human level. Everybody makes mistakes/errors/missing the mark, plain old sin. Most feel sorry and want to undo it, move beyond, put it behind, and feel better. That comes with confession - recognition, awareness, owning up to it. But that's only a � step. The big step is to STOP doing it! That usually requires a change of behavior, attitude, and thinking. To repent is to literally change direction, to turn around. Baptism is a symbolic way to seal the deal, to show you are serious. Biblical Baptism was (and is!) a public way to show you're serious. In my Baptist days we called it "an outward sign of an inward change".

3. STEP by STEP to Christian life. You did something wrong? O.K. Feel bad? Good. Speak up; tell it, at least to God. Don't want to do it again? Feel like you are in a spiral of negativity? Then change your ways. Try a new way of being/doing/talking/thinking. Let Jesus guide you on that new path. That guidance comes from The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will equip you with the gifts and abilities to continue of the right path. End result? You're saved. That's the Christian life. A bumper sticker declared: "I'm Not Perfect, Just Forgiven". With forgiveness comes a fresh start to do better. Easy? No. Simple? Yes.

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