Acts 2: 14 – 41 NLT
“Peter Preaches to the Crowdleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
19And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
2 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’ (Joel 2: 28 – 32)
22“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
26No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
27For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
28You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ (Psalm 16: 8 – 11)
29“Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.33Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
35until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”’ (Psalm 110: 1)
36“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
37Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away (could mean to people in the future or to the Gentiles) —all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.”
Peter is speaking to a predominantly Jewish crowd who had gathered as a result of the huge wind noise. When we realize that there were 3000 people who became Christ followers that day, we get a better idea of just how large that crowd was, since I doubt everyone there made that decision to follow Christ. That must have been an incredibly huge wind noise to draw that many people.
Peter makes many references to the Old Testament. The people he is talking to are Jews who know the Torah. Now Peter is making the case for Jesus with scripture they know, and have to rethink. He says they know about Jesus’ miracles. Remember how many people who were in Jerusalem for the Passover travelled to Bethany to see if Lazarus had really risen from the dead? Peter is tapping into what they know to be true in their lives and what they know from Scripture to convince them this new message is true. This sermon is driven by the Holy Spirit.
What a lesson for us? When we share our story of faith, we can talk about our personal experience and about what the Bible says, and we can count on the Holy Spirit to help give us the words to say. Let’s look at some instructions Jesus gave to his disciples just before he died that verify the Spirit’s help: John 14: 6 says, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you”.
I understand that talking about our faith is frightening. Even I tend to stay quiet when an opportunity appears. What do I say? How much do I say? In those moments, pray. Ask for God’s help to find the right words. Take some time and write down what you think is important for someone to know in order to become a Christian. Look for verses that back up what you say. If you do your “homework” on your own, you may find you are more confident to share your faith with someone who is asking or commenting about Christians.
Our song for today is The Gospel by Ryan Stevenson.
14Then Peter stepped forward with the e