Christ’s Ascension Christ’s Ascension andand

The Day of PentecostThe Day of Pentecost

• For how many days after Jesus died and rose again did he show himself on earth? 40 days

His body was gone

His friends touched him, talked to him

Many people saw him (more than 500)

He ate and cooked

• How did he show that he was really alive, not a ghost?

• What did he tell his friends to do?

• Where did he go with his friends after 40 days? To a small mountain near Jerusalem

Go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.

• What did he tell them the Holy Spirit would do? They would be filled with power. They would be his witnesses in They would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.of the earth.

c e n s i oWe call this The As_ _ _ _ _ _n, which means ________. going up

He went up into the sky behind a cloud.

What happened after he finished talking to them?

The Day of Pentecost• The festival of Pentecost is 50 days

after the festival of the Passover.

• It is the harvest festival.

• Many Jews from many countries visited Jerusalem at this time.

Where were the believers on the Day of Pentecost? Gathered together in one place, praying.

What did they hear? A noise like a strong wind blowing. What did they see? What looked like tongues of fire which touched each person there.

What did they start to do?

Talk in other languages.

What were they talking about?

The great things God had done.

A large crowd gathered because they heard the noise.

Why were they so excited?

They heard all the believers speaking in They heard all the believers speaking in their own languages, even though they their own languages, even though they

were ordinary Galileans.were ordinary Galileans. But what did some people say?

These people are drunk!

Peter stood up to talk to the crowd.

Is this the same Peter who denied Jesus 3 times?What has happened to him? Why is he so brave now?

The Holy Spirit has filled him with power, as Jesus promised.

Peter’s Message – Acts 2:15-17,21

These people are not drunk, instead this is what the prophet Joel spoke about:

‘This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.

Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; …..

And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’

God’s Message told by Peter -Acts 2:22-24

22 "Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you. 23 In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him. 24 But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner.

22 "Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you.

Israelite - a person from IsraelDivine – belongs to God

You know it, you can’t deny it –you saw it yourself – His life was a very public witness that He had Divine authority.

23 In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him.

Jesus death was not an accident – it was God’s plan

Even though it was God’s plan, those who rejected him were still guilty of his death.Peter is not trying to please his audience, he is making sure he tells them the truth.

24 But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner.

Here is GOOD NEWS!

32 God has raised this very Jesus from death, and we are all witnesses to this fact. 33 He has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us.

36 "All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!"

Lord and Messiah How do they know?

• The way he lived, the many miracles they saw him do

• He rose from the dead, and they saw him

• They can see that the Holy Spirit has now come on the believers and changed them.

Bold Speaking other

languages

Talking about Jesus

• the Day the Law was given.

•To celebrate the harvest of wheat

•The nation of Israel was God’s people.

Old Testament – New Testament –• the Day the Spirit was given.

• Now there will be a harvest of people

• God’s Spirit rested on each person individually, Jew and non-Jew

The Day of Pentecost

Suddenly S

H

E

Harvest

Expectation

It is God who controls the time

There is a purpose – to bring people to know God

We should expect that God will give us the Holy Spirit so that we can have the power to share the Good News.

Pray that God’s Holy Spirit - will fill you,

- will purify you, - will give you grace to share

his message, - and grace to

live a life that pleases God.