This is Ray David’s cover article from the Pentecost By George Newsletter.
“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Acts 2: 37–41
This may seem like an odd place to pick up the Pentecost account. Allow me to fill in some of the gaps. “They” refers to the crowd of Jews gathered in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day. “. . . heard this” refers to the sermon Peter had just preached after being filled with the Holy Spirit. The account in Acts tells us that the crowd was “cut to the heart”.
You see, that is really what the Holy Spirit did on that fateful Pentecost Sunday and that is what the Holy Spirit still does today. The Holy Spirit empowers preaching that puts Jesus clearly on display, revealing him to be Lord and Saviour. The Holy Spirit stirs and convicts the hearts of hearers, bringing them to the place of asking “what shall we do?” The Holy Spirit works the miracle of repentance, wherein the stirred and convicted hearers experience a radical change from being full-face to sin and the wickedness of “this crooked generation” to standing full-face to Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The Scriptures refer to this moment when we come to trust in Jesus, and not our sinful selves, as a new birth; a moment of being recreated. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers preaching of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us to take action and repent. It is the Holy Spirit that assures us that we are new people whose lives are no longer defined by crookedness but by trust in Jesus.
The book of Acts rushes from this point forward, tracking the work of the Holy Spirit in spreading the good news that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Having said that, the work of the Holy Spirit does not end in Acts 27. The same Holy Spirit is still at work today. The same Holy Spirit remains at work, even here in and through St. George’s.
In the past three weeks we have seen the direct work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Consider three events: the Freedom Session graduation, the Women’s Conference, and the Youth Retreat.
We have just recently concluded our second round of Freedom Sessions at St. George’s. It is a Christ-centered 12 step ministry designed to address chemical and sexual addiction, sexual and physical abuse victimization, codependency issues, perfectionism, the scars of divorce, betrayal, abortion trauma, homosexuality, anger issues, gambling, eating disorders, frozen emotions and just plain old hurts. Ray Smith, Marie Metsa and their team have faithfully led this important ministry. The recent graduation was marked by personal testimonies of many people who had come to a place of healing and freedom. We celebrate and give thanks to God for the work of the leaders and especially for the Holy Spirit’s work in drawing these graduates to freedom found in Jesus.
A few weeks ago we hosted the Women’s Conference. Karen Wilson, Holly Horricks, Anita Chambers, Kety Smith, Donna Denison and Donna Rigo organized a weekend away at Faith Mission. The topic was the Glory of God and Oryce Shantz gave the plenary teachings, while Debbie Dyment, Dianne Biggar and Donna Rigo shared personal testimonies. Again, the Holy Spirit was at work, pressing our women into Jesus.
Finally, just this past weekend our Youth gathered for their semi-annual retreat. Garth Hunt, Josev Biggar, Ray Smith, Scott Hunt and Carny Tsui provided leadership in organizing the weekend event. Brian Hunt led worship and Michael “Bull” Roberts shared his testimony of God’s radical saving grace, rescuing him from abuse, drug addiction and a violent gang lifestyle. Our youth encountered Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Continued from page 1) “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”.
Apart from the on-going ministry of the Holy Spirit these three events would have been nothing more than social gatherings. But because of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit these events were so much more. Jesus promised and sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples two thousand years ago and that same Holy Spirit is at work today in and through Jesus’ disciples.
This Pentecost open your eyes to the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. God did not stop his work in this world in Acts 27. Make it personal. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to cut you to your heart and convict you of your sin, show you Jesus and enable you to lead a new life. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give you boldness to talk about Jesus with your friends, family and coworkers.
