Introductory sentence

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses... (Acts 1.8)

Bible Reading : Acts 1.6-14

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

 1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

 6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

 16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Suggestions for hymns and songs

Be still for the presence of the Lord

The Peruvian Gloria

There is a Redeemer

We are marching

We shall stand

Kindle the flame (Northumbria Community)

Breathe on me breath of God

Come down O Love Divine

Spirit of the living God

O Thou who camest from above

Purify my heart

I’ll go in the strength of the Lord

Introduction to the drama

Bad Press

The drama you’re about to see was written as a result of a conversation with my husband on an early morning walk. As we walked along, I spent much of the time complaining about the state of our world today. I was in despair at the kind of world our children and grandchildren were growing up in. And what was it we could do as Christians in the face of all the negative publicity in the media about Christianity.

His reply was simple and to the point, “Well early Christians had to face far worse in the New Testament!

Just like that! His statement helped me put everything into perspective. He was right.

We have a tough job ahead of us if we are to make Christ known to others, and if we are to reach out to a world in need of tough love. The followers of Jesus went through all this before us, and their words and actions and how they responded to ridicule and persecution, show us the way forward today.

BAD PRESS  ( Acts 28 .15)

(Enter two Christians sharing their thoughts, and carrying lots of provisions in two large supermarket bags.)

A  Boy, are we getting a really bad press at the moment, we Christians, have you noticed? Other faiths are exalted, shown the highest of respect, given space to air their views…Yet us…we’re despised and ridiculed and treated with contempt.

B Yes indeed, whichever way we turn someone’s putting us down. They never see the positive aspects of our faith!

A Somehow we’re looked on as the fools, the weird ones!

B Yes I know just what you mean, I feel that way too.

A It makes you think things are going to get rough indeed in the not too distant future. It fills me with a sense of dread. 

B Our numbers have fallen off too! If things go on like they are, there won’t be many of us left!

A Yes and we’re going to need to engage with young people, to keep the faith alive.

B I can’t think how we’re going to turn things around, can you?

A No I can’t! ...We’ve done our best, we’ve given to the needy, we’ve tried to be just and fair! We’ve loved people. Surely people see this!

B We meet as often as we can to worship God, we try to tell people how great and wonderful He is! But there’s such a lot of competition these days…

A Yes so many other gods around for people to worship! They’re all over the place, in their homes, the stadiums, the shops.

B Most people just don’t want to know though, they’re switched off by religion, they say that it doesn’t do anything for them. Either that or they’re so wrapped up in themselves they don’t see the need!

A Some people say we’re too religious, that there’s something sinister about us, that we’re messing with people’s minds, that we’re guilty of indoctrination.

B What’s the world coming to?

A It’s a worry isn’t it? And everywhere we turn there’s a depressing lack of morals! You wouldn’t believe some of the things people get up to nowadays!

B It’s getting so bad, I just want to scream ‘ENOUGH?!’

A  And there’s so much violence!  But what can we do?

B It’s such a worry! Things can only get worse! What sort of world will our families inherit, when we’re dead and gone?

A It keeps me awake at nights, worrying about it!

B Well you’re not the only one!  I’m very concerned too! It was all so promising, and nothing seems to be happening now...(pause)

(at this point the audience has the impression that this drama takes place in today’s world, but make this next sentence very clear.)

...that is since Jesus was taken from our sight on the mountain!

A Never mind come on, the others will be hungry, we’ve been away ages. They’ll be waiting for us to join with them for prayer in the Upper Room.

B So what do you think Jesus meant when he told us to wait in the city and pray until we’ve been we’ve been clothed in power? Will anything happen do you think?

A  I don’t know, do I? But there again, Jesus insisted we do it, so it must be important!

B I suppose so, c’mon then, let’s not be late. Wouldn’t want to miss out!

Children’s activity:

Design a poster for the outside of church inviting people outside to come in. In order for them to be persuaded you have to think what it is that would attract them to your church.

Or Dance activity: using cheerleaders sticks.

On the day of Pentecost: by Dave Godfrey. (a very uplifting, catchy and lively song which tells the whole story of Pentecost. The lead dancer should work out arm movements and actions to this song before the service so the dancers can stand out and simply mirror what he/she does.

Address

I want to look today, in particular at those first Christians, in the period after Jesus ascended to heaven and before Pentecost came.

What was it that PAVED THE WAY, for the coming of the Holy Spirit? Here were ordinary disciples like you and I, who became EMPOWERED for service and mission.

Even though they had been given authority by Jesus to go out and heal and cast out demons, in twos, even though they had been ‘breathed upon’ in the Upper room by Jesus, and told to receive the Holy Spirit, there was still the need to receive the Holy Spirit in all its fullness. The prophecy by Joel had yet to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on ALL flesh.

‘The Incredibles’ an illustration/analogy

I wonder if anyone here recognises this description of a well known film. I’ll give you one or two clues and we’ll see who the first person is to recognise which film I’m talking about.

(buy poster or show powerpoint of the Incredibles)

• The film was made by Pixar Animation Studios. about a dysfunctional family, the Parrs,  who each had superhuman  gifts

• One of  them, the mother, was eager to obey a government order about supergifts and she refused to use her gift of ‘elasticity’  fearful of BAD PRESS!

• One, even though he was desperate to use his gift, was forbidden to do so.( Speed)

• One didn’t know what her gift was, therefore didn’t know how to put it into practice. (Protective bubble)

• One was far too young to know anything about gifts, (Tremendous heat and Fire)

• One, the dad, who had superstrength, just could not hold his gift in, and went about using it in secret at nights, with his friend Frozone, the Ice Man.

• GUESSES?  THE INCREDIBLES.

The Prophet Jeremiah said,

 If I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more in His name, His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in, indeed I cannot!’  20.9

At the beginning of this film, before they all get their act together as a family, and save the world from an evil genius, they remind me very much of what many accuse the church of in this day and age.

Address cont'd

The church today is accused of being divided, weak and ineffectual silent on important issues, and too introspective, falling apart, isolated, out of touch with the world around.

There would have been those in the city of Jerusalem who thought the same of the disciples of as they hid away in fear of the authorities after Jesus death.

But then, wonder of wonders! The disciples’ prayers are answered, and the Holy Spirit descends upon them at Pentecost, just as it happened to Jesus at his baptism before his public ministry.

This was the moment when the disciples tuned into God’s symphony for his world.

 Here the disciples would begin the great swim against the world’s tide, yet be caught up on the current of God’s love!

What can we learn from the Acts of the Apostles today and how can we as Christians be more effective and dynamic? How did the disciples pave the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit?

What can we learn from them which is relevant to us today?

There were FOUR main preconditions to the fire of the Holy Spirit coming upon them.

They were these...

Obedience

Prayerfulness

Unity

Openness to the working of the Holy Spirit

Obedience

It would not be an exaggeration to say that ‘disobedience’  is one of the MAIN CHARACTERISTICS of modern Christianity. We excel at it.

I went with my mother recently to the hospital, for a check up. She had been feeling extremely weak after her operation, and I knew she wouldn’t be able to manage the long walk along the corridor and back. So, noticing a wheelchair against the wall near the lift, I invited her to get in.

The ensuing conversation went something like this...

Me:      Come on mam, get in. You’re feeling frail.

Mam:   You’re not getting me in one of those.  (DISOBEDIENCE)

Me:      Mam please get in!

Mam:   I’m not getting in there, I’m not all that old! (PRIDE)

Me :     Mam, you just don’t have the energy, get in please .

Mam:   I’ll manage , you don’t need to worry! (SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE)

Me:      MAM, WILL YOU GET IN!!!!!!!!!

Does God have to SHOUT before we become obedient and submissive?

So much of our time is taken up with leisure and pleasure and developing a close relationship with God is not a priority, and we become different to the world in the possessions we acquire and our lust for material things. 

The church has been criticised for its great wealth; its lust for power and position, pomp and ceremony when our Lord Jesus instructed us to become poor and reach out to others as servants.

But as we see in our reading today, the disciples were told to wait in the city, for the gift they had been promised…and they did.

They obeyed to the letter, without argument or question.

Perhaps they learnt obedience as a result of their time with Jesus in his post-Resurrection appearances, because they certainly weren’t as obedient before in Jesus lifetime. Are we obedient?

I’m sure we will all be able to recall God’s hand on our lives at some point guiding us to do something  for him, or respond to a call on our lives; and it may have even sounded a foolish thing at the time...but we responded and saw others blessed, unbelievably so and unexpectedly.

God can do wonders through an obedient person

2 They were prayerful

Praying doesn’t come easy to many of us, perhaps that’s why we call it a discipline. But if we persevere we see ‘GOD-coincidences’ happening.

Prayer doesn’t come easy to us

• it’s not fashionable

•  it’s time consuming, and we are busy people, despite the fact there are so many labour saving devices around today.

• We don’t think creatively

• We find it boring and empty sometimes

•  We don’t come expecting God to respond

But we are called, each one of us, to meet with God in prayer, both in private, and when we come together.

For the disciples prayer was their main priority.After Jesus ascended to heaven, they were in the temple, during prayer hours, praising God, in the upper room they prayed constantly.

They prayed expectantly and fervently, together and apart, in groups of twos or threes even.

They prayed  together despite being such different characters/ different personalities.

3 They were united

Today the Church today is BEDEVILLED by individualism and disunity.

I didn’t realise just how many different denominations and sects connected with the Christian Faith, until I looked it up. I have a list here, which denotes all the verifiable and notable ones. There are hundreds!

Jesus prayed:

“...Protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are ONE.”

Yet we are oblivious to our faults and failings, and we are very quick to point out the sins of other.

The differences are not always doctrinal ones, but personal ones. There are fall-outs! Someone is offended by something someone says, and they up and leave, and back-sliders and casualties are not always followed up, and loved back into the fold.And the secular world looks on cynically at the so-called body of Christ, so torn asunder by our different emphases, and policies of mutual distrust and exclusion.

God cannot and will not bless disunity. The message cannot be put across effectively where there is no unity.

4 Expectant and open to the work of the Holy Spirit

God cannot fill a cup which is full! The disciples were risk-takers. They didn’t know what to expect, but they were wonderfully open and expectant. They sought GOD’S AGENDA, not their own.

They knew in the Scriptures how other individuals had received the Holy Spirit throughout history, but this was new territory for them, the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all!

They would come to be gifted in many different ways for the upbuilding of the body, and each gift would be necessary to empower them for mission.

I read in a daily prayer book once

‘The Spirit gives each of us a special way of serving others. Away with this depreciating, I can’t do anything!’ and its arrogant opposite, I have to do everything’. ‘No, you don’t!

 Paul says, ‘Our goal is to measure up to God’s plan for us...’ So we mustn’t worry about the skills we don’t have or covet the strengths others have. Just maximise YOUR God-given gifts..and kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you.

Word for Today UCB

God would also give them power and strength and courage for the troubles which were to come.

 The Holy Spirit is NOT some feeling or force designed to make us feel good in fellowship, not some ticket to get us into heaven. No, not at all!  Jesus the Reconciler actually is EQUIPPING US to bring in the lost, the weak, the prisoner, the oppressed, the lonely, the hungry.

NOW IF THESE FOUR PRECONDITIONS, WERE NECESSARY FOR THE DISCIPLES, WHAT MAKES US THINK WE CAN JUST DISMISS THEM?

Oh that the Church on earth could be called the Incredibles today, not by becoming extraordinary people with superhuman powers; but by being ordinary people who

• know they are unconditionally loved by an extraordinary God

•  who are wonderfully equipped with all they will need for outreach.

• will imitate Jesus and try to put into practice the example for living as set by our great and wonderful Saviour; whose Holy Spirit working in us and through us can change the world around us.

Isn’t it encouraging to us that Jesus put his trust in ordinary people? Therefore we must never be daunted or discouraged by human weakness, or small beginnings, or lack of numbers.

Story:

“What plans have you made for carrying on the great work of Salvation,” said the angel Gabriel to Jesus when he entered heaven after his Ascension.

“I left Peter and James and John and Martha and Mary to tell their friends, and their friends to tell their friends, till all the world should know,” he replied.

“But,” said the Gabriel, “suppose Peter is too busy mending his nets, or Martha with her housework, or their friends are too occupied, or they forget to tell their friends ~ what then?

The Lord Jesus did not answer at once; then He said in a quiet, wonderful voice,

“I have not made any other plans. I am counting on them!”

(Story from Wild Goose Publication)

Table made from © Discipleship: D Watson p77/78