Acts Sermons

God has appointed means or ways through which He ordinarily saves, sanctifies, nourishes, and strengthens His people. God certainly can work in extraordinary ways, and He sometimes does. But He has not left us wondering how He intends to build His church. He has given us His Word, His sacraments, and prayer, and He has promised to work through them.

The gospel is not merely information about Jesus Christ that we are meant to understand and store away. It is a message that confronts us with who Christ is, what He has done, and who we are as sinners before a holy God. And because the gospel confronts us in this way, it demands a response.

We see that response unfold very clearly in Acts 2. Peter has preached Christ crucified, risen, and exalted as Lord. And when the crowd hears his message, they don't simply walk away with a few new theological facts. They are "cut to the heart," and they ask, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

In Acts 2:14-36, Peter reminds us that the wind, the fire, and the tongues all served a specific purpose and that purpose was to point everyone to Jesus Christ. Everything that happened, the wind, the tongues of fire, the speaking of tongues, all of those things were miraculous tools used by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus Christ.

Luke isn't simply recording one event; he's drawing together themes that stretch across the entire storyline of Scripture. Every detail—the timing of Pentecost, the wind, the fire, the languages—is loaded with theological significance. And if you don’t take a moment to draw them out, you miss something significant. Which is why I want to make six observations that help us understand what Pentecost means and why it matters for the church today.

Before Luke tells us about the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit, he spends nearly an entire chapter describing the ordinary rhythms of the life of the church. They spend time in corporate prayer, seek direction from the Scriptures, and have a congregational meeting. Before Jesus sends His Spirit to empower the church, he first lays the foundation he’ll build his church upon.

The ascension is significant because it is Christ's royal coronation. Having accomplished the work the Father gave Him to do, the risen Christ ascends into heaven and is enthroned at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

Acts reminds us that the church is not ultimately built or sustained by human effort. It is built and sustained by Jesus Christ. The mission of the church is entirely dependent upon Christ's authority, His abiding presence, and the power of His Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is not to manufacture success, but to faithfully rely on Christ’s promised means of ministering in and through His Church.