In Acts 2, Jesus’ followers finally experience the Holy Spirit’s much-anticipated arrival. I’m sure they had no idea how the Spirit would arrive and indwell them. So God provided several signs of the Holy Spirit’s arrival, including an audible sound like the wind, a visible fire above each person’s head and evidence of His presence through the believers’ clearly and articulately speaking in foreign languages.
Then Peter gave a powerful sermon, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. He clearly shared the gospel message, confirmed prophecies about Jesus in the Psalms and finally called the people to repent and return to God. After Peter’s sermon, 3,000 people believed and were baptized. These people formed the first church!
I love the picture of unity in this chapter. The Holy Spirit unifies all believers. We shouldn’t quibble over differences in our denominations or different opinions over minor, gray area issues. Instead, all Christians should be united in sharing the gospel around the world. The fact that the other 11 apostles stood with Peter told the people listening to his sermon that all of them were united in thought, word and deed.
Are you united with other believers? How are you helping to unify (or separate) the Christian church? What are you doing to help spread the gospel message across the globe?
I am doing BSF this year for the first time, and I am getting so much out of it! It's interesting how we all get different things out of the Scriptures we read, so I'll be looking forward to your posts about BSF in the coming months! :o)