Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Come, Holy Spirit

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 8, 2025

Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21; Ps 104:24-35; Ro 8:14-17; Jn 14:9-14

Last week, I preached about the power of prayer.  I drew from our Acts 16 lesson in which Paul and Silas were praising God and praying at midnight from a Philippian jail. In response to their praise/singing and prayer, God sent His supernatural power (the Holy Spirit) to effect a jail break. This Holy Spirit empowered jail-break resulted in (1) an unknown number of fellow prisoners coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ; 

(2) the conversion and baptism of the jailer and his household; and (3) the release of Paul and Silas, after they had been cleaned up, doctored up from their beatings, and fed by the jailor.

Now I hope you agree that this was a pretty impressive lesson on the power of prayer. Our God hears our prayers and responds to them. Though He may not always answer in the way we want (He may say “NO” to what we are asking of Him. He also may not act as quickly as we might like. Sometimes He answers us immediately—I’ve witnessed people being healed in a prayer service immediately, and I myself have been healed a time or two. Sometimes His response comes after a few days—we prayed for rain last week, and voila! That answer was pretty speedy. It has rained almost daily, praise God!  And sometimes we have to be committed to praying for weeks, months, or even years. The point is to not get discouraged and lose faith. The point is to continue to pray, or as the Bible says, pray without ceasing.

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the Christian Church (of all denominations) and the impartation of the Holy Spirit to each of us who are “in Christ.”

A.  Our Acts 2:1-21 lesson tells us that the Church was birthed through prayer.  120 disciples of Jesus–men and women–were gathered in the Temple, doing what Jesus had told them to do:  He had instructed them, in Acts 1:4 to stay in Jerusalem and to… wait for the gift my Father promised…in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  So they are obediently waiting and praying.

After 10 days of waiting and praying, the Holy Spirit shows up!

It’s a theophany! A God-sighting! They hear the sound of a big, strong wind, like a tornado; they see the sight of flames over 120 heads. And suddenly they are empowered!

They are empowered to praise Jesus in languages they had never learned and to speak to strangers about the Lord.

What can we conclude from this passage about what the he Holy Spirit can do in our lives?  (1) He empowers us to do things we cannot do in our own strength. Some years ago, I shared the true story of how an Air Force Academy cadet, a woman, lifted a car off of her father.  No young woman is that strong, without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. 

One of my favorite stories of a special empowerment is that of Benaiah from 2 Samuel 23:20-21— Benaiah son of Jehoida was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men [They may have been giants]. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in is hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. Benaiah, a mighty Hebrew warrior, chases a lion into a pit on a snowy day and kills it.  Why would any sane person choose to do such a thing?  The lion probably weighed 500 pounds and his paws, claws, and teeth were better suited to combat in a slippery environment than a man with no gun (just a spear or club). Nevertheless, Benaiah slays the lion. Subsequently, this feat becomes the most salient feature of his impressive resume: He was later hired by King David, to lead his body guard. Then he rose to become the commander of the King’s armies. The Lord gifted him with his fighting skills with his personal future and that of Israel in mind.

The Holy Spirit empowers us and also (2) inspires us—as with Peter—to preach a powerful sermon, or to say just the right thing (a rhema or healing word) to a person who needs to hear it.  Year ago, I was counseling a mother who had lost her adult son to suicide. She felt so guilty for having missed the signs of his deep despair and for not having done more to prevent his death. I said to her, “When might you be able to forgive yourself for not knowing what you did not know and for not doing what you did not know to do?”  The Holy Spirit gave me that inspiration for her. It was the key to unlock her incredible sense of failure and guilt.

He (3) equips us as well, as with speaking languages we never studied or tried to learn. (I wish He had done so for me when I studied Greek in seminary!) Thousands of worshippers gathered from all the known world heard their own language spoken with no discernable accent that day.

Many in the crowd knew the disciples were working-class folk from Galilee. They spoke Aramaic, a mix of Hebrew and Canaanite dialects; and they spoke Koine Greek—a kind of Hebrew influenced Greek. They may have known Latin, the language of the Romans. But how could they suddenly know so many different, foreign tongues?

B.  Our psalmist (Psalm 104:24-35) reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the creative arm of the Trinity. We worship one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Father is the Head, the leader—He has the ideas, the plans.  The Son takes His orders from the Father and, has appeared to us in flesh to demonstrate the Father’s great love for us, and to save us. God the Holy Spirit is the power source, the energy.

So this psalm celebrates God’s creative ingenuity.  He came up with so many different kinds of creatures; (I read Friday that there are 43 species of Toucan birds in Costa Rica.)  Through the Holy Spirit, God the Fathe…

 (4) gave us/them life (in Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called the Ruach—literally. a current of air, figuratively, the breath). The psalmist writes in verse 30—When You send Your breath [the Ruach], they are created and You renew the face of the earth. The Holy Spirit also (5) sustains us as we live.

C.  In the Romans 8:14-17 passage, Paul wants us to realize it is through the Holy Spirit that we, who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, are (6) adopted as God’s children.  We don’t have to be afraid of God.  Rather, we can approach Him as we would a grace-filled and loving father-figure.

D. And Jesus Himself, makes the astonishing claim in our Gospel lesson (John13:9-14) that the Holy Spirit will assist us to do (7) even greater works than Jesus did as He walked the earth.  The  Holy Spirit will heal people through our prayers. The Holy Spirit will assist us to cast out demons from people. The Holy Spirit will move through us to bring those who are lost to salvation.  How is it possible that we will do more than Jesus did?  Well, for one thing, there are more of us.  And, or another,  we have access to social media as a way to reach people.

We (8) abide with the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Years ago I read two books by Frank Peretti: This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness (I recommend them to you).  In both, he asserted that when groups of Christ-followers prayed, angels massed in the unseen world to do battle against the forces of evil on our behalf.  This notion was new to me then, but it made sense.  God enlists His angel armies to execute His will and respond to our prayers.  Remember the prophet Daniel was told by the Angel Gabriel that God had heard his prayers but that Gabriel had had to fight a powerful demon for 21 days in order to deliver the answer.  Paul was not exaggerating when he said (Ephesians 6:12, NLT)—For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil-spirits in the heavenly places.  No wonder our Lord wants us to pray without ceasing! 

Our prayers ignite the hosts of heaven and our prayer invites the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  Consider this story whose source I have forgotten:

 (Please know, in advance, that I mean no disrespect to either Baptists or Pentecostals).   A Baptist preacher and his wife decided they wanted a dog. Given the scrutiny/oversight from their congregation, they knew it needed to be a well-behaved Baptist dog.  So they went to an exclusive kennel and expressed their needs and reservations to the owner.  He assured them he had just the right dog for them. When the dog was produced, the kennel owner began giving it commands:  Fetch the Bible.  The dog bounced over to the bookshelves, looked them over, located the Bible, and obediently brought it to the man.  Then he said, Find the 23rd Psalm.  The dog, demonstrating amazing dexterity with his paws, leafed thru the Bible, found the correct passage, and pointed to it with his nose.

The preacher and his wife were so impressed that they immediately purchased the dog.  Later, they began to show off to members of their congregation what the dog could do, having him locate several Bible verses.  Folks were amazed, but one skeptic asked, Can he do any normal dog tricks?  “Let’s see,” said the preacher and commanded him to “heel!”  The dog immediately jumped up on a chair, laid his paw on a parishioner’s head and began to howl!  The preacher was shocked and turned to his wife and complained, “Honey, we’ve been swindled!  The kennel owner sold us a Pentecostal dog!”

This Pentecostal dog had the Holy Spirit gift of healing! If the Holy Spirit decides to work through you to heal someone, for heaven’s sake, don’t be alarmed!  Instead thank the Lord for the wonderful gift He has given you!  And use it to build up God’s Kingdom here on earth.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Pentecostal Power

Pastor Sherry’s Message for May 28, 2023

Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21; Ps 104:24-34; 1 Cor 12:3-14; Jn 7:37-44

Isn’t it interesting that sometimes what you thought you heard may not necessarily have been what was said? Or even if you heard what was said accurately, the words used conveyed something different to you depending on your background and experiences?

For example, there is…

“an old joke that used to be popular around the Pentagon that the different branches of the Armed Forces have trouble operating jointly because they don’t speak the same language.

For example, if you told Navy personnel to “secure a building,” they would turn off the lights and lock the doors.

Army personnel would occupy the building so no one could enter.

Marines would storm the building, capture it, and defend it with suppressive fire and close combat.

The Air Force, on the other hand, would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy. “ (Illustration borrowed from www.sermons.com, 5/25/23.)

This joke is such a good example of how the same word can mean something different to different groups of folks. The word Pentecostal is another such word. To most, the noun, Pentecost, refers to the day we celebrate today, the anniversary of the day the Holy Spirit was given to all believers in Jesus, and the day the Church (capital “C”—Christians of all denominations) was born. It also marks an ancient Jewish religious feast day. It commemorated the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest—the Spring Harvest season. Thus it was one of the 3 times per year a Jewish man was expected to journey to Jerusalem (The other two times were for Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles).

But consensus breaks down when the adjective form, Pentecostal, is used. This could refer to a Christian denomination, for example Pentecostal Holiness. A good number of folks associate it with speaking in tongues—and some Pentecostal churches believe you must speak in tongues to demonstrate you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit—though nowhere in Scripture is it stated that all spirit-filled Christians must speak in tongues. It could also mean charismatic—a person who believes in and moves in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Our readings today are all Pentecostal, or refer to some aspect of the Pentecostal power that manifested that Day.

A. In our Acts 2:1-21 lesson, we are reminded of the supernatural power the Holy Spirit can and does demonstrate when He shows up. (1) There was the sound of wind rushing. In this case, it was like the sound of a tornado, but without the wind damage. That sound is like 5-6 locomotive engines rushing by. The Holy Spirit came on with such a loud sound that folks rushed out of their homes to see what had produced it. Prior to moving off to seminary, I asked a group of my friends to pray for me to receive the Holy Spirit. We had gathered on the beach at night for that purpose. A very strong wind came up and blew in my face as they were praying. I felt I could hardly breathe. Afterwards, I asked them what they made of that wind. No one else in the group had experienced it! We knew then that the Spirit had indeed come over me.

(2) There was also the curious sight of a larger flame in the air separating into smaller flames. Stranger still, the smaller flames come to rest over the heads of the 120 disciples gathered in that place. Like the bush Moses saw aflame as he was shepherding sheep, these flames did not burn anyone or anything.

(3) There was also the sudden, unexplained ability of all to speak in tongues/languages they had never been taught. Apparently all 120 disciples present were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. This power enabled them to do things they had never learned nor expected to be able to do.

Wouldn’t it be marvelous to instantly speak another language without the tedium of memorizing sounds, vocabulary words, and grammar rules, let alone another alphabet like that of Greek or Hebrew? These were not just a nonsense languages, gibberish, but actual languages and dialects recognized by the many nonbelievers who were there. People said, “Hey! Aren’t these men and women from Galilee?” In other words, “How do these “backwoods” folk know our native tongues?”

(4) Additionally, Peter—who had been unwilling to admit his association with Jesus just some 53 days earlier—is emboldened to preach to Jews (vv.14-36) about Jesus and 3,000 were so convinced by his sermon that they agreed to be baptized that day (v.41).

Miraculous, wonderful things happen when the Holy Spirit demonstrates His Pentecostal Power!

B. The key verse for us in Psalm 104:24-34 is verse 30 When You send Your Spirit, they [meaning humankind and all animal life] are created, and You renew the face of the earth.In this tribute to the creative power of God the Father, the Holy Spirit manifests this divine creative power. God may have efficiently used similar designs—apes have physical characteristics similar to humans—but He formed them all out of nothing. The originals were adults of two genders, so they could reproduce.

Each living thing is a manifestation of Holy Spirit power—remember, at the creation of the world, the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2). In a sense, we could say Pentecostal power was present at Creation.

C. In our 1 Corinthians 12:3-14 passage, Paul lists 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit (He has two other gifts lists in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28-31.) These are each supernatural abilities bestowed on certain believers—not for their own entertainment or to puff up their egos—but (v.7) for the common good. They are meant to build up the body of Christ, His Church. They include (vv.8-10) wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophesy, distinguishing spirits (evil ones from good; angels from demons), speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Each believer is given at least one spiritual gift; some are given more than one. For example, sometimes when I pray for healing for a person and lay hands on them, my hands grow hot. The person I am praying for also feels those “hot hands.” The heat means the Holy Spirit is at work, healing them. I do not generate the heat and I do not experience it each time I pray for healing. This has led me to believe the gifting can come and go. Sometimes I have it and sometimes I don’t. It’s up to the Spirit when to apply it. And, again, the purpose of the gifts is to edify the Church, not the person who has the gift.

Think about it: What is (are) your spiritual gift(s)? You have been given Pentecostal power with which to help others.

D. In John 7:37-44, Jesus makes one of His I am statements. Remember, to the Jews, Yahweh or Father God was and is the Great I am. By saying, I am, Jesus was admitting He is equal to God and that He is God. Just prior to this chapter in John 6, Jesus states that He is the manna from heaven; He is heavenly food. Some turn away from Him then, misconstruing is metaphor as a cal for them to consume Him as in cannibalism. In John 7, He says He is living water to drink. Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering, Booths, the Fall Harvest Festival). Believing Jews were to sleep in tents, booths, or tent-like structures meant to remind them of God’s provision for them during their 40 years of Wilderness Wanderings. For the 7 days of this national holiday, they were to do no work. They would worship the Lord at the Temple, daily, to seek forgiveness for their sins and to thank God for their harvest. Otherwise, they were to celebrate, feast, and visit with family and friends. On the eighth and last day of the Feast, the priests would pour water on the altar of sacrifices, dousing the flames and asking God to provide rain for another year.

According to John (vv.37-38), on the final day of the Feast, perhaps just as the priest poured water on the altar Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. He was saying, “I, God, give you what you need to sustain life.” This is the same living water He promised the Samaritan woman at the well. This water is a metaphor for a relationship with Christ that is life-giving and life-changing. John goes on to explain it also refers to the life-giving Spirit (v.39) By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Jesus gives us what we need—life giving, flowing-not-stagnant, living water—by gifting us with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to live a life pleasing to God, and to love others, as Jesus commanded us. Just as in chapter 6, His words caused confusion about His true identity among those listening.

But we are not confused, are we? We have the gift of the Holy Spirit, one of whose jobs is to reveal all that is true to us. You know, if you watch the news on TV and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is true, you can begin to know who lies and who speaks truthfully. We know, through the supernatural gift of faith, that Jesus is indeed the Christ. We also know He has imparted to us the Pentecostal power of the Holy Spirit.

As we walk out this next week, let’s try to remember…

(1) We worship an all-powerful, creative God;

(2) His Son, Jesus, has given us the powerful, power-filled Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct us here on earth.

(3) The Holy Spirit also gift us—according to His will—with supernatural abilities meant to benefit others. Ponder what those are for you. Consider how you have used them in the past and might use this Pentecostal Power even more fully in the present and in the future. We want to be believers in and practitioners of God’s Pentecostal Power.

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams