The Story of Pentecost
What was it like the day that the Holy Spirit came? God fulfilled a great promise.
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: Loving My Neighbor- The Holy Spirit Builds the Early Church
- The disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come. When it came, it came with a new gift: languages! Acts 2:4 gives an example of words that bring people together in the best way possible.
- Before he went to heaven, Jesus had promised that the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came to them. They were excited to find out what that would mean. As you listen, think about a time someone kept a promise to you.
After you listen
Memory Verse
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Quiz
Reflect
As God started his church, he sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit could have come with healing, or walking on water, but it came with language: language that allowed all the listeners to hear about Jesus in a way they would understand. On that day, God was not only fulfilling his promise from Jesus to the disciples, He was fulfilling a much older plan to unite all the different people of the world. God used language to divide people at the Tower of Babel, and he used it to bring people together as he started his church.
God knew that words are powerful. How do your words affect others? Do they divide people or bring them together? The Holy Spirit helped Peter use his words to point others to Jesus. How can you use your words to do the same?
Want to dig deeper and learn more about the power of words? Check out these stories: God uses words to create the world (Genesis 1 or listen to the story here). He uses language to confuse the people at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-8 or listen to it here). Jesus is called the Word of God (John 1:1-4, 14).
Challenge
How can you use words to show the love of Jesus to people? Can you learn a few phrases of another language to help people in your town? What words would make them feel comfortable and included? Some examples of these words are: Hello? Thank You? Welcome? Good to see you? How are you? Explore as many words as you can. Learning another language is a great way to connect with other people, and it can be fun.
