Introduction

·        The religious celebrations of the early church were still linked with those of Judaism.

·        The second great festival of the Church after Easter is not Christmas, but Pentecost.

      -     Illustration: A hymn written by Kebel’s expresses the relationship between      Pentecost and   Sinai.

      -     Illustration: In English, Pentecost is referred to as “Whitsunday” because early             believers were confirmed/baptized in white.

·        For the Jews, Pentecost was a national day of independence from Egyptian slavery.

·        On Pentecost, the existing Church received the gift of power which set the Church in motion and turned the world upside down.

If we are looking for spiritual results, we must fulfill the same conditions experienced at Pentecost.

·        Illustration: Williams relates the story of El Greco, the painter who depicted the scene of the first Pentecost vividly and memorably.

·        Like the early Church, we must wait in prayer, reach our hands to heaven, and be aflame with the Spirit in order to receive God's power.

      -     Illustration: William James said that religion is either a dull habit or an acute      fever.

      -     Illustration: Lorenzo de’Medici used actual fire to emulate the Pentecost on stage,       and actually burned down the church.

Conclusion

·        Pentecost ought to shake us out of our complacency, overturn our preconceived notions, and set us aflame with the zeal of the Spirit.

·        The disciples who waited and watched were transformed: there was fire in the air and fever in their blood.

·        The problem of communication is forever broken down in Jesus Christ and the power of his Spirit.