Peter’s Pentecost Sermon
Open Your Bible
Acts 2:1-47, Joel 2:28-32, John 7:37-39
BY Bailey Gillespie
A few weeks ago, I followed the long, eucalyptus-scented stretch of Highway 1 to the ocean and laid a picnic blanket down at an overlook. The view offered a panorama of the rhythmic tide and seagulls sailing over the waves like paragliders. As is always the case, it was windy. Really windy. But after three hours in the car, I didn’t mind it. The constant gusts lifted my spirit along with my hair, ruining the work of a good curling iron by tossing it in every direction. I felt electrified, filled, and breathed into. Fully alive. Grabbing my journal and a pen, I tried to capture the joy of this experience with a few words:
Pneuma is the Greek word for “Spirit” or “breath.” It’s here in these open, windy places where I feel this breath on my skin, and in my hair, that I’m most able to sense and inhabit the presence of my God.”
On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish people staying in Jerusalem also experienced the presence of God through the movement of wind. And not just any wind—not a gust or a light breeze, but a “violent rushing wind” (Acts 2:2). Can you imagine what that must have sounded like? Or felt like? Or how it must have knocked about their belongings in that house? Of course, all this was promised in the words of the prophet Joel: “And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28). Yet certainly not even this prophecy could have prepared these men for the power and terror of that moment.
What’s also interesting is how this heaven-charged wind didn’t just rush through the windows where God’s people were staying and then rush back out. It filled the people themselves. Along with tongues of fire resting on each person, it filled the house with the electrifying presence of God through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3–4).
So, why do you think God used such a dramatic method for confirming that the promised Holy Spirit had arrived? When I read this story, I see power. Besides being a God who keeps His promises (v.33), He is also more powerful than a violent wind and pours out His own Spirit on us, so we can walk in it with the same kind of power and authority.
I’m sure the Jewish men and women gathering to observe Pentecost—a feast to celebrate the first fruits of harvest—didn’t expect to witness such a moment. But the Holy Spirit moves within those who believe as “streams of living water” (John 7:38), and it is often surprising. Today, may we remember the power and authority of God within us and walk in it.
125 thoughts on "Peter’s Pentecost Sermon"
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I had the same reaction! I’ve read over it and read aloud the supernaturalness of the Holy Spirit, but today when I was reading I was in awe at the power of our God. It gives me hope and assurance of our God in these unsure and faltering times. I was very much reminded today that He is powerful and His spirit is all moving and encompassing.
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Acts 2 Is definitely a great read. A great text that shows the power of God and how He makes His promises come to life. I absolutely love this chapter.
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Jumping in a couple days late…but I think I understood in a fresh way that the prophecy from Joel was being fulfilled then. The pouring out of Gods Spirit is not something we are waiting for hypothetically, or sitting to wonder if that time is now and this strange time we live it. Rather He has already poured out His Spirit and empowered us to walk in power through whatever time and circumstances we are in!
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Why does it say this is what I will do in my last days? Is that about the future now or was that about the future then – as in during acts? Bc the world didn’t end so I’m confused.
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Because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken. Those words of David have stood out to me today as I reflect how the spirit of the living God is literally surrounding me. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the spirit that lives in me. Praise God. The Holy Spirit declares the wonders of God, may I be a vessel of the holy spirit today and declare wonders of God through the Holy Spirit working in my life. Praise Jesus for his precious blood which has purchased my salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit, as promised. What an abundantly loving Father who gives precious gifts to his children. I pray that I will have a glad and sincere heart, praising God for all He is doing and has done and will do to come!
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Powerful reading today!
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Wow, I’ve read Acts 2 a few times but today, I listened to the scriptures over ten times throughout my day at work and while driving and walking and so much just stood out to me, it was as if I read it for the first time! So much revelation and explanation to many things I’ve wondered about in the past. Thank you Jesus for your Word is truly living and active!
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I pressed the “enter” key twice… sorry, sisters!
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