With this post I will begin to summarize the past Sunday’s sermon and talk about the action points. If you are a part of Exciting Woodbine feel free to comment and I will try to respond as often as I can. Not all comments will be posted online. I reserve the right to allow only those comments which will benefit us all.
The text from Joel 2:28-32 is one of several where God promises to send the Holy Spirit (Isa 32:15; Ezek 36:25-28). The prophet Joel was calling the people of Israel to repentance in preparation for the Day of the Lord. One of the blessings The Lord says he will grant is the giving of the Holy Spirit to young and old, male and female, slave and free. If we look closely, we will be able to discern some of the things we can do to prepare for Pentecost.
In the Sermon on May 20 I outlined three things we can do to get ready for Pentecost.
1. We get ready for Pentecost through repentance. Joel’s message was a message of repentance. “Rend your hearts and not your garments” Joel said. Repentance brings us to the point of humility we need in order to see our sin and for the Holy to move in our lives.
2. We get ready for Pentecost by allowing god to begin the restoration in our lives. When God points out sin in our lives in is not so he can gloat over how sinful we are, it is so that we will allow him to begin a work of restoration on our lives. In God’s eyes repentance in a means to an end and the end is reconciliation and restoration.
3. We get ready for Pentecost by giving God control of our lives. This means God wants to guide our live into fruitfulness. We often think of giving God control of the big areas, but maybe we need to start to give God control in the small things of our lives.
Four challenges as we prepare for Pentecost:
– Make prayer a priority
– Bring our brokenness to the Lord
– Ask God to restore us and change us
– Open ourselves to new opportunities
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan