I Will Pour Out My Spirit: A Sermon Based on Acts Chapter 2:1-21

A Love Works Daily Commentary

I Will Pour Out My Spirit

A Sermon Based on Acts 2:1-21

I heard a story the other day about a boy who was wandering

around a large downtown church one Sunday morning

and stopped and examined a large bronze plaque that was hung on

the wall.  "What are all those names up there?"  he asked someone.

 "Oh, Those are the names of people who died in the

service."  Curious, the boy asked -

"was it the 9:30 service or the 11 o'clock service?"

There is no life apart from the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit is mentioned specifically not less than 500 times in the bible. From the second verse of Genesis:

Genesis 1:2

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

To the fourth to the last verse of Revelation:

Revalation 22

17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let anyone who hears this say, "Come." Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life."

But when humanity turns away from God, life departs.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote:

1 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?"

'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.'"

The story of Ezekiel told that man has no life apart from the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is God's breath. And without that breath the earth is very much like the Valley of Dry Bones.

But Ezekiel asks:

Can these bones live?

"Can we carry out the task Jesus Christ has given to us?"

"Can we become the kind of community he asked us to be?"

"Can we honor and love each other so that the world will know we belong to Christ?"

"Can we reach out to others regardless of who they are? Can we actually love our enemies?

"Can these bones truly live for Christ?"

The answer is the same today as it was the day God asked it of Ezekiel.

There is no life apart from the Spirit of God.