PENTECOST The believers gathered together in the upper room, United in prayer as they waited for power to come,

For Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem, Until the power from on high came. Now Jesus is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit, And He had promised to give them the Holy Spirit, For it was from the Spirit the power would come, So 120 gathered in expectancy within the upper room. They prayed with constant fervor and they were all of one mind, They had witnessed so much in recent days, the resurrected Christ ascending, Faith and expectancy were building up on the inside of them, Can you imagine the upper room scene? Suddenly a sound came from the heavens like a mighty rushing wind, The sound filled the house in which they were sitting, Then divided tongues of fire appeared to them, And they rested upon each of them. All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, And they spoke with new tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, Devout Jews from all nations heard their own language spoken, And they were amazed by what they heard, it was astonishing. For they knew that those who spoke were all Galileans, And here they were telling the Gospel good news in languages of many nations, Some were overawed and wanted to know more, But others likened them to a drunken rabble. Peter stepped forward with a new boldness, Filled with the Spirit now he was a changed man, Empowerment by the Holy Spirit gave him confidence, And he was ready to deliver his first sermon. "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,
Listen carefully to what I have to say, These men are not drunk as you are surmising, After all, it is only early in the day. You will have heard of the prophet Joel! Do you remember what he prophesied? He said that in the last days God declared, That He would upon all humanity His Spirit pour.

And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, People of all classes, male and female will prophesy, And young men will see visions, While the older men will dream dreams. 'I will show wonders in the heavens above, And signs you will see on the earth below, Blood, fire and even vapors of smoke, The sun will go dark and the moon turn to blood. This shall all happen before the Day of the Lord comes, For there is a Judgment Day to come, But if you call upon the name of the Lord friends, You can know your sins are forgiven and be saved.' Men of Israel listen carefully now, Jesus of Nazareth did many signs and wonders, This is something that you all know, It was through the power of God he performed miracles. I'm speaking about the Jesus you delivered up to be crucified, According to God's plan Jesus for you and me died, But God raised Him up loosing deaths chains, He could not be bound by the powers of death and the grave. Now this same Jesus sits at the Father's right hand, The Messiah was not be held in the grave , he arose, then did ascend, David did prophesy of the suffering Messiah, but also the victory, He conquered over the powers of hell, as David joyfully did prophesy. Jesus is at the Father's right hand exalted now, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." Convicted by what they had heard they asked, "What do we do now?" Peter replied "Repent of your sins, be baptized and you will receive the Holy Spirit." Then Peter continued that the promises were not for them alone, Those promises were for their children, and their children's children. And the message was also for nations far away, For God was going to include Gentiles as part of His family. Many other words Peter spoke on that day, And I am sure many listened attentitively For more than 3,000 people were saved that day, In the apostle's doctrine they all continued steadfastly. The believer's fellowshipped together, breaking bread together, Regularly they gathered together in prayer, And many signs of wonders were done by the apostles, They were prepare to share goods and produce considering all as equals. They were a Kingdom people living to see a furtherance of God's Kingdom,

They had a desire to discover that in Jesus they could find freedom, Souls were added to their numbers daily, those who called upon the Lord, The Kingdom was advancing because the disciples now were bold. It's amazing what happens when believer's walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is still to this day the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, Empowered by His Spirit we can see signs and wonders like never before, If we the people of God in the twenty-first century tap into that Holy Ghost power. We say we need another Pentecost, but that power of Pentecost is there for us today, It is time for us to see His Kingdom fully come, baptized afresh with power from on High, We need to love one another as Christ first loved the church, Reaching out to the lost, sharing the gospel, and many will be added to the church.

Irene McGough 2013