23 May 2021 - 8.30am Service

PENTECOST
Holy Spirit Series: Fire - Passion of the spirit

This Pentecost Sunday we continue our preaching series Holy Spirit with a message from Jo Appleton on ‘Fire - Passion of the Spirit’.

This May we’re looking at key symbols used in the Bible to help us understand how to encounter and live life with the Spirit of God.

Remember, later today at the 11am and 7pm service we’ll hear Nigel Savage and Dave Mitchel share about the same topic. Go check it out!

DISCUSSION NOTES

INTRODUCTION | Acts 2, 1 Thessalonians 5:1 and 2 Timothy 1:6

The pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost is very much a ‘power’ event. Unlike Jesus breathing on the disciples in John 20 and giving them ‘authority’ - here they have been told to stay in Jerusalem until they receive power from on high (Luke 24:48) and it happens on the day of Pentecost. The energising power of the Spirit is like ‘wildfire’.

The hallmark of the baptism of the Spirit is often said (by Pentecostals) to be ‘speaking in tongues. What does Peter seem to say the hallmark of the Spirit is? (Acts 2:17-18)
John the Baptist talks prophecies Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16- 17). What is the fire for?
Prophets like John the Baptist are fiery people. I coined the phrase ‘tongues of fire give fiery tongues. What is distinctive about the disciples’ ministry after the day of Pentecost?
We sometimes talk about Christians being on fire. What does Paul say in 1 Thessalonians can put out the Spirit’s fire?
Fire/Passion can be because of the intensity of what we love, or because of a cause, righting a wrong or an injustice. What energises you and why?
Can you describe how a prophetic word has helped and strengthened you?