A Light in the Darkness

  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”   And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.   For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”   So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Acts 2:37-41 ESV             The alter call, or time of invitation, or time of response is a fairly new concept in the Church. This concept has come to shape sermons towards compelling closures. It is a vanity of vanities which exhaust both p...

  And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”   But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:12-13 ESV             The power of God the Holy Spirit has been the sufficient provision of the Church in all of its works, and the One behind all its victories even from the day of Pentecost. And from that very day there have been mixed reaction to each outpouring of the Spirit. In the centuries following Pentecost even the Church has been divided in its response to what we might call revivals.             As we see in Acts 2 the masses must take note. Do not overlook this point, for what we find in it is a wonder which the world cannot reproduce or easily explain. You see something beyond this world has broken into the midst of the world in a spectacular way. God has manifested Himself amongst His people powerful...

  But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” Numbers 11:29 ESV And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—John 14:6 ESV Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7 ESV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 ESV Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV Introduction             The Church is created by God according to His plans Matthew 16:18. The local church is given a very specific mission to carry on the ministry of Christ by spreading the good news of salvation by grace through faith t...