Pentecost Week 5 - Seeing the Spirit

Scripture Reading

*Explain the context: “In previous weeks we’ve looked at Peter’s Pentecost message and the people’s response of repentance and baptism. The text this week describes what those new disciples did next.”

Acts 2:41-46

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Big Idea (For Parents)

Repentance and baptism were just the beginning for these early disciples. They entered into a new community, the Church, marked by the Spirit-wrought things described in this text: gathered worship around Word and sacraments (or ordinances), generosity, joy and growth.

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Family Reflection

(Read aloud or summarize)

Many of those who heard Peter preach confessed their sin and chose to stop. They were therefore baptized as those whom God was washing clean from sin. But repentance and baptism weren’t the end of their response to the gospel, they were just the beginning.

Cleansed from enslaving sin by the power of God’s Spirit, these early disciples began to live as a new kind of people. They devoted themselves to gathered worship which was centered around the teaching of God’s Word, the Lord’s Supper (sometimes called “the breaking of bread”) and prayer. Having been forgiven their sins by God generously giving them Jesus, they themselves generously gave from what they had to meet each others’ needs. They were joyful. They loved God and their lives showed it. Through their faithfulness, they grew in maturity even as they grew in number.

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Discussion Questions

(Adjust for age)

1- Baptism is connected to forgiveness of sins. As such, it may be easy to think about baptism as marking the end goal for a person. We certainly do want to be forgiven! But in this text, the people’s baptism marks the beginning of their new lives on earth. For those who have been baptized, when you think of your baptism, do you think of it more as an end goal or as a starting point? Why?

2- The new church community was characterized by gathered worship, generosity, joy, and growth. Which of these things would you like to more characterize your family? What is one thing you could do to help make that happen?

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Practice—Seeing the Spirit

The original words used for “Spirit” in the Bible are the same words used for “wind.” The Bible sometimes compares the work of the Holy Spirit to the activity of the wind. (e.g., Acts 2:2; John 3:5-8; Genesis 8:1). You can’t see the wind itself, but when it blows, you can clearly see its effects. It is the same with the Spirit. Apart from very special events like Pentecost and its vision of tongues of fire, people can’t see the Holy Spirit with their physical eyes. People can, however, clearly see the Spirit’s effects. When the Spirit is active, it makes a church community which looks more and more like the one described in Acts 2.

Pray that the Spirit will work in your family and church this week so that people will see the Spirit’s activity. Then, be on the lookout. Check back later in the week and report on what you’ve seen so you can all praise God for the Spirit’s work together.