PENTECOST
May
23-24, 2026
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
1 Corinthians 12:3-11
“THE PRESENCE OF
PENTECOST = THE PRESENTS OF PENTECOST
1.
The
Gift of Faith
2.
The
Gifts to Serve
So, did any of you give or receive
Pentecost presents this year? I mean, think about it. For other special
Christian celebrations we do that. At Christmas we give Christmas gifts. And
while many in our country don’t understand the origin of that practice, for us,
the gift giving reminds us of God’s Christmas gift to us: a Savior has been
born to you. At Easter there are Easter baskets and while for many in our
country that is just a fun thing for us Christians it can be a fun thing that
reminds us of the joy the disciples of Jesus discovered on Easter that Jesus is
alive. Now it is Pentecost and it is a big deal. Some might say God made a
bigger deal over Pentecost than He did with Christmas and Easter. Christmas was
quiet. Mary and Joseph in the stable. Just a few shepherds saw the angel host.
The rest of Bethlehem slept through it. On Easter the angels appeared and spoke
to very few. Few people heard that good news right away. But Pentecost! God
made a splash! You heard all about it in the historical account from Acts.
Jerusalem is filled with people from all over the world. A huge wind noise
grabs the people’s attention and draws them to the house where the disciples
are. The tongues of fire caused a commotion and gave an opportunity. Then the
disciples were able to speak to the people who had gathered from all over the
world in their own first language so they could understand what was said. And
then Peter became a master of the Bible making it clear that Pentecost had been
promised in the Old Testament, just as Jesus promised it in the Gospel lesson
and if you Paul Harvey it and read the rest of the story you will find that about
3000 people were added to the early church in one single day. That’s huge!
Pentecost is huge! So where are the Pentecost presents? No worries. God’s
Christmas gift was one and done. Jesus does not need to become one of us again.
The Easter surprise is also one and done. Jesus has risen so He does not need
to rise again. But Pentecost is ongoing. The presence of Pentecost means we
keep getting the presents of Pentecost.
And the first one, the gift of faith,
is the most important one. “Therefore
I am informing you that no one speaking by God's Spirit says, “A curse be upon
Jesus,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” We celebrate the Holy Spirit because He is
the giver of faith. Cursing Jesus certainly seems like an odd thing to do.
Except that many Americans do use Jesus’ name as a curse word to express
outrage or anger. If your work situation has you hearing that a lot from
coworkers you will want to check to make sure it still hurts your ears to hear
that. You don’t have to make them stop but, if it has leaked over into your
vocabulary you will want to stop that. The Corinthian people did hear people
deliberately cursing Jesus. The Roman emperor had branded Christianity illegal.
So all the idol and fake god worshipping people cursed Jesus. But believers did
not. Believers called Jesus their Lord. How could they do that? No can say that
unless the Holy Spirit enables them. The Holy Spirit gave them the gift of
faith.
The
only reason you and I believe is because of the Holy Spirit. Paul testified
elsewhere that it is by grace we are saved through faith and that does not
happen by yourself. It is a gift from God. Happy Pentecost! The Holy Spirit’s
presence means you got a present, a gift. Faith. And let me tell you why that
is the most important gift. On they day you die and at the gathering of all
people on Judgment Day you know what won’t matter? How many points you scored.
How much money you made. Whether you were popular or not. What your home looks
like and if you have a vacation home. What your high school or college GPA was.
The only thing that will matter is faith in Jesus. God so loved that He gave
His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish. Those who
believe will not be condemned but those who do not are condemned already. Without faith Hell is your eternal home.
Separated from God and His goodness. Forever. But for those who believe, for
those who say “Jesus is Lord” and mean it, heaven is our home. No one can say
“Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit, so thank you Holy Spirit for your
presence which has given us the gift of faith.
And His
gift giving goes on! “There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5There are various kinds of ministries, and yet the same Lord. 6There
are various kinds of activity, but the same God, who produces all of them in
everyone. 7Each person is
given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one
person a message of wisdom is given by the Spirit; to another, a message of
knowledge, as the same Spirit provides it; 9by the same Spirit,
faith is given to someone else; and to another, the same Spirit gives healing
gifts. 10Another is given powers to do miracles; another, the gift
of prophecy; another, the evaluating of spirits; someone else, different kinds
of tongues; and another, the interpretation of tongues. 11One and
the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them to each one
individually as he desires.” The Christians in Corinth had a problem
Christians today have to. They played the comparison game. They thought that
some gifts from the Holy Spirit were better than others. Mostly that meant that
each person thought their gift was better than another person’s meaning they
were each thinking they were better than one another. Just that selfish sinful
nature peaking through again.
They
were missing the main points. The Holy Spirit gives gifts as He desires. To
every believer. For the Common good. This is good news for us when we are
tempted to play the comparison game. I wish I could sing like she does. I wish
I could talk like he does. I wish I was better at caring and encouraging. I
wish I could…Give it up! The Holy Spirit has given you gifts as He desires. He
knows what is best for you to have. You don’t. To each one He gives gifts. No
one here has been short changed. Every one has been gifted by the Spirit. Paul’s
list is by no means exhaustive. Wisdom:
spiritual wisdom, the ability to apply God’s Word in a Godly way. Knowledge:
having a storehouse ready of what God has said. Faith: the ability to remain
calmly trusting in trying times. Healing and miracles: think of the Apostles
ability to cure disease and do miracles as a way of authenticating their preaching
before the Bible was complete. Prophecy: the boldness to proclaim clearly what
God has clearly said. Speaking in tongues and interpreting tongues: how nice to
be able to tell people in their own language the great things God has done for
them like the Apostles did on Pentecost Day. There are others mentioned in
Scripture. Encouraging, generosity, leadership, administration, witnessing and
many, many more.
All
kinds of gifts. One purpose. The common good. Serving. Remember how our Lord
Jesus pulled us along to want to serve by telling us even He did not come to be
served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many! It is our
privilege to serve, our honor to serve and our way of happiness. We serve each
other here in church. Your very presence in this worship service encourages
everybody else who has gathered. We are not alone. We are not crazy for
believing the Bible and trusting only in Jesus. We serve by praying for each
other, singing praise to God. We serve each other by smiling and being kind. We
serve each other in all the ways behind the scenes that help us have this
wonderful place to stay close to Jesus. We serve each other and others we don’t
know with our generosity that supports Gospel ministry. We others by being good
neighbors, hardworking parents, good employees whose lives attract others to
Jesus. We serve because each one of us has been gifted to serve by the Holy
Spirit. Truly He is the gift that keeps on giving! Amen.
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