The One About Pentecost, Powers, & the Spirit That Frees Us to Love

The sermon from Pentecost Sunday, 2019 (June 9, 2019). Matt wonders, “Why and how does Pentecost matter now?” In answering that question, Matt recaps the entire work of Luke-Acts and shows how we might continue to live into this story. 

Here is the written summary of Luke-Acts that Matt provides partway through the sermon:

One way to summarize the whole story told in Luke Acts: into a world ruled by earthly governments, lords, and kings, The true God invades in the person of God’s son, Jesus. The governments plot against Jesus as Jesus teaches and heals, proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. The governments join forces and kill Jesus, the son of God. But Jesus is raised from the dead by God. Then Jesus is enthroned in the heavens over all governments, powers, rulers, lords, and kings. This ascension to the throne vindicates Jesus’ life and ministry – the testimony about Jesus is true. God gives God’s people God’s Spirit to empower them to stand amongst those governments, powers, rulers, lords, and kings to proclaim (through their worship, their words, and their communal life together) that Jesus is the true King of All AND TO EMBODY a new way of living, the Kingdom of God, God’s Shalom (the idea of the “new age of life” from a few weeks ago). This proclamation is both (1) an invitation to be a part of God’s kingdom, submitting to Jesus as Lord and (2) a judgment against everything that stands opposed to God’s kingdom/shalom/the age of life. There is a promise that Jesus will appear on earth again to finally reward those who have lived in accordance with God’s ways, to put an end to all rebellion against those ways, and to finally bring the fullness of God’s shalom that the church has been (or should have been) embodying.