This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Luke’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 8 June 2025. The Bible Readings were Acts 2:1-21 and John 14:8-17 & 25-27.
This talk was also used at Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 19 May 2024. The Bible Readings were Acts 2:1-21 and John 15:26-27 & 16:4b-15.
Prayer
Heavenly Father
I thank You for Your word
By the power of the Holy Spirit
May You speak to my heart
And change my life
In the precious name of Jesus I pray
Amen.
Introduction
Pentecost is one of those Christian Festivals that we talk about as if it were normal, but, in actual fact, it’s anything but normal. I suppose the same can be said for most Christian Festivals: a child born to a virgin, a man rises from the dead and then ascends to heaven in a cloud! Sounds like the far-fetched outline of the latest Marvel movie!
If Christmas marks the birth of Jesus and Easter marks the day Jesus rose from the dead, Pentecost marks the birth of the church and the day when the Good News of Jesus began to be made known to all nations.
But what took place on the Day of Pentecost wasn’t a coincidence. The age of the Holy Spirit had been promised by the prophets, as well as Jesus (John 15 and Acts 1). The Holy Spirit fell when 120 people – disciples, Jesus’ family and women – gathered in the Upper Room for ten days to pray (1:14-15). They believed the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8 when he said: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. They were praying in anticipation and with expectancy.
Praying in anticipation and with expectancy is the key here, because it is this, which prepares us for the gift of the Holy Spirit and it is this, which allows us to be open to what the Spirit brings. What has been your expectancy since Ascension Day? Have you been praying in anticipation ahead of this Pentecost Sunday service? Today I want to speak on what I’ve called the 5 P’s of Pentecost: Presence, Purpose, Praise, Proclamation and People!
- Presence
Vs2: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Wind is one of the symbols of the presence of God in the Bible. The Hebrew word Ruach can be translated as breath or wind or Spirit. As Jesus said in John 3:8: The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is invisible, inaudible, intangible and yet we can all see the result of his handiwork. Whether that is in creation, his fruit or God’s people.
We read, vs3, that what appeared to be fire descended on their heads. Fire, of course, is a powerful Biblical symbol of God’s presence in the OT. Fire often purifies and fire here is symbolic of the way in which the Holy Spirit Paul writes about in Galatians 5:22 which purifies our character and makes us more like Jesus.
- Praise
Pentecost was a significant time for the Jewish people in two ways: 1) It was significant Agriculturally, it was middle of the three annual Harvest festivals (Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles); 2) It was also significant Historically as it celebrated the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. This is why Jerusalem was filled with, vs5: God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. Luke names fifteen nationalities present in vs9-11.
It’s interesting to note that the believers began to praise God when the Spirit fell – Peter’s sermon came later. We know those who mocked the disciples accused them of being drunk, but they were filled with another kind of Spirit and spoke in languages that thousands of pilgrims from every nation under heaven could understand.
- Purpose
When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, it transformed them from an immobilised and fearful group of followers, to one of having a dynamic edge to their lives they’d never experienced before – just as Jesus said they would. The Holy Spirit gives ordinary people an extraordinary purpose.
a. The Holy Spirit comes to inspire us: When we are tired and deflated, we find our faith revitalised and refreshed. When we are feeling sluggish, we find ourselves empowered with renewed vigour. When we are hesitant and timid, we find ourselves carried along by a momentum that owes everything to God’s leading and guiding and nothing to ourselves.
b. The Holy Spirit comes to ignite in us the passion of God: And comes to cleanse and purge whatever is dead and dry in our lives. We find ourselves – as those first disciples did – ablaze with a passion for living and inflamed afresh with God’s love for the world around us.
c. The Holy Spirit comes to illuminate Jesus: J.I. Packer, in his book ‘Keep in Step with the Spirit’ writes about the ‘floodlight’ ministry of the Holy Spirit in that the Holy Spirit’s purpose is to say, ‘look at Jesus’ just as a floodlight points to the object it is highlighting.
- Proclamation
Those early disciples might simply have enjoyed a wonderful spiritual refreshing! They could have huddled together and invited others to ‘come and share with them’ – but they didn’t. Instead, they shared their experiences of a life changed by Jesus, as Christians continue to do today, so that others could know that same life enhancing experience for themselves.
The Holy Spirit was given so the disciples could be first-hand witnesses of what Jesus had said and done. It was the Holy Spirit which initiated Peter’s first sermon! This same Peter who, 53 days earlier, had denied Jesus three times. Something happened to Peter during that time and that was the Holy Spirit, affirming his faith, touching his heart and changing his life.
Peter preached his sermon to Jews (vs14&22) on a Jewish holy day, about the resurrection of a Jewish Messiah in the centre of the Jewish faith, Jerusalem. And Peter explains the Jesus they knew, vs22, his life, death and resurrection using the scriptures, history, and their own life’s experiences. And whilst some mocked them and accused them of being drunk, there were some who believed. In vs41 we read that about 3,000 were baptised into the church. 3000 Jewish believers; not Gentiles, visitors, or foreigners. Jews.
- People
The coming of the Holy Spirit on the church was the beginning of God doing a new thing in the lives of His disciples, vs17-18: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.”
Throughout history the Christian church has been jolted out of complacency into spiritual revival, sometimes because of a traumatic event, sometimes because someone recognised the voice of God. One such revival began in 1904 when a young Welshman named Evan Roberts had been praying for 13 years for the Holy Spirit to control his life.
He often awoke at 1:00 am and prayed until 5:00 am. That was the beginning of the Welsh Revival which swept through Britain, Scandinavia, Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa, and Latin America. By all accounts, the Welsh Revival drastically changed churches, homes, and even the workplace. People fell on their knees on the street in repentance. Coal miners wrote out Bible verses and fastened them on the doors of the coal mines. Blasphemy and drunkenness stopped. The horses in the mines became confused when the miners stopped kicking and cursing them.
I visited the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida in 1998 – you can read about my experiences here:
The Brownsville Revival
Conclusion
The gift of the Holy Spirit is not just a gift to the Church, it’s a gift to the world. God pours out his Spirit on all peoples. The rich and the ragged, the scholars and the unschooled. Gone are age and gender barriers. Gone are the social barriers, educational barriers, and racial barriers.
God has always been at work in the nations of the world. None more-so than here in Cyprus. And He has always used people in His dynamic mission of ‘declaring the wonders of God’ in whatever strategic position He places them. What would it look like for the Holy Spirit to breath on His church in the same way as that first Pentecost, today? Saint Catherine of Sienna has the answer: Be who God has called you to be and you will set the world on fire.
Just imagine if we had people ‘on fire’ with the Holy Spirit in every sphere of influence to ‘transform, revive and heal society?’ Where people could hear the wonders of God in their own language and in their own context: Culture, Trade, Media, Politics – even, dare I say, in the Church! 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV): Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
And Finally
The Holy Spirit is for every one of us, with no exceptions. I believe we must allow the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and minds in a way, that perhaps, we haven’t given him space, or allowed him to do, in the past. I’m going to pray to ask the Holy Spirit to release his presence, praise, purpose, and proclamation to enable you to be the people he has called you to be.
A Prayer
Holy Spirit, I admit that I need more of you in my life.
Holy Spirit, I admit that I have not always obeyed your voice.
Please forgive me and lift me into your light.
Ever-gracious Holy Spirit come down in your perfect power.
May you flow through my life and take possession of all that I am:
Release your presence, praise, purpose, and proclamation into my heart.
And enable me to be the person you have called me to be.
I pray this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.
WE SEEK YOUR KINGDOM
We seek your kingdom throughout every sphere
We long for heaven’s demonstration here
Jesus your light shine bright for all to see
Transform, revive, and heal society
Before all things, in him were all things made
Inspiring culture, media, and trade
May all our work serve your economy
Transform, revive, and heal society
Peace, truth, and justice reigning everywhere
With us be present in our public square
Fill all who lead with your integrity
Transform, revive, and heal society
Forgive us Lord, when we have not engaged
Failing to scribe your heart on history’s page
Make us again what we were made to be
Transform, revive, and heal society
Faithful to govern ever may we be
Selfless in service, loving constantly
In everything may your authority
Transform, revive, and heal society
NOEL ROBINSON, ANDY FLANNAGAN, & GRAHAM HUNTER. TUNE: ABIDE WITH ME
revPACman 