06/14/2026
Good morning, happy Pentecost, happy birthday to the Church (big C) and welcome to the “Words of Faith” Sunday School Class for June 14, 2026. Today we are celebrating Pentecost Sunday, the day that the Holy Spirit descended on the followers of Jesus as he had told them. The scripture this morning is Acts 1:4:5,2: 1- 13 and 2:38-41. Pastor Kelly’s sermon title this morning is “The Holy Spirit”.
BOOK OF ACTS (ACTS OF THE APOSTLES) – Tradition says that Acts was written by Luke sometime between 61 and 64 AD. Luke was a physician and a companion of Paul. He was also the only Gentile to have any books in the New Testament. This book was written to provide a history of the early church, with the emphasis on the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The Book of Acts also shows how the Word was spreading and changing lives throughout the world.
LUKE - Little is known about Luke, the author of the books of Luke and Acts in the Bible. We know that he was a physician and the only Gentile to write any part of the New Testament. Luke was a close friend of Paul, who referred to him as “the beloved physician. Paul also refers to Luke as a “fellow laborer. Perhaps Luke’s interest in medicine is the reason his gospel gives such a high profile to Jesus’ acts of healing. Scholars have noted that Luke had an outstanding command of the Greek language.
Acts 1: 4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2: 1-13 The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Acts 2:38-41
38Peter replied, “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. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
PETER: Simon, also known as Cephas or Peter, was one of the early followers of Jesus. He was a fisherman working with James and John. Simon met Jesus through his brother Andrew, who was already following Jesus. At their first meeting Jesus gave Simon a new name, Cephas or Peter, which means “rock”. Later Jesus called him to be a follower after he had produced a miraculous catch of fish. Peter was a part of the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, along with James and John. Peter was also the one who denied knowing Jesus 3 times on the day Jesus was crucified. But after the resurrection Jesus made a special point of forgiving and restoring Peter and re-commissioned him as an Apostle. Peter would be the foundation in the building of the Church. He was an outspoken and passionate disciple, on of Jesus’ best friends, an apostle and a “pillar” or the new church. On Pentecost he was the main speaker to the crowd that had gathered. When some said that the disciples were drunk (V 13) he came to their aid by letting the crowd know that it was early in the morning (V 15) and then told them what had been said by the Prophet Joel (V 17-21).
HOLY SPIRIT (V 1:4 and 2:4) - The Holy Spirit is often understood as the third person of the Trinity, alongside God the Father and God the Son. He is considered to be fully God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is believed to be God's power in action, guiding believers, inspiring the Bible, and empowering them to live a life according to God's will. He is also seen as a source of comfort, a helper, and a revealer of God's truth.
PENTECOST (V 1): This is the day we celebrate the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the followers of Jesus and the early church. It is also considered the birthday of the Church. In Greek Pentecost means 50. It is celebrated 7 Sabbaths (Saturday) + 1 day after Easter, or 50 days from (and including) Easter. Pentecost is important in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament it was a festival knows as the Festival of Weeks (celebrating the harvest). It is 50 days from the wave offering at Passover and coincides with Resurrection Sunday in the New Testament. It is a Sunday where we are invited to wear red to symbolize the flames that descended on the disciples’ heads as they received the Holy Spirit. It is also considered the “birthday” of the church.
WIND AND FIRE (V 2 & 3): Wind and Fire are mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. On Pentecost the Wind was “violent” as it came down from heaven. The power of the wind is understood to be in God’s control. It represents the spirit in the New Testament. In the Old Testament Fire was associated with the presence of God and with his Holiness and this is implied in Pentecost’s tongues of fire that descended on the Disciples.
SPEAKING IN OTHER TONGUES (V 4 - 13): In Greek tongues means language. Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language the speaker has never learned in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. The Holy Spirit gave the Disciples the gift of being able to speak to others about the wonders of God in their own tongues – their own language, even though the Disciples could not actually speak them on their own. When this happened the Disciples spilled into the streets talking to anyone that they could, ministering to them about Jesus. Some people mocked the Apostles and accused them of being drunk.
However, according to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated. A person with the gift of interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongue’s speaker to everyone else, so all could understand.
PETER SPEAKS TO THE PENTECOST CROWD (38-41):
Peter addressed the group and began explaining what was happening. The arrival of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of a prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. Peter, with the help of the Holy Spirit, made the case from the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. Jesus was the fulfillment of David’s words in Psalm 16:8-11 when he wrote “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.” Peter argued that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven to sit at God’s throne in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1. Peter told the Jews to repent of their rebellion against God and be baptized.” 3,000 Jews were convicted by Peter’s words and were baptized.
Most of my information for these lessons come from research I have done over the internet. A few of my favorite sources are Got Questions. Com, Bible.com, Wikipedia, 2BeLikeChrist and other sources.
RCC is holding live services at the Russellville Community Church Sanctuary this morning at 10:30 and live streamed and then posted for viewing later in the day.
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Be Safe out there and may God bless you and yours. MP
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