Sermon in a nutshell: All who call the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:14-20)
It is good to be back and see you all. I went to Guatemala with our medical mission team and came back this week. Do you still remember the sermon that I had two Sundays ago? To refresh your memory, I will tell you the basic function of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is translating God’s love in our human language so that we can understand God’s love and God’s will.
God loves you and me like crazy. However, we do not understand that. God’s will is so high and different from our will and God’s way is so holy and we do not understand. The Gospel of John even says that the light came to the world but the world could not recognize the light! The world even did not notice that the light was here! When the world sensed that there was something different in Jesus, they just killed him on the Cross! Only after the Holy Spirit came upon people, they started understanding the meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
So, when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we started getting the meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That is what Peter is trying to say in the text for today. When the Holy Spirit comes, our sons and daughters will prophesy. Our young people will see visions. Our elderly people will have dreams. Men and women, boys and girls will receive the Holy Spirit and share God’s heart with us.
That is happening in our congregation. When I was in Guatemala, our youth director and youth members shared their mission experience with you in Sunday services. Sandy Blazer, one of our Annual Conference Delegates, shared her experience at the conference. They prophesied and shared visions. I am going to ask Piper and Victoria, two of our high school graduates, to share also their experiences at the UMW gatherings. They will share their visions and dreams.
Now, I am going to tell you one more important function of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, God is not just translating God’s language into human language. God is also connecting all the dots to show us a big picture. All these separate events and experiences, our Guatemala mission, youth Sierra Service Project, UMW gathering, Annual Conference, Red Cross Blood Drive that we had, and many other local missions like Winter Nights and Share are connected to show us one big picture: “All who call the name of the Lord will be saved.” Why have we done all those ministries? We want to show that all those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
All our mission and ministry point to that one purpose. God wants to save people. God wants to give us life. In the middle of all the natural disasters and human crises when the heavens lose their light and mountains tremble, when the relationships are broken and our hopes are lost, then and right there, the Holy Spirit declares to us that all those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. When we receive the Holy Spirit, all the things happened in our lives are being connected. We suddenly understand the purpose of God that has been behind all of our life happenings. We can say, “Aha!’ at that time. If you experience that now and want to be a part of this wonderful God’s family, would you come forward? We will receive you as our God’s family!
• Question for your meditation: When did you understand God’s purpose in your life?