April 29, 2022 (Friday)
The blogs this week have told us how the church of Jesus Christ got its start. It was in Jerusalem during the Feast of Weeks (a harvest feast), also known as Pentecost (which means 50 days). These fifty days had begun in Jerusalem with Passover (a celebration of God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt). Now, weeks later, Jerusalem is celebrating again — this time a celebration of harvest. Jerusalem was filled with people from other places in Israel, and from other countries as well. Fifty days before this day, Jesus met with His disciples in an upper room in that city, after which He was arrested, tried, crucified and buried in a borrowed tomb. He rose from the dead and appeared at least 11 times before ascending to His Father in Heaven. About 120 of His followers saw Him ascend above the clouds after hearing His command to go to Jerusalem and pray.
The sun rose on the Day of Pentecost and all was probably quiet as the day began, but soon a great sound of rushing wind was heard from the place where Jesus’ followers had been praying for ten days. Suddenly flaming tongues were above each of their heads and they began speaking languages they had never learned. They then went out into the city, speaking other languages and telling of “the mighty works of God.” The people together that day in Jerusalem heard them speaking in their own language, although the many people represented many nations. To clarify what was happening, the Apostle Peter, with the other Apostles by his side, preached to the multitude about Jesus. He called upon the people to repent, believe and become baptized followers of Jesus. Three thousand of them responded by believing and being baptized.
What had been a relatively small group of people who followed Jesus suddenly became a huge, cohesive body of believers and continued to grow as thousands more became Believers in Christ. If you ever wondered how the Christian church got its start, wonder no more. The rest of the Book of Acts shows how they continued to grow and how the word about Jesus spread throughout the world of that day.
If you are a Christian and a church member, please know that what is written here is an account of how it all began. And it’s all about Jesus. May it always be about Him.
LISTEN
The theme of this week’s blogs is “Birth of the Church.” It began when 120 followers of Jesus fervently prayed. Six blogs dedicated to this theme are:
1. Introduction (April 23-24 – Weekend)
2. Believers Prayed. (April 25 – Monday)
3. Believers were Spirit-filled. (April 26 – Tuesday)
4. Believers shared the gospel. (April 27 – Wednesday)
5. Peter preached about Jesus. (April 28 – Thursday)
6. Thousands believed and were baptized. (April 29 – Friday)