Acts 2

MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION FOR JESUS!

(November 12, 2024) Dr Richard Winter challenges…

A reality so often overlooked is this— we have no excuse for wrong decision-making regarding God, His wishes and invitations!

Luke 14 tells that one-time Jesus went to a prominent Pharisee’s home for a meal and someone at His table commented, ‘Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God’ (v15).

The eyes of all the other guests were on Jesus (v1) and He immediately took the opportunity to tell a parable of a great (megas… exceedingly big!) banquet…

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FAILURE IS NOT FINAL!      

(August 14, 2024) Richard Winter encourages casting in deep waters…

Luke 5:1-11 tells of Peter and friends being out all-night fishing and catching nothing — seems like a classic waste of time, a failure.

It certainly must have been a disappointment to Peter as he was a professional fisherman… good boat, best nets, knew where to fish.

But even pros can strike out sometimes. And this one was going to learn that failure isn’t final!

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SQUEEZED, PUSHED AND PULLED

(August 15, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

This happened to me in college –

We all had to take two art classes, one painting and the other pottery. I thought I knew how to draw and paint – but not well, and pottery was something I knew nothing about, so I went for it.

We threw a lump of clay on a spinning wheel and squeezed, pushed and pulled that clay until it resembled a pot of some sort.

Jeremiah 18:4 says that God has an illustration of how a potter can make a pot of his choice and,  if he doesn’t like it, can squash it down again and make another pot.

This is a life message!
In this world we can be squeezed, pushed and pulled to conform to the image that it wants to make of us. But this is not what God wants for us so He makes a new life for us –  we are to be born again by the Spirit and not the flesh.

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PENTECOST SUNDAY REFLECTIONS

(May 22, 2023) Dr Robert McQuillan recalls Pentecostal memories…

May 28 is Pentecost Sunday when it’s expected Pentecostal and charismatic churches will celebrate that Acts 2 occasion when the Holy Spirit fell powerfully on those first Christians.

Pentecost (pentēkostē – fifty) is the Jewish holiday festival of Shavu`ot.Originally firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented to God 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (See Leviticus 23:16-17), celebrating the expectation of a great agricultural season ahead. Its theme became one of revelation – of God Himself, His power and His Torah (teaching, direction, guidance, law).

Reverberating
Traditionally where Jesus followers gathered in Jerusalem has been known as ‘the upper room.’ Acts 2:1 calls it a ‘place’, but interestingly this word is a reflexive pronoun linked with ‘a baffling wind.’ Little did those faithful believers image the roaring wind ahead!

That windstorm (NLT) blew through on that first Pentecost Sunday! Acts 2:2CJB records the ‘place’ as a home – ‘Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house…’ 

Act 2:3-4 records, ‘They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues…’ They were a changed, charged and challenged people!

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EXCUSES THAT COULD KEEP YOU OUT OF HEAVEN 

(November 05, 2022) Richard Winter highlights that there is no excuse for concealing wrong actions!

On the spur of the moment one day, my good friend Ray and I decided to ditch school and play golf. It was an easy decision; the golf course was behind a pine forest right that was itself behind our high school and we wouldn’t be seen from the school.

So Ray and I rode our bikes through the pines, retrieved some old clubs and balls from the golf shed, and took off our school blazers and ties that identified our school – and away we went.

We had only played five holes when conscious struck us, and we decided we’d better go to school. So, ties and jackets back on, we cycled down the hill and joined others who were going into the next class, hoping that no one had missed us.

What we didn’t know was we were seen ditching school by a passing driver who went to our school office and reported us! Suddenly an announcement came through: ‘The two boys seen riding through the pine forest this morning – come to the office.’

Well, Ray and I stood up and off we marched. But not bravely, we were really scared and everyone was watching us. What could we say, as we were ushered into the principal’s office – we were completely rumbled.

‘Excuses’ don’t excuse!
There it got scarier. The principal kept doing whatever he was doing, writing apparently. Occasionally he would look up, glare and start writing again. Minutes went by and soon we were perspiring!

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‘AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS’… BUT IS IT?

(July 19, 2022) Robert McQuillan challenges…

Psychologist Dr Andre Tessier, counselling a friend who is wondering about himself, who he really is, his future, answers honestly… ‘I’m only a doctor. I can’t tell something I don’t know… but let me show you something. See those books over there?’

Tapping several books in the packed bookshelves, he names Carl Jung and other well-known thinkers commenting, ‘Hundreds of books! Sum total of man’s knowledge of his fellowman. Yet in a moment like this, they fail. That’s why when I’m faced with such a moment, I always turn to this book, older than all the others by thousands of years.’  

Taking a black jacketed book, he searches through it. ‘Ah, here we are,’ he smiles, ‘Proverbs, twenty-third chapter, seventh verse,  “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”’

Leaving it with the troubled man to consider the reality of Solomon’s words, Dr Tessier encourages him tobelieve deeply in his heart, his soul, emphasising… ‘And that’s all that matters.’

Believing in one’s very soul
‘Heart’ is an interesting word found throughout that ‘ancient book’, speaking of various hearts troubled by  grief, deceit, discouragement, hatred, hardening (that’s the short list!).

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PENTECOST’S FIVE ‘C’S

(June 3, 2022) Robert and Maureen McQuillan bring a challenge to both Christian leaders… and so-called ‘ordinary’ Christians.

Shavuot or Pentecost, the Hebrew celebration of the Festival of the Weeks, is here. As mentioned in Christian Pentecost-the Feast That Never Ended  it was initially a special time of remembrance and celebration for Israel.

We Christians celebrate (or should) our Pentecost this Sunday! Our celebration is the good news that God’s love continued beyond that extraordinary Passover event we call Easter.

Our thoughtful God had a further free gift to giveto all who believe in His Son Jesus – the outpouring of His Holy Spirit! That powerful Acts 2 infilling of God’s Spirit as promised by Jesus meant (and still means)…

  • Enablement – praising God in that special prayer language called tongues.
  • Empowerment – serving Jesus in powerful ways and touch the world.
  • Enthusiasm – caring for/generously sharing with fellow Christians, ministries and missionaries needs (See Pentecost Sunday-Shavuot).
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CHRISTIAN PENTECOST – THE FEAST THAT NEVER ENDED

(June 1, 2022) Ed. Note: Honouring the late George Forbes, highly respected former missionary statesman, we rerun one of his special messages on Pentecost …

This weekend many churches and indeed countless Christians around the world will be celebrating Pentecost Sunday!

The Feast of Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks) was observed by Israel over many centuries. It was an important time each year to celebrate the beginning of the early weeks of harvest with thanksgiving to God. Also a time to celebrate God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt.

After His resurrection from the grave, Jesus had given His followers a command to not depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father. He told them: ‘John truly baptised with water; but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’ (See Acts 1:4-5).

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PENTECOST SUNDAY… SHAVUOT

(May 29, 2022) Dr Robert McQuillan responds to a young man enquiring about Pentecost Sunday…

Dear Dr Robert

You’ve helped me before when I asked questions about the Holy Spirit and Pentecostal matters. I’ve heard that not all Pentecostal churches celebrate next Sunday as it was done years ago. What do you consider the most thing to remember about what is regarded as Pentecostal Sunday? Jonno.

Dear Jonno

Wish we were having a Bible study hour or so ! However as I share some truths, I’ll particularly direct your attention to something very important that even some Pentecostal churches omit to share.

But first, let me point out the two usually highlighted consequences of that first Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 Christians gathered in the upper room… as we read in Acts 2 –

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FIVE BURDENS YOU DON’T NEED TO CARRY

(May 15, 2022) Richard Winter reminds us that…

It’s often been said that it’s been a hard life and there have been many tough times. Well, l guess most of us can resonate with that… after all, who hasn’t lost a little sleep through worrying?

We’ve all carried burdens real and unreal… and, if we are honest, we have worried most about some things that never materialised. So here is the word of God that applies to our worries –

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28–30).

A yoke is something Jesus would have made in a carpenter’s shop. It’s a wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) at the neck, enabling them to pull a plough or wagon together. The function of the yoke is to make the burden easier to carry.

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