Dear friend, The Day of Pentecost What is Pentecost? The word Pentecost comes from the Greek (Pentekoste) meaning ”fiftieth". It refers to the festival celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, also known as the "Feast of Weeks" and the "Feast of 50 days". If you go back and read the Old Testament, you will discover that Pentecost was one of the Jewish feast days. Only they did not call it Pentecost. That is the Greek name. The Jews called it the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks. It is mentioned five places in the first five books — in 1. Exodus 23:16 2. Exodus 24: 14-33 3. Leviticus 16: 1-44 4. Numbers 28: 26-31 5. Deuteronomy 16: 9-11 We Christians observe Pentecost as a holiday, not to celebrate a wheat harvest, but to remember when the Holy Spirit invaded the Church. Acts: 2:2 The account in reports that, after Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus’ followers were gathered for the Feast of Harvest (aka Pentecost), and the Holy Spirit “filled the whole house where they were sitting”. Acts 2:4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Acts 2:14 This strange occurrence drew a large crowd, and Peter stood up to speak to them about repentance and the gospel of Christ. Acts 2:41 By the end of the day that the Holy Spirit came, the Church grew by 3,000 people 1. Power of the Spirit - Presence of the Holy Spirit [Acts 2:1-4] - Proclamation of the Gospel [Acts 2:5-13] - Peter's Sermon and Conviction [Acts 2:14-41]
2. People Gathered - Diverse Crowd United [Acts 2:5-11] - Witnessing Miraculous Signs [Acts 2:12-13] - Response to the Message [Acts 2:37-41]
3. Purpose Fulfilled - Fulfillment of Prophecy [Acts 2:16-21] - Establishment of the Church [Acts 2:42-47] - Transformation and Empowerment [Acts 2:38-41]