The Power of Pentecost (March 2, 2025)

I think there are times we need to STOP and take a step back and really look at who we are as a people, as a church. What do we believe? Over the last several, several months, I have tried to breakdown and go through many different topics on what it is to be a Christian, what it is to be a Child of God. We have many in our Sanctuary that are new, and I mean new to church and you just don’t know how happy that makes me feel.

As I was praying for this service today, I stopped and THANKED GOD for New Faces, New Families, New Church Attendees, New Christians – some have been in church before, some never at all! I thank God for those who have been in church for 50 years, I thank God for those who have been at Coosa Valley for any amount of time from 1 week to 1 year to 30 years – I thank God every day for each of you!!!

All being said, we must realize and understand what it is to be Pentecostal and grow in that, with BIBLICAL backing. It is essential that we know and appreciate our Pentecostal heritage, our identity, our calling, our purpose given by God. We need to learn and know what it means to be Pentecostal …

2 Peter 3:18 ~ “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

and we must also be reminded and sometimes refreshed in our knowledge …

2 Peter 3:1 ~ “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,”

Please know that I do not apologize for being excited about the fact that I am a Christian, I am a Child of God, I am a Disciple of Christ, I am Pentecostal in my Faith.

So, what is Pentecostalism and why does it matter? At the heart of Pentecostalism is its spirituality. (Please know that spirituality and emotionalism and zeal are not the same thing.) As a Pentecostal, we believe that the Full Gospel of Jesus makes possible life on earth and the life in heaven to come. This means that we believe that Jesus is Savior, Sanctifier, Spirit Baptizer, Healer and Soon Coming King. Paul spoke of believing all of God and not omitting anything.

Acts 20:27 ~ “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

So let’s pause and look at the life on earth and the life in heaven to come for just a moment. There are a few verses we must take to heart.

John 17:11–18 ~ “11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Matthew 4:17 ~ “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

John 14:12 ~ “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

We are given a promise to do great work, the same work that Jesus did; not only are we given a promise to do great work, but the power to do those great works. This is a surprising statement. It is a great promise: as a believer, we shall do the same and even greater works that Jesus did. But let’s look deeper still.

• The genuine believer will do the same kind of work that Jesus did, work that is characterized …
  • by loving and caring
  • by ministering and healing
  • by proclaiming and teaching
  • by witnessing and testifying
  • by sharing and discipling
  • by helping and performing miracles

• The believer will work, doing all he can to demonstrate the love of God to lead man to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.

Luke 19:10 ~ “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

• The genuine believer will work hard for the very same purpose as Jesus did. He will work …
  • to show men the love and justice of God
  • to help men in all their need
  • to lead men to believe on the Son of God that they might be saved and delivered from sin, death and hell

Matthew 28:19–20 ~ “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:15 ~ “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

• The genuine believer will do even great works that Jesus did. This means that the true servant of God will reach more people and have broader results than Jesus did.

• Great works are possible only through Jesus, only because He has gone to Him Father and is sitting at the right hand of the Father. From there, Jesus equips and enables the believer to do the works. The believer can do great works only through the presence and power of Jesus who is with the Father.

Acts 1:8 ~ “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

Ephesians 3:20 ~ “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”

1 Thessalonians 1:5 ~ “because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”