Our final small group session of the spring ends this week. If you were not able to be a part of one, consider working through the assignment for this week on your own or with a friend.
Getting Started
Share a story of time when you experienced the power of a mighty wind. How did the wind alter your experience?
Reflection Questions
This Sunday in worship, we will talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Many people refer to this as the birthday of the church. Decades from now, it is possible that people will look back on this time in history and consider it the “rebirth” of the church. Let’s consider some parallels.
Read Acts 2:1-21
The Holy Spirit is described like a wind rushing through the assembled. What effect did the Holy Spirit have on this gathering in Acts 2?
In worship on Sunday, we will consider how the Holy Spirit allowed everyone to hear the good news in their own language. Drawing parallels to today, we want everyone around us to hear the gospel in their own language. That does not mean a particular dialect but to speak the gospel in a way people can hear it and resonate with it. For example, “Theology on Tap” is an idea that’s been around for a while now where a church chooses to meet their community in a bar and have conversation that would feel much different than in a church building. They meet people where they are and “speak their language.” Other churches are emerging under bridges where homeless folks gather in order to “speak their language.” Other expressions are popping up around various hobbies or special interests.
What would Church look like if we allowed the Holy Spirit to blow through us in such a way that we learned to speak the language of our surrounding community more effectively?
When you look at our immediate community, what “language” do they speak? In other words, what are the things and places people are most interested in and how can we meet them there?
Prayer
The pandemic has caused us to see more clearly Church outside our walls. Pray about ways we can continue to move the Church into the community and erase the barriers between us and those around us so this moment in history can be another “Pentecost moment.”