THEME: Empowered by the Holy Spirit then live a life for God.
Scripture: Act 2:17b
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
17 ‘Ito ang gagawin ko sa mga huling araw,’ sabi ng Diyos,
‘Ibubuhos ko ang aking Espiritu sa lahat ng tao;
ipahahayag ng inyong mga anak na lalaki at babae ang aking mensahe.
21 At sinumang tumawag sa pangalan ng Panginoon ay maliligtas.’
INTRODUCTION:
“I felt my heart strangely warmed. I
felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was
given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law
of sin and death.”
This was our founder John Wesley said when He encountered God through the
Holy Spirit. His encounter with the Holy Spirit empowered Him to keep His faith
and serve God with all the means he can. We are the fruit of Faith of our
leaders. Our faith is built in our Lord Jesus Christ. It expands through hearing
the Gospel that was proclaimed by the disciples as they were commissioned by
Jesus and filled by the Holy Spirit.
Can we go back to our “Aldersgate experience” or the moment that we
encountered the presence of God? How was your experience? How does it change
your life? How does it give revolution to your life? How are you now as
Christian since you have believed and accepted Jesus? What are you do ing now?
BODY:
Receive and be filled by the Holy Spirit. Acts 2: 17 ‘In the last days it
will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. ‘Ito ang gagawin ko sa
mga huling araw,’ sabi ng Diyos,
‘Ibubuhos ko ang aking Espiritu
sa lahat ng tao;Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised us the Holy
Spirit. And the moment that Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit dwells on
those who believed in Jesus. The pouring out of the Spirit of God is a promised
that we are not alone, and we always have the presence of God to do His will and the things that He entrusted to us to
do. Acts
1: 8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 8 Subalit tatanggap
kayo ng kapangyarihan pagbaba sa inyo ng Espiritu Santo, at kayo'y magiging mga
saksi ko sa Jerusalem, sa buong Judea at sa Samaria, at hanggang sa dulo ng
daigdig.”The pouring out of the Spirit on us has a
purpose. And it is to empower us to become witnesses of God’s love through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 2:11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we
hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 11 May mga taga-Creta at Arabia rin. Paano sila
nakapagsasalita sa ating mga wika tungkol sa mga kahanga-hangang ginawa ng
Diyos?”Just like when the disciples of Jesus received
and filled by the Holy Spirit, they were eager to declare to the crowd the
mighty works of God. And they did. Just like John Wesley when he had the
aldersgate experience, he received the love and grace of God, and he was very
motivated to preach and proclaim the gospel to other people. That Jesus died
for our sins, saved us and assured as of eternal life.
Move and Proclaim the Good news. This is the next move as the Holy Spirit filled the disciples. Acts 2:17.. and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy. ipahahayag ng inyong
mga anak na lalaki at babae ang aking mensahe. When I search for
the other meaning of prophesy it means to give instruction in religious
matters: PREACH. Or in layman’s term to PROCLAIM. The disciples received
commissioned from Jesus. 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 20 and teaching them to
obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.” 19 Kaya't humayo kayo,
gawin ninyong alagad ko ang mga tao sa lahat ng mga bansa. Bautismuhan ninyo
sila sa pangalan ng Ama, at ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo. 20 Turuan ninyo silang sumunod sa lahat ng iniutos ko
sa inyo. Tandaan ninyo, ako'y laging kasama ninyo hanggang sa katapusan ng
panahon.” Aren’t you wondering how we know about Jesus? It
is because someone told you about Jesus. Someone had shared his faith to you.
And this is the process of faith as stated in Romans 10:17 17 So
faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word
of Christ. 17 Kaya't ang pananampalataya ay bunga ng pakikinig,
at ang pakikinig naman ay bunga ng pangangaral tungkol kay Cristo. We,
Christians, are the fruit of the proclamation of the gospel that happened long
time ago. And still counting.. because we are NOW part of that great
commission. We are to teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded us to
do. As we remember. Jesus has given us two great commandments. Matthew
22:37-3937 He
said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 37 Sumagot si Jesus, “Ibigin mo ang Panginoon mong Diyos nang buong
puso mo, buong kaluluwa mo, at buong pag-iisip mo. 38 Ito
ang pinakamahalagang utos. 39 Ito naman ang
pangalawa: Ibigin mo ang iyong kapwa gaya ng pag-ibig mo sa iyong sarili. As followers of Jesus, we ought to share the
gospel, the Love God through Jesus Christ, We are ought to always stand for God
and declare his mighty works. God loves has given to all. And God wants that
everybody will know and feel it. Acts 2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord shall be saved. At
sinumang tumawag sa pangalan ng Panginoon ay maliligtas.’ It will
start with all of us, with you. Now, move and proclaim.
Live and stay in God’s love. God wants us to live for him and stay in love with Him. Our
encounter with God will always give us drive to keep going in our faith. To
help us remember the grace of God. Every moment that we experience trials of
this world let us remember, come and remain in the presence of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit. What happened after the
disciples be filled and proclaimed the good news is that they were restored and
remain to live in the Word and promises of God. All of the disciples the old and new were together. Keeping
the faith and ministry of Jesus.
Acts 2: 44-47 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their
possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[j] to
all, as any had need. 46 Day
by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at
home[k] and
ate their food with glad and generous[l] hearts, 47 praising God and having
the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number
those who were being saved.
44 Nagsama-sama ang lahat ng sumasampalataya at ang kanilang mga
ari-arian ay itinuring na para sa lahat. 45 Ipinagbili
nila ang kanilang mga ari-arian at ang napagbilhan ay ipinamahagi sa bawat isa
ayon sa kanyang pangangailangan. 46 Araw-araw, sila'y
nagkakatipon sa Templo at nagpipira-piraso ng tinapay sa kanilang mga tahanan,
na masaya at may malinis na kalooban. 47 Nagpupuri sila sa Diyos,
at kinalulugdan sila ng lahat ng tao. At bawat araw ay idinaragdag sa kanila ng
Panginoon ang mga inililigtas.
The disciples had spiritual practices
and discipline. I wanted to share John Wesley’s means of grace.
(Holy Spirit
moments: Learning from Wesley at Aldersgate
By Joe Iovino)
John Wesley's means of grace. John Wesley taught that God's grace is
unearned and that we were not to be idle waiting to experience grace but we are
to engage in the means of grace. The means of grace are ways God works
invisibly in disciples, hastening, strengthening; and confirming faith so that
God's grace pervades in and through disciples. As we look at the means of grace
today, they can be divided into works of piety and the works of mercy.
Works of Piety
Individual Practices –
reading, meditating and studying the scriptures, prayer, fasting, regularly
attending worship, healthy living, and sharing our faith with others
Communal Practices –
regularly share in the sacraments, Christian conferencing (accountability to
one another), and Bible study
Works of Mercy
Individual Practices -
doing good works, visiting the sick, visiting those in prison, feeding the
hungry, and giving generously to the needs of others
Communal Practices –
seeking justice, ending oppression and discrimination (for instance Wesley
challenged Methodists to end slavery), and addressing the needs of the poor
These are the disciplines that John
Wesley did and sharing it with us, it serves as heritage.
CONCLUSION:
Now brothers and sisters in Christ,
Can we go back to our “aldersgate experience” or the moment that we
encountered the presence of God?
YES. We shall always do. And it reminds us that we have RECEIVED
the power of the Holy Spirit that help as
MOVE and proclaim the
Goodnews
and LIVE our life worth of His
calling.
Oh how heartwarming it is to feel God’s love every day.
As 2 Corinthians 13:13 says
13 The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be
with all of you.
13 Nawa'y
sumainyong lahat ang kagandahang-loob ng Panginoong Jesu-Cristo, at ang
pag-ibig ng Diyos, at ang pakikisama ng Espiritu Santo.
AMEN.
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