The Day of Pentecost - Wind, Fire, & Speech

No parents...not Earth, Wind, & Fire. You read it right. Wind, Fire, & Speech as found in Acts 2:1-8.

Acts 2:1-8 - ¹ On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. ⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. ⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

We discussed these three elements found in the upper room where the disciples were meeting on the day of Pentecost and how they represent the Holy Spirit as He relates to us today.

Wind:

The wind represents the power Jesus spoke about in Acts 1:8, when He said, "⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Thankfully, the disciples only experienced the sound of the mighty wind, or else the entire room where they were meeting might have been destroyed as if by a tornado! Funny thing about wind is that it blows wherever it pleases. You can hear it, but you can never tell where it is coming from. The power of this wind of the Holy Spirit sends a powerful message to all who listen, the message of Jesus Christ, His death, and Resurrection. And the power of the message of Jesus Christ can demolish strongholds and any other scheme of Satan that rises up against it...the same way a tornado can demolish an entire neighborhood or city in its path of destruction.

To demonstrate this, we used a table fan. First we asked the kids to write on strips of paper those things the enemy uses to keep people from hearing God's powerful message of redemption. They wrote things like lies, money, "stuff", hardships, trials, relationships, TV and movies, hate, crime, unbelieving friends, illness, "busy-ness", hypocrisy, etc... Then we turned on our Holy Spirit fan and watched it blow Satan's attempts at deception away.

Fire:

The Holy Spirit being represented by fire symbolizes the purity and presence of God. For purity, we talked about Isaiah's feeling of unworthiness in the presence of a holy God and how his guilt was removed and sins were forgiven.

Isaiah 6:5-7 - ⁵ Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷ He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

To demonstrate purity, we used a large glass bowl. We gave the kids strips of paper again and this time asked them to write something they had accomplished on one and a material thing they owned on the last. Already in the bowl was a rock, which represented their solid foundation in Christ as Christians. They put their strips of paper in the bowl with the rock and we proceeded to light the bowl's contents on fire. We talked about how, in the end, all that really matters and will be left is their faith and how they chose to use it and their God-given gifts to serve God and further His Kingdom. All of their accomplishments (awards, trophies for sports, A's on report cards, career, etc...) and their possessions (nice car, big house, lots of money, nice clothes,...) would count for about as much as what was left of them in the bowl after our fire...nothing but ashes!

1 Cor. 3:11-13 - ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. ¹² Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. ¹³ But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.

We also talked about how God's presence was seen in the pillar of fire by the Israelites as they were led through the wilderness.

Exodus 13:21 - The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.

To demonstrate the Holy Spirit as God's presence to the kids, we did a little experiment. We placed two candles in the center of two different saucers. The we poured one-half cup of water on both saucers. We talked about how when we don't have God's spirit in us, He can't live in us. We put a clear glass over one candle of the candles. The we lit the second candle. We discussed how the Holy Spirit draws us to God and God into us. This time we told them that the oxygen inside the glass represented God, the flame represented the Holy Spirit, and the candle represented us. Putting the glass over the lit candle, we watched how the Holy Spirit draws God into our lives (as the flame drew the oxygen out of the glass).

Speech:

Lastly, we discussed how the Holy Spirit being poured into our lives represented God keeping the promise He gave to Abraham in the Old Testament.

Genesis 12:2-3 - ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God poured the Holy Spirit out on the disciples giving them the ability to speak in every language on earth so that everyone who heard them proclaim the message of Jesus Christ could go back to their own country and tell others they knew. We too have that ability, as children of Jesus, to tell others about the Good News of salvation. Not only do we have that ability, but it is our responsibility.

Matthew 28:18-20 - ¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The result?

Revelation 7:9-10 - ⁹ After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Oh what a glorious picture!!

Spirit Filled and Controlled!

Acts 20:24 - ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

We talked to the kids tonight about being filled with the Holy Spirit and Spirit controlled so that we could finish the race and complete the task Acts 20:24 speaks of.

Pastor Billy gave us four ways to ensure that we we can live this way wholeheartedly.

1. Immerse ourselves in the Word of God.
2. Believe the Word of God.
3. Pray.
4. Obey what is written in God's Word and obey His promptings.

We wrote these four instructions on butcher paper and, as we discussed them in detail, let the kids decorate each one with a picture of their own that best represented to them what they believed that would look like in their life. We hung it on our wall when we were done to remind us of what we are to practice to remain Spirit filled and controlled.

To show the kids what being spirit filled and controlled looked like, we had two eggs with us, each decorated like a typical Christian they may see at church every week. I affectionately named them Rod and Todd Eggbert. Didn't know I was an "eggspert" artist, did ya? What the kids didn't know, was that one egg was raw and the other hard-boiled.

We pointed out to the kids that both of our "Christians" looked the same on the outside. They both carried their Bible to church. They dressed similarly. From all outward appearances, we might make the assumption that they were both mature, spiritual believers.

We held up the raw egg (Rod). As we did, we continued our comments about how the outward appearance of this person gives us the impression that he is spirit-controlled. Then we broke the egg into a clear bowl. We told the kids that the yoke of the egg represented the individual, and the white of the egg represented the Holy Spirit. We asked them which part of Rod they noticed the most now that we could see inside of him. Because the white of the egg was uncooked and clear, the yolk (self) was most noticeable.

We talked about how, since we knew Rod to be a Christian, the Holy Spirit is obviously inside of him. We know he is a believer, but the Holy Spirit has not been given any visible presence in his life. Now that the broken outside shell has revealed the heart of Rod, we see that he is definitely self-controlled, not Spirit-controlled.

Next, we cracked and peeled the boiled egg (Todd). Once again, by removing the outward appearance of the shell, we were able to see into the heart of this person. We asked the kids which part of Todd they noticed the most, the yolk (self) or the white (Holy Spirit). Because it was hard-boiled, only the white of the egg was visible. It completely surrounded and hid the yolk. Todd, we explained to them represents a believer who is controlled by the Holy Spirit. Self has been crucified and has taken a back seat to the Holy Spirit.

We asked the kids how many of them recognized the difference between the two eggs when they first saw them. We told them that, just like the Rod, believers can quite often fool other Christians into thinking they are more spiritual than they really are. They carry the right Bible translation, they dress appropriately, they go to church and maybe even Bible study every week, they volunteer for church activities, and some even teach Sunday school. In essence, they know how to “talk the talk.” They deceive everyone around them, and quite often, they even deceive their pastor and themselves.

The problem is that these people believe, just because they appear Christian on the outside, they must be Spirit filled and controlled on the inside too. But when you take away the outer spiritual camouflage, their innermost heart is exposed, and it reveals that they are not “walking the walk.”

Though the Holy Spirit is present, He has not been allowed any control. Remember how difficult it was to see the uncooked white of Rod in the glass? One has to look close to see any evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

But in Todd, the Holy Spirit is totally in control. In truth, the exterior shell represents the person he is inside. His relationship with the Lord is number one in his life, and it is revealed by the way he lives. In this case, his outward appearance is a mirror reflection of what is going on inside his heart. He’s not trying to appear spiritual; he is spiritual. He’s authentic.

We ended by asking the kids which type of Christian they were. Are they faking their Christianity, or is it real? Is it authentic? If their outward shell was peeled away and their heart was exposed, what would be revealed about them?

Have You Got the Power?

Acts 1:8 - ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We started our lesson a little silly tonight. We set a fan in front of us that was not plugged in and proceeded to fan ourselves with our hands or a piece of paper instead while we talked about how warm it was in the room. Then we sharpened our pencils for the lesson by turning them by hand in an unplugged electric pencil sharpener. We also commented on how cool our lava lamp looked when the "lava" bubbled up from the bottom. We tipped the unplugged lava lamp upside down to demonstrate this.

Of course it wasn't long before the kids took note that we weren't using the appliances the way they were intended and that plugging them in would make more sense. Acting surprised, we asked the kids why it made more sense to plug the appliances in. They said because the appliances would have the power to do what they were meant to do so we wouldn't have to do their jobs for them and on our own.

So we plugged things in and gave them a try using their intended power source. And guess what? They worked much better!

We talked about how the power the Holy Spirit gives us (that Acts 1:8 speaks of) is similar to the power that the electricity gives each of the appliances in order to make them work more efficiently. We weren't created to function on our own, in our on strength, or by attempting to summon our own power. When we became Christians, Jesus poured the gift of the Holy Spirit into each of us to be our strength, to give us power, to help us determine right from wrong, and help us be His examples and witnesses to the rest of the world watching us.

We passed around a D battery, a flashlight light bulb, and a copper wire then. Each youth got to see how, by holding one end of the copper wire to the bottom of the light bulb (that was also touching the top of battery) and the other end of the wire to the bottom of the battery, they could give the light bulb enough power to light up.

We asked a few of them to take the end of the bulb off the battery and see what happened. The light went out. This is because an electric current (power) only flows if there is no open space anywhere in our battery, wire and light. This is the same thing as saying current only flows in a complete circuit. When we broke the circuit by taking one of the ends of the wire off the battery, (open space now), then current (power) stopped flowing and the light went out.

We asked the kids then how we could break the current of power that flows from Jesus to us through His Holy Spirit. We talked about priorities and how much time we spend...

• watching television, playing video games or with friends, reading other books, or listening to music

vs

• reading our Bibles, spending quiet time with God, going to youth group or church.

We talked about our prayer lives...how often we prayed, what we prayed for or about, and whether or not we included asking God for a fresh filling with His Spirit when we prayed.

Using a magnifying glass and our light bulb, we also showed the kids the tiny filament of wire inside the light bulb. We explained that when the current (power) flows through that tiny wire, it gets very hot. As it gets hot it glows and that's what makes the light we see.

We discussed how there are Scriptures in the Bible that refer to the Holy Spirit as fire. Fire gives light, warmth, and burns away dross. Dross is the impure waste matter that floats to the surface when certain metals like tin or aluminum are heated up. Think of soda cans being recycled. During the recycling process, the cans are melted down and the coatings and inks on the aluminum float to the surface and are skimmed off and thrown away.

Luke 3:16 - ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 2:1-4 - ¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

We talked about ways we can keep our fire burning to ensure that our light keeps glowing as a witness to others and that our dross (sin) is continually brought to the surface so it can be removed. In the end, we all agreed that the only way to stay "on fire for the Lord", remove impurities (sin) from our lives, and let our lights so shine for the world around us, was to remain plugged in to the one and only power source, Jesus Christ.

Game Night!!

We try to have a game night once a quarter and this one just happened to fall at the perfect time with one of us (ZG teachers) unable to make it to youth tonight. The kids enjoyed playing board games, fellowshipping, snacking, and just hanging out tonight. We shared prayer requests and also made some more brown bags tonight as well...since all of the ones we made last week were already taken this past Sunday!!