EMPOWERED: CONNECT TO AN EMPOWERING VISION

This Sunday is the day of Pentecost because it is the 50th day after Passover. It was also called the Festival of Weeks which was a Jewish traditional celebration of thanksgiving to God for the early harvest.  For Christians the day of Pentecost also holds a special significance; on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the upper room in Jerusalem and miraculously empowered the disciples.  This moment of empowerment is the beginning of the Christian church.  We are here today because of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  We need the power of Pentecost more than ever in our lives, in the church, and in our world.  God’s power is still at work and empowering our lives.  This is the end of our series Empowered, with the final sermon entitled, Connect to an Empowering Vision.  God wants to move us beyond a vision of desperation, despair, doubt and distraction, into a vision that is able to lift and strengthen us for God’s service.  We turn to 2 Peter 1:3-11.  The Apostle Peter was the preacher on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem.  He has witnessed great moments of God’s power, but as he writes to these believers, he knows his time is growing short.  Even as the shadows lengthen in his life, he is confident of God’s power and strength to transform our lives.  He has found an empowering vision that has allowed him to do God’s work, build God’s church, and shepherd God’s people in the midst of threat, turmoil, and trouble!  He begins by saying, “God’s divine power has given us everything we need . . .”  As we read these words, we are tempted to doubt God’s power and goodness as we confront the threat, turmoil, and trouble of our own lives!  God inspired these words through Peter to strengthen this vision of God’s power for all believers!  They share with us the steps to renew the power that came on the day of Pentecost!  As you read 2 Peter 1:3-11, it is our earnest prayer that you will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, so it can restore your soul!  2 Peter 1:3-11: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NIV)