Filled with the Spirit 

June 8, 2025 

Imagine how awesome it would be to have Jesus with you, helping you all the time. If you have a party, and you run out of something important, like potato chips. Then Jesus gives you enough potato chips to feed 5000 people! Or your dog dies, and Jesus could just bring him or her back to life! If I was tempted when I was a kid to do the wrong thing, I don’t think I would because Jesus would be right there, watching! If Jesus were there, when I was a kid, I would never have drawn all over the living room wall with crayons! It would be so great to have Jesus’ help! 

Sometimes we all need help! And we need help in our walk with God. It’s wonderful to be a Christ follower and know God loves me. But life isn’t always easy. Did you ever wonder, I thought following Jesus would make life easier, but sometimes life is still very hard! It can be difficult to live for God in every way, to be patient and loving to other people, even when they are not loving to you. It can be hard to trust God when you experience difficult circumstances. You wonder, God why would you let this happen to me? In our struggles, where does our help come from? Today we’ll hear how Jesus and His followers persevered and found help. 

Today we’re celebrating Pentecost, the birthday of the church! Jesus rose from the dead. He told his disciples, “Wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. They were all gathered in a room, the 12 disciples, Jesus’ family, and the women. They must have felt, “I have no idea what the future holds for us!” Jesus wasn’t with them anymore. He wanted them all together. But what for? What were they supposed to do? They could definitely use some help! 

They were all together in Jerusalem, praying, doing just what God asked, when help came! God showed up, in a very unique way! There was a loud, rushing sound like a violent wind, which filled the place. What seemed to be tongues of fire, little flames, rested over each person. Jesus’ followers were filled with the Holy Spirit! By the power of the Spirit, each of them could speak in foreign languages! God sent the Holy Spirit! 

There were Jews from many countries who gathered in Jerusalem for the religious festival. They were amazed at Jesus’ followers. They wondered, how are they speaking in our languages? They aren’t from our country! Jesus’ followers were doing things they never could before! With the help and power of the Holy Spirit, they could speak these different languages! Jesus’ disciples were telling the wonders of God, and each person from other countries heard them speaking in their native language! 

So, Peter got up and preached, telling them, this miracle of language you hear is happening because God filled us with the Holy Spirit! Peter told them about Jesus and how he came performing miracles. Then he said to them, you put him to death! 

This has to be another miracle the Spirit worked! Peter told the Jews, “You put Jesus to death!” And they didn’t get angry! Instead, they were cut to the heart and asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said, Repent and be baptized, and you also will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! And 3000 people were baptized and became followers of Jesus that day! 

Jesus’ followers woke up the day of Pentecost, with no idea what would happen, not knowing how they would be able to do whatever Jesus wanted them to do. They needed help! And God filled them with the Holy Spirit!  

Would you like the Holy Spirit to help you? Jesus’ example shows us what he did with help from Holy Spirit, and how God gives the Holy spirit. You might think that Jesus didn’t need the Spirit. After all he was God! But Jesus was also human. The Spirit came upon him when he was Baptized. Jesus worked miracles with the help of the spirit. He lived life empowered by the Holy spirit. Jesus never used the Spirit for selfish reasons. For instance, when tempted in the desert for 40 days. Jesus did not use the Holy Spirit to make his life easier. The devil tried to tempt Jesus to break his fast and eat and to rule the world! But Jesus refused. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus didn’t use the Spirit for his own benefit. Instead, the Holy Spirit helped Jesus overcome temptation. When he went to the cross, Jesus didn’t seek the Spirit’s help to save him from cross. Instead, the Spirit helped Jesus endure suffering. The Holy Spirit helps us, but not for selfish reasons. That means we don’t ask for the Spirit’s power in order to win the lottery! Instead, the Holy Spirit helps us spiritually! The Spirit can help us be kind when it’s hard, or speak the truth in love, or help us trust God. 

If you are a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is with you. The Spirit gives you the power to make a difference with spiritual gifts! The Spirit might give you the gift of wisdom. You might have the gift of serving; you just love to serve! You could have the gift of encouragement. If someone is down, they love to hear from you because you bring people up! You might have the gift of administration: you are good at organizing things. You could have the gift of teaching, where you help people, adults or kids, learn. You could have the gift of evangelism, where you invite people to know God. You might be a shepherd who leads a group by nurturing people to help them grow in faith. You might have a gift to make things with your hands, a creative gift! Your gift might be making chocolate chip cookies for the pastor. (It’s a very, very valuable gift!) 

God has given you gifts to use in his church. If this is your church home, and you’ve got a gift but you’re not using it, then there is something that God wants to be done that’s not being done.  He’s gifted you with his spiritual gifts to make a difference in His church and in this world! 

You can be filled with the Holy Spirit. You just say, “Ok” to God. Just like the disciples did! They obeyed Jesus, went to Jerusalem and sat together, waiting. They obeyed, and on the day of Pentecost they were filled by the Spirit! The Spirit gave them the power to do more than they ever thought they could!  

My challenge for you this week is to read John 14:26 in the bulletin. Let’s read it together, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Let that verse encourage you that the Spirit is help and hope to you, guiding you to walk in God’s ways. 

Today is the birthday of the church! I hope it builds your confidence to know that Jesus’ followers started the Christian church without a manual, they didn’t have google, so they couldn’t google how do you start a church? They couldn’t watch a video on YouTube, “How you start the church.” But they did it! Incredible things happened that day: 3000 people became Christians!  All by the power of the Spirit! We all need help! We can be grateful that spiritual help is with us and in us, through God’s Holy Spirit! Amen.