Pentecost Sunday

Restoration!

 

Discipleship Group Questions for May 15, 2005

 

 

Scripture:

 

Acts 2:5-11 2. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

 

 Gen. 11:1-9 1.Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. This is important!  The world was united by a common language!  Let’s look now at verse: 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.  4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.  6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

 

1Cor. 12:3-13 3. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Did you hear that “for the common good.”  12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.  13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

 

John 20:19-23 19. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

 

Discipleship Questions:

 

  1. Please read Acts 2:5-11 and read about what happened on the first Day of Pentecost.  We hear that they could all understand what was happening because they were speaking one another’s languages.  What we see here is a restoration of “communion” – being about to understand one another.  Now read the Genesis passage i.e., Gen 11:1-9.  What we see here is a breakdown of communion i.e., the loss of a common language.  Can you see how the Day of Pentecost was a complete reversal of what had happened at the Tower of Babel.  Can you suggest any significance to this “reversal?”

 

  1. At this first Day of Pentecost God restored what He had taken so many thousands of years ago – To what end?  What did He ultimately accomplish on that first Day of Pentecost?

 

 

  1. Please read the Corinthian passage i.e., 1Cor 12:3-13. Ah!  Can you hear a common theme beginning to emerge?  In this reading we hear St. Paul reminding us that it’s the Holy Spirit that enables us to even say “Jesus is Lord,” and it’s the Holy Spirit that gives us different gifts that enable us to work together “for the common good.”  Ah!  “for the common good.”  Can you hear the theme of “unity” being reechoed here.  What does this mean for us “the Church?”

 

  1. Now please read the Gospel reading i.e., John 20:19-23.  In this passage Jesus said twice, “Peace be with you.”  This, I am suggesting is the “Key to Pentecost.”  How does this key theme of peace fit in with the themes of “unity and communion.”

 

 

  1. What is God saying to you in these verses?