Cultural Snapshot: Easter in the United States

• $3.5 billion: clothing

• $7.4 billion: food

• $3.3 billion: candy

Most popular Easter candy:

1. Chocolate bunnies/eggs (29%)

2. Jellybeans (25%)

3. Peeps (14%)

• 90 million chocolate bunnies sold every year

• 77% eat the ears first

• 80% of parents steal their kids’ candy

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Acts Prelude

Acts 1:6–7
Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:9

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I. THE SPIRIT ARRIVES

Acts 2:1–2
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”

Q: What is the Day of Pentecost?

• “Pentecost,” Gk. πεντηκοστή (pentēkostē) — “fifty”

• Also known as The Feast of Weeks / The Feast of Firstfruits

Three Major Jewish Festivals:

1. The Feast of Passover (Exodus 12)

2. The Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10)

3. The Feast of Tabernacles / Ingathering (Exodus 23:16)

New Testament Correlation:

1. Passover – Christ, the perfect lamb, is sacrificed

2. Pentecost – The Spirit is poured out: the full harvest (1 Corinthians 15:20)

3. Tabernacles – Christ dwelt among us (John 1:14); God will dwell with us forever (Revelation 21:3)

Acts 2:3–4
“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

• “Other tongues,” Gk. ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (heterais glossais) — “other languages”

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II. THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS

Acts 2:5–11
“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation… each one was hearing them speak in his own language…”

Acts 2:12–13
“What does this mean?”
“They are filled with new wine.”

Acts 2:14–15
“These people are not drunk… it is only the third hour of the day.”

Acts 2:16–21
“This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
In the last days… I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…
everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The Nicene Creed:

“And in the Holy Spirit: the Lord and Life-giver… who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified; who spoke through the prophets.”

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III. THE SPIRIT CONVICTS

Romans 10:14–15

Acts 2:22–24
“Jesus of Nazareth… delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God… you crucified and killed…
But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

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IV. THE SPIRIT TRANSFORMS

Acts 2:41
“Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

Acts 2:42–47
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

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TAKEAWAYS

2 Corinthians 3:17
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

1. The Spirit still empowers Christians effectively.

2. The Spirit still convicts hearers personally.

3. The Spirit still transforms believers radically. (2 Corinthians 3:18)