The Holy Spirit empowered Peter and the disciples to share the Good News with the whole world. Read Acts 2:5-13. Have you ever dropped a twenty-dollar bill on a windy day? You immediately run after it. When you come to it and bend down to pick it up, another gust of wind takes it away. If you have persistence, speed, and wit, you can eventually catch the Jackson and secure it. Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the wind. We can’t see the wind, but we can feel the wind and see the evidence of the wind blowing. When the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples at Pentecost, they began to share the news with the whole world without having to leave Jerusalem. Because it was a holiday, people from all over the world had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday and worship God. They began telling people about how Jesus was the Messiah, promised by God. Because of Jesus’ love for us, he died on the cross so that we would be forgiven of our sins. He was raised to life on the third day to give us hope for eternal life. Today’s suggested reading names all the places where the people had come from. If we were looking at today’s map, the people came from Libya, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon. Scripture says that 3,000 people became believers that first day. These 3,000 people then went home and became the first people to share the gospel “to the ends of the earth".Today, we continue the practice of sharing God’s love and the Good News of Jesus with the people around us. We do not share the story by our own strength, but with the strength of the Holy Spirit in us.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me with the confidence to share the Good News with those around me. Give me the words, actions, and attitudes that show the love of Jesus and help people be attracted to Jesus. Amen.