Last Sunday was actually Pentecost Sunday, but LifeSpringers will be thinking about it this coming Sunday. Our text comes from Numbers 11:24-30, and we will be thinking about the day on which the church was born. The text for the sermon is from the OT book of Numbers in which the Spirit of God falls on the Seventy Elders of Israel. What Moses and the elders experience is instructive for us today.
Daily Bible Readings:
Monday, June 5. Read Numbers 11:1-6. 1) What did the Israelites complain about? 2) What was God’s reaction to the complaining? 3) If you were the leader of the Israelites, how might you have reacted to this complaining?
Tuesday, June 6. Read Numbers 11:10-15. 1) How did Moses think that God was behaving toward him? 2) What did Moses think he had to do to make the people happy?
Wednesday, June 7. Read Numbers 11:16-25. 1) Why do you think that God convened the 70 elders of Israel? 2) What did he ask them to do to get prepared for the meeting? 3) How did God empower them that was extraordinary?
Thursday, June 8. Read Joel 2:28-29. 1) What did God (through Joel) prophesy that would happen in the future? 2) How is what Joel predicted different from what happened to the 70 elders?
Friday, June 9. Read Acts 2:5-13. 1) What happened on Pentecost to the crowds? 2) How was that different from what happened to the 70 elders? 3) What do you think the reason or purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit was?
Saturday, June 10. Read Numbers 11:24-30. This is Sunday’s sermon text.
Hymn of the Week:
Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord! by Martin Luther, 1524
Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord!
Let all your graces be outpoured
On each believer’s mind and heart;
Your fervent love to us impart.
Lord, by the brightness of your light,
You in the faith do men unite
Of every land and every tongue;
This to your praise, O Lord, be sung.
From every error keep us free;
Let none but Christ our Master be,
That we in living faith abide,
In him with all our might confide.
Lord, by your power prepare each heart
And to our weakness strength impart,
That bravely here we may contend,
Through life and death to you ascend.
Prayer of the Week:
God of our Fathers,
You make yourself know in Three
Father Son, and Spirit.
We ask you to join us
through our worship
our prayers,
and the reading of your Word.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
within whose unity
lies all that is you,
love, justice, peace, and power.
As we approach You today,
fill our outstretched hearts
with your spirit, and
encircle us with your love.
Make yourself known to us
in new ways,
challenging ways.
Empower us,
Inspire us,
Glorious Trinity!
n Jesus’ name, we pray this. Amen.
Article of the Week:
God’s Holy Fire: ‘New Birth and New Life’ by Phil Ware
When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. — Titus 3:4-7 NLT
Key Thought
While some remember that Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), not everyone remembers that when we came to Christ, we were reborn by the washing away of our sins and were also given the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39). Today’s verses remind us that when we came to Christ, God “generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Jesus is our Savior not only because he saved us from our past sins, but also because he poured out the Spirit upon us to empower us to overcome our present struggles with sin. No wonder we can be confident in grace and righteousness and eternal life!