A Relevant Approach to Ministry
“Both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! They stood there amazed and perplexed. ‘What can this mean?’ they asked each other.” - Acts 2:11-12
If the Church wants to experience a shift, then it needs a relevant approach to ministry. See, when the Spirit fell that day in Acts chapter 2, the Bible says that each of the disciples began to speak by the power of God in actual ethnic languages, called “tongues,” in many translations that those gathered from other nations could understand.
This was not the ecstatic utterance or “speaking in unknown tongues” that you might be familiar with based upon the practices of some churches; that is not what happened. No, these were real ethnic languages like Greek, Latin, and Egyptian that were spoken by these Palestinian Jews and understood by the people gathered from across the empire.
Acts 2:11-12 describes it this way; “Both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! They stood there amazed and perplexed. ‘What can this mean?’ they asked each other.”
The miracle of Pentecost had to do with the Holy Spirit empowering the church to be able to relate the message and mission of Jesus to people they could not reach before. It was about the church using new tools, new methodologies, and a new approach to reach a whole different group of people than those who were following Jesus before.
So with that in mind, what can we do, what can YOU do, to reach more people for Christ? Sometimes, we must go beyond the “norm” to reach people and show them the love of Jesus. In Acts 2, it came in the form of other languages. Today, it could be something entirely different. What can you do to reach those who have yet to experience the love of Jesus?
If the Church wants to experience a shift, then it needs a relevant approach to ministry. See, when the Spirit fell that day in Acts chapter 2, the Bible says that each of the disciples began to speak by the power of God in actual ethnic languages, called “tongues,” in many translations that those gathered from other nations could understand.
This was not the ecstatic utterance or “speaking in unknown tongues” that you might be familiar with based upon the practices of some churches; that is not what happened. No, these were real ethnic languages like Greek, Latin, and Egyptian that were spoken by these Palestinian Jews and understood by the people gathered from across the empire.
Acts 2:11-12 describes it this way; “Both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! They stood there amazed and perplexed. ‘What can this mean?’ they asked each other.”
The miracle of Pentecost had to do with the Holy Spirit empowering the church to be able to relate the message and mission of Jesus to people they could not reach before. It was about the church using new tools, new methodologies, and a new approach to reach a whole different group of people than those who were following Jesus before.
So with that in mind, what can we do, what can YOU do, to reach more people for Christ? Sometimes, we must go beyond the “norm” to reach people and show them the love of Jesus. In Acts 2, it came in the form of other languages. Today, it could be something entirely different. What can you do to reach those who have yet to experience the love of Jesus?
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