Yesterday was my birthday.  I like birthdays. Even after having 54 of them I still think they are great.  Tyler has a birthday on Tuesday.  Tyler likes birthdays.  Am I right?  There is a reason why Tyler and I like birthdays. It can be summarized in one word.  Anybody want to guess the one word?  Gifts.  My birthday this year was especially good because I received several nice gifts.  One of which was really nice, but I won’t tell you what it is, because it would just make you jealous. I will just tease you a little with its initials, HDTV.

The reason I mention birthdays and gifts is because we are currently studying a special birthday which was accompanied by some amazing gifts. In our study of Acts chapter 2, the Day of Pentecost, there is a birthday and there are gifts.  The birthday is the birthday of the church.  We kind of take the church for granted.  How many churches are there in town?  Too many to accurately count.  The church will celebrate its 1,978th birthday this year.  It is older than Jimmy.  But on that special Sunday, when the church was born, it was the culmination of many years of waiting. 

Birthdays are always preceded by long waits.  Those who you are or have been pregnant, I’m sure will agree.  But there was a really long wait for the birthday of the church.  
-God began plans for his son’s church as he threw Adam and Eve out of the garden.
-God had in mind the church when Abraham was told to offer his son as a sacrifice.
-With Moses, God began to lay the ground work of a people who would be the fertile place for the church.
-The prophets of the Old Book, like Joel, predicted a time when the church would be full of all kinds of people.
-Jesus came to this world to seek and save that which was lost; people who would become his church.
-For 40 days, between the resurrection and the ascension, Jesus taught this embryonic cell of people all about the church.
-Then on that glorious Sunday morning during the Pentecost feast of AD 30, the wind and the fire came and the birth of the church was imminent.   

Isn’t it an interesting coincidence that our birthdays involve wind and fire and gifts?  This, too me, is a remarkable connection. What do you put on a birthday cake?  Flames of fire; candles.  Then what do you do to them?  Blow them out; wind.  Then there are words which are sung; “Happy birthday to you…” That’s just like the birthday of the church!  Wind, fire and words and gifts.  Gifts that are even better than an HDTV; really, much better. 

This morning I am in the mood to talk about gifts.  This morning we are going to look at two amazing gifts which were given on the birthday of the church.  These special gifts were given on the day the church was born, but here is the good news, they are still being given today.  Let me cheat and skip ahead and show you how I know that.

Acts 2:39  The promise (of gifts) is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."

Hey, we are a far off.  We live at the ends of the earth.  We get the gifts when the Lord, our God, calls us.  So, this mornings sermon is not just a history lesson, looking back all those years, it is about gifts which we too can receive!  Do you like gifts?  Then you are going to love this sermon.
 
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Acts 2:22-24 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

Acts 2:32-33  “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

Acts 2:36  "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

That was the essence of Peter’s sermon.  That is the heart of our witness.  Believing these words is what it means to be a Christian.  Our testimony as his witnesses is all about: Jesus the man, the miracle worker, the one who was crucified as part of the plan, the one whom the squid-like monster, known as death, could not keep hold on to, the witnessed resurrected one who is now exalted to the throne of God as Lord and Christ.  That is the bottom line of Peter’s sermon which he preached before thousands who had gathered when they heard the wind. 

When Peter reached the crescendo of his sermon and announced to the crowd that they had made a terrible mistake and had killed their own Messiah, there must have been a sobering moment of silence while the truth soaked in.  Try to put yourself in their place for a moment.  Here is a group of people who, basically, loved God.  They had come to Jerusalem to worship him on the Pentecost holiday.  This group of people hoped desperately for a Messiah, the one who would deliver Israel.  That was what they wanted more than anything in the world. Then they heard, that it was they, themselves, by their own choice, stupid jumping all over them, had killed their only hope.  “How could we have been so blind?  Wait a second, you mean the miracle worker of Nazareth was it and we killed him?”  Yes, Peter concluded, that is what I mean. 

How would you feel to have made such a terrible mistake?  Some in that crowd had screamed, “Crucify Him!”  Some had taunted Jesus, “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross.”  Some had spit on him.  Others watched in horror but did nothing.  Many walked away. Now they discover they had killed their Messiah.  Listen to how they felt.

Acts 2:37  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart.

They heard who Jesus was and they believed the words.  The power of the Holy Spirit in those words convinced them of the truth.  Those words cut them to the heart.  Can you relate to this phrase, cut to the heart?  Do you know the feeling?  Have you ever really done something stupid?  And then later realize what you did and your heart hurts.  You would give anything to undo it.  Do you know how they felt?  Being cut to the heart hurts.  But in this case, as often it is, it was a good thing.  They heard the words.  They believed the words.  They were convicted by the words.  Their hearts were broke by the words.  They didn’t know what to do.

Acts 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

At this point the crowd doesn’t know what day it is.  They don’t know it is the birthday of the church.  It is sort of like they are at a surprise birthday party.  All they know is they have messed up and are wondering if there is any way in the world they might fix it.  What can we do?  We killed our Lord.  He is resurrected and now exalted, can we get him to come back.  Can we apologize?  Is there something we can do to make it right?  Can we get him to come back and have a do over.   

“Wait a second, Tim I thought this sermon was about gifts.  So far all you have talked about is killing Jesus.  When do we get to the gifts part?  You haven’t forgotten about the gifts have you?”  Be patient we are almost there. 

Acts 2:38  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.”

“What should we do?” Repent!  They were already sorry.  They were already cut to the heart.  They already believed in who Jesus was. Peter tells them to repent; change your thinking.  Change your direction.  Change your attitudes.  Give up stupid.  Quit being rebels.  Conform your life to the new Lord and Christ!  Okay, we got that we are going to be fundamentally different. There is a new way of thinking.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord.  I repent of all the stupid things and I am going to align myself with Jesus.   

And be baptized!  This must have been a surprising thing to hear from Peter.  They knew what baptism was.  All over Jerusalem there were ceremonial pools for cleansing.  They knew Gentiles who wanted to become Jews were dunked in these baptisteries.  I suspect most of them had been baptized by John the Baptist.  But Peter told “all of them” to be baptized!  Believing was great.  Being cut to the heart moved them to ask what they should do.  Repenting; reorienting their lives toward Jesus was amazing.  But then they needed to make a public acknowledgment of their allegiance.  It was a commitment point.  No doubt. Either you were or you weren’t baptized.  Step up to the plate and show the world whose side you are on.

This was something new.  If they wanted to be a part of the New Messiah’s kingdom they needed to be baptized, watch this, in the name of Jesus Christ! That was the new part.  This baptism was not an Old Testament ritual.  This baptism was not about John the Baptist, this baptism wasn’t for proselyte Jews, this baptism was to be a part of Jesus Christ the Lord.  It is an intentional decision to be associated with Jesus of Nazareth!  Wow, baptism connects me to the name of Jesus!  Wow, that is something new. 

To press our birthday analogy a little further, baptism is a birth.  Believing, being cut to the heart, repentance is all a part of the labor.  That is the part that hurts.  But baptism is the coming out part.  Baptism is the new birth! 

“What about the gifts? You said something about gifts that were better than HDTV.  We got the repent and be baptized part.  What about the gift part?”  Okay, we are ready for the birthday gifts. 

Acts 2:38  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

On this birth day of the church Peter announced that there were two remarkable gifts that were going to be given; forgiveness and the Holy Spirit. 

Forgiveness, what does that mean and how is it better than HDTV?  According to Peter, these people in the crowd, that day, were guilty of putting Jesus on a cross and taking his life.  Certainly that was a terrible wrong and needed to be punished.  Sin creates a debt.  Wrong needs to be punished.  We all feel that sense of injustice when someone commits a crime and gets away with it.  That is forgiveness.  It is getting away with it. It is the release of that debt.  You should be punished because of our wrongs, but then you aren’t.  It is an erasing of what is wrong.  It is the guilty verdict being reversed and being found not guilty.  That is an amazing gift!  All of the stupid, wrong, mistakes and hateful things you have ever done are erased. 

Just like a newborn is pure and clean and done nothing wrong, when you are born again in baptism your sins are forgiven!  And that is better than HDTV.  All the HD TVs in the world can never make your heart clean!  Am I right? 

 

Forgiveness is enough.  When you go to a birthday party and you buy the birthday boy a nice gift, one is enough.   Especially if the one gift is forgiveness.  Surely that is enough.  To know that God no longer counts my sins against me, is a wonderful gift.  To be able to walk through this life knowing my past will not be held against me, is  a spectacular gift.  Forgiveness is enough.

But it wasn’t enough for God.  He loves giving gifts.  So he gives a second gift; the Holy Spirit.  Peter has already quoted Joel when he predicted that the Spirit would be poured out upon all who call upon the name of the Lord.  Peter says the repenting and baptized person gets the gift of the Holy Spirit.  What all that means is going to be a theme of this entire year.  But let me say here that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the constant connection to God.  It is connecting to the wind and the fire and the words.  It is being filled with the power of Pentecost.  “You’re kidding?  We are connected to the power of God?”  I think that is what Peter is saying. 

Look quickly at what happened.  Peter preached Jesus.  The crowd was cut to the heart.  Peter told them to repent and be baptized.  Watch what happens.

Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

That makes 3,120 members of the newborn church of God.  Not a bad birthday. Luke makes it clear this was not just a one-time-thing. 

Acts 2:39  “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."

The birthday gifts of forgiveness and the Spirit are still being offered.  I don’t typically offer what we used to call an invitation.  But I think this passage calls for one.  If you have not been given the two gifts, if you have not repented and been baptized.  Think about it.  While we sing the next song, if you hear God calling you, which is what the passage says, then let’s do it the old way.  You can come to the front and we can do it today. It could be your new birthday. It could be the day you get two birthday gifts which are way better than HDTV.