Acts 2.1-13 (GNT)

Let Your Light Shine and Rejoice in the SpiritPentecost (Western Churches)

¹When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. ²Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. ⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. ⁶When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages. ⁷In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, "These people who are talking like this are Galileans! ⁸How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? ⁹We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, ¹¹both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia - yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!" ¹²Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, "What does this mean?" ¹³But others made fun of the believers, saying, "These people are drunk!"

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Read

Acts 2:1 - ¹3 : God sends the Holy Spirit to give power and courage to the apostles. They begin to tell the good news about Jesus, which people hear in many different languages. Some people are happy and excited, while others make fun of them.

Reflect

Have you ever traveled to a place where you didn’t know the language? We experience language differences not only between countries, but also between cultures within our own country. How can we use different cultural languages to share the gospel?

Pray

God of many languages, teach me how to share your word across cultures and countries, that people may recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit through familiar words. Amen.

Prayer Concern

People learning a new language