Sermons By A Word From The Lord with Archbishop Foley Beach
Episodes
Sunday May 31, 2020
Sunday May 31, 2020
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the Holy Spirit, the third entity of the Trinity, was poured out; therefore, everyone is entitled to have a personal relationship with God through prayer and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Luke, in Acts 2:38, tells us of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to Christians: “And Peter said to them, ‘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.’". Pentecost changed the previous limited and temporary inclusion of the Holy Spirit, a gift from God, into the means for humans to have a life personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit is a portion of God’s Grace of Salvation through Jesus’ death and Resurrection. The Holy Spirit is available to all that believe and follow Jesus.
In 1900, the world-wide awakening with the Holy Spirit began when a humble Roman Catholic Nun obeyed the voice of the Lord and wrote to Pope Leo encouraging him to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Based on his concerns with all that was going on in the world, Pope Leo responded to the letter by calling an assembly of the College of Cardinals to a prayer vigil at the Vatican on New Year’s Eve. This beginning spread the same night to Topeka Kansas; and the Holy Spirit descended over the world during the next six years with one revival in California lasting twenty-four hours a day for three years; and the world received a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we and the world need to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit -- this is what Pentecost is all about. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus among us. Our being filled with the Holy Spirit is normal Christianity. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to commune with God and to have a personal relationship with Him -- the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus among us. You cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. Pentecost reminds us that we are given Spiritual Gifts so that we might be a witness to the Lord.
You will be filled with the Holy Spirit every day that you surrender your life to the Holy Spirit. You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit if you are consumed by sin and the desires of your flesh.
Are You being led by the Holy Spirit, or you just doing what you think is best? Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
Scripture Reference (ESV): Acts 2:38; Genesis 1:2; 1 Corinthians 2:1-11; Acts 2:1-13; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Peter 1:20; Galatians 5:16-20; Philippians 4:13-20; Acts 1:8.
ARCHBISHOP BEACH’S “CHAIRMAN’S LETTER” TO ANGLICANS GLOBALLY:
Beloved in Christ Jesus: Greetings in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
At Pentecost we rejoice that we are indeed ‘not left as orphans’ (John 14:18), but through the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us in fulfilment of God’s promise. It is by the Spirit of Jesus in our hearts that we are able to cry ‘Abba! Father! (Galatians 4:6) and even though many of us may not be able to able to sing the praises of God together in this time of pandemic, may our hearts nonetheless overflow with praise and adoration to God who so wonderfully restores us through his Son in the power of the Holy Spirit!
But this work of the Spirit in our hearts is part of a much bigger picture. When my brother Primate Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit addressed the Kenyan nation on 25th May he began with a reference to Romans 8:22,23:
“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also, we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
Much of his pastoral address is very practical, rightly directed to the pressing needs of those who are suffering, as are many in East Africa, not only from the impact of coronavirus, but also from locust plagues and flooding. But the biblical context he chose helpfully reminds us of the bigger picture of Pentecost.
Authentic life in the Spirit involves groaning as well as rejoicing. Disease is a sharp reminder of the pain, frustration and decay built into this present world order, but these things should not lead us to despair because the groaning of our hearts resonates with the whole creation in a deep sigh of longing that comes from the Spirit himself. And just as Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23), likewise the first fruits of the Spirit anticipate all that is to come. So, we can face the brokenness of the present, but with hope.
We can see that hope in action through the Anglican Church of Kenya’s B2B (Balcony to Balcony) service initiative where people have joined in worship from their balconies while churches around the world are reaching beyond their regular congregations with online services, even pressing forward with planting new churches as the Anglican Mission in England is doing.
So, we see that biblical ‘waiting’ is not merely passive but leads to action because of what we hope for. This includes a special care for the vulnerable. In my previous letter I mentioned the work being done in North America and around the world to meet the needs of those who have lost livelihoods. But there are other challenges. For example, my brother Primate Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba has strongly warned against an increase in violence, especially towards women, during the coronavirus lockdown.
Underlying all the anxiety about the current pandemic is of course the fear of death. Some have been affluent enough to sustain lifestyles which seek to deny this reality, but the virulence of this disease has broken that illusion allowing the Christian hope, imprinted in our hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit, to shine forth with new clarity. As Archbishop Emmanuel Egbunu, Bishop of Lokoja in Nigeria, has so rightly said “If death meets you now, your inheritance is already waiting for your arrival.”
What better time than Pentecost to ask the Father to fill you afresh and anew with the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). The promise of Pentecost is that ‘you shall receive power’ (Acts 1:8) to be Christ’s witnesses. As all of us witness to the saving truth of the gospel in this broken and suffering world, may Christ be enthroned anew in our hearts and lives, and may we be daily sustained by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit until that day when we see him face to face!
Your brother in the hope and faith of Christ,
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
Chairman, Gafcon Primates Council
WEBSITE LINK: www.AWordFromTheLord.org/
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Covid-19 Pentecost: Be Filled with the Holy Spirit – Today, Covid-19 Issues Need an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
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