Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Acts 2:1-24, 32-33, 36), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [1-6] The day of Pentecost marked the beginning of a new age of the reign of Jesus as Lord and Savior of all peoples. The Spirit served as a “universal translator” for the initial proclamation of the Gospel, blessing the nations to hear the Gospel in their native languages. At Babel, God introduced the language barrier in order to prevent sinful humanity from building community around sinful objectives. At Pentecost, language barriers are removed because humanity can now find true community and life in the Savior God provided. Do you think all Spirit-filled believers should expect to be able to speak in languages we haven’t learned? Do you think it belongs to the mission of all Spirit-filled believers to take the time to learn to communicate the Gospel to all kinds of people?

• [7-11] There was a long, multi-ethnic list of people targeted by the Holy Spirit for salvation on the day of Pentecost; about 3,000 people heard the Gospel, believed, repented, and were baptized into the church (v. 41). People of different nations, tribes, and tongues are always suspicious of each other, but are truly brought together in Christ—and in Christ alone. Why is the church the only place where such barriers are truly overcome, and the Spirit of Christ the only true resource for real reconciliation? How does this belief interact with your expectations for race reconciliation? Do you think our nation can accomplish race reconciliation through politics, economics, force, or a shaming culture? Do you act as if race reconciliation can be accomplished outside the church and apart from the Gospel? If you truly believed that the Spirit-filled church with the Gospel of Jesus Christ were the only place for true reconciliation, how would it change the way you act?

• What should we think or do about the obvious fact that the church often does not live like the church at Pentecost? that believers can easily demonstrate racist prejudices? Why are people suspicious of those who are different from themselves? Are you exempt from this problem? What is it about a relationship with Jesus that changes us to love those who are different from us? Can you make others change? Will angry condemnation help fix the problem in the church?

• [12-21] Peter begins his Pentecost sermon with a biblical defense of the phenomenal power of the Spirit as the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring salvation to “all flesh,” a miracle of cosmic proportions and significance (symbolized with the apocalyptic language of blood, fire, smoke, and eclipses). Why is it easy for scoffers to write off the Spirit-filled church as drunken lunatics (v. 13)? What would the world be like if it had just continued on with “business as usual,” without being turned upside-down at Pentecost? Would society be sober and reasonable, guided by just laws and human decency?

• [22-36] The work of the Spirit is to exalt the very human Jesus as the Lord and Savior appointed by God. He does this by making it so that the church can’t stop talking about the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord Jesus. In Jesus, God became a human so that he could work out our salvation as a human, and pour out his Spirit as a human. What honor does this confer upon our humanity? What does this say about God? What does it say about our suspicion and distrust of God’s intentions toward us? Do you want what God is offering here through Jesus? Have you repented of your cosmic treason, called on the name of the Lord for salvation from yourself and for the forgiveness of your sins, and been baptized into the Spirit-filled humanity in Christ? Do you know this to be the greatest need of every person you know? Have you experienced the emboldening of the Holy Spirit enabling you to talk about Jesus without fear, with the power of love?