A Tale of Three Perspectives - "The Crowd"

I have found in this life that people are drawn to wrecks. Have you ever been driving or riding on the highway only to have traffic slow to a crawl for miles only to get to the end and realize that people were simply slowing down to watch a major accident on the opposite side? It's infuriating. We can't help ourselves can we? We hear something, we see something of a devastating nature and we have to witness it. I think it's due to our curious nature that we have to see it for ourselves. God made us curious, and in some cases he uses that curiosity to his advantage.

The story of Pentecost is one of those times. Here The Holy Spirit comes announcing his arrival with a violent sound like a massive wind coming through. This sound was loud enough that everyone around the area in the city heard and came running. They were curious as to what was going on. Acts says that they get on the scene and they hear the disciples speaking about God in their own native language. God was speaking directly to the crowd. This had to be an amazing yet confusing moment. How was this even possible? All that the crowd knew was something came crashing through there and now the people involved were speaking languages that they should not know, languages that the crowd did.

I think it goes to show you that God is a missional God. He doesn't require people to learn his language to reach them, but rather will supernaturally give his people their language to do the job. God is willing to go to any lengths to reach his people. This should be comforting to us as his witnesses. We don't go in our own power and alone, but the Holy Spirit is actively involved in reaching our lost friends with us. God the Holy Spirit will not only bring them to you, but also set them up with questions so you can reach them. He does all the hard work and we just finish the job.

I challenge you today to let the Holy Spirit work in your life like he did here. Let him cause such a disturbance in your life that people come running to you to see what's going on. Step out in faith knowing and believing that the Holy Spirit has really done all the hard work for you already.

Here's your group question: If you were in the crowd that day what would you think was going on not knowing anything about the Holy Spirit? What would you be feeling? Would you be freaked out, worried, confused, or open? take a hard look and see this encounter through the eyes of someone else for a moment.