Christian Education for all ages.

May 28, 2023

PENTECOST

Lesson 13: Baptism in the Holy Spirit

CENTRAL TRUTH: God gave the Holy Spirit so every believer in Christ may be filled with the Spirit.

KEY VERSE: Acts 2:39 (New King James Version) — For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Pentecost Sunday is a time to reflect on the birth of the Early Church. More than that, it is a time to prayerfully consider your own experience with the Holy Spirit. As you study these verses, put yourself in the place of those early disciples, and experience the wonder they must have felt as they experienced that first outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If you have never received the baptism in the Spirit, immerse yourself in God’s Word and ask others to pray for you to receive this gif. The promise is just as real today as it was then.

Luke wrote the Book of Acts to a man named Theophilus, likely his friend and possibly, a high-ranking Gentile believer (Acts 1:1). It continues Luke’s Gospel, which concludes with Jesus’ ascension and His disciples gathering in Jerusalem, seeking God and waiting for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 24:49). Today’s lesson begins there and explores the biblical teaching of Holy Spirit baptism—a unique, empowering experience subsequent to salvation. It was foretold and received in the Early Church, and it remains a reality available to all believers.