“A lot of churches these days are wondering how they can attract young adults. They think of them as the future of the church and they want their church to have a future,” begins Jim Somerville, pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church and co-founder of A Sermon for Every Sunday. Somerville warned his church, “Be careful. Before we start throwing open the door to young adults, let’s make sure we are ready to welcome them.” In today’s passage from Acts 2:1-21, Peter defended those speaking in other languages, saying they were not “filled with new wine” but were filled with the Holy Spirit. He quoted the prophet Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28). Those prophecies, dreams, and visions might sound crazy, but Somerville reminds us that the spirit of God does some crazy things too. So, test the spirit to make sure it is of God, and don’t be too quick to judge.
Manuscript available: click HERE