April 26, 2026 - The Way: Pentecost

Listen to this week's sermon from guest speaker, Caleb Salmond, as he takes a closer look at Acts 2:1-13.

For further information about Fort St John Alliance Church, check out our website fsjalliance.ca

Our desire is to become a community of people who practice the Way of Jesus together, and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, live on mission to meet the social and spiritual needs of the world around us. Each week, we gather as a community to worship, learn from God’s Word, and be encouraged in our walk with Christ.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Fort St. John Alliance Church Sermon Podcast. I'm Aaron Peters, the Executive Ministry Director. We're so glad you decided to join us today. Our desire is to become a community of people who practice the way of Jesus together and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit to live on missions to meet the social and spiritual needs of the world around us. Each week we gather as a community to worship, learn from God's Word, and be encouraged in our walk with Christ. In this podcast, you'll hear the latest message from our Sunday service. Whether you're listening from right here in Fort St. John or from afar, our prayer is that God will speak to your heart and strengthen your faith. Let's lean in together as we hear today's sermon.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Morning. We're going to uh stand and read the word of the Lord together. Okay, so we're reading from Acts 2 this morning. It says, when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one of them heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears it in its own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Capitocea, Pontius and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. We hear them declaring the wonders of God in his own tongue. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, What does this mean? Some, however, made fun of them and said, they've had too much wine.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah, going on the Mexico trip was uh just an amazing experience for all of us. And uh just for future years, uh keep your mind open as to whether God is calling you to go on that trip. I know I know a lot of you, but I haven't been up here in quite a while. My name is Caleb Salmond. Um my family and I live here, my wife Erin and my three kids who are teenagers, so they probably don't want me to mention their names. So they're Christine Tiffany and Elliot. Um I was on staff here uh from 2017 to 2021, I think it was. Um and that can be a tricky situation being in a church that you you served in. Um and I'd just like to thank Dan so much for uh his love that he has shown for me and yeah, really making it so it isn't a tricky situation. I just really appreciate that. And uh I've said this to Dan many times, and I still mean it. I'm so glad that you, that you, Dan, are our lead pastor in this time. So thank you. Of course, the rest of the staff, I kind of like you guys too. But uh yeah, thank you, Dan. Yeah, so the reason I haven't been up here much in the last few years is um I was sick, was not feeling well. Um I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2, and that is uh a lot like bipolar that most people know about, except for the manias are not as strong. So it often goes undiagnosed for a long time because um, yeah, in our our manias, our hypomanias they call them, uh, we don't absolutely drive everybody crazy. We just are extra productive, and uh my wife wishes she got more sleep because I was up for about 20 hours a day doing things. Uh and then I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. And uh chronic fatigue syndrome is one of those things where it's probably the worst name for it that you could ever give it. Um chronic fatigue makes it sound like you feel a little bit tired, where in fact it is some days getting out of bed is a challenge. Um I would always get out of bed just because I had to go to the bathroom and I would go to the couch afterwards because it was equal distance from the bathroom. So I might as well be out there where the people are and if I was able to maybe interact with them. Um so that is why I haven't been up here very much. Um, yeah, so like I was saying, I was on the Mexico trip. Uh, it wasn't originally supposed to be. Um it was, I think, nine days before we left that I found out I was going. Um I had just kind of wanted to, but didn't feel like my health would allow it, and that I would be a hindrance to the team if I would was to go. Uh and some things didn't work out with the travel plans for my kids, so we decided I would travel with them down to to Warez. And um yeah, since I was there, I was like I remember Josh particularly saying to me, Oh, we have to get you down there one of these years. And so I said to Dan and Nate, like, I I would love to go on the trip, but you know, I don't want to put any pressure on anybody if they kind of have their plan set. Um, yeah, don't don't worry about me. And uh so they asked me to come, and it was uh absolutely amazing. We got to throw the fiesta like uh everybody has been talking about so far this morning. And when I was there, I heard this little voice in the back of my head, something my wife had said to me after we found out I was going. She said, Well, maybe you're going to get healed. And so I was sitting there at the fiesta, absolutely tired. I'd cut a whole bunch of hair that morning, and that thought kind of came back into my mind, and I went, Well, if that's gonna happen, I'm probably gonna have to get somebody to pray for me. And so I kind of got up and just kind of wandered around, and uh one of the gentlemen who was playing music at the fiesta, uh, him and I kind of hit it off. We didn't speak any of the same language, but we kind of liked to joke around together, have fun. He just had a great personality. Um he was up in the back of a truck that they were loading up at the end of the day, and yeah, kind of right when I got there, there was a pause. People started stopped bringing stuff to them to load in the back of the truck. So I hopped up there on the bumper, and uh in very, very poor Spanish that I had asked somebody how to spay how to say 30 seconds earlier, I conveyed that I wanted them to pray for my health, and they prayed for me, and there was no no thunderbolt, no moment. It was just one of those experiences that happened, we moved along. And like I said, chronic fatigue syndrome is something that can like absolutely put you on your back. And the next three days, I wouldn't say like I was wonderful, but I did fine. And then the next three days, I did fine, and by this time I'm home. And the next day, day seven, it's a week. There hasn't been a week in the last four years where I haven't had a day at least where I was totally, totally out of commission. So then you start to get, let's say, excited and nervous, kind of looking over your shoulder, seeing if it's coming back. And today is exactly one month. The 26th. And I'm up here. I was up this morning, partially because my dog barking, but I was also fine getting up at 6:40 this morning and and getting ready and being here. I was up all day yesterday. No problems. And yeah, I just want to give glory to God for what he has done in my body and in my life. And uh I like to say, it turns out God had a plan again. Even though we don't know it, he has a plan and he is in control. So being up here is a blessing for me. Um, in those years where I didn't get to preach very much, uh, I really learned to cherish each time I got to be up here. And so over the years I've prayed, each time I get to preach, I just pray the same prayer afterwards. Lord, I ask you for one more. Whenever, whenever you're ready, but I ask for one more chance to share. So this morning we're gonna be looking at Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost, and I'm just gonna pray before we dig in. Heavenly Father, we thank you so, so much. Because you are good, you are merciful, and you are mighty. That there's nothing too big for you to handle, and there's no detail that's too small for you to care about. Today we just pray that each and every heart would be open to you, that each and every heart would hear your voice. We pray this in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. So today, like I said, Acts 2, the start of Acts 2, the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. And in my opinion, it's the official start of the New Testament church. Because before that they were just a group of followers of Jesus, and now they actually have the presence of Jesus in them. So the first verse says, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And that one little verse actually sets the stage for the rest of the chapter. You see, first of all, it tells us that the people were being obedient. They'd been told to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. And there they were. The second thing is that they were all together as a community. It wasn't one person off by themselves. This is the church where people are all together waiting for God to act. Actually, kind of a little bit like this morning, isn't it? We're all here, we're all together. And the third thing is that it says that it was the day of Pentecost. We often think of that as the coming of the Holy Spirit. We think of it in terms of that's the day it started. But actually, Pentecost means fifty in Greek. It was fifty days after the Passover. And so this was aligned with the day of first fruits. This is one of the three pilgrimage um feasts that the Israelites had where they would come to Jerusalem from all over the world in order to take part in these feasts. So that is the context of what we have going into the rest of this chapter. There's also one really interesting thing that the Pentecost lines up with when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses at Mount Sinai. Right? The first Passover, and they were passed over by the angel of the Lord, and their firstborns were not killed. Fifty days later, they had left Egypt, and here they were at Mount Sinai, and they receive the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant, the law. And now we're in the New Testament, and this is the New Covenant. That rapid and flipping upside down of the world that Jesus did. Right? He didn't just steer it a little bit, but he flipped things right upside down. Leadership by serving, right? Saving by dying. These are not the way that we thought the world worked. Okay, so verse two through four verse four. So suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. So this is very much the portion where the supernatural happens. The things that might make us feel a little uncomfortable. So the first thing is the rushing wind. And actually, I have a little bit of story from Mexico about that as well. I didn't go on the hikes the day before the fiesta. I wanted to save my energy. I wanted to rest and kind of be at my best. Had lots to do that day. So as the other others were gone, I was out sitting on a rock, looking over the valley, and yeah, I prayed for this rushing wind. I prayed that it would come and that his spirit would fill the canyon. And I got the littlest gust of wind, just a little. I thought, well, maybe that's the start of something. God can do a lot with a small, small little start. So then the fiesta happens. And near the end of the day, Pastor Thomas is preaching. He's had some people, some of the Tarmarn people, share their testimonies, and then he's preaching, and it's it's about a minute or two minutes before he gives an altar call where he gives people the opportunity to come and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And there is a tarp set up. I was kind of above where the musicians were playing and where Pastor Thomas was preaching, provide a little bit of shade. And at this point, the wind started to come up. And it started to come up more. Until the point where Pastor Thomas had to step out from underneath the tarp because it was hitting him in the head as it flapped in the wind. God, he doesn't just work miracles in the past. He does it today. And that rushing of the wind, afterwards, I couldn't count how many people were there, partially because my eyes were a little bit blurry with tears in it, and partially because I was sitting and there's too many people for me to see all of them. But there is, I'm gonna guess somewhere between 75 and 100 people who came forward. And I don't know all their stories, but I have been praying that the seed would have fell on the tilled soil, that it would grow from something there into something that flourishes and has a huge impact on that area. After the rushing wind came in in Acts 2, it then talks about the fire, the tongues of fire that came and rested on each of them. And fire has very much significance in the Bible. All throughout scripture, fire is used to symbolize things. And in this, I think it symbolizes the Holy Spirit. If we look at Matthew 3:16, Jesus' baptism, as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. Right? The Spirit coming down and symbolizing the symbolization of them symbolizing it with the image of a dove, just like the fire comes down and rests on the people. It's the Holy Spirit. This is where the priesthood accepts the first offering for the people of Israel, a number of offerings. And fire comes and consumes that offering. Not started by man, but just God's fire comes and consumes the offering as an acceptable offering. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah calls fire down from heaven and ignites the wet-soaked burnt offering. And it's completely consumed. Again, God showing that that offering is his. And we are the offering. And the fire has come and it has rested on us. And our lives, right? A living sacrifice. Our lives are that offering that we have to give to God. We don't have to go and get doves, a young bull, a lamb, because Jesus is the lamb for us. And that we are the living offering that we give to Christ. And then the one I want to kind of focus on is Exodus 3. Moses at the burning bush. And so we've got this imagery of flame again. And we have Moses who sees it and goes towards it. And God tells him to stop, to take off his sandals because he is on holy ground. He can't even go closer. Because God's holiness just cannot be around sin. It is impossible for God and sin to touch. And then fast forward to Acts 2. We don't have to stop when we get close. The fire comes right to us. And that is the amazing work of Jesus on the cross that allows God to come and rest right upon us. And then in the next verse, it actually fills us. The Holy Spirit fills us. And they then speak in tongues. And I don't want to go too much into speaking in tongues because Pastor Dan spoke on this in February, I believe it was. And I know he was just baiting me by giving me this passage. He wanted me to tell you all the things that he said wrong. But I'm not going to go there. I'm going to take the higher road. And yeah, I'm just going to talk a little bit about speaking in tongues. The image that always comes to my mind is Charlie Brown. When the adults are speaking, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. That's the thing that comes to mind. But that's not what happened in this passage. Right? That miracle, the miraculous again, where each and every person could understand what was being said. One thing I want to point out here is that it wasn't chaos. It wasn't just everybody speaking in tongues all at once. There's a little bit at the end of the verse there that tells us that they spoke in tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Often we kind of see that as just chaos going on, everybody speaking in tongues at once, but that's not the picture that Scripture actually gives us. When we talk about that, all being able to understand, all being able to be connected, and like we were talking about in the video, actually Joey talking about being able to communicate with people of God, we have that ability. But that was actually taken away from us in the Old Testament at the Tower of Babel. Man was working together to try to be like God. And that's actually the same words that are used in the Garden of Eden when Eve ate the fruit. That she could be like God. Holiness, that is being like God, being set apart. And because of Jesus, in this day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes and they are united with the holiness of God, right? God living in them. And so now, instead of everybody being separated by language, not because of their own efforts to be like God, God has bridged the gap and come to them. Now we'll move on to the next section where I'm dreading saying the names of all these places. I learned from Ed that we should just be able to say this guy and the other guy and those other bunch of people, or this place and that place, but I will go through it and try to pronounce all these names. Carrie Ann did a very good job. So now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard the sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, Aren't all those who are speaking Galileans? That how is it that each of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Amazed and perplexed, they ask one another, what does this mean? Well, God is giving us a picture here. This is a diverse group. They don't all speak the same language. If you'll pull up the map here, you can see where Jerusalem is, the bottom right corner, where the square is there. And the first three places that are listed are the Parthians, the Medes, and the Elamites. They are all from what is modern day Iran. If you can pull up the next one there, Kylie. They're off the map. That's how far it is. That arrow points over that direction. They have, because of the diasporia of the Jewish people, they have come back for this day of first fruits, this festival, this feast that they are having. And then the next group is residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia. And there you fill in the map even more. Getting a little bit further away towards the east and the north. And Mesopotamia is a very interesting place. It's not that far away, but a very different culture. I accidentally got stuck in the Mesopotamian section of the Louvre one time and spent a half an hour there seeing all the stuff trying to get to the Egypt exhibit, actually. But man oh man, for a place that I had never heard of, the culture and just the amazing things that they had built. After that, people from Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and parts of Libya near Cyrene. Again, the map is filled in a lot more. There's the people from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism. And then finally the Cretians and the Arabs. There they are, people from all over the map. We have Europe cover. We have Asia in Turkey there. We have Africa and the Middle East over in Iran. Now that is a lot of the known world at this time. These are not people that are all going to speak the same language. God has given us this wide view of who is there. Because there should be no confusion that this was a miraculous event. Then we're going to move on to the last verse in this section. Some, however, made fun of them and said they have had too much wine. And I've never seen them that drink that much wine, then they start making sense. Just not my experience. But this is their response because they don't know how to take it in. They have to put it off because it is so beyond what they can accept as real, that they make up a really silly excuse. Psalm 1, verse 1 says, Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers. Scoffers, that's exactly what these people were. They're scoffing at the work of God, saying, Ah, I don't accept that. And I worry sometimes that we are the scoffers. As soon as it gets a little bit beyond our comfort zone, we start making excuses and we start looking for earthly reasons that this could happen. I know I have in the past felt very uncomfortable being around things. And we do have to test all things. It has to match Scripture. We're not looking for things that are outside of what Scripture tells us about who God is. We can never get away from that. But we also have to accept the things of God, the things that He is doing in us and around us and around the world. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, just like these people on the day of Pentecost, we are filled for a purpose. Primarily for discipleship, being witnesses to those around the world. Right? In Acts 1, verse 8, it talks about it, them going and being witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the rest of the world. And in Matthew 28, in the Great Commission, go and make disciples. That is the command. And today we are also empowered to do something. But I worry that we want to just see the whole picture. This is what we're supposed to do, and we're waiting for till we know all the steps. We know the whole plan. But unfortunately, that's not how God gives plans a lot of the time. When Abram was called to leave his father and take his flocks, he wasn't told where the promised land was. He was just given a direction, and then the next day he'd be given another direction. The Israelites, after they'd left Egypt, we got the Tower of Fire at night and the tower of smoke during the day for them to follow. Not an end destination, just the next step. So I have a question for you. What is that step that God is calling you into right now? I do not believe that there are anybody, any place at any time that doesn't have a step that God is calling them into. And sometimes it is uncomfortable the thing that he's calling us to. And that's okay. And sometimes it takes a little bit longer for us to get our head wrapped around it and being brave. Kind of like Josh was talking about, he he did never want to be the one praying, casting a demon out of a young man who's running at him on all fours. That was not in his wheelhouse. So the question is, will we follow the Holy Spirit's guidance? And then will we accept the empowerment that the Holy Spirit gives us? Right? Because the Holy Spirit doesn't just give us something to do and then take off. He is with us every step of the way. He is in us and he is for us, and our job is obedience. Our job is not to do the amazing things. Our job is to show up and wait for God to work. Just like these people on the day of Pentecost. Our job is to show up and wait for Him. That's what they were doing, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. Can you invite the band to come back up at this time? So with those questions in mind, I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes this morning, and as you're sitting there, ask yourself that question. Am I willing to listen to what the Holy Spirit is asking me to do? Am I willing to accept the empowerment that He has for me? Or am I wanting to do things on my own? So everybody sit with your eyes closed, and if you are willing, place your hands out in front of you with your palms up, ready to receive what the God, the God of righteousness, the God of holiness, the God of kindness has for you. And I'll pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for loving us. Loving us so much, Lord Jesus, that you would die on the cross for us and then ascend into heaven to prepare a place for us. Father, we long to know your will. Jesus, we want to hear your voice. Holy Spirit, we ask that we would feel your nudge. And we trust that you will empower us, that you will be with us, that you will make the path smooth for whatever we are called to do. We pray this all in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.