Pentecost is one of the most important days of the Christian year. Pentecost is June 8 this year. It occurs seven weeks after Easter and marks the gift of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus. The story is based on Acts 2:1-42, which includes the sermon that Peter gave that day, his call to repentance, and the reaction of those who welcomed his message, leading to the baptism of about three-thousand persons.

In reviewing the many sermons I preached on Acts 2:1-42 during my years as pastor of Village Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland, I counted at least 24 different messages. How is it possible to preach on the same passage of scripture so many times and still have something “new” to say?

Part of it is moving from the “what” question to the “so what” question. The “what” question addresses what the text says. The “so what” question addresses what the text means. Discerning the meaning of the text involves personal interpretations. It relates to what is going on in my life and in the lives of those who hear the message.

In other words, the “so what” question asks, “so what does this mean for me and for us?” It moves beyond telling what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, to what those events mean for us in our time.

In his sermon Peter said that not only had the Holy Spirit been poured out on the followers of Jesus, but that everyone who repents and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ receives the gift of the Holy Spirit too.

That is part of what Pentecost means. But to further understand the implications, we need to ask ourselves what it means to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and how that gift impacts our lives today and in the future.

Okay, that begins to explain how it is possible to preach a “new” message on the same scripture text so many times. The message is “new” because we continue to explore and discover what the gift of the Holy Spirit means for our lives.

Three of the sermons I preached on Acts 2 are included in the second chapter of my book, Spelunking Scripture: Acts and the General Epistles of the New Testament. The sermons are titled: “The Gift of the Holy Spirit,” and “Filled with the Spirit,” and “One in the Spirit.” At the end of the chapter are some questions for discussion/reflection.

1. How would you explain to a non-Christian the gift of the Holy Spirit?
2. What power has the Holy Spirit given you?
3. What can we do to accentuate our unity through the Spirit?
4. How does your life show that you are filled with the Spirit?
5. How can you be guided by the Holy Spirit in your day-to-day life?

Simply thinking about and reflecting on and answering those questions could lead to a lot more sermons about Pentecost and Acts 2.