Pentecost

CONNECT

Let the adults say: “Kon’nichiwa!”

Do you know what I just said?

I said, “Hello!” in Japanese!

Cool, right?

Could you try to say it?

(Let kids say, “Kon’nichiwa!”)

Adults say: Awesome! You are such a fast learner!

For our activity today, we are going to learn how to say “Hello!” in different languages. The table below shows three columns. In the first column, we can see the greeting, and in the second column, we can see how it is said or pronounced correctly. The third column shows the word “country.” But why do you think the names of the countries are not written? It’s because we have to guess which country this language belongs to! Challenging, isn’t it? Don’t worry; the tiny flags inside the boxes will give us a clue! Let’s start!

Now that we know some greetings from other languages, we can use these to greet our friends! Do you think we correctly guessed all the countries where these languages came from? We’ll find out after our Bible story and application.

READ THE WORD

You may be wondering why we talked about different languages. It actually has something to do with today’s Bible story. Let us read from Acts 2:1–8, 14:

When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers gathered in one place. Suddenly a sound came from heaven. It was like a strong wind blowing. It filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw something that looked like fire in the shape of tongues. The flames separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages they had not known before. The Spirit gave them the ability to do this. Godly Jews from every country in the world were staying in Jerusalem. A crowd came together when they heard the sound. They were bewildered because each of them heard their own language being spoken. The crowd was really amazed. They asked, “Aren’t all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then why do we each hear them speaking in our own native language? . . . Then Peter stood up with the 11 apostles. In a loud voice he spoke to the crowd. “My fellow Jews,” he said, “let me explain this to you. All of you who live in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I say. Acts 2:1–8, 14

The story that we have just read is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. If you can still remember our lesson from last week, Jesus said in Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will tell people about me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria. And you will even tell other people about me from one end of the earth to the other.” Acts 1:8

This is exactly what happened when the disciples were together during Pentecost.

As the story goes, all the disciples were gathered together in one place when, suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. After this, the disciples saw what looked like fire in the shape of tongues resting right above each of their heads. Then, one by one, the disciples started to do something impossible—they began speaking in different languages that they had not known before! In simple terms, they spoke a different language that they neither learned nor could understand. So how could this be, and what was its purpose?

The mighty power of the Holy Spirit did this miracle of being able to speak in another language. He did what was impossible. But what was the purpose of this amazing miracle?

Many Jews from all over the world were present in Jerusalem that day. They came to celebrate the day of Pentecost. These Jews knew how to speak the common international language during their time called common Greek. They also knew how to speak the language spoken by the Jews in Jerusalem. However, they also spoke the language of the nations where they lived.

When the disciples, who were mostly from the province of Galilee, spoke in the different languages of the nations without having learned them, these Jews from all over were amazed. It was very unthinkable that these simple Jews from the province would know how to speak the different languages from faraway nations. This was indeed a miracle. This miracle was an opportunity for Peter to preach the good news about Jesus to the crowd gathered there. Over 3,000 people put their faith in Jesus and became part of the church.

It is amazing what the Holy Spirit can do! God the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to believers. He, in turn, gives gifts to believers, and He also does miracles to help us tell other people about Jesus. In a world populated by 7.75 billion people, a huge number of men, women, and children from other nations have not heard about Jesus Christ. Would you like to take the challenge of being a witness for Christ to them? If so, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the power to do so. The gift available to the disciples back then is the same one available to us today.

HUDDLE

Parents to Kids

2–6 years old

• Who made the disciples speak in a different language?
• Do you think the Holy Spirit is powerful?

7–12 years old

• How do you feel about knowing that there are still people worldwide who do not know about God?
• Would you like to receive power from the Holy Spirit? Why?

Kids to Parents

• Have you experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in your life?
• As a family, how can we become effective in telling others around us about Jesus?

God gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do what we cannot do on our own. In what way do you want Him to help you? Be bold and ask God!

PRAY

Dear God, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to empower the disciples thousands of years ago. Like them, we ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and empower us to be effective witnesses for Jesus to other people, especially to those we encounter in the future who may not speak the same language as ours. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCOVER

Did you know that aside from this marvelous power of some believers to speak in a different tongue, the Holy Spirit can also bestow other spiritual gifts for God’s followers who desire to have them? First Corinthians 12:18–20 mentions that the Holy Spirit can likewise give the spiritual gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous power, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, and interpretation of tongues. These gifts are given to us, so we can fulfill our God-given mission of advancing His kingdom in the world. It is the Holy Spirit who chooses to give gifts to give to different people. We can ask Him for spiritual gifts, and if it is His will, we can give them to us.

Answers to the Connect activity: China, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Thailand, India