Pentecost

Passage: Acts 2:1-21 Theme: Pentecost - The Gathering That Changed The World

Music choices 

How Great Is Our God

Todd Galberth (Nicole)

Vacancy

Volney Morgan & New-Ye

Dwell

Jay Todd (Stephanie)

Cornerstone

Hillsong (P. Tanya)

Amazing God

Volney Morgan & New-Ye

SCRIPT

ANGEL:

Good morning, I’m Pastor Angel Morgan, welcome to Alive City Church, in North London. We’re so excited that you are joining our worship as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday - the time when the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ followers to continue his work after his Ascension to heaven. I lead this church with my husband Volney Morgan - and our gospel group Volney Morgan and New Ye will be joining us to sing this morning as we celebrate our 20th year as a choir.

 In 2018 we set up Alive City Church as we wanted to create a Church AND a community for people to belong, believe in Christ and become all that God has created them to be. In this house our mission is Kingdom over Everything, spreading the good news of God’s Kingdom wherever we go so let’s celebrate the spread of this kingdom truth with ‘How Great is our God’

SONG: How Great Is Our God

Todd Galberth 

PRAYER: ESTHER

Righteous Most Heavenly Father,

We thank You, we bless You, we honour You, we glorify You this day. Father God We thank You for the opportunity to be gathered together in Your house for Pentecost. We thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ and the gift of The Holy Spirit. 

We pray that you would fill our hearts and our minds Lord God and that Your Presence would rest upon us. We pray that Your presence would be felt just like on the day of Pentecost, where there were tongues of fire that descended upon your sons and Your daughters. We are Your sons and Your daughters, Father God we pray that Your Holy Spirit and Your presence would be felt in Jesus Name. We pray that You would meet with us here today - Holy Spirit, we invite You in and ask that You would have your way. May your Spirit move amongst us and breathe upon us. We pray that the praise that we offer up be acceptable unto You. That our heart posture be acceptable unto you. Amen

PASTOR TANYA

At Alive City we aim to help people to find their identity in Christ so that they can come Alive. 

We believe our Identity is found in Christ, you can Belong before you Believe, but as you Belong we pray that you do come to Believe and then Become everything Christ has planned for you.

Alive City Church held our Vision Night on the 19th December 2018 the hall was mostly made up of close friends and relatives - and our first service on January 6, 2019 with seats made bare whenever the praise team stood up to sing as they formed the majority. However, fuelled by his faith in God Pastor Volney insisted that every seat to the back of the hall was put out even though most weeks he preached to empty chairs. Week to week the congregation grew and just when we all thought Alive city was reaching its tipping point and a flood of people were about to come in, the global pandemic hit. 

As services could no longer be delivered in person, the church after a period of uncertainty, moved to online services filming on mobile devices and streaming online. This included pre-recording praise and worship, sermons and delivering Alive City Kids sessions virtually. Despite the challenges that the pandemic brought not only to Alive City but the wider Church, we preserved to continue bringing forth the message of Kingdom over everything in a time where so many were seeking for hope and community and in 2021 we eagerly returned to in-person services. 

Over the years we’ve seen tremendous growth. Not only in congregation size but also in the church’s ability to pour into the community, both locally and abroad. We have seen growth in our Youth department that has gone from being made up primarily of the leaders’ children to now over 40 Children and teens, which led to us starting our twice yearly ‘Youth Takeover’ services where the Young people plan and deliver the entire service. Our experience within the gospel music industry has meant we’ve brought choirs to Alive City to bring the wider community together – like through a concert showcasing Gospel music from both the UK and Europe with ‘Together Fest’ in 2025.

Leading up to celebrating 8 years, Alive city Church truly is a creative church that seeks to minister the gospel and bridge gaps between communities and we will continue to do so in love, faith and resilience that all may find their identity in Christ and truly come alive. 

We’ll hear more from Pastors Volney and Angel Morgan about the work they do with gospel choirs across the UK and Europe, but first we’ll hear one of their songs Vacancy – it’s a reminder that we can let the Holy Spirit move through our lives…

SONG: Vacancy

Volney Morgan & New-Ye

ANGEL & VOLNEY - Short interview: with Pastor Vo…

Angel qn – Pastor Volney tell us about the meaning of Vacancy

We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year…

How has our work with choirs across Europe developed?

Eg mention choirs from Leeds, Bridge Gospel Choir Paris etc

SONG: Cornerstone

Hillsong

ANGEL:

Today’s reading comes from Acts 2:1-21, where 120 disciples gathered and waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit are suddenly filled, and in that moment, the Church is born!

READING: ELDER PATRICK

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservantsI will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass. That whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

ANGEL SERMONETTE: THE GATHERING THAT CHANGED THE WORLD 

We are in the book of Acts, witnessing the birth of the Church. Not a building. Not a programme. The Ecclesia. A gathering of citizens. Citizens of the Kingdom of God. Of a new way of living of navigating the spaces we live in. Now let me ask you, seeing the state of the world, are you saying, God where are you in all of this? Are you expecting him to come down and fix it or are you desperate enough to believe that you can be the agent of change. Let me show you what happened when a gathering got desperate, because it changed the world. 

Jesus had just ascended, he had spent 40 days with them after the resurrection speaking to them of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Then he tells them to wait. This is important. Wait. But wait for what? wait for the promise of the Father, wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, wait for the game plan. And still their last question to him was will you restore the kingdom to Israel? With this question, Jesus knew that they hadn’t yet caught just how important their role would be in changing the world. After everything. Three and a half years of walking with him. The crucifixion. The resurrection. Forty days of Kingdom teaching. And they were still looking at Rome. Still staring at the problem in front of them.

But isn’t that just like us? We spend time with Jesus, and we’re still anxious. Still worried about the rising cost of living, about war, about rumours of war. We have faith, but the weight of the world still presses in.

But again Jesus made them a promise. He said, “you will receive power,”. The Greek word being dunamis, meaning might, strength, a power that arises from numbers, the kind of power that rests with armies! What an incredible promise to give 120 people in a room.

But when would they receive this power? When the holy spirit had come upon them. And what would they do with it? Become witnesses. What is a witness? Someone who has seen with their own eyes heard with their own ears, and or experienced an event first hand. What Jesus was saying, was they would see first hand the power, presence and the move of God and they would have the boldness, Dunamis power and backing to speak about it, they would become the evidence of a new way of living. 

But there was an instruction. Wait. 

I want you to notice what they did with that instruction, they were in one accord, in prayer and supplication. That word matters. Supplication isn’t a polished, composed prayer. Supplication is a desperate plea. It’s when you’ve run out of other options. It’s when you’re on your knees, maybe bawling your eyes out, because you know, that you know that you know, that you need something from God and that only He can give it. They were desperate for something they had no reference for. But if Jesus said it, it was worth pursuing. 

Has anyone ever been there? I know I have.

But it’s that posture, that place of unified desperation that changes everything.

And here in the text, one accord, one place, we find the word suddenly. In the midst of prayer and supplication, suddenly, when the day of pentecost had FULLY come, suddenly, and it did not come quietly, it announced itself, loudly, “Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind. Another translation says gale force. Have you ever heard wind move through a building? It howls. It roars. It flings doors open. You don’t wonder whether something is happening, you know it.

And then fire. Divided tongues of fire, resting on each one of them. The same fire that appeared to Moses in the desert the burning bush from afar was now spreading like a wildfire across 120 ordinary people in a room. This was the fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:33 God taking the law from stone tablets and writing it on hearts. The old covenant had met its completion. Something new had arrived.

And they began to speak in other tongues.

I want you to see the intentionality of God! This didn’t just happen on a random day, it happened on the Jewish festival of Shavuot which celebrated the harvest and giving of the LAW, where people from every nation were gathered in Jerusalem. God chose this same day to give us the HOLY SPIRIT. This is the day of Pentecost. And at the sound, a crowd came running. And what did they hear? The gospel, in their own language, their own mother tongue, with a depth no second language can carry. They couldn’t have reached that moment without the Holy Spirit. God knew exactly who would be there. The waiting wasn’t wasted, it was preparation for what was coming!

But as with anything questions arise. Two different responses to the same event. Genuine amazement, “what does this mean?” And cynicism, “they’re drunk”. But I want you to notice something. Peter, stood up with the eleven, before the crowd and opened up his mouth. He did not let the cynicism silence his witness. He was evidence. Because this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times in front of a little servant girl. He now stands before a multitude and declares the fulfilment of scripture “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh” meaning your age, race, social status doesn’t matter, He states “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

This same Peter preaches and 3000 souls are added to the Church!

This is what the Holy Spirit does! This what Jesus promised. He takes the unlikely, the counted out, the ordinary, and backs them with extraordinary power.

This is the blueprint for the Church, this is the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit didn’t fall on a big stage or a stadium, he fell in a room of 120 desperate, unified people who were willing to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit in spite of what was happening in the world around them, their unity brought the suddenly, their gathering gave room for the spirit to fall like fire on 120 ordinary, desperate, willing people, ignite them and give them the words to reach the whole world. That same spirit is available to us, to whoever calls.

It started with a gathering. 120 people. One room. One desperation. And it changed the world.

I believe as we gather all over the world on this Pentecost Sunday, we can too!

Our next song is dwell here by Jay Todd, our desperate plea for God to dwell with us and in us.

SONG: Dwell

Jay Todd

PRAYERS

Min Shanice Hobbs

Father we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. 

1 Corinthians 6:19 reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We thank you that as you dwell within us, we will be empowered to live for you and do your will. We recognise that you do not solely empower us for personal gain, but so that we can be your hands and feet in the earth. So that we can be light in this dark world.

In John 14:26 your word states that the Holy Spirit is a helper. Father we need your help more than ever before. We put our world before you, where there is destruction, wars and corruption. We speak life in every dire situation and ask that you will heal our land. Transform hearts and minds by your Holy Spirit. 

For all those who are walking through seasons of uncertainty or illness, we ask that you will fill their hearts with hope and peace. Remind them that your Holy Spirit is always with them, that nothing they are facing has caught you by surprise but in-fact you are sovereign and in control. 

We pray for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted around the world, we pray that you will protect them and strengthen them. We pray that in their darkest moments they will be reminded that you will never leave them. We pray that you will turn the hearts of the oppressors and cause peace to reign.

Gabe

Heavenly Father we thank You for Your goodness, thank You for Your everlasting love. For Your tender mercies that are new every morning. Thank You Jesus for the bread of Your body broken for our wholeness, the wine of Your blood poured out for the cleansing of our sins and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit that now lives inside of us. We glorify You, worship You. We say You alone are worthy of praise, of glory, of power and dominion. We say we love You Lord. We adore You

We pray Holy Spirit that You would fill us once again, fan us to flame. Ignite us to burn brightly for You in a world that so desperately needs Your light, Your love and truth.

We pray that You would open the eyes of our heart to be sensitive, receptive to the leading of Your word.

God, it is Your word that cleans us, it is Your Spirit that transforms us. We pray You make us holy as You are holy. To be set apart for Your plan and purpose on the earth, that we would be a church spotless and without blemish. Awaken your church like on the day of Pentecost, that we would boldly proclaim the gospel in all we do and that You Jesus, would have Your bride in us.

We thank You for all You are and continue be in our lives.We love You

In the mighty name of Jesus Christ we pray

And with that we say together..

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, AMEN

Angel and Volney to chat about the impact of gospel music –

Why is gospel gaining popularity –

Why is it so powerful?

We mentioned about choir workshops around Europe – crosses traditions eg – why is it so powerful.

So 20 years of VMNYE - what’s next?

And intro last song for our worship this morning…Amazing God – it’s a favourite…

Angel - Let us say the benediction together, And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father and the full fellowship of the Holy Spirit the Comforter, rest remain and abide with us all, now and forever more.

AMEN

SONG: Amazing God 

Volney Morgan & New Ye