The arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is about the formation, the identification, and the articulation of the Church as filled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Being part of the people of God is not about being Jewish or being involved in the temple in Jerusalem. It is about embracing Jesus Christ as the only path to eternal life.

Paul specifically addresses the problem of private interpretation, even among those in the Church. False teachers will arise and the Church needs to be attentive to this and address this. Being part of the Church is not about being wealthy or comfortable but about loving God and loving your neighbor.

The apostles were often arrested, beaten, and imprisoned, yet remained faithful to their responsibility. In most situations in our lives, we don't understand what is happening or how our words and actions can positively impact others.

Our comfort and pleasure is not what matters, what matters is being faithful, loving God, and loving our neighbor.

Sometimes it takes something tragic and sad to move us to act. Sometimes we need the difficult to move forward and take that scary first step. When Stephen became the first martyr, other believers fled from Jerusalem and took the gospel out into the known world, achieving great success.

From this the Church was formed in Antioch, eventually led by and built up by Barnabas and Paul.

At the pool of Bethesda, Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. In the same way, we must respond to Jesus' work of freeing us from the power of sin and death. We must say 'yes', I want to pursue holiness so as to be truly human.

There is one holy, apostolic Church, that which Jesus established with the apostles and what the apostles handed down to the next generation, and this has continued by apostolic teaching to this day.

Private interpretation is not an option, those who call themselves Christian must believe and practice what the Church has always believed and practiced.

In the book of Acts, we read about the Apostles continuing Jesus' work by bringing the Gospel to the surrounding nations and across the known world. It is no longer about a Jew/Gentile distinction. It is only those who have embraced Jesus as the Messiah and those who have not.

The book of Acts picks up where the gospels left off. Jesus Christ has physically resurrected and has continued teaching is apostles, preparing them for the coming and filling of the Holy Spirit, the formation of the Church and for planet wide preaching of the Gospel.

He is not leaving them alone but is giving them the Holy Spirit to fill and guide them, to bring the gospel everywhere, regardless of race, gender, or economic status, no longer following the Old Covenant law.

The Christian life, being part of the people of God, being part of the Church is not about academics. It is about faith, trust, and filling oneself with that which is good, right, beautiful, true, and pure.

It is when we distract ourselves with the confusion and chaos of the world that we become lost and drive ourselves away from God. We need to live and believe what the historic Christian faith has always lived and believed.

One has a choice to make. One can live like a child with someone else acting in authority over them, or one can choose the freedom of adulthood and the responsibility that comes with it. This is the contrast between life outside of the Christian faith and inside of it, respectively speaking.

As part of the Church, we have the freedom to be truly human, unrestrained by the foolishness of sin.