Pentekoste: Kuzaliwa kwa Kanisa Lililotiwa Nguvu na RohoPentecost: The Birth of the Spirit-Empowered Church

Ahadi ImetimizwaThe Promise Kept

Kabla hajapaa, Bwana Yesu aliwapa wanafunzi wake ahadi, na akawaambia waingojee. "Mtapokea nguvu, akiisha kuwajilia juu yenu Roho Mtakatifu," alisema, na "ninyi mtabatizwa kwa Roho Mtakatifu baada ya siku hizi chache" (Matendo 1:5, 8). Alikuwa amesema mara nyingi juu ya Msaidizi huyu katika saa zake za mwisho pamoja nao — Roho wa kweli ambaye Baba angempeleka kwa jina lake. Basi wakangoja Yerusalemu, wapata mia na ishirini, wakiomba pamoja na kutazamia lile alilolisema.Before He ascended, the Lord Jesus made His disciples a promise, and told them to wait for it. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you," He said, and "you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5, 8). He had spoken of this Helper often in His last hours with them — the Spirit of truth whom the Father would send in His name. So they waited in Jerusalem, some hundred and twenty of them, praying together and looking for what He had said.

Kungoja huko hakukuwa kwa muda mrefu. Siku kumi baada ya kupaa kwake, katika sikukuu ya Kiyahudi ya Pentekoste — sikukuu ya mavuno iliyowavuta Wayahudi wacha Mungu kuja Yerusalemu kutoka pande zote za ulimwengu uliojulikana — ahadi ilitimizwa. Yaliyotokea asubuhi ile yangezaa kanisa, yangeanzisha utume wa Injili ulimwenguni kote, na kufungua enzi ya Roho ambayo bado tunaishi ndani yake. Ni mojawapo ya mabadiliko makuu katika historia yote, nayo inastahili kuchunguzwa kwa makini.The wait was short. Ten days after the ascension, on the Jewish feast of Pentecost — a harvest festival that drew devout Jews to Jerusalem from across the known world — the promise was kept. What happened that morning would birth the church, launch the worldwide mission of the gospel, and open the age of the Spirit in which we still live. It is one of the great turning points of all history, and it repays careful attention.

Siku YenyeweThe Day Itself

Luka anasimulia habari hii kwa urahisi. Waaminio walipokuwa wamekusanyika pamoja mahali pamoja, ghafula ikaja sauti kutoka mbinguni kama uvumi wa upepo wa nguvu ukienda kasi, ikaijaza nyumba yote. Zikawatokea ndimi zilizogawanyikana, kama ndimi za moto, zikawakalia kila mmoja wao. Wote wakajazwa Roho Mtakatifu, wakaanza kusema kwa lugha nyingine, kama Roho alivyowajalia kutamka (Matendo 2:1–4). Upepo na moto, ishara za kale za uwepo wa Mungu, viliashiria kuja kwa Roho aliyeahidiwa; na matokeo ya kwanza yaliyoonekana yalikuwa usemi — usemi mpya, uliotolewa na Roho.Luke tells the story simply. As the believers were gathered together in one place, there came suddenly from heaven a sound like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1–4). Wind and fire, the ancient signs of God's presence, marked the coming of the promised Spirit; and the first visible effect was speech — a new speech, given by the Spirit.

Wakati wake ulifaa sana. Pentekoste, Sikukuu ya Majuma, iliangukia siku hamsini baada ya Pasaka na ilisherehekea mavuno; na kama vile Bwana alivyokufa na kufufuka wakati wa Pasaka, vivyo hivyo sasa, katika sikukuu kuu iliyofuata, alimtuma Roho ili kuanza mavuno ya roho za watu. Upepo na moto navyo vilibeba maana yake. Katika Maandiko yote, upepo na pumzi vinazungumza juu ya Roho wa Mungu — neno moja hutumika kwa yote matatu — na moto huashiria uwepo wake mtakatifu, kama kwenye kichaka kilichowaka moto na juu ya Sinai. Ishara hizo zilitangaza, kwa yeyote aliyekuwa na macho ya kuona, kwamba Mungu wa Israeli alikuwa amekuja kukaa kati ya watu wake kwa njia mpya na ya karibu zaidi.The timing was fitting. Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, fell fifty days after Passover and celebrated the harvest; and just as the Lord had died and risen at Passover, so now, at the next great feast, He sent the Spirit to begin the harvest of souls. The wind and the fire carried their own meaning as well. Throughout Scripture, wind and breath speak of the Spirit of God — a single word serves for all three — and fire marks His holy presence, as at the burning bush and on Sinai. The signs announced, to any who had eyes to see, that the God of Israel had come to dwell among His people in a new and nearer way.

Inafaa pia kutafakari jinsi jambo hili lilivyokuwa la hadharani. Halikuwa tukio la faragha, lililofichwa ndani ya kuta nne. Sauti ile ilivuta umati; mji ulikuwa umejaa wasafiri wa hija waliokuja kwa sikukuu; na kile wasafiri hao walichosikia walipokusanyika kilikuwa kiini hasa cha jambo lenyewe — nacho kiliwashangaza.It is worth pausing, too, on how public this was. This was no private, hidden experience shut up within four walls. The sound drew a crowd; the city was full of pilgrims for the feast; and what those pilgrims heard, when they came together, was the very heart of the matter — and it astonished them.

Lugha Zinazojulikana, Si MachafukoKnown Languages, Not Confusion

Kwa maana lugha ambazo waaminio walizinena hazikuwa sauti zisizoeleweka. Zilikuwa lugha — lugha halisi za kibinadamu zinazotambulika — na hili ndilo jambo lililo wazi na linalorudiwa katika maandiko. Umati ule ulikuwa wa "watu watauwa, kutoka kila taifa chini ya mbingu," na Luka anaandika mshangao wao: "kila mtu aliwasikia wakinena kwa lugha yake mwenyewe" (Matendo 2:5–6). Waliulizana jinsi jambo hilo lingewezekana:For the tongues the believers spoke were not unintelligible sounds. They were languages — real, identifiable human languages — and this is the plain and repeated point of the text. The crowd was made up of "devout men, from every nation under heaven," and Luke records their amazement: "everyone heard them speak in his own language" (Acts 2:5–6). They asked one another how it could be:

"…tunawasikia hawa wakisema kwa lugha zetu matendo makuu ya Mungu."Matendo 2:11 (SUV)"…we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."Acts 2:11 (NKJV)

Luka anaorodhesha hata mataifa yaliyokuwepo — Waparthi na Wamedi na Waelamu, wakaao Mesopotamia, Kapadokia, Ponto na Asia, Misri na pande za Libya, wageni kutoka Rumi, Wakrete na Waarabu. Kila mmoja wao alisikia matendo makuu ya Mungu yakitangazwa katika lugha ya nchi yake ya asili. Muujiza wote, jambo lililousimamisha umati ghafla, ulikuwa hasa kwamba Wagalilaya hawa walieleweka — kwamba watu ambao hawakuwahi kujifunza lugha hizi walikuwa wakizinena waziwazi. Kuziita lugha za Pentekoste "lugha zisizojulikana" ni kuingiza ndani ya kifungu hicho kinyume kabisa cha kile kinachojitahidi kusema.Luke even lists the nations represented — Parthians and Medes and Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Egypt and the parts of Libya, visitors from Rome, Cretans and Arabs. Each of these heard the wonderful works of God declared in the tongue of his own homeland. The whole marvel, the thing that stopped the crowd in its tracks, was precisely that these Galileans were understood — that men who had never learned these languages were speaking them plainly. To call the tongues of Pentecost "unknown tongues" is to read into the passage the very opposite of what it labors to say.

Wengine wamejiuliza kama muujiza ulikuwa katika kunena au katika kusikia — kama waaminio walinena lugha nyingi, au walinena lugha moja na kusikika katika lugha nyingi. Maandiko yanaelekea waziwazi upande wa kwanza: walianza kusema kwa lugha nyingine kama Roho alivyowajalia kutamka, na umati ukastaajabu kuwasikia Wagalilaya wakinena lugha zao za asili. Lakini kwa usomaji wowote kati ya hiyo, jambo linalotuhusu linabaki imara: kilichonenwa na kusikiwa siku ya Pentekoste kilikuwa lugha halisi iliyoeleweka, Injili ikivushwa kupita kizuizi cha lugha.Some have wondered whether the miracle lay in the speaking or in the hearing — whether the believers spoke many languages, or spoke one and were heard in many. The text leans plainly toward the former: they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, and the crowd marveled to hear Galileans speaking their native speech. But on either reading the point that concerns us holds firmly: what was spoken and heard at Pentecost was real, understood language, the gospel carried across the barrier of tongues.

Kuna mpango wa kina katika jambo hili. Huko Babeli, zamani sana, Mungu alikuwa amekihukumu kiburi cha wanadamu kwa kuichafua lugha yao moja kuwa lugha nyingi na kuwatawanya katika uso wa dunia (Mwanzo 11). Siku ya Pentekoste anaanza kutengua mtawanyiko huo — si kwa kufuta lugha zile nyingi, bali kwa kunena habari zake njema katika lugha hizo zote, akiyakusanya mataifa kurudi kwake kupitia Injili ya Mwana wake. Kama lugha ambazo Paulo anazieleza baadaye huko Korintho ni za aina ile ile au za aina nyingine ni swali tofauti, nasi tutalishughulikia katika sehemu zinazofuata; hapa tunaiacha tu Matendo 2 iseme kile inachosema.There is a deep design in this. At Babel, long before, God had judged the pride of men by confusing their single language into many and scattering them across the earth (Gen 11). At Pentecost He begins to undo that scattering — not by erasing the many languages, but by speaking His good news in all of them, gathering the nations back to Himself through the gospel of His Son. Whether the tongues Paul later describes in Corinth are of the same kind or of another is a separate question, and we take it up in the units that follow; here we simply let Acts 2 say what it says.

Hotuba ya Petro: Kristo KatikatiPeter's Sermon: Christ at the Center

Baadhi ya watu katika umati walipodhihaki, wakisema kwamba waaminio wamelewa, Petro alisimama pamoja na wale kumi na mmoja, akapaza sauti yake kueleza. Hili, alisema, si ulevi bali ni utimizo wa unabii — kumiminwa kwa Roho kwa siku za mwisho ambako Mungu alikuwa ameahidi kupitia nabii Yoeli:When some in the crowd mocked, saying the believers were drunk, Peter stood up with the eleven and lifted his voice to explain. This, he said, was no drunkenness but the fulfillment of prophecy — the last-days outpouring of the Spirit that God had promised through the prophet Joel:

"Itakuwa siku za mwisho, asema Mungu, nitawamwagia watu wote Roho yangu; na wana wenu na binti zenu watatabiri…"Matendo 2:17 (SUV)"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…"Acts 2:17 (NKJV)

Lakini angalia Petro anaelekea wapi kutoka hapo. Hakawii juu ya upepo, moto, wala lugha; hazifanyi ishara zenyewe kuwa ujumbe. Anamhubiri Kristo. Anawaambia habari za Yesu wa Nazareti, aliyethibitishwa na Mungu kwa matendo makuu, aliyetolewa kwa mpango wa Mungu uliokusudiwa na kusulibiwa kwa mikono ya watu waovu, na — hapa ndipo mgeuko mkuu — aliyefufuliwa kutoka kwa wafu, kwa maana mauti haikuweza kumshika, na sasa ametukuzwa mkono wa kuume wa Mungu, ambako kutoka huko amemmwaga Roho huyu huyu wanayemwona na kumsikia. Petro analipeleka jambo lote kwenye hoja moja:But notice where Peter goes from there. He does not linger over the wind, the fire, or the tongues; he does not make the phenomena themselves the message. He preaches Christ. He tells them of Jesus of Nazareth, attested by God with mighty works, delivered up according to God's set purpose and crucified by wicked hands, and — the great turn — raised from the dead, for death could not hold Him, and now exalted to God's right hand, from where He has poured out this very Spirit they see and hear. Peter drives the whole matter to a single point:

"Basi nyumba yote ya Israeli na ijue yakini ya kuwa Mungu alimfanya Yesu huyo mliyemsulibisha kuwa Bwana na Kristo."Matendo 2:36 (SUV)"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."Acts 2:36 (NKJV)

Matokeo yake hayakuwa makofi ya shangwe bali kuchomwa mioyo. Wakichomwa mioyo yao, wasikilizaji walilia, "Ndugu zetu, tutendeje?" Naye Petro akajibu, "Tubuni, mkabatizwe kila mmoja kwa jina lake Yesu Kristo, mpate ondoleo la dhambi zenu, nanyi mtapokea kipawa cha Roho Mtakatifu" (Matendo 2:37–38). Siku ile waliongezeka watu wapata elfu tatu. Huu ndio umbo la kazi ya Roho: alikuja, na matokeo yake yakawa ushuhuda wa ujasiri juu ya Kristo na wokovu wa waliopotea. Alama ya uwepo wake haikuwa maonyesho kwa ajili ya maonyesho yenyewe, bali Injili iliyohubiriwa na wenye dhambi waliorudishwa nyumbani.The effect was not applause but conviction. Cut to the heart, the hearers cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" And Peter answered, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37–38). That day about three thousand souls were added. This is the shape of the Spirit's work: He came, and the result was bold witness to Christ and the salvation of the lost. The mark of His presence was not spectacle for its own sake, but a gospel preached and sinners brought home.

Mara Moja Tu, au Kielelezo?Once-for-All, or a Pattern?

Kuna swali la kweli ambalo kwa muda mrefu limewagawa Wakristo waaminifu, nasi tunapaswa kulikabili kwa haki: je, Pentekoste lilikuwa tukio la kipekee la mara moja tu, au kielelezo kilichokusudiwa kurudiwa? Katika jambo hili kozi inaeleza usomaji wote miwili na kuelekea upande mmoja kwa upole, bila kuifunga dhamiri yako.A genuine question has long divided sincere Christians, and we should face it fairly: was Pentecost a unique, once-for-all event, or a pattern meant to be repeated? On this the course sets out both readings and leans gently, without binding your conscience.

Kwa usomaji wa kwanza — mtazamo wa uzinduzi — Pentekoste lilikuwa tukio moja lisiloweza kurudiwa, siku ya kuzaliwa kwa kanisa yenyewe na uzinduzi wa enzi ya Roho. Kama vile kufanyika mwili kulivyotokea mara moja, na msalaba mara moja, na ufufuo mara moja, vivyo hivyo Roho alimiminwa juu ya kanisa mara moja, ili kulianzisha na kufungua kipindi cha agano jipya. Kwa mtazamo huu hatutafuti "Pentekoste nyingine"; tunampokea, wakati wa kuongoka kwetu, Roho yule aliyetolewa siku ile. Kwa usomaji wa pili — mtazamo wa kielelezo — Pentekoste linaonyesha umbo la kawaida la kutiwa nguvu na Roho, kielelezo ambacho makanisa na waaminio wanaweza na wanapaswa kukitafuta tena, katika kumiminwa upya kwa Roho na katika nyakati za uamsho.On the first reading — the inaugural view — Pentecost was a single, unrepeatable event, the very birthday of the church and the inauguration of the age of the Spirit. As the incarnation happened once, and the cross once, and the resurrection once, so the Spirit was poured out on the church once, to found it and to open the new-covenant era. On this view we do not seek "another Pentecost"; we receive, at our conversion, the Spirit who was given on that day. On the second reading — the paradigm view — Pentecost displays the normal shape of Spirit-empowerment, a pattern that churches and believers may and should seek again, in fresh outpourings and revivals.

Kozi inaelekea upande wa usomaji wa uzinduzi kama ule ulio wa asili zaidi: kanisa huzaliwa mara moja, Babeli hugeuzwa mara moja, na maandiko yanaieleza siku ile kama utimizo wa ahadi maalum katika saa maalum. Hata hivyo, hatupaswi kukosa kile ambacho Maandiko yanaonyesha waziwazi — kwamba waaminio hujazwa Roho tena na tena baada ya Pentekoste:The course leans toward the inaugural reading as the more natural: the church is born once, Babel is reversed once, and the text presents the day as the keeping of a specific promise at a specific hour. Yet even so, we must not miss what Scripture plainly shows — that believers are filled with the Spirit again and again after Pentecost:

"Hata walipokwisha kuomba, mahali pale walipokuwa wamekusanyika pakatikiswa; wote wakajazwa Roho Mtakatifu, wakanena neno la Mungu kwa ujasiri."Matendo 4:31 (SUV)"And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."Acts 4:31 (NKJV)

Watu wale wale waliojazwa siku ya Pentekoste hapa wanajazwa tena, na kunena neno kwa ujasiri mpya. Kwa hiyo kumiminwa kwa mara moja tu kulikoanzisha kanisa na kujazwa Roho mara kwa mara kwa ajili ya huduma havipingani hata kidogo. Tunaweza kwa haki kuomba kujazwa upya, ujasiri mpya, na nguvu mpya, bila kutarajia wala kuhitaji tukio lile la kuanzisha litokee tena. Swali pana zaidi la "ubatizo katika Roho" ulio tofauti kama uzoefu wa pili ni jambo tutakalolipima kwa makini katika sehemu ya baadaye; hapa tunaiweka tu tofauti hiyo na kuendelea.The very people who were filled at Pentecost are here filled again, and speak the word with fresh boldness. So the once-for-all outpouring that founded the church and the repeated fillings of the Spirit for service are not in conflict at all. We may rightly pray for fresh fillings, fresh courage, and fresh power, without expecting or needing the founding event to happen over again. The larger question of a distinct "baptism in the Spirit" as a second experience is one we weigh carefully in a later unit; here we simply mark the distinction and move on.

Wengine huonyesha matukio ya baadaye katika Matendo — Wasamaria, nyumba ya Kornelio, wanafunzi wa Efeso — kama Pentekoste nyingine, wakisema kwamba kielelezo kinajirudia. Wengine huyasoma kama kipawa kimoja cha Roho kikiwafikia, hatua kwa hatua, makundi mapya kwenye ramani ya Matendo 1:8 — Yerusalemu, Samaria, na ulimwengu wa Mataifa — wakati Injili ilipovuka kila mpaka kwa mara ya kwanza. Usomaji upi unafaa zaidi kwa matukio hayo mahususi tutauchunguza kwa karibu katika sehemu inayofuata; hapa inatosha kuona kwamba siku ile ya kuanzisha yenyewe, kuzaliwa kwa kanisa, inasimama peke yake.Some point to later moments in Acts — the Samaritans, the household of Cornelius, the disciples at Ephesus — as further Pentecosts, arguing that the pattern repeats. Others read these as the one gift of the Spirit reaching, stage by stage, new groups on the map of Acts 1:8 — Jerusalem, Samaria, and the Gentile world — as the gospel crossed each frontier for the first time. Which reading better fits those particular episodes we examine closely in the next unit; here it is enough to see that the founding day itself, the birth of the church, stands alone.

Maana ya Pentekoste kwa KanisaWhat Pentecost Means for the Church

Basi, siku ile ilitimiza nini? Kwanza, kanisa lilizaliwa. Wafuasi wa Yesu waliotawanyika wakawa watu wanaokaliwa na Roho, jumuiya ya agano jipya ambayo manabii walikuwa wameitabiri, ambao ndani yao Mungu angeiandika sheria yake mioyoni na kutia Roho wake ndani yao (Yeremia 31:33; Ezekieli 36:26–27). Kilichokuwa ahadi kikawa kweli.What, then, did that day accomplish? First, the church was born. The scattered followers of Jesus became a Spirit-indwelt people, the new-covenant community that the prophets had foretold, in whom God would write His law on the heart and put His Spirit within (Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:26–27). What had been promise became reality.

Pili, utume wa Injili ulimwenguni kote ulianza. Kukusanyika kwa mataifa ili kusikia matendo ya Mungu katika lugha zao wenyewe, na wale elfu tatu waliookolewa siku ile ya kwanza, walikuwa malimbuko ya mavuno ambayo yangefika, kama Yesu alivyosema, hata mwisho wa nchi. Kanisa lilikuwa la kimisionari tangu pumzi yake ya kwanza. Na tatu, Roho sasa anakaa ndani, si ya wachache wateule, bali ya watu wote wa Bwana — wana na binti, vijana na wazee, watumwa na walio huru, kama Yoeli alivyosema. Enzi ya Roho, iliyofunguliwa asubuhi ile, ndiyo enzi ambayo kanisa zima bado linaishi ndani yake.Second, the worldwide mission of the gospel began. The gathering of the nations to hear God's works in their own tongues, and the three thousand saved that first day, were the firstfruits of a harvest that would reach, as Jesus had said, to the ends of the earth. The church was missionary from its first breath. And third, the Spirit now indwells not an elite few but all the Lord's people — sons and daughters, young and old, servants and free, as Joel had said. The age of the Spirit, opened that morning, is the age in which the whole church still lives.

Kwetu sisi tunaosoma habari hizi muda mrefu baadaye, Pentekoste si tu muujiza wa zamani wa kustaajabia, bali ni mlango wa kuingia katika enzi tunayoishi. Roho yule yule aliyekuja asubuhi ile anakaa ndani ya kila mwamini katika Kristo leo; Injili ile ile aliyoihubiri Petro bado ni nguvu ya Mungu iletayo wokovu; na utume ule ule ulioanza Yerusalemu bado unasonga mbele kuelekea mataifa. Tunapokusanyika, kuomba, kuhubiri, na kujazwa kwa ajili ya huduma, tunaishi kile kilichoanza siku ile.For us who read this long after, Pentecost is not merely a past marvel to admire but the doorway into the age we inhabit. The same Spirit who came that morning indwells every believer in Christ today; the same gospel that Peter preached is still the power of God for salvation; and the same mission that began in Jerusalem still presses outward to the nations. When we gather, pray, preach, and are filled for service, we are living out what began on that day.

Kristo KatikatiChrist at the Center

Katika yote hayo, Pentekoste linaelekeza zaidi ya lenyewe kwa Kristo. Roho hakutolewa mpaka Yesu alipotukuzwa (Yohana 7:39); naam, Yesu alisema yawafaa wanafunzi yeye aondoke, kwa maana hapo tu ndipo angemtuma Msaidizi (Yohana 16:7). Roho alikuja kwa sababu Mwana alikuwa amemaliza kazi yake na kutukuzwa, na tendo la kwanza la Roho kupitia kanisa lililozaliwa punde lilikuwa kumwinua Mwana huyo huyo mbele ya umati na kuwakusanya watu kwake.Through it all, Pentecost points beyond itself to Christ. The Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified (John 7:39); indeed, Jesus said it was to the disciples' advantage that He go away, for only then would He send the Helper (John 16:7). The Spirit came because the Son had finished His work and been exalted, and the Spirit's first act through the newborn church was to lift up that same Son before the crowd and gather people to Him.

Hili linatupa kipimo cha kudumu cha kazi yoyote inayodaiwa kuwa ya Roho, wakati ule au sasa: je, inamtukuza Yesu Kristo na kuwakusanya watu kwake? Pentekoste lilifanya hivyo. Upepo na moto na lugha vyote vilitumikia lengo hilo — kuhubiriwa kwa Mwokozi aliyesulibiwa na kufufuka, na kugeuka kwa wenye dhambi kumrudia Mungu. Pale Roho anapofanya kazi kweli, Kristo hutukuzwa na watu wake huongezeka; na hilo ndilo tuliloliona siku ile kanisa lilipozaliwa.This gives us the enduring measure of any work that claims to be the Spirit's, then or now: does it exalt Jesus Christ and gather people to Him? Pentecost did. The wind and the fire and the tongues all served that end — the preaching of a crucified and risen Savior, and the turning of sinners to God. Where the Spirit is truly at work, Christ is magnified and His people multiplied; and that is what we saw on the day the church was born.

Tukitazama MbeleLooking Ahead

Lugha za Pentekoste kwa kawaida zinaibua swali jingine: vipi kuhusu nyakati nyingine ambapo lugha zinaonekana katika kitabu cha Matendo, na zinaweka kielelezo gani, kama kipo, kwa kanisa? Kwa swali hilo — karama ya lugha katika kitabu chote cha Matendo — tutageukia katika sehemu inayofuata, tukifuata uzi kuanzia Pentekoste na kuendelea, na kuupima, kama kawaida, kwa Neno.The tongues of Pentecost naturally raise a further question: what of the other times tongues appear in the book of Acts, and what pattern, if any, do they set for the church? To that question — the gift of tongues across the book of Acts — we turn in the next unit, following the thread from Pentecost onward and weighing it, as always, by the Word.

Maswali ya MajadilianoDiscussion Questions

• Ukweli kwamba lugha za Pentekoste zilikuwa lugha zilizoeleweka unaathirije jinsi tunavyosoma Matendo 2?How does the fact that the Pentecost tongues were understood languages shape the way we read Acts 2?
• Kwa nini ni muhimu kwamba Petro alimhubiri Kristo badala ya kukawia juu ya upepo, moto, na lugha?Why is it significant that Peter preached Christ rather than dwelling on the wind, fire, and tongues?
• Kuna tofauti gani kati ya kumiminwa kwa Roho kwa mara moja tu kulikozaa kanisa na kujazwa mara kwa mara ambako waaminio bado wanaweza kukutafuta?What is the difference between the once-for-all outpouring that birthed the church and the repeated fillings believers may still seek?
• Kwa njia gani kanisa la leo bado linaishi katika enzi iliyoanza siku ya Pentekoste?In what ways is the church today still living in the age that began at Pentecost?

Matumizi katika HudumaMinistry Application

Andika sentensi mbili au tatu ukiwaeleza waumini wa kanisa lako kwa nini kuja kwa Roho siku ya Pentekoste kuliongoza moja kwa moja kwenye kuhubiriwa kwa Kristo na wokovu wa maelfu.Write two or three sentences explaining to your congregation why the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost led straight to the preaching of Christ and the salvation of thousands.