Hello Church Family! This update is coming a week late and I do apologize for this tardiness. I appreciate your desire to catch up on what was preached in weeks prior and to either hear afresh or hear once again what God is saying through Pastor Dan in this time. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will be glad to answer them.

Below I will post Pastor Dan's notes. Thank you and God bless you for the rest of your week!

Pastor Dan's Sermon

God said, “I will pour out My Spirit on ALL flesh”

Dreams and visions

Dan Donohoue

Acts 2:14–21 ESV

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

There is supernatural empowerment for all, through the Holy Spirit.

Joel 2:28–32 ESV

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls."

Whatever the actual phenomenon at Pentecost, Peter emphasized here that it was prophecy, inspired utterance from the Lord.

Joel’s prophecy was originally given after a locust plague had ravaged the land, creating a severe famine. Joel called the people to repentance, promising the restoration of their prosperity and going on to foresee the coming of the Day of the Lord, the dawn of the messianic age, when the Spirit would be poured out on all of Israel.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is a sign that the day of the Lord is at Hand

English Standard Version Chapter 2

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance

The Holy Spirit has many functions including to bring conviction of sin, but here the emphasis of the pouring out of the Spirit as prophesied by Joel and declared by Peter is to empower us for the mission of God with beautiful and effective gifts that the church needs, including dreams and visions.

Here are 10 scriptures in Acts when the Holy Spirit gives visions to spur on and strengthen believers in their witness of Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:10

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

Acts 9:12

and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

Acts 10:3

About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

Acts 10:17

Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate

Acts 10:19

And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

Acts 11:5

“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.

Acts 12:9

And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

Acts 16:9

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Acts 16:10

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Acts 18:9

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

Dreams and visions were used by God to people on to join the mission of God. Dreams and visions are a type of prophecy. One key dynamic and clear evidence  of the pouring out of the Spirit is the prophetic gift functioning in the body of Christ. I pray that God would stir up the gift of prophesy, dreams and visions as Joel prophesied for the furtherance of the Gospel Of Jesus Christ!

If we continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit the outpouring of the gift of prophecy including dreams and visions will follow.  Let us contend for the power of the Spirit together to strengthen the witness of the church drawing people to Jesus.