In our final session, we talked about the fulfillment of the prophecy from Joel, which announces and describes God’s reign and final justice. In Joel 2, the prophet points to the future day of the Lord when people will experience God’s presence in undeniable ways. In those days, all people will prophesy. Joel names specifically that sons and daughters, young and old, male and female will all know and proclaim God because God’s Spirit will come to be with them (Joel 2:28-29). This prophecy is fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, which we read in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit falls on the believers and causes them to prophesy and speak in tongues. Peter stands up to give a sermon, quoting Joel 2, and confirming that the long-foretold day had finally come. All people, women and men, can now prophesy and announce the message of God’s reign and Jesus’ lordship. All believers today have gifts given to them by the Spirit of God. Yet some are still restricted on exercising those gifts by their congregations or religious institutions. We talked about ways in which we can further encourage and uplift all people to recognize and exercise the gifts God has given them in fulfilling God’s plan for our world.
If you missed the discussion but would like to follow along please click the following links: Study Guide 4, Video 4, What's Next Resource Guide.