Last weekend we started a new series, Everyday Pentecost, exploring the power of Pentecost avaliable to all of us, today. Fifty days after the yearly Passover festival we observe a contrast between the Mount Sinai story that takes place in Exodus (Old Testament) AND the Mount Zion account in Acts (New Testament). Below outlines the differences between the two mountains:

Mount Sinai

• Law of God given to Moses
• Birth of Israel as a nation
• Camped out at the foot of the mountain
• Idol Worship
• 3,000 people died

Mount Zion

• Spirit of God given
• Birth of the church
• made the climb
• Spirit is given
• 3,000 people brought into new life

On Mount Zion Jesus shows up and makes a way for us to make the climb. Throughout time, God always pursues his people. The crucial difference between the two mountains is our response to God’s pursuit. Check out the words of Hebrews below and consider how you will respond to this pursuit:

Hebrews 12.18-24
¹⁸ You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. ¹⁹ For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. ²⁰ They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

²² No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. ²³ You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.