Unless you knew the truth, you would never believe that the Saturn V Moon Rocket could budge an inch—much less journey through the heavens. It stood 363 feet tall—about six stories higher than the Statue of Liberty.

It weighed six million pounds. Only a fool could think that something that big could move.

And unless you knew the truth, you would never believe that the Church could last a day—much less last two thousand years. Jesus was dead. His disciples hid in fear. One of them, Judas Iscariot, had betrayed him. One of them, Peter, had denied him.

Only a fool could think that people so weighed down by sin could hope to reach heaven.

Even so, despite such doubts, the Saturn V Moon Rocket launched towards the heavens on a pillar of fire amidst billows of smoke. And, despite such doubts, the Church launched towards heaven on tongues of fire when the Holy Spirit filled the followers of Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus defeated death.

The keys were the hidden power that moved the Saturn V Moon Rocket and the hidden power that moved the Church. The Moon Rocket defeated the power of gravity by exploding chemicals inside the rocket. Jesus defeated the power of sin through his sacrificial death and his Resurrection. The shed blood of Jesus was the rocket fuel for his Church.

As foretold by an Old Testament prophecy:

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. . . . [H]e was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6).

.  .  .  .

Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1:1-4,14). Therefore, teaching people to obey Jesus will accomplish what God desires and achieve the purpose of God. (Isaiah 55:10-11). In the words of the Old Testament prophecy we are looking at here: “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. (Isaiah 55:12).

The first harvest of joy and peace came on the day that the Church was born—the Day of Pentecost—a holiday that celebrates the beginning of the harvest (Exodus 23:16; Numbers 28:26).

In obedience to a command of Jesus Christ just before his Ascension into heaven, the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem until God the Father gave them “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5).

On the day of Pentecost, all of the followers of Jesus Christ were gathered in a house. Suddenly, as the Scriptures tells it, there was a sound like a great wind blowing from heaven. Tongues of fire came to rest on each person. And “[a]ll of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4).

After this display of sound and fire worthy of the launch of a moon rocket, the disciples went forth into Jerusalem to proclaim the birth of the Church. In his sermon, Peter quoted an Old Testament prophecy that foretold what was happening:

God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. . . . Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. . . . I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. . . . And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:16-21, quoting Joel 2:28-32).

The Church had cleared the launching pad. Its journey to bring joy and peace to all Humanity was underway!

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To read more about how the Church brings Joy and Peace to all Humanity, please read my book Visions of the Church (published together with my book Visions of America).