as Jesus breathed his very last breath and his spirit left his body an earthquake rumbled in the ground
the temple in the nearby town was split right in two with a terrible crash
when the soldiers saw what had happened they felt terrified
they knew they had made a colossal mistake they wailed to each other
the followers of Jesus took Jesus to a tomb after he was crucified
on the third day after Jesus was placed in the tomb
Mary Magdalene and another follower also called mary went to visit it
they were shocked to see the sealed door of the tomb opened by an angel of God
revealing the tomb was empty and Jesus was no longer inside
mary was in shock as she weeped she straightens up as she notices someone nearby
woman why are you crying who is it you are looking for
thinking he was the gardener she said
sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have put him and I will get him
Mary
teacher it is you
it was a miracle Jesus had risen from the dead and was back
my dear followers, I have been resurrected by the power of God
I have come back to share with you the holy spirit
the followers of Jesus were overjoyed that he had returned and thanked God for this miracle
though Jesus had returned his time back on earth would not be long
he knew he had to prepare his loyal followers for his ascension to heaven
when his spirit would rise up and join God in the kingdom of heaven
before his ascension to heaven, Jesus gathered his disciples to give them his final pieces of wisdom
Jesus told his disciples that although he would have to leave soon and return to heaven
as the son of god he would always be with them
he told them to spread the message of God and not to leave Jerusalem
I speak to you now my loyal followers as I prepare to leave this earth and rise up to heaven
when I am gone I urge you to stay in Jerusalem and pray until the holy spirit comes down upon you
it was time for Jesus to go to heaven he led his disciples to the top of a mountain
here is what I want you to do
soon you will be baptized with the holy spirit and receive the power of god
you will tell my story to the people in Jerusalem and to people all over the earth
Jesus blessed his disciples then as they looked at him, Jesus was surrounded by bright light
then Jesus ascended and returned to the kingdom of heaven
the disciples followed Jesus's instruction and remained in Jerusalem
they devoted themselves to prayer and spreading the word of god
one day as the followers of Jesus prayed together Jesus's final promise came true
at first a loud sound from heaven began which sounded like a great rush of wind
then what looked like tongues of fire filled the room and settled on each of Jesus's followers
the holy spirit had come to them from heaven
once the flames surrounded them the disciples began to speak to each other
they realized they had the ability to speak new languages that they had not been able to before
they began to talk and share with each other the message of Jesus in all these new languages
the sound of their speaking was so loud that it could be heard from the streets of Jerusalem
at that time there was the festival of Pentecost taking place
and so jews from all across the world had made their way to Jerusalem
all these people spoke many different languages
when they heard all the noise being made by the followers of Jesus
they began to wonder what was causing this loud noise
a large crowd gathered around the house and they were shocked to realize they could hear their own languages
how can it be that these people come from galilee and yet they are able to speak our languages
the crowd listened as the followers of Jesus use these new languages to tell all the amazing things that God does
and many of them believed they were witnessing a miracle
although not everyone in the crowd believed it was a miracle
some thought that the disciples must just be strange people acting weird
they mocked the followers and some even thought that maybe they were drunk
but then the disciple peter stepped forward and spoke to the crowd
Peter explained to them that the followers were not simply acting strange
but that they had been visited by the holy spirit and that was why they were able to speak all these new languages
we have followed Jesus the son of God and have been blessed with the holy spirit
he reminded them that God had said this would happen in the scripture and the promise had been kept
God promised to send a savior and that savior was Jesus christ
Peter told the crowd the story of how Jesus was crucified
and then resurrected before he made his way up to heaven
he told them that Jesus was now in heaven and that just as God had promised the holy spirit had come to them
the people of Jerusalem were moved by peter's words
when they heard of Jesus's crucifixion they felt great sadness and regret
and wished to know what they could do now for god
Peter explained to the crowd how they could be saved with the simple message of the gospel
turning away from sin and embracing the word of Jesus would save them
and bring them closer to god in the kingdom of heaven
Peter continued to preach for a long time
and told the crowd of how they could repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus christ
many in the crowd were stunned and moved by peter's message and his urge for them to repent
these new believers welcomed Jesus's message of loving one another and turning away from sin and towards god
those who believed what he said chose to be baptized and joined the church
three thousand people were baptized as followers of Jesus on that very day
from that day on these new believers dedicated themselves to living as Jesus instructed
the apostles continued to perform many incredible miracles and help out those in need
they sold their possessions and gave what they had to people who needed more than they did
they lived together with a great sense of love and unity and continued to share the wonderful message of Jesus with others
their lives were simple and they did not need much
yet they were very happy and filled with passion for Jesus and his message
they met together ate together and worshiped at the temple
the word of god quickly spread thanks to these first believers
with each day that passed more and more people embraced the message of the gospel and were baptized
each new believer embraced the life of simplicity goodwill prayer
that Jesus had preached before he returned to heaven and so they were blessed with the holy spirit
God continued to add more and more people to the church every single day and the following of Jesus grew and grew