Kerygma · Seasonal
Pentecost Bible trivia, the Spirit poured out.
Fifty days after Easter — the church's birthday. Acts 2 records the Spirit descending on the gathered disciples, Peter's first sermon, and the conversion of three thousand. The longest historical narrative in the New Testament starts here.
What Pentecost covers in the Bible
Pentecost is one of three Jewish pilgrim feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), originally celebrated fifty days after Passover as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) — a harvest festival commemorating the giving of the Law on Sinai. The Christian Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, repurposes the same fifty-day count from Easter and frames the descent of the Spirit as the new-covenant equivalent of Sinai. From Acts 2 onward, the rest of the New Testament is shaped by the Spirit poured out that day.
Sample Pentecost trivia questions
How many days after Easter does Pentecost fall?
"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place."Acts 2:1
"Pentecost" comes from the Greek pentēkostē — "fiftieth." Counted inclusively from Easter Sunday: Easter as day one, Pentecost as day fifty. The Ascension falls on day forty (Acts 1:3), so Pentecost is ten days after the Ascension.
Approximately how many people were baptised after Peter's Pentecost sermon, according to Acts 2?
"So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls."Acts 2:41
Three thousand on the first day of the church. The 120 number is the size of the gathered group before Pentecost (Acts 1:15). The contrast — 120 in the upper room, 3,000 by sundown — is the point of the chapter: the Spirit changes the scale of what's possible.
In Acts 2, Peter quotes which Old Testament prophet to explain what's happening at Pentecost?
"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."Acts 2:17 (quoting Joel 2:28)
Peter's first sermon — the inaugural sermon of the church — opens with Joel 2:28–32. Joel had prophesied that "the day of the Lord" would be marked by the Spirit poured out on all kinds of people, regardless of age, gender, or status. Peter says: that day is now.
Categories that pair well with Pentecost
For the Sunday itself
Pentecost Sunday lands well with a Custom-mode round on Acts 2 — type "Acts 2" into the topic field and run a fifteen-question round around the descent of the Spirit, the wind and the tongues, the languages, and Peter's sermon. Useful as the warm-up to a small-group meeting on Pentecost Sunday or the Sunday after.
Read Acts 2, slowly.
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