It’s Pentecost!!! What?

Pentecost? 

What in the world is Pentecost?  I have heard of Christmas.  And Easter?   We celebrate Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  Pentecost?  What in the world is that?

Pentecost is the day that the church was truly born.  In Acts 2 on this 40th day after Easter God sends the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples and the church came into being.  Tongues of fire and a mighty wind were seen and heard and the Word of God spread like wildfire. 

Peter stood up to tell the story and the people were moved to action.  One group was moved to discount his testimony – called him a morning drunk!  But the other group – the other group heard the good news of Jesus living, dying and being raised and were cut to the heart.  They were moved to ask the question:  “What should we do?”  His answer led to the church being born right in front of him.  From just a few followers – to over 3000 all at once.   That’s what happened on Pentecost – the church was born.

Does this matter today?  To you or me?  To us?  I think so!  No – that’s not the right answer – IT does matter. 

It matters because the church was established to make a difference in the world yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Pentecost happened to remind us today that the church was created by God – not by man, not by any human endeavor but by God.  Pentecost also happened in order to communicate God’s love to us – in a language we understand and that we cannot miss.  And there is still more!  While the theme of Pentecost is communication – the goal is to establish a fellowship of believer that is absolutely unique.  To create a community of intentional grace – a community where you will find and be loved, where you will find and be accepted, where you will find and be forgiven.  And then – be empowered and encouraged to love others, to accept others and to forgive others.

Pentecost is a powerful day in the church!

Let’s celebrate it!