Weekly Bulletin

 The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you…. When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.  And you also must testify…. But I tell you the truth:  It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…. When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.   

 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.      Acts 1:8

 

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.      Acts 2:1-4

 

 

When Pam and I worked in a United Nations refugee project in southern Sudan in the mid-1980s, some of our expatriate colleagues in our agency were families from the Netherlands, sent out by Dutch missions organizations to help care for thousands of Ugandans displaced by war in their country.  Our Dutch friends were committed Christians with whom we often shared evening Bible studies, prayer meetings, and fellowship meals.  One of the interesting cultural differences we learned from them was their practice of prayer at mealtimes.  We had been raised in American families who gave thanks to the Lord for meals before the eating began.  When they hosted us in their homes, those Dutch folks often waited to give thanks until the meal was finished.  I don’t remember them ever explaining to us why that was their custom – maybe they were waiting to be sure the food was good so their thankfulness would be sincere.  Or maybe their kids were too hungry to wait for prayer at the start of the meal.  Whatever the reason, it was a good lesson for us that there are multiple ways to sincerely and authentically worship and serve the Lord.  The important thing was that God was thanked, not the timing of the prayer.

 

Pentecost     I thought about those friends this week as I reviewed information about the Feast of Pentecost, the second major annual festival on the Jewish calendar, in between the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The root meaning of Pentecost is “50th,” making it a useful name for the festival God told the Hebrews to celebrate on the 50th day after the Passover (Leviticus 23:9-22).  Pentecost was also called the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Harvest because the priests were instructed to count off seven weeks of seven days plus the final sabbath (50 days in all) before harvesting new barley at the end of its growing season (the firstfruits) and sacrificing it in thanks to God. 
             I read that the Feast of Pentecost drew more distant Jews to Jerusalem than any other festival did.  That sounds like our busy American Thanksgivings in late fall after crops are harvested.  It also is what reminded me of our Dutch friends giving thanks at the end of dinner.  As I kept reading, however, I learned that the Feast of Pentecost actually took place in the middle of the full growing season.  The Hebrews also grew wheat which took longer than barley to mature and ripen, so another harvest still lay ahead.  Like God’s instruction to Moses and Aaron to bless the Israelites in mid-journey to the Promised Land (“the Lord bless you and keep you…..,” Numbers 6:24-27), the Way of discipleship into Christ’s kingdom truly is a daily journey of listening, obeying, blessing, and giving thanks, not just a one-day event or an ultimate destination. 

 

Not the Usual Festival of Pentecost       Luke tells us in Acts 1 that Jesus ascended into heaven on the 40th day after his resurrection, after first telling the disciples to stay in Jerusalem to wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit.  During the next ten days, they brought together over one hundred believers and spent a lot of time praying.  On one of those days, Peter made an impassioned, logical appeal based in scripture for the need to replace the deceased Judas Iscariot with a new twelfth apostle.  It had to be one who had followed Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry and had witnessed his resurrection.  Matthias was chosen. 
             Acts 2 then describes the events of Pentecost, the 50th day after Jesus rose from death following the Passover sabbath.  Verses 1-2 mention “one place” and “a house” in Jerusalem where the disciples had gathered, but verse 6 speaks of “a crowd” that soon gathered.  Scholars are uncertain of the exact setting, or of how many people in addition to the Twelve were present when the Holy Spirit suddenly made his presence known in their midst.  The people there heard a sound like a violent wind makes, and they saw what looked like tongues of fire which separated from a central blaze and came to rest on each person.  When that happened, those disciples were filled with the Spirit and began speaking spiritual messages in a dozen or more languages they had never learned or spoken.  Jewish travelers from all over the known world who had come for the Feast of Pentecost heard the unschooled Galilean disciples speaking about Jesus in their languages and knew something miraculous had just occurred.   Most were amazed and curious, but a few cynics simply assumed the disciples were drunk and shrugged it off. 

Peter’s Message      According to the text, Peter then was led by the Spirit to address the gathered crowd (Acts 2:14ff) to explain that what they had just witnessed was simply Yahweh keeping his word.  He reminded them of God’s promise through their prophet Joel (2:28-32) that “in the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people….”  Peter pointed them to Jesus’ miracle-filled life of love that demonstrated he was the promised Messiah.  Peter decried the travesty that some in the group had agreed with and supported the officials who had recently crucified Jesus.  He proclaimed that he and the disciples standing with him had personally witnessed Jesus’ resurrection from death and his ascension back to the right hand of God in heaven, proving that he indeed was Emmanuel, “God with us.”  Just seven weeks earlier when threatened with arrest, Peter had fearfully denied even knowing Jesus.  Peter’s ability and willingness to deliver his bold Pentecost message was further evidence that Jesus’ word was true.  He had told the disciples just a few days earlier that they would receive godly power for being his witnesses when the Holy Spirit came to them.  Peter got same-day delivery.

 

A Church is Born      When the gathered crowd heard Peter’s words, Luke records that they were “cut to the heart” and immediately asked the disciples, “What shall we do?”  Peter answered that they must “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Peter continued pleading with them to “save yourselves from this corrupt generation,” and around three thousand people accepted his message and were baptized that day (Acts 2:40-47).  In the following days, the Spirit led those new Christians to “devote themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship,” to sharing meals, resources, and life together, and to lives of worship and prayer.  Their joy in the Lord was infectious, and the Spirit used that to draw others daily into their fellowship.  Bible historians generally consider that day in Jerusalem to be the birthday of New Testament Christianity and its Church. 

 

Pentecost 2026      When I read the Acts account of that first New Testament Pentecost, I can’t help longing and praying for a similar turning to the Lord in our time, just as the early Quakers did for “New Testament Christianity revived” in the 17th century.  Many will say that times and people have changed, making such a hope unrealistic or unnecessary.  I strongly disagree, for the following reasons.
             “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Anyone paying attention in 2026 should acknowledge that God’s enemy is as active as ever in promoting the selfishness and self-indulgence that leads to the “fruit of the sinful nature,” not to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23).  I’m quite sure that Isaiah would tell us that sin still separates us from God (Is. 59:2) in the present, and eternally if it’s never dealt with.  Peter’s appeal to the crowd at Pentecost might sound like we should be able to save ourselves, but that’s not what he taught.  Only Christ can forgive and redeem, but we all must choose to put ourselves in a place where we can accept his gift of forgiveness by admitting our need and asking for his mercy.  
             Who’s in charge?  We live in a time when many people say they’re believers and want to make heaven, but their choices and values say otherwise.  Jesus confronted such people in Luke 6, asking “why do you call me Lord, Lord, but never do what I say?”  In Acts 19, Paul ran into believers at Ephesus who knew nothing of the Holy Spirit, but only of John’s baptism of repentance.  Paul introduced them to the Spirit, and their lives were transformed.  There may times like that where a time lag exists between believing in Christ and accepting the indwelling Holy Spirit, but genuinely believing in the Living Christ will soon lead to the filling with his Spirit, whether Paul shows up to teach us or not.  He fills us not to control us like robots, but by his love and wisdom to win our cooperation with his Way of Truth.
             You will receive power….  But it won’t be the kind the world worships.  The Holy Spirit gave the disciples (and offers to us) power to deny self, take up Christ’s cross, and follow him faithfully, even though living for self would have been easier, more financially profitable, and more fun in the short term.  He offers us power to overcome harmful pride and live with loving humility.  He offers us power to say no to the world’s distractions, and instead to devote ourselves to prayer, study, fellowship, and the other spiritual disciplines which marked the Acts 2 church and made them effective for the Lord.  And he offers us power to be his witnesses in a world starved for the good news of Jesus’ willingness to indwell us (just without his physical body), transform us, and to live his life in us and through us to produce a life more enjoyable and effective for eternal purposes than we could ever do on our own. 

 

There are many other reasons why I believe Christ’s Way is just as relevant (or more so) today as it ever was, but those are the ones on my heart this week.  Pam and I have spent our adult lives seeking to live that Way because we have experienced the Spirit’s presence and leading, and have benefitted from the sense of purpose and fulfillment that comes with him.  We’re just common folks.  If he’ll do that for us, he’ll do it for you, too.  Come join us. Let’s be Friends.

 

 

 Queries for Worship-Sharing and Reflection

 

1)  What kind of power would you like the Holy Spirit to bring into the global situation?  Our nation?  Your life?

2)  Why for you are the Pentecost story and events important?  Meaningful?  Challenging?

3)  What do the violent wind and tongues of fire symbolize for you in the Pentecost event?  (think Elijah, Moses?)

 

4)  For what other reasons (besides my three above) is the Pentecost experience still relevant and needed in 2026?