"When the day of Pentecost came..."

The second chapter of Acts begins with these words: 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 tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)

What do you know about Pentecost?

Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Weeks) was one of three major festivals observed by the Jews every year, celebrating the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. It was held 50 days after Passover.  

Jesus was crucified during the time of Passover and ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection. Ten days later (50 days after Jesus’ resurrection) as the Jews were observing Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on them.   They received the gift of tongues – the ability to speak in other languages – and immediately began to preach about Jesus to people who had come to Jerusalem for this annual festival.

In addition to the coming of the Holy Spirit, for followers of Jesus this day also commemorates the birth of the Christian Church.

This Sunday - May 19^th -is the day of Pentecost in 2013, and it provides us with the opportunity to thank God for sending His Spirit to come and live in us and through us.

God's Progressive Revelation

Tomorrow evening Pastor Brian resumes his three-week series on “God’s Progressive Revelation.” This series began two weeks ago and we took last week off due to the Hunger Strike Project. We’ll pick back up tomorrow evening as we go through an overview of the Bible, with our main goal being to see how the Law that was given to Moses was insufficient when it comes to our salvation. By contrast, we’re catching a glimpse of God’s grace that has been extended to each and every one of us.

Brian is having us examine the lives of seven people and how God progressively revealed Himself through each person in ways particular to their time – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Paul. We’ll learn when each person lived. We’ll talk about who each person was, and what it was that God wanted to say to humanity at that time and in that place through each person. And we’ll try to get some idea of how the people were expected to respond to God, and how they did respond to God.

By the end of the month, we’ll have a general overview of the Bible, and hopefully have a better sense of where you and I fit in God’s plan and what our response should be to His revelation today.

Bring your Bible and perhaps a notebook to jot down some thoughts or insights you may want to keep to review later.

Notes: Next Wednesday evening (May 22^nd) we’ll be holding our Church Prayer Hour for the month of May, and Brian will conclude his series on Wednesday the 29^th.

Continuing Education

Today four of the pastors are at the Hollowell Brethren in Christ Church for an all-day seminar titled “Building Bridges in a World That Thinks Differently.” 

In order to maintain their license, the pastors are required to attend a number of classes/seminars through the years, and today presented an opportunity for some of the staff to attend.  The morning hours of this seminar dealt with “Life in the Post-Christian Mission Field.”  After breaking for lunch, the afternoon with be spent looking at specific case studies.   (In the front row of the picture are Pastors Adam and Brian.)