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
This is Pentecost weekend, the seventh Sunday after Easter. Pentecost was originally an Old Testament celebration called the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot. Shavuot was an agricultural celebration where the people gave thanks to God by bringing their first fruits of the Spring harvest as offerings to the Lord (Leviticus 23). As time has passed and we have moved from an agricultural society, the Feast of Weeks has become a time to commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
One year during the first century, after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, God birthed His Church on the Day Pentecost. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. It was on that day, when Jews from around the world were in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5-12), that God filled the 120 with the Holy Spirit and they were given power to be God’s witnesses (Acts 1:8). On that day 3000 became believers and many of them took the message of the Gospel back to their hometown, and the church had begun worldwide.
We believe that the same promise of Jesus is for believers today. Acts 1:8 says, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be the church and witnesses He has called us to be. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be continually filled with the Sprit. We need a fresh infilling of the Spirit on a daily basis. On this, the birthday of the church, let’s celebrate by receiving a fresh God’s gift of the Holy Spirit!
