Turn Up for Pentecost
Well, Holy Week has passed, and Easter season is winding down. Pentecost is already on the horizon, and we can finally exhale, relax, kick back, turn our spiritual engines off and return to the world of status quo until Advent… right? Wrong! In Pentecost we celebrate with the utmost enthusiasm! We celebrate the fact that we, as followers of Christ no longer live in darkness – we are divinely inspired and spiritually strengthened as we recall how the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples after Jesus’ ascension, empowering them to begin the work of making disciples of all nations. We also rejoice in the reality that the same Holy Spirit that empowered the disciples also empowers us.
All throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit is made known to us in various ways. We see the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament, creating, and giving light in Genesis. (Gen 1:2-3), Inspiring, empowering, and guiding the Old Testament Prophets (1 Sam 10:10). In the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirt at work at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry (Luke 4:18), and perhaps the most momentous way for Christians at the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-31). Pentecost is a season that we can reconnect with the Holy Spirit by reading God’s word – especially in the Gospel of John and the Book of Acts. In John, we are introduced to the Holy Spirit as a counselor (Jn. 14:16,26), one that guides us into all truth and discloses the things of Christ (Jn 16:13-14). In Acts, we are introduced to the Holy Spirit as one that empowers us (Acts 1:8) and calls us for special work (Acts: 13:2).