The Day of Pentecost

This Sunday, May 20, is the Day of Pentecost.  This is one of the three main Festival Days of the Church Year.  The others are The Resurrection of our Lord (Easter Sunday), and the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas Day).  You are encouraged to wear Red to help celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

On Pentecost we celebrate the giving and pouring out of the Holy Spirit of God on his people.  This took place first in Jerusalem when thousands of Jews were gathered in the city for the Jewish Festival of Pentecost.  It is also known as Shavuot.  This Jewish festival celebrates two major items. One is to celebrate the grain harvest at that time of year in the Holy Land.  The other reason of the celebration is to give thanks for the giving of the Covenant at Mt. Sinai, including the Ten Commandments.  It is understood that it took 50 days for the Children of Israel to travel to Mt. Sinai after the Passover and their release from slavery in Egypt.

The Holy Spirit was given to the Church on that day.  The 120 Christians were then sent out by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the might works of God to the gathered Jews.  These visitors were from all over the Mediterranean world, and they spoke a number of different languages.  The small band of Christians were given the supernatural ability to speak the Word of God with boldness so all would hear of the great things God had done through Jesus Christ.

The response was powerful.  That day 3000 people responded to the Good News and became Christians.  There were 3000 baptisms that day.  Read about these events in the Book of Acts, chapter 2, in the New Testament.

We look forward to seeing you at worship this Sunday, May 20.  Worship at 10:00 a.m.  Remember to wear something red this Sunday.