Pentecost Sunday

PASTOR'S COLUMN

"And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability...They were completely amazed, "How can this beg" they exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! ..And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! They stood there amazed and perplexed. "What can this mean?" they asked each other." Acts 2:4;7-8; nb-12, NLT

Pentecost Sunday- "Inside/Outside!'

What happened on a Sunday morning in the concourse and colonnades of the Temple in Jerusalem, was the fulfillment of prophecy. The awaited "promise" Jesus made to the disciples ten days before had, as Luke said, "finally come." Isaiah's prediction of "living streams to come;" and, Joel's vision of the Spirit being "poured out on all flesh; regardless of gender, age, or social standing," were fulfilled among the 120 assembled in the Temple's outer courtyard. For ten days, the ii disciples, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, the Lord's siblings, and others, gathered in an upper chamber to worship and pray. Their sheltering in place was in anticipation of what God had prepared for them. They were never hopeless or in despair, but excited about what God was doing! So, the Holy Spirit came, and they were all filled and blessed. When God sends miracles, it is always a time of excitement and wonder. The gift that is emphasized in the text is "communication." We notice the descriptions: "new languages (glossa);" "other languages (dialektos);" and, the ability to 'translate and hear" languages in their dialect. They all asked, "What does this mean?" Peter answered, the Lord sent them inside to shelter in worship, and wait. They now are empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus to all the world outside!