About 'Pentecost Sunday'

Today Christians around the world celebrate Pentecost Sunday. While not as well-known as Easter or Christmas, Pentecost is a significant day in the life of a Christian, and comes just a few weeks after Jesus' death and resurrection. 

According to the account found in Acts 2, the apostles and other followers of Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost, fulfilling Jesus' promise He made upon His ascension and signalling that God had now moved to write the Law not on tables of stone, but in the hearts of his people through the work of the Spirit. 

After he was filled with the Spirit, the apostle Peter preached his first sermon and urged the crowds to repent, to believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Over 3,000 people, both Jews and Gentiles, were baptized that day, thus marking the birth of the early church. 

Pentecost is significant for Christians today because we now live in the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Rev. Mark D. Roberts explains that the coming of the Holy Spirit was important because the third Person of the Trinity "helps us to confess Jesus as Lord, empowers us to serve God with supernatural power, binds us together as the body of Christ, helps us to pray, and even intercedes for us with God the Father. The Spirit guides us, helping us to live like Jesus." * 

Let us also discern where God’s Spirit is moving today, both in and outside the church, giving life, creating what is new, renewing what is old, and restoring what is outworn. And never stop praying the ancient prayer of the church: “Come Holy Spirit, Come!” (Maranatha) 

* Adapted from an article written by Leah MarieAnn Klett at https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/55675/20150522/pentecost-sunday-2015-meaning-bible-verses-and-why-its-significant-for-christians.htm. Accessed 7 Jun 2019.