Pentecost Is Coming!

The season of Pentecost is almost upon us!  This Sunday marks its beginning, the Day of Pentecost itself.

Pentecost Day is sometimes called "the birthday of the church".  It's the day when the disciples were overcome by the rush of a violent wind and tongues of flame descending from the skies.  This was God's Holy Spirit descending upon them.  Immediately they went out and began speaking the Word to the people in the streets and they never stopped.  Everything we know of church flowed from that moment.

Note the characteristics of the event: a big disruption came, throwing them out of their normal course, God touched them, then they went out and shared him with the world.

Note also the characteristics we like in a "good" church:  no disruptions, nothing that's going to jar us too much from the way we want to live our lives, a focus on people coming in instead of us going out and sharing/doing.

Wowzers.  Our modern church has shifted into reverse in some ways, eh?  No wonder we're surprised when God shows up in people and events we least expect.

Pentecost is the season of growth through action.  The texts talk about all the things Jesus did and taught during his ministries and all the ways his disciples learned to do the same.  Pray for fire in your hearts, a wind to push you to new places, for God to touch you in faith during this season, and for you to be sent where he intends you to go in order to do his work.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)