READ: Acts 2.1-4 NLT
'On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.'
Pentecost Sunday marks the birthday of the church. Jesus had asked his followers to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit – and now he has arrived. Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival and was held fifty days after Passover. It was one of the three annual pilgrimage festivals and so Jerusalem would have been heaving with pilgrims from all over the region.
The group of Jesus’ followers was probably gathered in the upper room where they had been in the habit of meeting. One can imagine them meeting quietly and prayerfully as they had done since the time of Jesus’ Ascension. But then suddenly everything changed as they were overwhelmed by the wind of the Spirit. A completely new era had just begun and it was marked by wind and fire. The violent wind filled the whole house symbolising the wind of life that the Holy Spirit brings. No one could miss the fact that something dramatic was taking place, and the tongues of fire which rested on each of them spoke of the cleansing and refining work of the Spirit.
As the Holy Spirit came upon them, they spoke in other tongues as they worshipped God together. What an incredible moment this was. Our experience of the Holy Spirit might be very different from this, but we should be encouraged that he is the same Spirit and his desire is to blow his breath of life into us today, and to refine us with his fire. One thing that the Holy Spirit never does is to leave things the way they are. He is constantly challenging, renewing and purifying us as we worship God together.




QUESTIONS: In what ways have you experienced the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit?
PRAYER: God our Father, thank you for sending us your Holy Spirit. Help us to welcome him today, so that we may become more like Jesus. Amen

Released on 23 May 2021