A note from Pastor Travis 5/25/23

This Sunday is Pentecost. It is the day that Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Did you know that Pentecost is also a Jewish holiday that was celebrated long before Christianity?

It was originally a harvest festival, but, overtime, it took on a deeper meaning. It evolved into the celebration of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments on Mount Sini. Then how did it become a Christian holiday too?

Well, Acts 2 tells us that it was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came to the followers of Jesus who were gathered together. After Jesus ascended into heaven, they had developed the practice of regularly gathering for prayer and worship. They had even chosen a follower of Jesus to replace Judas as one of the twelve disciples.

Perhaps their gathering that day was one of their regular times of prayer and worship, or they may have gathered to celebrate Pentecost. The Bible doesn’t tell us. However, this gathering turned out differently than their previous ones because, “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:2-4).

The fact that it was Pentecost also explains why so many people were in Jerusalem from different parts of the Roman Empire. As a metropolitan city, there were always visitors there. However, many faithful Jewish people who were part of the diaspora would have come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and remained for the 50 days between Passover and Pentecost, to celebrate it too.

We wear red on Pentecost to remind us of the fire that appeared over their heads that day.

We invite you to join us as we worship this Sunday, and to wear red.

Happy Pentecost,

Pastor Travis