Dear friends in Christ at Peace and Grue,
Pentecost is the church's birthday, and like any birthday, it's a cause for celebration. The word Pentecost is Greek and it means "50th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations.
On the Day of Pentecost, the apostles were gathered in a room. Jews from all over the world were gathered with them when a great wind blew and a flame appeared as a tongue of fire, which split itself into many individual flames above the heads of all those present. The Holy Spirit came upon these people and each began to speak in tongues. Despite the fact they had no common language, they were perfectly able to understand one another.
Others, not so blessed, accused those speaking in tongues of being drunk, but Peter arose and addressed the crowd, explaining that it was only 9 o'clock, and that this phenomenon was not intoxication, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit, prophesied through the prophet Joel.
Peter then preached a sermon about Jesus, “whom you crucified and killed…But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it is impossible for him to be held in its power… of that all of us are witnesses.”
“When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’”
“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” About three thousand people were baptized that day, an the church was born.
The season of Pentecost begins the Monday following the Day of Pentecost and lasts until the season of Advent. It lasts anywhere between 22 and 27 weeks, depending on when Easter takes place, making the season of Pentecost the longest season in the church year.
The season of Pentecost is often referred to as the non-festival half of the church year because during this time the church does not celebrate a major festival commemorating the life of Jesus. Rather during the season of Pentecost, the church focuses on the teachings of Jesus.
During the season of Pentecost, the Christian Churches does celebrate other special festivals such as Holy Trinity Sunday, Reformation Sunday, All Saints Day, and Christ the King Sunday. The color of the paraments for the season of Pentecost is green to symbolize how Christians grow in their faith through God’s Word.
May you experience that growth as we continue to gather and celebrate God’s gift of the church.
In Christ,
Pastor Dan