Reason to Party: Jesus sent his Holy Spirit

The present for the birthday is the Holy Spirit.

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

 

If you were in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost you would have experienced a carnival atmosphere. People from all over the world converged on it for a great religious event. It was a harvest event, thanking God for the harvest right at the beginning of the harvest, rather than the end when we celebrate it.

This year here that will be Sunday, 28^th September at 10:30am

Jerusalem was a small city, no bigger than a small market town but for Feast it grew with every house let and camp sites all around, People would stay in the surrounding villages and walk in. The narrow streets would be full of people and vendors. So the sudden appearance of a very excited group of disciples drew a crowd. What amazed the crowd was that they were being spoken to in a whole variety of languages.

 

Shavout  as the Jews call Pentecost traditionally was a celebration of the Torah or Law given on Mount Sinai. God had spoken directly to his people.  The disciples were speaking the words of God to the people. And the core message is what you have on your headband.

 

Christianity is not a set of rules and observances it is about God choosing to be part of your life and my life.

 

God wants us to turn around and look for him. He wants us to make a declaration of trust – to be baptised. He wants us to receive forgiveness of sin and to receive the Holy Spirit.

So there is a change of thinking, the Bible calls that ‘to repent’. And there is an action – Baptism. Christians ever since Pentecost have identified themselves by being baptised. It is an act of faith. It does not change you, God does that through his Holy Spirit, but it is the very public evidence that God is at work in your life. The idea of receiving the Holy Spirit might sound a bit scary, but you need to remember God loves you and he only wants what is best for you. When you trust him you receive so much from him.

The Reason to Party: Jesus has died for us and risen from the dead and has  sent his Holy Spirit to empower us to live as he would have us live.

The present for the birthday is the Holy Spirit. So you can put on your headband now and remember that God wants you to receive the Holy Spirit so that he can transform your life.

 

Return to top