On Sunday June 8 we will celebrate another Pentecost. The feast in ancient Israel that signaled the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and followers of Jesus, counts as the real birth of the church. It was an awesome day. There where visitors in Jerusalem for this sacred feast from all over the Roman world, and they heard in their native languages the work of God coming alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is still going on.
One of the gifts is the awareness that the promise of Jesus to send us his Spirit into us to help us be the disciples we are supposed to be has been fulfilled (see John 14:15-). We have the Spirit that was in Jesus available to us. The good news is that the Spirit is really powerful and really gentle. The Spirit can do all things, like creation and sweeping across dark waters, and chaos and bringing life and light. But the Spirit is also gentle and won't do anything until we invite the Spirit to be available for us and to be willing to let the Spirit guide us and bless us. SO, this Pentecost I urge you to be open to inviting the Holy Spirit of Jesus to become fully alive in your life, give the permission to direct you and lead you in the ways you should go. It is an awesome adventure.
The second gift is the personality of Jesus can become more dynamic and visible in your life with the fruits of the Spirit. That description is found in Gal. 5: 22-23, the fruits, the personality qualities that were in Jesus are all available to you. They include Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. You couldn't ask for a more fantastic blessing and tool box in your life. The secret to all that Love and Joy, start at the other end and develop your self-control. The Holy Spirit is made for such as this. And with self-control being developed, you will become more gentle. your faith grows with the influence into a greater faith, a greater faith will allow you to be able to do more good, doing good will be seen as kindness to all sorts of people in all kinds of circumstances. When your kindness towards others is developing you will learn how to be more patient, which is a really big challenge, especially today. But, that patience, will develop into a sense of peace in the midst of all the worries, anxieties and ordinary stuff, and then you will see that having peace in that chaos, will lighten up you life and you will sense joy. With a joy filled heart, you can love others because you will want them to know all that you have discovered. See, a great adventure!
The third great gift of the Holy Spirit is that God has given each of us a role to play, a gift to share, a piece of the puzzle, a part of the body of Christ (see Romans 12 or I Corinthians 12), for the building up of the church, born at Pentecost and equipped by Spirit filled followers of Jesus. You have been given a special gift and maybe more than one, for the work of being the body of Christ in our world today. You have a very important and necessary part to play and I hope you have given the Holy Spirit permission to make that gift or gifts come alive for you to share with your body of Christ. It's not about you, but God's help in you, to make a difference in our world. It's an awesome feeling to know you are playing a major part in making this a better world, filled with the blessings that God intends to share. (see God's call to Abraham back in Genesis 12, blessed to be a blessing)
Now for me, The Holy Spirit makes it possible for me to be a pastor. What I do, has been a gift from God, not something that I can claim. I'm not perfect and enjoy the glow of appreciation when people see the gifts, but I'm telling you, it's because the Holy Spirit is within me and has directed and encouraged the sharing of those gifts to others. You too can be a part of all of this. I let the Holy Spirit have more room to run my life, way back on Mother's Day in 1970. It's like God gave a new birth to my faith and walk with God and I am so truly grateful for that.
Now before you wonder about that too much, the Pentecostal gift was to be understandable to those gathered in Jerusalem from all over the world, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the way we should all pay attention to, because by God's Grace, he took away the sins of the world. He took down the barrier that separated us and made sure we would be children of God. I try always to be understandable and relevant, just like the gift of the Holy Spirit is to all of us.
Come join the adventure. Welcome the Holy Spirit, let the fruit grow in you. And if you have any questions, especially for the North Bethesda Church folks, let me know.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
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