Years ago I read a book called Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect Of The Holy Spirit by a pastor named Francis Chan. The premise of this book is that the church in America has largely forgotten about the Holy Spirit. We spend a lot of time talking about Jesus and God but little time exploring the Spirit.
This premise is particularly on my mind as Pentecost approaches. This Sunday, June 5, is the day each year when we remember God pouring out God’s Spirit upon the church in the 1st century. Acts 2 shares this story:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
—Acts 2:1-4
This week, I encourage you to spend time contemplating the Spirit’s role in your life and the life of the church. When I read Acts 2, I notice one major way the coming of the Spirit affected God’s people.
When God’s people were filled with the Holy Spirit, it enabled them to do amazing things.
This is still true today!
When the church is filled with the Holy Spirit, the church is enabled to do amazing things.
When I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I am enabled to do amazing things.
When God is in us, we are capable of so much more than we’d previously thought possible.
Here’s a quote from the book that I especially resonate with:
“The church becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human experience. We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.”
—Francis Chan
The story of Pentecost asserts that God’s Spirit should be actively leading us— both individually and as a church. When we celebrate on Sunday we will do so because God fills us and enables us.
Spend time this week considering the Holy Spirit’s role in your life.
In what ways do you feel filled with the Spirit of God?
How is the presence of God’s Spirit enabling you to do amazing things?
Then on Sunday, we’ll gather together to celebrate the amazing gift God has given us— the gift of the Spirit.
See you on Sunday!
-Pastor David
