Sunday 23rd May - Pentecost (red)
Theme: Come, Holy Spirit
Readings: Genesis 11:1-9
Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-17 Ps 104:24-34,35b
Theme: Come, Holy Spirit
Readings: Genesis 11:1-9
Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-17 Ps 104:24-34,35b
Collect:
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment
The Holy Spirit is God the Importer. He imports Jesus into our lives, and he imports us into Jesus. Let me explain.
On the day of Pentecost (a harvest festival) the Spirit came upon the church. First they heard a wind (same word as spirit – and the same word as breath), and then they saw flames of fire, and then each of them was filled with the Holy Spirit. It was as if God had breathed into them again, as he had breathed into Adam at creation. This was different, however. The spirit who had entered them was God the Holy Spirit, who was now alongside their own human spirits.
The Holy Spirit is described as ‘the Spirit of Jesus’. That means he has the same character as Jesus, and if he is in us he imports Jesus’
character into our lives, so that we can have that character too. He also imports Jesus’ presence into our lives – if the Holy Spirit is in us, there is a sense in which Jesus is in us. And he imports Jesus’
resurrection power into our lives, to enable us to live for God as Jesus did. He will not force any of this onto us, for that is not his nature; if we want it, we have to co-operate with him. The Holy Spirit does much more than this, of course, but we can’t say everything in one short comment!
The Holy Spirit also imports us into Jesus. As with the wind, it is difficult to ‘see’ exactly what is happening – but we can understand the effects of it. If we are in Jesus, we have a new position in life. He is in the presence of God – and we too are accepted now as members of God’s family. His death has brought us forgiveness, his resurrection has brought us eternal life. We have the same spiritual standing as Jesus does, because we have been imported into him. His victory has become our victory!
On the day of Pentecost the disciples didn’t really grasp all this. But they grasped enough to give them great joy! New life had come!
Questions
1. What does the Holy Spirit want to do in your life? How do you feel about that?
2. How do we ‘co-operate’ with him?
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment
The Holy Spirit is God the Importer. He imports Jesus into our lives, and he imports us into Jesus. Let me explain.
On the day of Pentecost (a harvest festival) the Spirit came upon the church. First they heard a wind (same word as spirit – and the same word as breath), and then they saw flames of fire, and then each of them was filled with the Holy Spirit. It was as if God had breathed into them again, as he had breathed into Adam at creation. This was different, however. The spirit who had entered them was God the Holy Spirit, who was now alongside their own human spirits.
The Holy Spirit is described as ‘the Spirit of Jesus’. That means he has the same character as Jesus, and if he is in us he imports Jesus’
character into our lives, so that we can have that character too. He also imports Jesus’ presence into our lives – if the Holy Spirit is in us, there is a sense in which Jesus is in us. And he imports Jesus’
resurrection power into our lives, to enable us to live for God as Jesus did. He will not force any of this onto us, for that is not his nature; if we want it, we have to co-operate with him. The Holy Spirit does much more than this, of course, but we can’t say everything in one short comment!
The Holy Spirit also imports us into Jesus. As with the wind, it is difficult to ‘see’ exactly what is happening – but we can understand the effects of it. If we are in Jesus, we have a new position in life. He is in the presence of God – and we too are accepted now as members of God’s family. His death has brought us forgiveness, his resurrection has brought us eternal life. We have the same spiritual standing as Jesus does, because we have been imported into him. His victory has become our victory!
On the day of Pentecost the disciples didn’t really grasp all this. But they grasped enough to give them great joy! New life had come!
Questions
1. What does the Holy Spirit want to do in your life? How do you feel about that?
2. How do we ‘co-operate’ with him?