THE WIND OF PENTECOST
My hope as a Pastor is to intrigue and challenge Christians. This can only be done with perspectives of God that allow us to see God with a wider insight on His wondrous being. So often we fall into the simplification of saying that we are a Christian, but just use these words to justify or elevate ourselves above others in different scenarios.
Pentecost means 50 days. Easter occurred 50 days before Pentecost. Easter is the annual celebration of the Passover, and Pentecost is Israel’s annual celebration of the Shavuot. Shavuot was the time when Israel would bring the offering of the first harvest to Jerusalem. The Shavuot also was the time when Israel would thank God for the Torah (law & covenant) given by Moses from God on Mt. Sinai.
The wind of Pentecost is the occurrence in Acts 2, that creates a type of curiosity in many Christians. The disciples who after Jesus final ascension are waiting in Jerusalem as Jesus told them to, are in the midst of something that they were not expecting. Acts 2:2 “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”
In the Ezekial 37:9, “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”. In simple terms I want to intrigue and challenge you.
Ezekial was a prophet of God sent to give hope to Israel who was in exile. They again had been taken hostage and were separated from all of their customary beliefs. Their relationship with God was non-existent and with no God there is no hope. Ezekial in his vision of the valley of dry bones cries out to Israel, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”. This is the Wind of Pentecost.
The celebration of the Shavuot that was the time when Israel would thank God for the Torah (law & covenant) given by Moses from God on Mt. Sinai was the time for delivery of the New Covenant through God’s Holy Spirit that was promised in the Old Testament, fulfilled by Jesus and promised by Him for the disciples to receive while they waited for the promise in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
There is so much more that God is. This is just a little something that I hope will help break you out of being a Christian as boring. My favorite verse in the Bible is Acts 17:28, for” ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Enterprise Community Congregational Church is here for a reason. The reason is for people to know and enjoy just how awesome God is and be able to carry that within our hearts knowing that, ‘In all things He is with us’.
Come and visit or give me a call, Pastor John Chamberlain
Personal: (503) 949-2744, Pastorjohnsmail@gmail.com
‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’
