5/24/26
 

In the context of the liturgical calendar, Pentecost Sunday celebrates the miraculous and divine establishment of the Church. It celebrates the commissioning of God’s people, the Church, to take His gospel to the world.

While it is celebrated as a feast in certain orthodox contexts, we are observing and honoring Pentecost with this reminder: Pentecost is a peak moment in redemptive history as the Spirit is made visible for the second time after Jesus’ baptism. But in the context of Acts 2, the Spirit guides and directs the birth of the church as Christ’s institution to bring His kingdom and His Gospel to the world.

This incredible time displays the literal pouring out of the Holy Spirit:

  • Prophesied in the Old Testament by Ezekiel and Joel

  • Promised by Jesus Himself as His replacement until His return.

Before Pentecost, early believers longed for a permanent dwelling place of God to be close to Him; through Pentecost, God gave Himself to all believers, making us His dwelling place.

This is both why and how we, those indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the local expression of the church in the upstate of South Carolina, make it our mission to give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the Gospel without them having to come or go anywhere.

Jesus promises the Spirit

John 14:15-17- “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 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.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭26‬-‭27 - “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Acts 2:1-4 - “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”