Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
When Jesus gathered his disciples together after his resurrection, before he returned to the Father, he gave specific instructions. ‘Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’
So they stayed together in Jerusalem. They gathered in an upper room, they did a little administrative work, they prayed, and they waited. They did not get what they were waiting for. They did not get the kind of power they expected or desired. Because who in the world could have anticipated this?
Instead, they got the power Jesus asked the Father to give them. They got Jesus’ own Holy Spirit. And in the moment they received the Spirit, they became the answer to Jesus’ prayer.
This Sunday is Pentecost. We will remember the story of that day and the wisest and most mature among us will celebrate it. Because the story of that day is still the story of our life together. Those first disciples didn’t get what they prayed for, they became what Jesus prayed for–they were filled with the Holy Spirit, what was in them was not of them, and they became the church. May it be so with us.
The church without the Spirit of God is just a religious institution, a collective, interactive man-made idol. Such a church might do things for God, but it cannot do things with God. It is limited by its own wisdom, its own desires, its own culture, its conflict and its limited vision and resources. It can easily be seduced by the enemy. It has and does tremendous damage.
But a community of believers who wait, pray and surrender to the Holy Spirit, they are empowered by God through the Holy Spirit and become the living body of Christ. They are limited only by the will of God. Such a church has everything it needs to flourish in faithfulness to God in all seasons.
I hope you will join me for worship on Sunday at 10am, in the sanctuary or on the livestream. Like our ancestors, we will surrender our agenda and wait and pray for the power of God which is the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Spirit we can do nothing. With the Spirit, we have everything we need to become the answer to the prayers Jesus is still praying for the world.
Come and see!
Peace,
Pastor Kate
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