While Acts 2:1-21 tells the story of the Christian Pentecost, the Holy Day has much earlier roots.

 It began as A Jewish harvest festival. It is sometimes called the festival of first fruits or  festival of weeks, because it occurs seven weeks after Passover. Actually the name Pentecost, came from the fact that it was celebrated 50 days after Passover. It was a time for thanking God for the first fruits of the harvest.

Later, certainly before Jesus’ time, the Jewish Pentecost celebrated the gift of the law, the commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, after they left Egypt for the wilderness.

As Christians, for us, Pentecost celebrates an event which happened 10 days after Jesus ascended to heaven, when the promised Holy Spirit filled the disciples and gave birth to what became known as the church.

God provides harvest, God provides instruction for faithful living, God provides the Holy Spirit that manifests God’s presence and empowers us for faithful witness. Anyway you look at it, God provides the gifts that we need

In a way, the Christian Pentecost, was a similar event to the Hebrew Wilderness experience. After Jesus ascended, his followers must have felt like they were wandering in the wilderness, and then suddenly there was smoke and fire and confusion and they experienced the presence of God, who provides instruction.

This is the gift of guidance. Just as the law guided the Hebrews, the Holy Spirit provides guidance to us.

But there are more gifts given to the church at Pentecost, gifts which are still available to the church as well as individual Christians today. To find out more, join us Sunday morning at 9:00 am in person or live on our YouTube channel or catch the recording later on our Facebook page.