Pentecost purpose

GIVE ME PENTECOST AFRESH – I WANT, I NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT!

(May 22, 2021) Charles Schwab reflects on Pentecost and encourages believers to know a living personal empowering Holy Spirit experience today…

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday! Pentecost is an experience for every Christian; not merely a denominational title…  and limited to a denomination!

Yes, let’s be strong on remembrance and annual celebration of Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit was given to the first Christian believers (Acts 2) and widely considered as the birthday of the church.

Pentecost experience is for all believers
Let’s not miss this!

The Bible assures that God intends all who love Christ to be strong in their personal experience of what Pentecost was then… and can be today in their own lives. Our Lord wants all his followers today to experience Pentecost for themselves. And… not only a one-time experience but a marvellous ongoing empowerment of ‘Pentecost alive’ in them.

The Lord is still spiritually empowering the lives and ministries of all Christians who sincerely ask and keep asking! Personally, I believe – I know –  I need the Holy Spirit’s power to do what the Lord has called me to accomplish. So do you, dear reader.

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FIVE C’s OF PENTECOST

(June 6, 2019) Robert and Maureen McQuillan share serious kingdom thoughts/concerns about some Pentecostals today…

Pentecost Sunday this weekend – the church’s Easter celebration now seems so long ago!

Oh we can never forget the real Easter story… of a Saviour who loved us so much that he freely gave his life for us at Calvary, paying the price of sin, offering everyone full salvation and a way back to our Father God!

Scripture speaks the love that flowed that from Calvary’s hill …

  • ‘He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world’ (1 John 2:2).
  • ‘If you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son’ (Romans 8:10, 17).

But… now it’s almost Pentecost Sunday! We need to remember, to joyfully celebrate that the good news of God’s love continues beyond that extraordinary Passover event we call Easter.

Why? God had a further free gift to give to all who believe in his Son Jesus – the outpouring of his Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 2 to enable us to not only praise him in tongues but to serve him in powerful (dunamis) ways and touch the world!

Yet, as shared on Facebook last weekend we had found it dismaying that we hadn’t at that point come across any adverts or articles mentioning this coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Not even the Pentie church we attended last week highlighted it! Hmm! Let’s look at what we’ll term The 5 C’s of Pentecost… Carpeting, Correction! Celebration, Cenacle and Challenge. (more…)

THE INDISPENSABLE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (May 11, 2016)

Jim McClureDr Jim McClure, noted theologian, highlights the primary purpose of Pentecost.

The first Christian Pentecost that took place 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a pivotal event in the life of the church. It celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church to enable it to accomplish the mission given to it by Jesus.

Yet Christians have often either failed to recognise its essential importance or have swung to the other extreme by misinterpreting and overemphasising its significance.

Let’s consider the biblical basis of the importance of Pentecost for the church today.

1. The promise of Pentecost
Pentecost had always been part of God’s plan for the world. It was not intended to be a surplus add-on event to the Christian faith to make it more exciting! From the beginning it was central to God’s grand plan for world redemption. (more…)

WHEN IS MISSIONS NOT REALLY MISSIONS? (May 9, 2016)

Erica GraceErica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, cuts to the chase!

I find looking at churches’ bulletin boards and websites rather interesting, don’t you?

It’s quirky, I know, but I feel CBBs/websites say a lot about the church. If the board is full of out-of-date events and has been gathering dust for a long time, it tells me no one has captured the vision of this valuable tool. It can be the same with some church websites!

On the other hand I’ve seen some masterpieces too!

Missions involvement
But one thing I’m always looking for is their missions’ involvement. What is this church involved in outside their own building? (more…)