FEAST OF PENTECOST

WHAT IS PENTECOST?

Pentecost is the great festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means "fiftieth day" and is celebrated fifty days after Easter.

WHAT HAPPENED ON PENTECOST?

Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus' mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover. While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on human flesh promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival. Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present, many who had come from all corners of the Roman Empire. This created a sensation. The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day. (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).

WHAT IS THE LITURGICAL COLOR FOR PENTECOST?

Red is the liturgical color for this day. Red recalls the tongues of flame in which the Holy Spirit descended on the first Pentecost. The color red also reminds us of the blood of the martyrs. These are the believers of every generation who by the power of the Holy Spirit hold firm to the true faith even at the cost of their lives.

WHY IS PENTECOST SOMETIMES CALLED "WHITSUNDAY"?

A tradition of some churches in ancient times was to baptize adult converts to the faith on Pentecost. The newly baptized catechumens would wear white robes on that day, so Pentecost was often called "Whitsunday" or "White Sunday" after these white baptismal garments. Many Christian calendars, liturgies, and hymnals (particularly those from the Episcopal/Anglican tradition) still use this term.

WHY IS THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION OFTEN CELEBRATED ON PENTECOST?

Confirmation Sunday is the day when young people who have been instructed in basic Christian doctrine confess their faith in the presence of the church. The key to understanding confirmation is to recognize that the faith the confirmands confess is not of their own making; it is the gift of God that He gives through His means of grace. The Holy Spirit who empowered the disciples to preach the risen Christ two thousand years ago is the same Spirit who empowers the confirmands to make their confession. This is why many churches celebrate the rite of confirmation on Pentecost.

WHAT IS THE SEASON AFTER PENTECOST?

Because Pentecost is the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit on Christ's disciples, the Season after Pentecost is centered on sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the day to day life of the Christian. This is reflected in the liturgical color for this season: green, the color of life and growth. Through the gift of faith that comes only from the Holy Spirit, Christians are enabled to trust in Christ and proclaim Him in their daily lives by service to their neighbors. The season after Pentecost is the longest season of the church year -- it lasts from Trinity Sunday until the first Sunday of Advent. This is the non-festival portion of the liturgical calendar during which the church stresses vocation, evangelism, missions, stewardship, almsgiving, and other works of mercy and charity as ways in which Christ empowers us by His grace to share the Gospel with others.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE PENTECOST?

There are three "mega-festivals" commemorated in the Christian calendar. The first two, Christmas and Easter, are well known to both believers and non-believers. But it's possible that even liturgical Christians may not be as familiar with the third, the festival of Pentecost. God the Father's wonderful Christmas gift of His one and only Son, and Christ's Easter triumph over the power of sin, death, and the devil would be of no benefit to us if the Holy Spirit did not give us the gift of saving faith. Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives us the faith to believe and trust in Christ as our Savior. This precious gift of faith in the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ is the reason Pentecost is the third "mega-festival" of the church and why we celebrate it with such joy and thanksgiving.

forgiveness is blessing

Prayer of Forgiveness: A Valuable Gift
A prayer of forgiveness is something we all seek at some point in life. Forgiveness is a valuable gift that is neither easily obtained, nor easily given. Forgiveness is essential for life; it frees us from past wrongs and gives us hope for the future. It is for forgiveness sake that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for mankind.

Prayer of Forgiveness: Made Possible by Jesus Christ
The prayer of forgiveness is a prayer that is offered up to God. Though we may directly hurt each other, all of our trespasses ultimately hurt God. You may wonder how this is possible. How can our shortcomings hurt the omnipotent Creator of the universe? Does God even care? In Genesis 6, we find that God Himself actually grieved over all the wrongs that man had inflicted upon each other: "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart." (Genesis 6:5-6).

All knowing, God grieves even at the mere thought of evil. Thus, ultimate forgiveness must also come from God. However, because of His justice, forgiveness cannot be freely given. Every wrong must be accounted for in order for God to be a just judge. Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary in our place so that our sins may be forgiven. His suffering paid for our transgressions. "For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28).

In His love, God knew that our conscience needed to be freed from guilt and condemnation. He knew that forgiveness of sins was our greatest need. In the ultimate act of love, God not only suffered the pain of our wrongs, but also paid for their consequences in order that we may have forgiveness offered to us when we sin. All we need to do is to accept His free gift of forgiveness.

Prayer of Forgiveness: Ask God for Forgiveness
Perhaps you have stumbled upon this web page looking for a prayer of forgiveness to soothe a tormented soul. Or maybe you are struggling with trying to forgive another for deeply hurting you. For all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, forgiveness has been freely given. If we acknowledge our wrongs and ask for forgiveness, God will forgive us - no questions asked: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

If we reject Jesus, in essence, we reject God's gift of forgiveness. We are in fact saying that we do not wish to be reconciled with God (1 John 1:10). Though it is our free choice to not accept forgiveness from God, we will ultimately be accountable for all the sins we have committed at the end of this life. It is God's deep desire to be reconciled with you. "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). If you desire to be truly forgiven, consider what Jesus said and sincerely accept Him as your Lord and Savior. You will be forgiven and God will begin a transforming work in your life.

Prayer of Forgiveness: Receive a New Life
The prayer of forgiveness gives us a new hope and a new beginning. All our sins are wiped away by God. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12).

If you understand that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus Christ came as the one and only Redeemer of sin, then you understand the prayer of forgiveness. The question is – are you ready to implement the prayer, by receiving God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ? If so, believe in Christ, repent of your sins, and commit the rest of your life to Him as Lord:

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

PRAYER AND ITS EXPERIENCE

we don't get what we want every time we pick up the spiritual telephone (in prayer) , any more than we get what we want every time we pick up the phone in our office. But if we telephone J.B and he says he won't sign the contract. we don't hurl our office phone out the window, No more should we throw out our spiritual telephone just because we don't get what we want-- or think we want. (Howard whitman).

The Experience of Prayer

Most of us know the experience of prayer. We may remember prayers taught to us in childhood. Prayers offered in our church communities may have meaning for us. Many of us can recall a time of pain, agony or despair when a prayer was pulled out of us with surprising strength: "Oh God, help me, help me!" or "Why, God, why?"

Often we remember times of great wonder during which we experienced God's presence. A sunset, a piece of music, or a baby's smile he]ps us to remember that God speaks to us in many ways if we are open and willing to see and to listen. When our hearts are touched by the wonder of God we often respond with words of gratitude or praise or simply an inner smile of joy.

We are all pray-ers; we know how to pray. But when we think about learning to pray we forget our experience and turn outside ourselves for answers and insights. The first step in exploring the life of prayer is to begin with the experiences that are uniquely ours.

How were you introduced to prayer? I was taught "Now I lay me down to sleep..." and the Lord's Prayer. I do not remember learning them; I just remember always knowing them. I did not say my prayers regularly at bed time and our family did not have times of prayer together except at special meals when grace was offered by my father. We went to church as a family and I remember long and boring prayers from the minister. I was never taught about silent prayer, being quiet in God's presence, or the fact that I could have an individual relationship with God. Exploring our childhood memories, the positive and negative, the instructions and the lack of teaching, helps to guide our adult prayer life.

GROWING IN SPIRIT

To grow spiritually, you have to open up. A few weeks ago at work, I had to download the newest version of Acrobat Reader on my computer. This is a software program that allows you to view scanned documents that weren't originally created in an electronic format. (These documents are called PDF files.) The next time I went to open a PDF file, my computer was still using the older version of the software. Then I realized that I had to open up the newest version in order for it to become the applied version.
This caused me to think about all the other things that I open up. I open up a bottle of water when I'm thirsty. I open up the refrigerator door when it's time for dinner (usually hoping that by magic some wonderful meal has been prepared and placed in there but that hasn't happened yet). I open bottles of seasonings to flavor my food, the pantry door to access a variety of ingredients for a recipe, the closet door to get my clothes, the washer to wash my clothes, the front door of my house to go outside (or inside). Everything that I want to access requires me to open something up.
It is the same with our spiritual and emotional lives. If I want more love in my life I first must open up my heart and access what is already there to get more of it. If I want more spirituality in my life I first must open up and access that place inside of me where it already lives. Because we want "more" of something, we are actually acknowledging that there is already "some" of that within us. The software is already there, we just want the newest version of it. We open up so we can apply it to our lives.
When we are open to something, whether it be an idea, a principle or seeing a new dimension of life, God will make us aware of what is already around us. Just like when you decide you want to buy a new car, suddenly you are more aware of all the different models out there and what interests you. If you want a new couch suddenly you notice all the furniture stores out there that you never "saw" before. This is because we have opened up to having that, whatever we chose "that" to be, in our lives.
I am choosing to be open to having more love in my life. I chose to recognize the love that is already around me, from friends, family, co-workers and especially from God. A few years ago my little cockatiel, Cheeks, flew away. I was very saddened by this. Because I have a face that reads like a book, some co-workers were aware that something was wrong. I told them why I was so sad and ended up shedding a few tears in front of them. They both came to me later that morning and said "Come to lunch with us." We don't often share lunches together so it was a real treat and a very tender thing for them to do for me. I was open (and vulnerable) with them and I ended up being the winner. We had a very good lunch and it lifted my spirits. I found more love that day because I sought it out.
What would you like to seek more of in your life? When you determine that for yourself, then open up to having more of it, for you will find it.
"Seek and ye shall find."
Jesus