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Dear Lake Deaton Friends and Family,
This weekend is a special time in the calendar of the church, Pentecost Weekend. As a young Christian I was part of a church that would celebrate Pentecost, but the only thing I received from this special celebration was that Pentecost was the birthday of the church. I would hear the story of the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples and witness the story of thousands of people giving their hearts to Jesus. I would celebrate and then go on.
One day I was challenged, through reading the gospel of John to look at Pentecost in a new light. In John chapters 14, 15 and 16 Jesus tells the disciples about his leaving them and that he has to leave so that the Holy Spirit can come and lead them. In John 16:7, Jesus explains that, “…it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”
As I read that day, a light began to flicker in my heart. I need Pentecost, not to celebrate the beginning of the church, I need Pentecost, because I need all of God! I need the filling of the Holy Spirit, so that I can live into the life that Jesus has created for me to experience. Over time I came to realize that the same Spirit that came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost is coming into the lives of the children of God today. When we open our hearts up to the fullness of God, we put ourselves in the place of being filled with the Holy Spirit and this is exactly the place that God wants us to be so that we can be the people he created us to be. I understand though, that sometimes we don’t have an open connection with the Holy Spirit, and we are left asking, “Can you hear me now?, can you hear me now?” as we stress to hear what the Spirit has to say to us.
As we get ready for our Pentecost weekend, I encourage you to spend some time with Christ in prayer and ask that he would reveal anything in your life that may be keeping you from receiving the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. And then let's come together and celebrate that our God is with us today; our Advocate and Guide to direct our paths into righteousness.
Blessings,
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