Pentecost Sunday

North Star News column
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Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the day on which the church remembers a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus and celebrates the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of his disciples today. The story of the first Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2, but the story of Pentecost 2010 is yet to be written. What will the Holy Spirit prompt you to do? Where will the Holy Spirit lead you this year?
One thing is certain. The Holy Spirit will lead you to deeper faith in Jesus Christ. This is the first and primary work of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 12:3 says “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther’s Small Catechism explains the third article of the creed in these words, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept in the true faith.” If you believe in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit has been at work in your heart and is continuing to work in you, whether you are conscious of it or not. The Spirit may work silently or may use some strange instruments, events or people, but it is always the Spirit that creates and sustains faith.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit propels people to speak of the faith they have in their hearts. When the first disciples of Jesus saw him ascend into heaven they were told “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” {Acts 1:9) When the Holy Spirit came upon them mightily ten days later they went out into the streets to preach about Jesus to people from “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:4) in their own native languages. This was part of the miracle of that Pentecost. Today the Holy Spirit is still moving people to put in a good word for Jesus, usually in their own native language. Some write books and some preach sermons while others simply demonstrate their faith in a few apt words or actions. Pray that you are open to the Spirit’s prompting so that you put in a good word for Jesus when given the opportunity.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit helps us pray. In Romans 8:26 it says, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” There certainly are times when we don’t know what to pray for or how to put our thoughts into sensible words, especially when events overwhelm us by their magnitude or intensity. At just those times, it is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, and sometimes is directing us to the right thoughts and the right words. What a comfort this is in the midst of illness, trauma, or death.
“Holy Spirit, truth divine, dawn upon this soul of mine; breath of God and inward light, wake my spirit, clear my sight.” (Samuel Longfellow)