Pentecost: Turn on the Holy Spirit Fan!

Hello Friends,

Well, if you are reading this I must wish you a Happy (Un)Official Start to Summer! You see, just last week, when you celebrated Memorial Day and gave thanks to God for all those brave souls who gave their life for your freedom–just like what Jesus did for you so many years ago cross–others were embracing the (un)official start to summer–even though summer doesn’t really begin until June 21st–with parades, parties, and grilling some hot dogs and burgers. Memorial Day, or rather the weekend leading up to Memorial Day, is known by many as the official start of summer. So, now that summer has begun, what are your big plans? What sort of adventures are you going on? What kind of discoveries do you want to make? Happy (Un)Official Start to Summer!

As I was thinking about the start of summer, I found myself thinking about what we celebrated several weeks ago at Church. Several weeks ago, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost simply means “fifty.” So, Pentecost marks the fiftieth day after Jesus’ resurrection or what we often call Easter. And on this day, the church receives a new beginning; sort of like a boost of energy to share the message and teachings and love of Jesus Christ. Pentecost, like the weekend of Memorial Day, marks the official start of embracing the power of the Holy Spirit. I know this all sounds confusing, so let me help you understand!

Listen to these words given to us by Luke, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4, NIV).

Today is a special day which many churches celebrate. It is called the day of Pentecost. Here is the story of how it all began. The Bible tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the Jesus’ followers were all gathered together in one place and God sent the Holy Spirit to give them the power to teach others about Jesus. Now, they couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, so how did they know the Holy Spirit was there?

We experience something very similar in our lives when it gets really hot. On a hot summer day, an electric fan can really help to keep us cool. How does a fan help to keep us cool? That’s right, it keeps us cool by blowing air. Imagine that you are standing in front of a fan. Do you see any air coming out of the fan? Probably not. Well, if we can’t see the air, how do you know the fan is working? There are several ways we can tell that this fan is working.

One way that we can tell that the fan is working is by tying some brightly colored streamers on the front of the fan. Even though we can’t see the air, we can see the air blowing those streamers. That is one way we know the fan is working. Another way we can know that the fan is working is that we can feel the air from the fan blowing against our faces. We can’t see the air, but we can feel it. Finally, we know that the fan is working because we can hear the sound of the air and the rattling sound of the streamers as they blow. We can’t see it, but we can hear it.

The Bible says that they knew the Holy Spirit was there because they could hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind coming from heaven. They couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, but they could hear the sound of the wind just as we can hear the air blowing from this fan.

Then the Bible tells us that they saw what seemed to be flaming tongues of fire that came and rested on their heads. They couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, but they knew that the Holy Spirit was there because they could see the flaming tongues of fire just as we can see those colorful streamers on our fan.

Finally, the Bible tells us that they knew the Holy Spirit was there because they could feel its power. When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, it gave them the ability to speak in languages that they didn’t even know, so that they could tell everyone about Jesus. They couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, but they could feel its power in their life just as we can feel the air from the fan.

The Holy Spirit is still with us today. We can’t see it, but we can hear it as he speaks to our hearts, we can see it moving in our life, and we can feel the power of its presence as it guides us through each day. The next time you turn on a fan, think about how that fan is the Holy Spirit giving you a boost of energy to do something new, to start a new adventure in Christ. Happy Official Start to being guided by the Holy Spirit!

Let us prayer: Dear Father, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to be our teacher and guide. Help us to listen and obey as the Holy Spirit teaches us how to tell others about Jesus. Amen.

Your Friend, Holy Spirit!

Guidance: https://sermons4kids.com/sermons/pentecostal-power