World Olivet Assembly are greeting Pentecost with special Sunday services and retreats to celebrate the day when the Holy Spirit first descended on the apostles who gathered in Jerusalem ten days after Jesus' ascended to Heaven.
In Acts 2:1-4, it says: 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. (NIV)
As the Apostle Peter explains in the spirit-empowered sermon that follows, it is the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy where the prophet Joel proclaims: "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.'" (Acts 2:17-18, quoted from Joel 2)
While the Holy Spirit only rarely descended on a few select people in the Old Testament, He came down on every believer, men and women, regardless of ethnic background or social status fifty days after Easter when Jesus resurrected. Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection to life opened a new era in God's history of salvation where every believer is empowered to walk in the Spirit.
Therefore, as we greet Pentecost this year, we pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to work in our churches and ministries, and also every believer's personal lives, so that He would protect and guide us as we share the Good News of Jesus Christ and seek to build His Kingdom.
Greeting Pentecost with Anticipation of the Holy Spirit's Work in Our Lives
