The Spirit of Pentecost

Friday 31st May 2013

The Spirit of Pentecost! No, I am not a month out of date! I know we celebrated the Festival of Pentecost on 19th May, but… the effect on the Holy Spirit falling on and filling the disciples was ongoing, because it was life-changing. It meant that the lives of the disciples were transformed, and that the lives of thousands around them were transformed through them. Although their experiences took place in a brief moment of time in a relatively obscure area of the world, they were to transform the whole of the world forever. And the means by which this was going to happen was through God's Holy Spirit.

This is our task too: we stand in a long line of witnesses, all of whom have received this promised Power from on high, whose role is to make Jesus present to us at our every breath, encouraging us to be participants in his work. We are one more link in that two-thousand-year chain of people who, though we cannot say we are eyewitnesses, we are 'bearers of the Risen Christ', and we are called to be witnesses to the Good News of what God has done and is continuing to do in Jesus.

Every single one of us in this congregation is needed in this body of Christ…whatever our age, our health, our situation Not one of us can say 'I am not needed, these gifts which God has given me have no place here'. We each have a role to play, and it is God's Spirit of power who enables us.

It is particularly appropriate to remind ourselves of this as we approach our General Church Meeting - the annual opportunity for everyone who is involved in the life of our church here at Rowbarton, to come together, to review our work, and to share our ideas and our plans for the coming year. The GCM is an open meeting, and everyone is invited to attend. I hope that you will feel that you want to come and contribute your voice and your vision to our time together.

With every blessing

Deborah