Stephen spoke at the family service, asking us where is the Holy Spirit? Acts 2:1-4 describes, in graphic terms, the formation of the church as the Holy Spirit came upon believers in supernatural ways. This windy, burning sensation couldn’t be cured by Zantac!

The Holy Spirit is God HImself, abiding with His people. Luke 24:49 gives us another description of what happened on this day: the disciples were ‘clothed in power from on high’. People were given the power and ability to become witnesses to the differences God can make in our lives, demonstrating through the gift of languages, that God is here for every nationality and every nation.

History is also His story. We need to live His story in our stories, letting God clothe us with His Holy Spirit so that the life of God burns within us and is seen in our words and witness to others.

Jeanette gave the epilogue at the service, reminding us that God’s Spirit is stronger than the strongest forces in nature but is also as gentle as a dove. The following prayer reminds us of the work of the Spirit within our lives:

‘Replace the tension within me with a holy relaxation.

Replace the turbulence within me with a sacred calm.

Replace the anxiety within me with a quiet confidence.

Replace the fear within me with a strong faith.

Replace any bitterness within me with the sweetness of Your grace.

Replace the darkness within me with a gentle light.

Replae the coldness within me with a gentle warmth.’

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the church with what seemed like tongues of fire and with the sound of a violent wind. The result was that the 120 gathered in the Upper Room spoke supernaturally in other languages and witnessed to the glory of God. Our quiz at tonight’s family service, exploring the theme of ‘Pentecost Power’, looked at recognising different languages and famous proverbs…courtesy of Google Translate, so don’t expect too much accuracy!

Knowledge is power, in Italian!

Do everything with love, in French.

Be yourself, for everyone else is already taken, in Spanish.

Too blessed to be stressed, in German.

Our thanks to Stephen and Stacey for the quiz, which had prizes connected with the theme (a windmill for the wind of the Spirit to blow, bubbles to signify the overflowing joy of the Spirit, a watering can since the fruit of the Spirit need to grow in our lives (not to put the fire out, as Dave suggested!) and ‘Heroes’ to eat, since the Spirit makes heroes of ordinary people!

‘But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ (2 Cor 1:18-20)

‘Father of kindness,
You have poured out grace.
You brought me out of darkness;
You have filled me with peace.
Giver of mercy,
You’re my help in time of need.
Lord, I can’t help but sing.

Faithful, You are,
Faithful, forever You will be.
Faithful, You are,
All Your promises are Yes and Amen.
All Your promises are Yes and Amen.

Beautiful Saviour,
You have brought me near.
You pulled me from the ashes;
You have broken every curse.
Blessed Redeemer,
You have set this captive free.
Lord, I can’t help but sing.

I will rest in Your promises
My confidence is Your faithfulness
I will rest in Your promises
My confidence is Your faithfulness.’ (‘Yes and Amen‘, Chris Tomlin)

Most of us like receiving presents and free gifts are even more exciting (though sadly, they often don’t live up to their advertising hype!) Supermarkets frequently offer us ‘free gifts’:

Insurance companies may offer us ‘two months for free’, but usually the prices for the remaining 10 months more than make up for this offer! God’s free gift of grace is not like these offers, however!

Mark spoke from Rom 5:12-21 this morning, reminding us that God’s free gift of grace abounds to us all, and even where sin abounds, grace abounds so much more.

Grace could be said to stand for:

G – God’s Gift (God gave us Jesus, and whilst the cost of this gift is free to us, it cost Jesus everything)

R – Righteousness (God’s gift puts us in right standing with God; we are given robes of righteousness to wear)

A – Acceptance (Eph 1:6 reminds us we are accepted in the beloved; we are acceptable to God through grace. God accepts us just as we are.)

C – Continuous (God’s grace is always available to us; it overflows to us, like the Niagara Falls. 1 Tim 1:14 reminds us that grace is ‘exceedingly abundant’.)

E – Everlasting (God’s grace leads to everlasting life; there will still be grace in eternity!)

Yesterday at the Salvation Army there was a Pentecost Party as part of the ‘Churches Together’ services to celebrate Pentecost. Alison spoke about how the Holy Spirit came upon the early disciples on the day of Pentecost:

She also spoke about how the Holy Spirit brings community together. On the Day of Pentecost, people spoke in new languages as the Holy Spirit enabled them, unifying the division caused by the Tower of Babel. Our communities desperately need unifying and hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. We also need the love of God in our hearts, as symbolised by the ‘Love’ banner:

God also gives us joy and reasons to celebrate, hence the party theme:

Ps 130 is one of my favourite psalms. We begin by crying to God ‘out of the depths’ (referring to anything low, deep or profound, such as the ocean, a pit or a valley, all of which are used in the Bible to describe difficult times), but find a God who forgives, loves and redeems. In the meantime, however, there is a need for waiting and hoping, often quite long periods when nothing seems to be happening and all that is required of us is trust. Those times are not easy for impatient people who like instant answers!

Helping ourselves and others when we are in the depths of despair is not easy. Perhaps the first thing we can do is listen. Job’s friends identified with his suffering and sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, without speaking. (Job 2:12-13) Often, it is important simply to get alongside those who are suffering, even if we have no words to speak.

Secondly, the Psalms teach us to pray in all situations, however desperate they are. Prayer is not a ‘last-ditch’ effort to twist God’s arm. As we pray, we allow God into those situations which trouble, wound and upset us. So often, we try to keep Him at arm’s length, but in praying for ourselves and others, we invite God into our lives to help and heal, opening the door to His action and intervention.

Waiting involves ‘a wholehearted attention to the living voice of Scripture.’ (Michael Wilcock) It is not passive resignation; it is an active form of hoping in God, resting in all we know of His character. Each of the penitential psalms reveals to us facets of God’s character we are liable to forget in troubles:

• Unfailing love (Ps 130:7, Ps 143:8, 12)
• Goodness (Ps 143:10)
• Guidance (Ps 143:8,10)
• Forgiveness (Ps 130:4)
• Durability (Ps 102:12, 25-26)
• Sovereignty (Ps 102:12)
• Compassion (Ps 102:13)
• Faithfulness (Ps 102:17)
• Redemption (Ps 130:7)