Hi dear friends,

We are in the season of Pentecost. So, what does Pentecost mean to us?

Pentecost is about the reality of God's Holy Spirit touching the lives of people. Pentecost is first mentioned in the New Testament as the occasion for the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the disciples of Christ. We see the power of the Holy Spirit touching the 120 people that were in the upper room through a "wind" and flames of fire. That is how the Church got started, with the fire of the Holy Spirit! 

Pentecost is actually the Greek word for "fiftieth". It was celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover. This feast is also called the Feast of Weeks. It was a harvest festival, celebrating the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. 

I want to mention that the Holy Spirit has always been around and even in the OT we see the work of the Holy Spirit active in creation.

So here are 4 ways I want to share, that we see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at work from Genesis to Revelation, in the bible...

1. The Spirit of God was present when the world was created.
2. God sent God’s Spirit to do powerful things among God's people, Israel. 
3. Later, God sent the Spirit when Jesus lived on earth.
4. The Spirit has been present with Christians ever since. 

In the book of Genesis, the wind from God was what caused the waters of the Flood to stop rising (Genesis 8:1). The Spirit hovered over the seas in the beginning of creation.
• This same wind from God blew locusts all over Egypt (Exodus 10:13) 
• and sent quail for the Israelites to eat (Exodus 14:21). 
• God blew wind from God’s nostrils to part the waters of the Red Sea so that the Israelites could 
walk across on dry land. 
• Then we see that Jesus appeared to his disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit on them (Jn. 20:22)

John the Baptist had spoken of Jesus as one who would come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). 
Jesus referred to this in Acts 1:5 and 11:16, and it was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (2:17, 33). 

Then we see the culmination of the power and work of the Holy Spirit when the Spirit was poured out on the disciples at Pentecost, in (Acts 2:1-4)

Finally, we realize that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the resurrection power of the Living God through the Holy Spirit, is the same power that God breathes on us today which is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, at work in every believer's life today. 

The Holy Spirit did not "die" with the NT believers, but lives and works in great power in our broken world today. It is the power of the Holy Spirit of God, that heals, delivers and changes us transforming us from glory to glory, with unveiled faces.

Breathe on us Holy Spirit, let your fire fall!

Come and join us for our Pentecost service this Sunday! (31 May 2009) 6pm, 48 Gordon Rd, Morningside Durban SA. 

Blessings & Love
Rev. Deborah Bell
Senior Pastor 
Deo Gloria Family Church