Candice's Comments

Wow! The Pentecost story in Acts 2 is astounding, stunning, incredible! 

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind,

and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire,

appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled

with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other  languages, as the Spirit gave them ability…

Those who welcomed [Peter’s] message were baptized,

and that day about three thousand persons were added.

                                                                                                  

Wow! Three thousand new members as the result of one sermon!  That is astounding,

stunning, incredible! It was an amazingly dramatic beginning for the church. But listen to what the next verse says:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

This verse seems to refer to the ordering of their lives together after the Pentecost event. Not much drama here.  Worshiping together, eating together, learning together.  Later in Acts there will be drama in the form of healing, unexpected conversions, visions, even a shipwreck.  There will also be other events, far more of them and far less sensational: conversations, travels,

meetings, more sermons.

Our lives together are somewhat the same, a couple of thousand years later. We hear

occasionally of some pretty remarkable situations: some congregation experiences amazing and rapid growth, someone experiences a surprising personal turnaround or healing in their life, someone shares a testimonial that practically takes your breath away.

And there are also some remarkable stories told, not because they are astounding, stunning, or incredible but because of simply living life with God:

· Food and comfort are offered when a loved one dies;

· A man faithfully drives an elderly member to worship each Sunday;

· A beautician is anonymously paid so a woman without resources can get a haircut;

· Food and money are given to help those who are struggling to provide for their families;

· A congregation opens its doors to an AA group;

· Communion is shared with home bound members;

· A Person of the Week note is written to offer encouragement and support;

· A woman volunteers time with a neighborhood school;

· The church lawn is mowed and the flowerbeds weeded;

· Generosity and stewardship abound as tithes and offerings are placed in the plate.

God’s work takes place wherever God’s people are—and wherever God’s people are open to the leading of the Spirit.  The Spirit’s people measure success, not by the number of new members or programs, but by whether or not we are doing what the Spirit is urging us to do. 

We can easily count the number of people in the pews and we can see the size of our programs, but how do we measure the long-lasting effect we are having on our friends, family and community? The effect of the Spirit’s work through the Spirit’s people is indeed beyond

measure. 

Wow! Pentecost is still happening today!

In the Spirit,

Candice