What is Pentecost?
Pentecost is when we celebrate the gift of receiving the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is
the day when believers first received this amazing gift. While Christians celebrate
Pentecost is actually a Jewish holiday. Pentecost is when Jewish people
celebrate the giving of the first five books of the Bible from God to Moses at
Mount Sinai.
So the Jewish festival Pentecost foreshadows the Christian Pentecost. Shavuot
(Jewish Pentecost) is the gift of God’s Word. Christian Pentecost is the
celebration of the gift of God’s Spirit.
Old Testament – Ezekiel 37:1-14
In this Halloweenish story, Ezekiel sees a vision of a valley filled with human
skeletons. God asks him if these dead bones can live again. Ezekiel says to God
that God alone knows if this can happen. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the
bones to become alive. So Ezekiel does this and wondrously muscles and skin
cover the dead bodies. But, they are still dead. So God tells Ezekiel to tell the
dead bodies to “Breathe and Live.” Ezekiel does this and all the dead bodies
become alive and stand to their feet.
What does Ezekiel’s vision mean? God explains the dead bodies are the Israelites.
The Israelites have lost hope that they will ever return to their homeland. Their
hopes and dreams have died. God is reassuring the Israelites that their hopes and
dreams have not died. We too can take hope when everything seems lost. God
hears us and he will revive our hopes and dreams at the right time.
Old Testament – Psalm 104
Psalm 104 tells of the glories of the Lord. It praises Him for all the beauty of
creation. It also praises Him for all He does for us. Listen to it sung in Hebrew.
New Testament – Acts 2:1-21
This tells of how the first Christians came to receive the Holy Spirit. They were in
a house when suddenly a wind came in from heaven. There appeared tongues of
fires on each of their heads and they began speaking in other languages. Jewish
people from around the world had gathered in Jerusalem because of Pentecost.
They were amazed to hear non-native people speaking their language. But, some
people doubted and thought they were drunk.
Peter assures everyone that they are not drunk. He says they are seeing the
power of the Holy Spirit. He teaches everyone that this is what the Old Testament
prophet, Joel, meant when Joel said
AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says,
‘THAT I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL [p] MANKIND;
AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHESY,
AND YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS,
AND YOUR OLD MEN WILL [q] HAVE DREAMS;
18 AND EVEN ON MY MALE AND FEMALE [r] SERVANTS
I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS,
And they will prophesy.
19 AND I WILL [s] DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE
AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW,
BLOOD, FIRE, AND [t] VAPOR OF SMOKE.
20 THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS
AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD,
BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD COMES.
21 AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
WILL BE SAVED.’
What does this mean for us? Most of us will not have a dramatic happening when
we receive the Holy Spirit. But, this does not mean our gift of the Holy Spirit is no
less real. The minute we ask Jesus Christ to become our Lord and Savior we
receive His Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit lives in us forever and guides us with all our
New Testament – John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15
This takes place during the Last Supper. Jesus tells His disciples that they will
receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches them if he doesn’t die and go back to
heaven, they will not receive the Holy Spirit. He says He will leave them
abandoned.
This is true for us also. Jesus has given us the gift of His Holy Spirit. So we are not
abandoned. We always have His guidance. All we need to do is ask.
Spanish Lesson:
Qué es Pentecostés?
Pentecostés es cuando celebramos el don de recibir el Espíritu Santo. Pentecostés
es el día en que los creyentes recibieron por primera vez este maravilloso regalo.
Si bien los cristianos celebran Pentecostés, en realidad es una fiesta judía.
Pentecostés es cuando el pueblo judío celebra la entrega de los primeros cinco
libros de la Biblia de Dios a Moisés en el Monte Sinaí.
Así que la fiesta judía de Pentecostés presagia el Pentecostés cristiano. Shavuot
(Pentecostés judío) es el regalo de la Palabra de Dios. El Pentecostés cristiano es
la celebración del don del Espíritu de Dios.
Vea la página para colorear a continuación que muestra Pentecostés.
Younger Children Lesson:
Today we celebrate when Jesus gave us the gift of His Spirit. We call this the
“Holy Spirit.” This gift means when we accept Jesus His Spirit comes to live with
us. So we always have His Spirit whenever we need help or someone to talk with.
Below is a picture showing the first Christians receiving the Holy Spirit. God sent
the Holy Spirit as flames of fire on their heads so they would know they had
received His Spirit.
