With the coming of the Holy Spirit an exclamation point was added to the Christian witness. Excitement had arrived. Power was present. Unbelief vanished. Fear fled. God, full throttle, was busy putting punch into preaching - cracking walls of unbelief, and giving the apostles a spiritual trip that they had never imagined possible.
At Pentecost the church is born. It had ceased to be an expectant enclave and now becomes a witnessing community. What emerged that day was a congregation filled with the power, excited over the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, alive at worship, consumed with love for one another, and devoted to the Lord. Their ministry was so positive that Luke tells us that the whole city was favorable to them.
We all get excited over the early success of the Christian Church, for everyone likes to hear a success story. In recent history, there have been fewer success stories in the church. In contemporary America, a congregation merely holding its own is seen as doing exceptionally well. The church has developed a failure mentality. At times even its leadership and its pastors speak in terms of its lessening influence and its ineffective witness. Disgraceful! All hell rejoices over such negatives.
When I recite the Creed every Sunday at our services, I believe what I say. "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Christian Church." I really do. And I know you do also. I not only believe the church will remain, but I also believe it will flourish. The promises of God and the powerful Spirit are still with us!
There is no dream inspired by God and having the blessing of his Spirit that is unattainable for us. As a salesman member of our parish put it to me, "We have the greatest product there is, Jesus Christ." To which I might add, "We have a great area to market it. We all live in communities stocked with thousands of potential customers. In most cases only forty percent of them are worshiping regularly." I have only the highest hopes for the church’s future.
"I believe in the Holy Spirit." Pentecost continues to happen! The Spirit’s power is ours! We must seize the moment and become a dynamic church in every way to the glory of God until the Lord comes again!