Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
When the Day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed like tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Sprit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
– Acts 2:1-8, 11b-13
Devotion
After waiting ten days in Jerusalem, God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the 120 disciples gathered together. The Holy Spirit was sent to fill those first believers with power to carry on Christ’s mission in the world. After receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples spilled out into the streets of Jerusalem declaring the wonders of God to all the Jews who had come from foreign lands to the Feast of Pentecost. When the foreigners heard the disciples speaking of God’s deeds in their own native language, they were astounded. Peter then gave the first evangelistic sermon in the history of the church.
The Big Question
What stands out to you about the day of Pentecost and the birth of the church? What was the purpose of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost? Do you see a connection between the Jewish Passover and the Feast of Pentecost with the death and resurrection of Christ and the birth of the church? Have you been “born again” or “born from above” (see John 3:3)? Have you experienced the spiritual new birth by placing your faith in God’s Son? Have you received the “seal, the promised Holy Spirit?”
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting of what God revealed to you today.