Devotion - 4 June - Pentecost

A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin. Today is Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the beginning of the Christian Church.

New Testament Reading- Acts 2:1-6 English Standard Version (ESV)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

Devotion: Our Fellow Christians

Two thousand or so years ago, 50 days after Easter,  the apostles and friends and families gathered to celebrate a harvest feast. What happens next as described in today’s text, will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. It must have been a really spectacular experience. Peter said that this fulfilled an OT prophecy that the Holy Spirit would pour out on believers both Jews and Gentiles. Since then, the Christian church has celebrated Pentecost (from the Greek word for “fiftieth”) as the birth of the church. This year may be an appropriate time to reflect on our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and tortured in several locales around the globe. They refuse to deny their faith and the result is tragic.  They really need our prayers for deliverance from this evil persecution.

We pray: “Lord we humbly pray for deliverance of our Christian brothers and sisters from the evil one. Amen”