EVERYDAY IS PENTECOST: VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS
- Connect the past, present, and future this Pentecost and find out how God can use you—and technology— to spread His Kingdom.
In one sense, the day of Pentecost was a singular event in time, a birthday for the Church, the first evidence that the ecclesia (called out ones) would be a global community.
Yet it is also a perpetual feast and linked to the promise given to Abraham that in him all people would be blessed (Genesis 12).
Abraham is said to have celebrated it before Moses wrote it into the Torah as Shavuot. All who are believers have their own personal Pentecost, and because we are continually being filled (Acts 13:52), Pentecost is ongoing and part of the dance across time.
Fifty days after Moses received the Law, Pentecost was celebrated. Likewise, 50 days after Christ fulfilled the Law through his death and resurrection, becoming the embodiment of the feast of first fruits (1 Cor 15:19-21), Pentecost was fulfilled in the upper room—the same upper room where Jesus shared Passover/communion with his disciples before his death. The implications of Pentecost go far beyond church growth.
At Pentecost, Peter connected the past present and future in his grand exposition of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and his ongoing presence with us.
For us in the new media age, that connection takes on an amplified significance. Now like Peter we can reach across time and access any part of Church history, biblical or otherwise, and share it in any language with anyone who has access to the Internet or a mobile device.
Connecting Through Media
Pentecost is linked not only to transnational communication, but significantly to Church unity and prayer. Savvy worship leaders are continuing the work of the Spirit by using new media technologies like digital video and simultaneous translation software to unify the body of Christ by dissolving barriers of language and culture. Not only are congregations streaming interactive Bible studies and sermons, but they are coordinating ministry to the church and surrounding community via the Internet and mobile media. Some of the software and apps making it possible are free courtesy of ministries like LifeChurch.tv.
Freedom to Share
This generosity reminds us that Pentecost inaugurated a season that embodies and reflects sharing, a high value in the digital age.
“All the believers were together and had everything in common”
(Acts 2:44)
Pentecost’s everydayness is fueling creative commons and content sharing as well as global knowledge and resource distribution.
Pentecost and its revelation of God and his purposes and heart for man inspire awe.
“Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles”
(Acts 2:43)
Certainly the potential gospel reach via the Internet is awe-inspiring. And when nations are reborn in one day, and God’s presence and worship in the earth is shared in real time, it is awesome.
Christ’s Life Is Pentecost
We are the continuing fulfillment of Pentecost’s reality as we receive God’s Spirit, are constantly filled and become laborers for the great harvest of souls.
As we take on the identity of Christ, becoming little Christs (as Christians were called in Antioch), we share our bread, feed the widows and orphans, minister hope and life to those with AIDS, and rescue the dying.
We bring sight to the blind, heal the sick, announce the kingdom in word and deed, and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We initiate projects for sharing resources and deliver medication, dig wells, build schools, distribute food— all coordinated online and through new media.
As we extend evangelistic outreach, meet to pray and extend our churches ministries, we have the opportunity to join with that great cloud of witnesses across time and become those who turn the world upside down. As we begin and live out our forever life here and now, connected to Christ, the source of that life, Pentecost is indeed everyday.
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