This month in some of our children’s classes, we will be studying Pentecost. Since we didn’t know too much about it when we started researching, we thought maybe you could use a little help too. After reading, share some facts with your children, point out some symbols and colors in our church and remind them that Pentecost is a sort of birthday of the church.

Pentecost marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means "fiftieth day."  From before the time of Christ, this Jewish harvest festival was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover. Today we celebrate it in the fifty days after Easter.

Pentecost took on a new meaning after the resurrection and ascension of Christ into Heaven. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus' mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival. While they were praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit them. The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ.  They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival.  Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present. This created a sensation.  The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins.  The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day.  (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).

Though this is hard for us to imagine, it is certain that the disciples had an experience of the power of the Spirit flooding their beings like they had never experienced before.  The power of the Holy Spirit gave the disciples a message that could reach every heart.  From that moment the Holy Spirit became the dominant reality in the life of the early Church.  The Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance. No great decision or important step was ever taken by the early Church without the guidance of the Spirit. They were very much in tune with that guidance and it was their source of day to day courage and power. 

Red and flames are the color and symbol of the season, and in the United Methodist church, they are part of our official symbol or logo, the Cross and Flame. This insignia is a cross linked with a dual flame. This symbol represents the second and third persons of the Trinity; the Christ (cross) and the Holy Spirit (flame). And in true Wesleyan theology, the cross and flame remind us of when Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed” by the Holy Spirit.