The Receiving of the Holy Spirit – Acts 2: 1-21
This Sunday we are going to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Originally this festival was celebrated by the Jewish people as a Harvest Festival. The people gathered together after the harvest to thank God for their good crops and for the many wonderful things that God had given them.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven He had comforted His disciples by telling them that they would not be alone. He had promised them that he would send them the Holy Spirit to be their comforter and their guide. He told his followers to go the Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost when all the believers had gathered together, they heard a loud noise like a strong wind coming from the sky. As they looked up tongues of fire came down and settled on each person who was there and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
To the amazement of the crowd even though they were from many different countries, they heard the disciples from Galilee speak to them in their own language and they were able to understand the message about the great things God had done. (Acts 2:11)
Many of the people did not understand what had happened. So Peter spoke to the crowd. He told them of the wonderful things Jesus had said and done; and about the many miracles he had performed. That Jesus was put to death on the cross, but God raised him from the dead.
Then Peter went on to explain to them that Jesus, had poured his Holy Spirit on them so that they could believe that Jesus is Lord, that he is the Saviour that was sent by God. When the people heard this message many believed and about three thousand people were baptized that day and became Christians.
(Resources used: Notes from Phyllis Croft, The Good News Bible; and various Children’s Bibles.)
Thank you to Rev Peta for the lesson and Phyllis Croft for the worksheet and Claire Hannington for the activities.
