It is quite important for us Christians on this day to contemplate that event which Luke describes in the Acts of the Apostles which we know commonly as the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is important because it reminds all of us of the phenomenal activity that gave birth to the Church or to Christianity as we know it today. It is also important because we are reminded yet again that the Spirit of God is the life-blood of the Church.
As we reflect on the text today, we must bear in mind that the book of Acts was written by Luke the Physician whose name is also attached to the gospel. Luke, a Gentile, never met Jesus while he was physically on earth but he was known to be a close companion of Paul.
In our reflection on that first Pentecost which gave birth to the Church, we should ask ourselves whether we need a new Pentecost experience in the Church today and what would that look like in this modern era. We should also reflect on what might be relevant from that first Pentecost to us as Christians today. In this message I hope to shed some light in this regard as we reflect on what God wants to say to us on this Pentecost Day 2026. There are a few things about that first Pentecost that I feel we must think about and ask the Lord to show us whether we need to see these in our church and in our lives for us to have a new Pentecost experience.
First of all, in reading the text again today, I hoped that you recognised some important things happening which I believe are still important if we must have another outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit today. The first thing we notice is that the disciples were all in one room together. The physical detail is important because it signifies to us the unity of heart and mind among them as well as their geographic location. They were not scattered about, some here, some there and others all over the place. We recall that they were told to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them and this is what they did. (Acts 1:4) To what extent are Christians together, not in a geographic location so much, but in a spiritual connection with Jesus. It is the unity of the early disciples which facilitated the power of the Holy Spirit on them and the message for us today is that without real unity of mind and heart and purpose God cannot use us as He would want to do. The Christian faith was born out of unity. When we are united in heart and mind there will be no place for selfishness or any jostling for positions of authority and prestige. In fact, the word of Jesus to the disciples still stands true for every Christian when he said, “For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” (St. Luke 9:48b NIV) No one person or congregation or denomination agenda or ambition must supersede the other. In fact, the Spirit of God works most powerfully among those who have completely submitted to his authority here on earth.
Secondly, God alone knows when it is the right time and place for the harvesting of souls. It is not up to our design or strategy. It is up to the will and purpose of God.
You may notice that the Holy Spirit came onto those disciples at an important time in Jerusalem. It was at the time of the Feast of Weeks or Festival of Weeks which is sometimes called Harvest. In Leviticus 23:15-22, the biblical history for this festival can be found. This festival was also believed to commemorate the time the Israelites received the Commandments from God. What is most important for our consideration is that like most of the festivals at the time, large numbers of people, Jews from all over the known world would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate or commemorate this feast or festival. These people we are told were God-fearing Jews which tells us that they were people who were committed and devout in their worship and obedience to God. This meant that they were already a ripe harvest waiting to be reaped. All of these people became witnesses to the phenomenal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture tells us that three thousand people were saved on that day. We cannot miss the symbolism in the fact that the Spirit was poured out during the Feast of Weeks which is also called the Festival of Harvest. What we saw from this is that God not only prepared the hearts to be harvested but determined the exact time on which the harvest of souls would take place. This should tell everyone of us as Christians that all our plans and ideas for church growth will only be fruitful as determined by the will of God and above all it will happen when people submit themselves to the power and authority of God. It is not up to us but it is up to the will of God. We must be willing spirit-filled vessels for the Lord. Do you feel on this day that God is calling you to be a participant in the harvesting of souls for the kingdom? Is it possible that some of these souls to be harvested are in your own homes, from among your neighbors and in your own community and maybe even in your church? How can this harvesting be done in our time and context?
Thirdly, the events of that first Pentecost Day set in motion a reality that would dominate the message of the book of Acts. This is the fact that only the Holy Spirit can convince humans of their sinfulness and lead them to repentance. This makes the Holy Spirit the life-blood of all Christians. Where would we all be without God’s Spirit leading us to faith in Him? Where would the Church be without the Spirit of God regenerating it day after day, year after year and century after century? The work of God can only be effective when the Holy Spirit is the driving force in that effort or work. We read that the disciples were all together in that room being prepared for the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised them but it was only when the Holy Spirit came upon them that these fearful disciples could be transformed into the courageous witnesses of Christ that they became. It was the Holy Spirit that led Peter to preach that first Christian sermon so fearlessly and powerfully and it was the Holy Spirit that pricked the hearts of all those people leading to the conversion of over three thousand people. From the beginning and throughout the entire book of Acts it is the Holy Spirit that actively causes the growth of the Christian faith.
Today, some people may still view with skepticism the manifestation and the work of God’s Spirit among humans but the Holy Spirit is at work every day filling us with messages to preach, giving us the courage to stand with the outcasts and the marginalized, filling us with wisdom as we prepare to lead Sunday School or participate in other Christian education activities and it is the Holy Spirit which causes us to harness and use all our gifts and talents to bless others and the same Holy Spirit is teaching us how to live in a world that contrasts quite often with the values and principles of Scripture and is giving us the courage to live as sincere and devout Christians in a volatile, turbulent and even hostile world.
Finally, I believe that the most significant happening on that first Pentecost Day was the fact that the Holy Spirit manifested itself in enabling the disciples to speak in many other languages so much so that all those visitors from all over the known world who had gathered to celebrate the Festival of Weeks in Jerusalem could hear the disciples speaking in their own local languages. This was absolutely astounding. I don’t think we can imagine what this was like. How could simple unlearned Galileans know the languages of so many different places? They did not know then but we know that this was the deliberate act of God through the work of the Holy Spirit to enable the spread of the gospel everywhere near and far.
The message was clear. God’s message of salvation through Jesus the Christ was for all to be heard and accepted irrespective of their differences or backgrounds. The gospel message was and is above all an inclusive message. It is for all people. We may recall in St. Matthew where Jesus said to the disciples, “ Go and make disciples of all nations…” (St. Matthew 28:19 NIV) Here we see the first steps to making disciples of all nations in this first Pentecost. This explains above all things, the timing of this momentous event. It was not accidental nor coincidental. God planned the place and the time and He determined that the first gift of the Spirit that was given to those disciples was the gift of speaking in different languages. This was the only thing needed on this occasion for the harvesting of souls for the Lord. It was God’s deliberate plan. God does not do anything by chance. Isn’t our God amazing?
The best part of all this is that most of the things that came together on that first Pentecost Day which resulted in three thousand people being saved are still available to us today. Pentecost isn’t just something that happened long ago. It is an event that can and does happen in different ways across the world today. The Great Awakenings or revivals in England and the American colonies in the 1700s is an example of the fact that people across nations can still and do still have spiritual renewal and growth because of the work of the Holy Spirit. Our world needs new spiritual revival, not just a one time amazing event as on that first Pentecost, but a continuous filling of the Holy Spirit in us humans leading to the transformation of hearts and minds by the power of the Holy Spirit. This can only happen when all of us Christians truly submit ourselves to the power of God’s Spirit and thus become the instruments or vessels that God can use to bring more people into the kingdom of God. Then and only then, according to Habakkuk, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14 NIV)
May God give us all the desire and the courage to be God’s vessels of hope and salvation in a world that needs a new Pentecost every day. Amen.