Sermon for Pentecost
One can imagine the followers of Jesus huddled in the Upper Room holding endless discussions. It must have been rather like one of those vestry meetings where the members have been challenged to do the impossible and haven’t yet plucked up the courage to say that the proposal is impossible.

About Pentecost
On the Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection -- ten days after Jesus had ascended into heaven -- the eleven apostles and other believers were gathered together in one place, when they were suddenly empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel. They went out into the crowds and attracted attention by preaching in the native languages of all the people present. This created quite a stir. more...
-- the Rev. Ken Collins

Feast of Holy Pentecost
The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday.

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More about Pentecost
Pentecost has its origins in a Jewish festival (Shavuot, or "weeks") that falls on the fiftieth day of Passover. In biblical times, Jews from all over the Roman Empire gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the harvest and mark the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. more...

Hearing the language of love
Pentecost is our birthday, the day the church was born so long ago, birthed by the breath of God in a mighty rush of wind that filled the house where the faithful gathered. It was the very same breath of God that blew the life into Adam and Eve and the same breath of God that the resurrected Christ breathed into the disciples on Easter night to calm their fears and to bring them peace. And then forty days later the same holy breath by which Jesus left them on what we call Ascension Day when he moved into the wind, sailing into eternity from whence he came. 
-- The Rev. Martha Stern reflects on the "birthday presents" of Pentecost. more...

Can we talk?
Can you imagine such a thing? There I was having difficulty imagining how I could communicate with you with my southern accent and Presbyterian ways, and here is the heart-stopping testimony of Pentecost, telling us that people who are really and truly different from one another can communicate meaningfully and coherently with one another through the power of the Spirit of God. The bickering, bitterly divided world in which we live has obviously not gotten the word yet about this possibility. 
-- The Rev. Joanna Adams takes a breath of fresh air. more...

Spirit's gifts include courage
For centuries, from the beginning of the Christian Church just fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit has continuously inspired the faithful members and granted them the spiritual prerequisites for salvation. The fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ, the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit made His official entrance into the Church. This took place "When the day of Pentecost had come, they (the Apostles) were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," Acts 2:1-4. This miraculous event changed the attitude of the, Apostles and others, who because of fear of arrest and punishment by the Jews were together in the "upper room". 

This attitude of fear and doubt was reversed, turning into courage and the bold faith to preach to all peoples. These Apostles and their disciples immediately became heralders and preachers of the Gospel of Christ. Despite their belief that the Lord had risen from the dead and appeared to them, showing them the wounds of His hands, walking with the two to Emmaous and speaking to them often, the Apostles were fearful and unable of themselves to face the people and begin their commission. From the day of the arrest of Christ, the Apostles showed great weakness. They not only were unable, to fight against the false accusations and slanders, but some also scattered and went into hiding. Even Peter, the pillar of the Apostles, denied under oath that he even knew Christ. Such was the condition of the Apostles and other disciples of Christ up to the day of Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit.
-- The Rev. George Mastrontonis discusses the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost today
The greatest need in the church today is for a contemporary Pentecost. I believe this is happening right now. We are attempting to speak clearly in every language of humankind the Good News--reconciliation among people of all walks of faith, the likes of which the world has never known. There is an ability because of modern technology to communicate with people around the earth in a way never possible before. There is a hunger for world peace that has never existed the way it does now. Why? Because we turn on our TVs or internet and we experience with our eyes and ears and hearts the joys or pains of people around the world--instantaneously. We are no longer free to ignore a child dying in Africa from hunger or AIDS because that child sits across from us on the evening news. We can't pretend that we don't know about the strife in Israel or the devastation of our natural resources in America or in Iraq. 
-- The Rev. Rosemary Brown celebrates modern communication as part of a contemporary Pentecost. more...