Holy Spirit

Scripture for May 24, 2026: Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Numbers 11:24-25 

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and placed them all around the tent.  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders, and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.

But they did not do so again.

Psalm 104:30

When you send forth your spirit, they (your creatures) are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7

No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,

and there are varieties of services but the same Lord,

and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

John 7:37-39

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"

Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Lesson- Holy Spirit

In ACTS, The Day of Pentecost: The Holy Spirit descends on the eleven apostles in the form of a violent wind and tongues of fire. 

In NUMBERS, When Moses was talking to the elders, the Lord came down in a cloud and rested the spirit on them and they prophesied.

In the PSALM, God's spirit is sent forth for creation

In CORINTHIANS, believers manifest the Holy Spirit with gifts for the common good.

In JOHN 20, when Jesus appears to the disciples, He breathes on them and they receive the spirit. Jesus sends them out and they are able to forgive sins as Jesus did.

In JOHN 7, the spirit flows through the believer’s heart like living water.

The Holy Spirit is sent to us, or descends on us, or rests on us, is manifest yea in us, like a wind, breath, fire, cloud, or water for us to receive. It is alive and in us!

And what do believers have to show for this presence? They prophesy, the world is created, living water will come out of believers hearts. Believers will be sent out to spread the word as Jesus did. They will be able to forgive, and gifts are manifested for the common good.

And what are these gifts? In Corinthians 12:7-13 Paul says:

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of power deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Have you thought about gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you for the common good? Think about it. We may not prophesy or speak in tongues like charismatic churches, but we do have gifts that we share. We may not think it's a big deal, but God is definitely using us to spread the Gospel. And I believe that it's the alive Holy Spirit in us that empowers us to do God's will.

The Holy Spirit is in us, in our souls, and we need to recognize that it's there. Look at what's happening in our little church. Who of you thought you would never give a lesson? And look at how much we have all grown in our faith because of your lessons. That's the Holy Spirit working in all of us. Would anyone like to share how the Holy Spirit has touched you? I'll give you a minute to think about it.

A way to help connect to the Holy Spirit is through meditation, contemplation, prayer, silence.  "Be Still and know that I am God".

1 Corinthians 12:13-14

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."

Amen