On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting…

[The people] stood there, amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. – Acts 2

Pentecost Sunday was another great day here at our church in Wake Forest, where the positive momentum of coming back together continues to build. We still have a long way to go in terms of people shifting from on-line to in-person worship, but our church is a place filled with praise and overflowing with not just spirit but The Spirit. The sense of God is palpable.

To that end I want to highlight a couple of learning moments that were especially helpful in terms of clarity.

First, Katherine (director of children, youth, and family) handed out bubbles at the beginning of her “time with young disciples.” She originally intended to limit them to the children, but in a moment of insight realized this lesson was/is for everyone.

The essential idea is that bubbles move around in response to air currents and they help us to “see” something invisible like the wind mentioned in Acts 2. But what Katherine’s bubbles demonstrate, so beautifully, is not only the gentle tug of the move of the Spirit, but the way the Spirit sparks joy, and how joy, and beauty, and love can multiply and move around the community.

These cell-phone photos do not nearly capture the effect, but if you look closely you can tell how buoyant (word chosen carefully) the congregation are in response to the bubbles.

Katherine’s message dovetailed nicely with John’s as he talked about how the presence of the Holy Spirit inspires us to action in response to the Good News of Jesus.

The reality of God in our midst is expressed and affirmed in terms of how we respond. John mentioned that our church building – nestled down behind the stand of trees on our beautiful campus – is not very visible to the community. But the work of the Spirit, filling us to overflowing with God’s presence and light and love, spills out into the community because we cannot help but share something so powerful and good.

I will keep this short as there are other posts later today. So, to the point: When we are filled with the breath of God, and we allow God to inspired us to action, we can – like Katherines’s bubbles – move together in beauty and in joy and in light, in response to God’s direction through The Spirit.

May we all be so moved today and all this week – DEREK

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