This Day of Pentecost, which marks the event, recorded in Acts 2, when the ascended Lord Jesus poured out the promised Holy Spirit on his church. Jesus had said that it was better for his disciples that he should leave them physically, because he would send his Spirit to live in each one of us (John 16:7). This is a very challenging word of comfort, because I think most of us would really like to have Jesus physically present with us! Yet if we really understand the gift of the Holy Spirit, we ought to realise that Jesus’ very real presence with every believer by his Spirit is even better than that. Better again will be when we see him face to face in his eternal kingdom.
During the week, we were able to hold our first in-person funeral service since the lockdown. Physical Sunday gatherings are going to be possible sooner than we had thought, and our church is now ready for them, but we are not rushing it. We have sought your feedback by email, and will let you know the outcome.
We should be giving great thanks to God for the way he has restrained the virus outbreak in our nation. He has been very gracious to us indeed – although we should still be vigilant. We also should pray for those places where the outbreak is much worse. Here are some helpful prayer points for health workers, which were written by a health worker:
- For rest and renewal
- That those on the front line don’t get tired and make mistakes
- For protection from the disease
- That health care workers will put their trust in God to sustain them
After today we leave off our sermon series in the book of Acts, and after Trinity Sunday next week, we return to the letter to the Hebrews.