Pentecost

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

 Acts 2:1-4 and Galatians 4:1-7

Discussion points

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Happy Birthday Church

by Elaine Pierce

Happy Birthday, Church! Today is Pentecost, a red letter day in the church calendar. You can read about the first Pentecost in Acts 2.  For today's Worship post, we're going to focus on Galatians 4:1-7, which reinforces what happened in the Upper Room when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.

I don't think that I will fully grasp what it means to be a child of God this side of heaven. But the longer I live the Christian life, the more I am convinced that God longs to bless me, but those blessings are not what I thought they would be. He is not nearly as interested in my bank account as he is my character. His blessings aren't focused on my personal peace and happiness - they are focused on on how I can please and serve him and how our relationship can grow and deepen.  

Meditate on these words:

Because you are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father," So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.  (Galatians 4:6-7).

Yes, dear friends, we are heirs of God. We have the full rights of sons (and daughters). We receive eternal life when we come to him, confess our sins, and ask him to be the Lord of our life. The law shows us that we cannot do this through our own efforts. We will always fail. Don't lose heart. Just remember, day by day, that God has done it all. His Son paid the price.

And we can sing Happy Birthday to the Church, and we can gather around the festive banquet. What a day or rejoicing that will be!

Thank you, Father, for eternal life. I am your child, your heir, and at times that is simply too much for me to fully comprehend. Every day, help me to be more like you, and to claim your promises, your love, and your complete and total forgiveness for my sins. Amen.