Pentecost Sunday: Why It Matters and Why We Celebrate

As humans, we love celebrations. We celebrate our birthdays; we celebrate the birthday of our Lord, Jesus Christ and we celebrate his death and resurrection. Pentecost Sunday is one important day in the life of the church that we should be celebrating joyfully and meaningfully. One might ask why?

First, it is the best day to celebrate the birthday of the church. Before the Pentecost Sunday, the Spirit of God dwelt off and on in persons and places, creating holy men and holy places. On the Pentecost, God’s Holy Spirit was permanently poured out to fill the universe and indwelt permanently on every believer saved by Jesus Christ. Now, you can experience God’s Holy presence everywhere.  One of the church theologians, Abraham Kuyper stated that “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” On Pentecost Sunday, the church, people called out from the world to be sons and daughters of Christ were marked and sealed by the Holy Spirit and empowered to begin the Church’s public mission of spreading the gospel.

Secondly, the Pentecost Sunday marks the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to send the Holy Spirit as a comforter, teacher and guide of His sheep. On the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowered the church with gifts and enablement to speak in various languages so that they are able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all Nations.  The event of Pentecost fulfills God’s promises in the Old Testament to pour out his spirit on all flesh, enabling both men and women to speak the word of God and gathering people of all nations.

Thirdly, while the disobedience at the Tower of Babel brought divisions, the event of Pentecost when the early disciples acted in obedience to Jesus brought unity of believers of all nations. Hence, celebrating Pentecost demonstrates our unity as believers in Christ and our shared mission of proclaiming the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to the Nations.

The Pentecost Sunday, also widely known as the Birthday of the Church, is a very important day in the life of the church and God’s plan for His people. It really matters! That is why we celebrate!