PENTECOST SUNDAY

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
   ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
   ³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
   ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
   ⁵And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
   ⁶Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
   ⁷And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
   ⁸And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
   ⁹Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
   ¹⁰Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
   ¹¹Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
(Acts 2:1-11)

The Collect for Whitsunday - Book of Common Prayer

"O GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen."

The Universal Proclamation of the Gospel

The promise of the gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish, but have eternal life.[1] This promise, together with the command to repent and believe,[2] ought to be declared and published to all nations,[3] and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure sends the gospel.

[1] Jn 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:23;     [2] Acts 2:38, 16:31;     [3] Matt. 28:19

(Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine: The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby, Article 5)

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"The church was not the fruit of the organizational genius of a group of zealots who came to believe that Jesus had risen in their hearts as they tried to cope with the disappointment they felt once Jesus was put to death by the Romans and His glorious kingdom did not manifest itself as promised. Instead, the biblical record tells us that the church was founded by a risen Savior who appeared to His chosen witnesses the first Easter, confirming that His death on Good Friday was the ultimate triumph over human sin. The church was not organized by Jesus’ disappointed followers trying to cover-up their embarrassment. The church was founded by Jesus Christ Himself.

"This becomes clear when we consider that the post-resurrection appearances of our Lord to His disciples do not take place in a vacuum. Our Lord’s resurrection appearances take place against the backdrop of His three-year messianic ministry during which Jesus demonstrated that He was the One promised throughout the Old Testament and that He had come to establish His kingdom and found His church. Pentecost (Acts 2), which is often considered the official birthday of the church, is the culmination of all of our Lord’s promises and only makes sense against the backdrop of our Lord’s messianic ministry."                    ____Kim Riddlebarger

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