Blogging toward Sunday

Sunday we gather to celebrate Pentecost. Kathleen Long Bostrom offers the following: 

Before there was Christmas and Easter, there was Pentecost--at least as far as the liturgical calendar is concerned. While Easter celebrations may have happened in the years immediately following the first Easter, Christmas and Easter were not designated as official Christian holidays until the fourth century. Evidence suggests that churches observed Pentecost as early as the first century. 

Pentecost is the day we celebrate the birth of the church. In preparation for worship, read Acts 2:1-21 and consider the following:

1. In regard to the senses (sight, sound, etc.) what do you imagine this experience was like?
2. How do people respond to the coming of the Spirit?
3. What image of the Holy Spirit do you relate to? Counselor? Dove? Friend? Advocate?
4. What Spirit-given gifts do you bring to the body of Christ?

May the following prayer written by Bostrom aid us on our journey toward Sunday's celebration.

Creator of branches, rivers, 

and stones,

of fiery flames and startling stars;

kindle the spark of your spirit

within us;

set our hearts on fire.

Knit us together--

the hands, feet, ears, and eyes

and voices and yes, even the elbows

and knees,

until we become one body in Christ.

Your will be done,

in earth and in heaven;

world without end.

Amen.

Shalom,

Glenda