Introduction to the Season Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost marks the moment God poured out the Holy Spirit - His personal Presence & Power, described in Joel 2:28-32, the much-anticipated Helper announced in John 14 and phenomenal experience encountered by the disciples and witnesses by a huge crowd in Jerusalem in Acts 2:1-13.  It fulfils the long-awaited promise that the prophets and people were looking forward to. For example, the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel writes in chapter 36:25-29:

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals the mind of God to us, who interprets the meaning of Scripture, who helps us when we do not know how to pray, who gives us confidence to be witnesses of Jesus by our thoughts, words, actions to others.

The Feast of Pentecost

In the Old Testament God’s people celebrated Pentecost as a harvest feast where they gave thanks for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest which took place 50 days after Passover. (Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:15-22, Deuteronomy 16:16, 2 Chronicles 8:13)

It was customary for Jews to gather in Jerusalem for this feast and pilgrims would come from all over the region just to celebrate this important occasion there. And was during this feast, after Jesus’ resurrection that His disciples were gathered together on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on them, granting them ability to speak in tongues - communicate in ways they could not imagine. They proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus to a crowd of diverse pilgrims, and as a result, the church was born with 3,000 people. The ancient harvest festival was turned into a harvest of the firstfuits of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).

The Season of Pentecost – Moving with Christ through His Spirit

This Pentecost season, 23 May – 21 Nov, let us continue to move with Christ by first abiding in Christ (John 15) so he transforms us and produces His desired fruit in our lives. Let’s continue to walk in the Spirit through this pandemic, being God-aware & God-conscious, having Christ foremost in all our affections and pursuing God with all of our hearts. Let us discipline our thoughts, words and actions so that we make the Lord’s Prayer a reality in our daily lives as we live and celebrate His abiding Presence with us as God’s children, servants & friends.

reading for: 26 May

John 3:1-17

Children that are born from above

• READ

This passage contains an account of Nicodemus having a conversation with Jesus. Nicodemus was a respected Pharisee, a respected teacher of the law in Israel. In short, he was part of the ruling party which ruled over Israel. (V1) Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and saw Jesus as a teacher who came from God because of the miracles that he did. (V2)

Jesus then responded to Nicodemus by telling him that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (V3) The Greek word used here for again is anothen which can also mean from above. (See John 3:31 and 19:11) Nicodemus does not get Jesus and he said that a man cannot be born again when he is old. Jesus answered him again by saying that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he has been born of the water and the spirit. (V5-6) To be born of the Spirit is not to always understand the work of the Spirit but we can feel the effects of the work of the Spirit in our lives just as we do not understand where the wind blows. (V7-8) In summary, what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is that for him to be part of the kingdom of God and a child of God, he must be born of the spirit which is from above.

Nicodemus then asked Jesus, “How can these things be?” Jesus initially rebuked him by saying that a teacher of Israel should have understood this. (V12) Jesus then proceeds to answer the question by saying that he was the Son of Man that came from heaven. Jesus brings up the account in Numbers 21 of the bronze serpent being lifted up on a pole, the children of Israel had to look at the bronze serpent to be saved. Jesus is saying that he is lifted up on the cross and whoever believes in him will have eternal life. (V15-17) What Jesus is saying is that for anyone to be born from above, he must believe in Jesus. For those who believe in Jesus have been born from above and are children of God. These are the people that have eternal life and are part of the kingdom of God.

• REFLECT

Do we believe in Jesus, the one who was lifted up on the cross? Or do we believe in others or ourselves, that we have the ability to save ourselves? Reflect and pray that we would choose to believe and trust in Jesus.

To believe in Jesus is to be a child of God born from above. As children of God born from above, we have a relationship with God. What is one thing that we can do to grow in our relationship with God this week? Pray that God would give us the strength and discipline to spend time with him.

reading for: 27 May

Isaiah 6:1-8

Children that have been reconciled to God

• READ

  This passage contains the account of the call of Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah was a celebrated prophet of Israel and this is the start of the ministry of Isaiah.

  The scene starts with Isaiah seeing a vision of the Lord seated on the throne, high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. (V1) This is a vision of the Lord full of glory and worthy to be praised. The seraphim around his throne worshiping the Lord with cries of the Lord’s holiness are also continually heard. (V2-3) The foundations of the thresholds shook and the entire house was filled with smoke. (V4) Basically, Isaiah had a divine encounter in the throne room of God when he saw the glorified and exalted God seated on a throne.

  How did Isaiah respond when he had this divine encounter when he saw the Lord seated on the throne? Isaiah immediately confessed that he was a man of unclean lips and that he also dwells in the midst of people with unclean lips because he had seen the Lord (V5).

  What is the response from the Lord? The story then shifts to one of the seraphim flying to Israel with a burning coal from the altar in his hands. Once the coal touched Isaiah lips, the seraphim pronounced that Isaiah’s guilt was taken away and his sin was atoned for. (V6-7). The seraphim likely acted on the instruction of the Lord that was seated on the throne. Only after Isaiah guilt and sin was accounted for, did the Lord call Isaiah to the ministry. (V8)

  Isaiah had a divine encounter with the Lord, and he responded to that encounter with fear and trembling. He felt unworthy as a man of unclean lips dwelling with people of unclean lips to be in the presence of the Lord. God did not directly call Isaiah to the ministry, but God first dwelt with the problem of sin and guilt by making provision for Isaiah and reconciling Isaiah to him so that Isaiah could spend time with the Lord. Only then did the Lord call Isaiah to ministry for him.

• REFLECT

  Many people in the world are people of action, they cannot sit still. They are craving for work to do for the Lord. They do not find time to spend time with the Lord, but always find themselves doing things and these often become obstacles to their own journey to Christlikeness. On Sunday, Ps Terence summed it as “doing things for God but we stop becoming like God”. This is not to say that serving the Lord is bad but that there is a time and place for everything. There is a time to have a relationship with God and spend time with him.

  Jesus reconciled us to him by dying on the cross for our sins and guilt so that we can be a child of God reconciled to him and the Father. How can you keep ‘doing’ for God as a means of your spiritual transformation and not let it become an obstacle to it? Spend some time with God to pray and talk to him about it.

reading for: 28 May

Romans 8:12-17

Children who live according to the Spirit

• READ

  Paul in the passage today shows two kinds of living, one that is according to the flesh and the other according to the Spirit.

  We can choose to live according to the flesh.

  Galatians 5:19-21

  “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

  This gives us a good understanding of what living according to the flesh looks like. Paul tells us that the result of living according to the flesh is death. (V13)

  On the other hand, we can choose to live according to the Spirit. Paul exhorts us not to live according to the flesh but by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body. (V12) In fact Paul warns us that if we do not have the Spirit dwelling in us, we do not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9-10) It is this Spirit that raises Christ from the dead that gives lives to our bodies so that we can live according to the Spirit and not the flesh. (Romans 8:11)

  It is the people who are led by the Spirit that are the sons of God. These are the people who have received the Spirit of sonship by which we can call God “Abba Father.” It is the Spirit that bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. (V14-16)

• REFLECT

  Paul exhorts us to choose to live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Children of God live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. As children of God, we must put to death the deeds of the flesh not on our own strength but by the Spirit.

  Share with your LG what are some deeds of the flesh that you are struggling against. Pray and ask for help to put to death the Old Self. Pray for each other to be willing to live according to the Spirit as children of God, and ask God for strength. 

reading for: 29 May

Psalm 29

Praise God the king

• READ

  Psalm 29 is a psalm of praise to God the king who is in control of the thunders and the flood. He is the God that is enthroned above the storm. The psalm opens with the repeat of the phrase “Ascribe to the Lord” three times followed by a similar phrase of “worship the Lord”. (V1-2) Ascribe means that we are to give to the Lord what is rightly his. The addition of worship as the four phrases suggest that the psalmist had in view the worship and praise of God, giving God the glory and honour that is only due to him.

  The next part of the psalm talks about the voice of the Lord seven times from verse 3 to verse 9. The voice of the Lord is shown consistently as a power and majestic voice that is over the waters and nature. The voice of a person is linked to the person himself, hence when the voice of the Lord is used, it is the Lord that is in focus.

  Psalm 29:3 (ESV)

  The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.

  Psalm 29:7–8 (ESV)

  The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

  The Lord is not some weak Lord that is susceptible to the elements of nature but he is the Lord that is over these elements of nature. These leads those in his temple to cry “Glory” (V9) because they understand that he is not this weak Lord but that he is the king that sits enthroned and ruling over the flood and all of creation. (V10) This is the Lord that gives strength and peace to his people. (V11)

  All throughout the psalm, the psalmist shows us a God who is enthroned over the forces of nature. He is enthroned over the flood and waters. This Lord is the Lord that blesses his people with strength and peace. This Lord is the Lord that needs to be worshiped and given the honour that is only due to him.

• REFLECT

  Go out for a nature walk in the day or in the evening by yourself or with a partner (please stay within Phase 2 heightened alert measures). Give praise the Lord. Give him worship that only belongs to him. Sing along to the song ‘God of Wonders’ on any song that lifts your heart to God. When you see and hear the elements of nature such as thunder, remember that these forces of nature are under his control. He is enthroned over these forces of nature. In prayer, entrust yourself, and your loved ones to the Lord for his protection and care.

  Listen and sing “God of Wonders” by Chris Tomlin.