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Dear Friends,
In the month of May we celebrate Pentecost, that wonderful day when we rejoice at the coming of the Holy Spirit, which came as described in the book of Acts like a rushing wind, a flickering tongue of fire and which empowered all who encountered it and enabled them to do mighty things for God.
It was this same Spirit that made them so excited that people thought the disciples had had too much to drink – at nine o’clock in the morning.
It is this same Spirit which calls us to move as well: to act, to take courage, to remain strong in the ups and downs of life, to pray, to weep, to sing, to grieve, to be angry, to cry, to laugh, to confess, to challenge, to change.
The story of Pentecost begins with the disciples on their own in a room, shut up alone, in their tight-knit group.
Suddenly the Holy Spirit comes and they are transformed from timid, terrified men, into bold and confident disciples.
They know what they have to do and they do it.
Pentecost signified for them and for us ‘Freedom’.
Freedom is a gift from God but it is not easy.
God gives us the gift of freedom, of free will, but we misuse it.
The Spirit challenges us to open closed doors, to move away from the places where we are safe and secure, to reach out to those in need in our world.
The Spirit of Pentecost calls us to dream God’s dream and see the vision of a ‘new heaven and a new earth’.
The inner presence of the Holy Spirit gives us power and strength.
Did you know that the power used to keep televisions and electrical appliances on stand-by for just one day would be sufficient to provide electricity for a small town?
It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it, all that power going to waste, achieving nothing.
Perhaps equally sobering is the thought that we as individual Christians and, together, as a Church, might be guilty of wasting a different sort of power – the power of God.
‘You will receive power,’ said Jesus, ‘When the Holy Spirit comes upon you’.
What he envisaged was the power of the Spirit so flowing through us that we make a difference to the world we live in, changing lives through our work and witness.
There are of course some people who do this, but many are content to keep things just ticking over.
We look to our own journey of discipleship, our own relationship with Christ and no further.
As churches, we look inwards rather than outwards, concerned with servicing our many committees, maintaining the fabric and supporting church events.
Instead of surging out, God’s power becomes trapped in an internal loop.
It is as though we are put on stand-by, rarely if ever used for the purpose we were designed for.
If the power stored in all those appliances on stand-by could meet the needs of a town, so the power at our disposal could meet the needs of the world, if only we had the courage to release it.
At this time of Pentecost ask the Holy Spirit to come upon you to refresh and renew you, to challenge and change you and to enable you to do God’s work.
Every blessing to you all
Rev. Diane Hicks
Letter from our Minister
Rev. Diane Hicks
