It’s the Holy Spirit Time of the year! Happy Pentecost! 🔥

During the Easter season, we heard the good news: “Jesus is not here; he has risen!” And then, we heard the stories of the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples and promising peace, that he is with the disciples always, and that the Holy Spirit will come to the disciples. The specifics of how this happens are different in each of the Gospel accounts, but the truth remains: Jesus promises the Holy Spirit’s presence … and the Holy Spirit is present.

This Holy Spirit is what equipped and empowered the disciples and first believers to share the Good News of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension as their ministries expanded from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We learn more about some of this ministry and work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.

Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is about discipleship.

Pentecost is about a story that is larger than each of us; it is a story for the entire world.

Pentecost is about the Spirit working in and through us so that the Good News of Jesus is shared in life and community.

Early in the book of Acts, we hear how the Holy Spirit descended on the crowd that had gathered and that the disciples speaking the Good News, but everyone heard the story in their own language. The same disciples that had spent the first few days following Jesus’ death behind locked doors out of fear are now publicly sharing the Good News of Jesus; that transformation and call is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of their ministry, the disciples “spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47, NRSV).

Through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, the disciples told their stories and the story of Jesus, and the community of faith grew in number, in prayer, and in faithfulness.

This same Holy Spirit is at work today, in our lives, in our communities, in our congregations and ministries. This same Holy Spirit is what calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes us holy. The same Holy Spirit that equipped and empowered the disciples to the other side of their locked doors to share the Good News of Jesus calls us to do the same in our neighborhoods and communities.

Through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, we are also called to tell our stories and the story of Jesus and how we have witnessed God at work even now, two thousand years later so that our communities grow in number, in prayer, and in faithfulness. 

We are not alone. The same promise Jesus makes to the disciples that peace be with them and that the Holy Spirit dwell within them to work through them is true for us today.

Southern Ohio Synod, you are followers of Jesus, you are disciples! Go, make disciples, and share the Good News!

And remember, the same Holy Spirit that was with the disciples is present with you always.

Wishing each of you, your congregations, and your ministries a blessed Pentecost season as you share the Good News of Jesus, risen for the sake of the world, in your communities!

In Christ,

+ Bishop Dillahunt