05/24/2026
Pentecost Sunday was so good!
We celebrated the biblical reality of daughters and sons prophesying because they have been filled with the Holy Spirit.
We did this by hearing from our sisters in Christ in testimony, word and song.
We did this by throwing rose petals in the sanctuary as a sign and symbol of Pentecost. (Something the historic church has done for hundreds of years in different parts of the world.)
In the last days — which we have been in since Pentecost — God declared through the prophet Joel and fulfilled in Acts 2:17:
“Your sons and daughters shall prophesy…”
At the birth of the church, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh so that both men and women would declare the glories of God and speak what God gave them.
Moses echoed this longing centuries earlier when he said, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29).
The New Testament fulfills that desire.
Paul writes to the Corinthian church:
“When you gather, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)
This is a gathered church principle for men and women.
Paul says, “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:5). Then he makes it clear: “You can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged” (1 Corinthians 14:31).
This is the heart of New Testament prophecy: a message from God, delivered through a believer empowered by the Holy Spirit, for the strengthening, encouraging, and comfort of the church (1 Corinthians 14:3). It is not someone taking authority over the body — it is the body ministering to itself under the headship of Jesus.
The Bible consistently honors the voice of mothers in the faith. Proverbs 6:20 tells us, “My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Paul instructs the church to “treat older women as mothers” (1 Timothy 5:2).
Mothers instruct, nurture, and speak wisdom — and all believers should be wise to listen to the fathers and mothers of the church.
The church herself is pictured in Scripture as a glorious bride, a woman —in Song of Songs she is: “beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners” (6:10) — in Revelation 12:1-6: the victorious, pregnant woman who wars against the dragon, fulfills Paul’s prophecy of crushing the serpent’s head (Romans 16:20), and embodies the more than conquers triumphing in Christ.
Having women speak is not stepping outside of biblical order. They are obedient disciples, serving under the authority of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, the elders, and the prophetic leadership of the church.
They come not to exercise authority over anyone, but to build up, encourage, and comfort the church through the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them — exactly as Scripture calls every son and daughter to do in the last days.
This is our posture and practice based on our understanding of the whole counsel of the word of God revealed in the Old and New Testament.
This is normative practice of the biblical life of the Spirit-filled church where everyone, including our sisters, gets to edify the body for the glory of Jesus.
