05/21/2026
From the Sunday School desk.
In Leviticus 23, God gave the people of Israel details of the Feast of Weeks. This feast was held 7 sabbaths, or fifty days after Passover. Israel still observed the Feast of Weeks in Roman times. The Greek word for the Feast of Weeks is Pentecost. Pentekoste means 50.
We can read in Acts 2 that the disciples of Jesus came together to observe the Feast of Pentecost. They gathered after Jesus' resurrection and ascension - and on that day, the Holy Spirit came, as Jesus had told them He would.
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." Acts 2:1-4
This Sunday May 24th, we remember Pentecost - the birth of the church. "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the raise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13,14
When you ask Jesus to be your Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and seals you in Christ. He is a "pledge of your inheritance", a downpayment or deposit - a guarantee that Jesus will do as He promised and return for His people, the church of Jesus Christ!
So remember, as the days grow shorter, we await His return for us! If Jesus is your Savior, your final destination is guaranteed. Jesus will come for you you; either individually when your days here are over and He calls you Home, or all at once, when He comes to call His entire church Home.
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words" I Thessalonians 4:13-18
What a glorious promise. Remember this Pentecost Sunday, that just as Jesus came to live a sinless life, be put to death, and to rise again, so He will come again for all those who belong to Him. Maybe today? Even so, come Lord Jesus.
