Pilgrim Power

May 26, 2021
Midweek study with Pastor Edith
Hebrews 11:1 and Acts 2

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday for many local congregations. It is a time to remember and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. In other words, we celebrate the Birthday of the Church. It is a birthday celebration because according to Acts chapter 2, when the promised Holy Spirit came upon the believers gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem, they were empowered to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone no matter what their native language might be. It’s a birthday celebration because the church was born to witness, and empowered to do so, by the grace of God and the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps at this moment you may be feeling a little less than empowered, take heart, read on and relax into God’s peace and power my pilgrim friend.

Hebrews 11:1 says; “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Faith is the basis of the Christian journey, and if you are endeavoring to develop into a Christian, well then, you and I share a common journey, though for each of us our steps along the way may be a bit different. My good friend the Right Reverend Doctor James R. Prickett III (I just call him “Pops”) put it this way in his book Footprints of a Pilgrim; “I understand religion to be a process, an ongoing event in the life of any person. It is dynamic, ever changing, has its ups and downs, and leads one through mountains of inspiration as well as valleys of despair. ‘Faith’, as Harry Emerson Fosdick so aptly put it, ‘is hammered out on the anvil of doubt.’…The pilgrimage for us all, as I understand it, is to realize the potential poured into us by God at creation. Bearing God’s image is a high calling, and it represents an unbelievably generous gift on God’s part .”

When God sent the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost so long ago, He tailored it to fit each and every believer and continues to do that today. So, when you find yourself feeling less than empowered, doubting that you can make a real difference for the Kingdom of God, remember to look in the mirror and say “Happy Birthday” and open your gift-the Holy Spirit. It’s as easy as opening your mouth and allowing peaceful, hopeful, helpful words to come out.

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” Acts 2:17-18 (quoting Joel 2:28-29)

AMEN !