May 15th, 2005

[RED]

World Pentecost*

Read Joel 2:28-32

Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
-Revelation 12:10 (NRSV)

DURING my first trip to the group of South Pacific islands that comprise the Kingdom of Tonga, leaders in our church arranged for me to visit Utui. In this lovely village they showed me a monument which read: "Here in this village of Utui, 23 July 1834, came the visit of the Holy Spirit." This event, known as the Tongan Pentecost, resulted in the remarkable spread of the Christian faith across the islands of Tonga. The people of Tonga became missionaries throughout many regions of the Pacific, taking the message of Christ where his name had never before been spoken.

On this Pentecost Day, let us pray for a world Pentecost when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit all over the world will transform the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And let us each commit to acting where we are to make our world more like God dreams it to be.
H. Eddie Fox (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit, come! Empower us in this day to witness through word, deed, and sign. In the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.