Dear Church,

I’m really excited about celebrating Pentecost on Sunday, June 5th! Pentecost is the third of three seasons that we practice as a church (Advent, Lent & Pentecost) and also the shortest. But here is what we are going to do to help this be a meaningful season for us:

• This week is Preparation Week: Luke Snowden is going to preach a sermon on the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament this coming Sunday.

• Sunday, June 5th is Pentecost Sunday: I will preach a short homily (10-15 minutes) so that we can leave room for open microphone prayer from the church. So we are encouraging all of our church members to pray deeply during Pentecost week, and then show up ready to pray. In addition, we are encouraging everybody to wear red and we will also cover the worship floor with red balloons (these are traditional practices intended to remind us of the descent of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire in Acts 2).

• House Churches are the following week: We are canceling ALL community groups the week following Pentecost and encouraging everybody in our church to attend one of three house worships nights. These are designed to help us experience what it would have been like huddled together in a home awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. All the details (time, location, etc) are coming out next week!

This is our second year of practicing Pentecost together. We think it’s a great opportunity to teach children about the Holy Spirit and it’s a great opportunity for us to practice being a church that depends on the Holy Spirit. Last year, we did lots of research, studied our Bibles diligently, and then Andrew and I sat down to record this podcast about Pentecost. It’s an hour long, but we think it will be really helpful for you this year again:

Let’s lace up our boots, pray our guts out, and walk into the fire of Pentecost together.

Lord, let us be a church on fire.

Cole