Post 21/2021 Sunday 23 May . . . Picture this. A sound like the rush of a violent wind. Divided tongues, as of fire, appearing among Jesus’ disciples and others. Those assembled speaking in other languages. That’s Pentecost for you. On this day, Christians around the world celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the church.

The historic decorative plasterwork, below, depicts the disciples and others at Pentecost, described in Acts 2: 1-4.

Acts 2:1-4: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

The overmantle, is in a two-story multi-purpose building called the Butterwalk, built between 1635 and 1640 in Dartmouth, Devon, UK. It is part of the Sloping Deck Restaurant. We saw it in 2017 during a longer stay in the adjacent County Cornwall.

I think the artist placed Mary, mother of Jesus, among those assembled. The point is, birth; Pentecost marks the arrival of the Holy Spirit to help believers in the ministry Jesus left with them. “The work of the Holy Spirit is aimed to make the power and greatness of Christ visible,” said Rev Etienne van Blerk, vicar in Carbis Bay/Lelant Cornwall, in his message this morning on John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15.

Pics of the week

Pentecost benediction

This Pentecost Benediction, by John William Lowe, Jr., was included in Words for Worship, written and compiled by Arlene M. Mark, A Greencroft resident, 1995:

“Given power by the Spirit,

Let us go into the world,

Bringing understanding to those living in despair

And freshness of life to those living in death.” Amen. 

Peace at Pentecost and long days on.

-John