Living the Purpose of the Church
In the Christian Church Calendar, we are about half way between the Resurrection of Christ and Penticost. In the Jewish Faith Calendar, we are halfway between the Passover and the Feast of Weeks, the corresponding events.
In reality, we live beyond the Pentecost and look back to that time. It was a period of 50 days, and we are now approximately in the middle of that period. During that time, Acts of the Apostles tells us the Risen Christ appeared to his followers over a period of 40 days - most of the period.
Christ gave his followers two commands before He left them to return later. One was the famous “Go Ye” command, or the Great Commission. The second command was to wait for the Holy Spirit.
Now this was not a passive waiting. They fasted, they prayed. There was expectancy. There was passion. There was a burden. When the Holy Spirit did come, the Church was birthed.
When the Holy Spirit did come, what happened was radical - a 40-year old lame man who had never walked before walked and then ran. The Church cut across culture, religious institutions, rational logic, …you name it. It was a radical transformation.
This same thing is happening today. George Otis, Jr. has identified or 24 cities in the world that have been transformed politically, economically, socially, spiritually - any way no name it - by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This he has documented in two Transoformations tape and one book. (see our site http://www.creatingnewworlds.org and choose Church from the menu, then Research and then Resources.
Today, many Christians I know live between that Resurrection and Penticost. Like those early followers, are you praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit in your life? Is there passion, a burden, and are you expecting the Pentecost for your life?