Hello everyone!
Today we are looking at Pentecost. Anyone know what that means? Well, Pente means 50 and we celebrate it 50 days after Easter. Even better, it is when the Holy Spirit came to earth to be a helper for anyone who believes in Jesus. Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church after Jesus went back to heaven.
Take a look at this:
Grab a pen and see if you can answer the question I asked there, as you watch this next video.
Talk about
What differences did you come up with? Here are a few I thought of. The disciples were not scared anymore and were so bold. Peter who had denied knowing Jesus before now stood up in front of everyone and gave the good news! This is something we need to remember – that the Holy Spirit is powerful and he can work through us.
I also thought it so amazing that all those people from different places in the world were already in Jerusalem celebrating the festival of the wheat harvest. God had planned for them all to be there so they could hear the message. The disciples were given languages to speak so all the people understood.
The disciples were not hiding anymore and they knew their purpose. They were generous, they helped provide food for people and spent time together. Even though Jesus himself was not physically with them they told others about him, saw miracles happen after they prayed and worshipped together. What do you think about the Holy Spirit in your own life?
Do you remember that there are gifts of the Holy Spirit? Have a look at Galatians 5 v 22-23 to remind yourself. Do you think the disciples were using these gifts?
Things to do
Draw a flame shape on an A4 paper. If you have old magazines you could tear out (with parents permission!) any bits that have yellow, orange or red colours on. Then stick them to your flame to make a colourful flame collage.
If you would like to make doves out of Skittles (the sweets!), or the painted doves like the ones at the top of the page, there are a couple of pictures below to show you how. You can also get the dove template and instructions here.
Learn a language! Ok, maybe a whole new one might be difficult, but you can learn a few words. Here is the Holy Spirit in a few languages:
Spanish = Espiritu Santo
Italian = Spirito Santo
Swahili = Roho Takatifu
Try and learn a couple more and impress your parents and friends!
If you have a finished kitchen roll tube at home you could add some strips of red and yellow crepe paper to one end to make a Pentecost wind tube. As you blow hard in one end you should hear a noise like a strong wind and see your paper like flames move around!
You might like to try a Pentecost decoder puzzle here
Pray
Thank you Holy Spirit for being the gift that Jesus told the disciples to wait for. Thank you that you are still a gift to us today. Help us to be led by you and work in our lives. Amen