Dear COA Family,
Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. It is the day where the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles two
thousand years ago to empower them for the continued witness of the gospel to the world.
This was in accordance with God’s good will as recorded in Acts:
“And while staying with them he (Jesus) ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the
promise of the Father, which, he said, “You heard from me; for John baptised with water, but you will be
baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth” (Acts 1:4-8).
As you can see, the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s filling is for spiritual power for the work of the ministry.
But many of us have the wrong idea that such a work of the Spirit must be spectacular in nature, like the
outbreak of speaking in tongues and 3000 men who were converted. Or that we must make great
changes like leaving our jobs or life situations to step out into a foreign mission field.
Far from it.
I believe that the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost Sunday today is for us in our everyday life.
In Luke 8, there was an account of Jesus driving out many demons from a man. As a result, many of
the townspeople were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. The man himself begged Jesus that he may follow
him. But Jesus said, “’Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ And he went
away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him” (Luke 8:39).
The Lord’s will was for the man to proclaim God’s goodness where he was!
As I conducted wake and funeral services for two of our dear members just this week, I have been so
impressed and blessed by their lives. They had followed in the example of the man and the command
of Christ to be God’s light where they were. Our sister Janet Hale, for example, continued to trust in
Christ and prayed for and encouraged her family to believe in Christ. Our brother James Lee dedicated
his life to the mission of the church. Their lives had such a great impact because they served the
Lord where they were.
As we look forward to living in the light of the first Pentecost, let us be filled to the full with the power of
the Holy Spirit to reach out to our own family members, classmates, colleagues and friends. Seek for
fruitfulness and the transformation of lives where you are. And I believe that the Lord will bless you
in this.
God bless,
Revd Ian