Updated Monday, March 31, 2008

Formations lesson for April 13: Unimaginable Power

By R. Kevin Johnson

Focal Passage: Acts 2:1-21

When I served in children's ministry, I was intentional about structuring each programming year around the Christian calendar. The children looked forward to Pentecost Sunday because they knew that we would be having a party. I encouraged parents to dress their children in red clothing. When they arrived at church, the children were greeted in a room filled with red balloons, streamers, and table decorations.

I told the children that Pentecost is the spiritual birthday of the church and that we should celebrate the same way that they would on their birthdays. The children sang songs of joy and celebration, wore party hats, and gave each other "gifts" of kind words and encouragement. Just before we cut the cake we all sang a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday, Dear Church."

I wanted the children to learn one thing on Pentecost Sunday that I hoped they might remember every day of the year: when the people of God invoke the Holy Spirit, wonderful things happen. The Spirit flows freely through hearts and lives and gives each person spiritual gifts that they may use to both bless the Lord and to encourage one another. God's faithfulness extends to those who faithfully watch and wait for the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

The resulting consequence is change. When allowed to flow, God's spirit molds God's followers into the beings that He requires us to be. God's Spirit, in both essence and reality, transforms individuals into the Church - the very body of Christ. The Holy Spirit, who exists from the beginning of time, brings fullness to the doctrine of the Trinity: the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that inspires us to fuller devotion to almighty God.

God calls His people to do remarkable work toward the advancement of His kingdom on earth. That work is accomplished not by our own power, but by the ability given to each of us by the Holy Spirit. The boys and girls in my children's ministry came to understand that Pentecost was a day that should be celebrated with the fruit of the Spirit. The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control that comes by the Spirit allows Christians to know the power of God in remarkable and unimaginable ways.