I recall visiting Calvary
Pentecostal Church
Question - are we a Pentecostal church? Well, my friends I certainly hope so. Biblically, the answer is yes. Pentecost isn’t about a particular stereotype
or style of worship, but rather in a deeper sense, it is about the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit in the life and the lives of the people in the
church. Pentecostal worship can be loud
and spontaneous or orderly and contemplative.
Pentecost is about God’s Spirit penetrating the hearts and minds of
God’s people. Pentecost is about the
Holy Spirit inspiring the worship and ministry of the people. A Pentecostal church is a church alive in the
Spirit of God. And if the Holy Spirit
isn’t present in our midst, then we may be a social club, or a non-profit organization,
but we are not the church
of Jesus Christ
At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, when the disciples
were all together in one place in Jerusalem
A Pentecostal church is where God’s people understand their
purpose. It can answer the question –
Why are we here? Why do we exist? It remembers Jesus’ Great Commandment: “Love
God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and love your neighbor as
yourself.” It remembers Jesus Great
Commission: “Go forth and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you, for Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.”
Why are Jesus’ teachings important? They are important because the Great
Commandment combined with the Great Commission makes a great church. One Church’s mission is: “To live lives to glorify Christ, by making disciples who are growing
in relationship with God in worship, with the church in fellowship, and with
the world in witness.” Another Church’s mission is: “To reach unchurched people, help them grow
in Christ so we can together serve the Lord in ministry.” Another
Church’s mission is –“ Love God and bless
the city.”
Our mission is rooted in our name Pacific Beach Presbyterian
Church, PBPC, People Bringing People to Christ.
To be more specific, based upon our spiritual discernment and the
demographics of our community, it is: “To
reach young families and singles for Christ and to rekindle our congregation to
feel empowered and strengthened by the Holy Spirit to reach out into our
community.”
A Pentecostal church is committed to God’s mission in its
particular corner of the Kingdom. And
the church must be flexible, adaptable, malleable and be able to change in its
mission as the world around it changes.
Once a man stood up at a lecture that the famous rocket scientist Dr.
Werner Von Braun was giving and asked: “Why can’t we just forget all these
new-fangled ideas about going out into space and be content to stay at home and
watch television like the good Lord intended?” Is that what the good Lord intended?
God didn’t establish the church at Pentecost for the church
to stay at home and watch television.
God didn’t establish the church at Pentecost to resist changing its ways
while change is swirling all around it.
God has empowered us to be a Pentecostal church with the mission of
loving people and reaching people in the name of Christ.
The Day of Pentecost was an outpouring of spiritual energy
and power and enthusiasm. A Pentecostal
church is a church where believer’s lives are transformed and being
transformed, where energy and enthusiasm is evident, like the story in
Acts. Now must this zeal and energy be
constant? No, we do get tired at times
and need to rest. Right. Do you ever get tired?
Remember Jesus words: “Come unto me all of you who labor and are
over-burdened and I will give you rest.”
Jesus recognized that there are times when we simply need stop as
individuals and as a church and rest, and re-energize ourselves physically,
emotionally and spiritually. God doesn’t
expect the church to go full steam ahead 24-7.
That strange day, the day of Pentecost further reveals
something about the being, the nature of the God we worship. Christian preacher and author A. W. Tozer
writes: “God is delighted with all that is good and lovingly concerned about
all that is wrong. God pursues His
labors always in a fullness of holy zeal. No wonder the Spirit came at
Pentecost as a sound of a rushing mighty wind and sight of tongues of fire on
every forehead. ... Whatever else happened at Pentecost, one thing that cannot
be missed by the most casual observer was the sudden upsurging of spiritual
enthusiasm. Those first disciples burned with a steady, inward fire.”
Where do we manifest that energy, enthusiasm and zeal? In Worship and prayer we grow stronger
through loving, and glorifying and praising God. In Ministry, we grow broader through serving
and loving others in the church, the community and the world. In Evangelism, we grow larger through
reaching out to unbelievers and making disciples. In Fellowship we grow warmer through building
and deepening caring relationships. In
Discipleship we grow deeper as people grow in faith and spiritual maturity
through teaching, Bible study, and learning and developing skills in pastoral
care and service to the glory of God.
A Pentecostal church seeks to always be an environment which
is loving and joyful and caring and faith filled and prayerful. People support others in the midst of
brokenness, hunger, loneliness, in the midst of illness and grief and
death. There is compassion kindness and
empathy, support and encouragement.
People come alongside one another in times of joy and celebration and in
times of crisis and tragedy. People
rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Our Sunday Night Ministry which reaches out
to homeless people in our community is a good example of this work of the Holy
Spirit. The free Friday Night Family
movie and Pizza gatherings for families in our community is another example of
the work of the Holy Spirit.
I have seen this caring spirit many times during the years
that I have served as pastor – from when I first came to recent times with
families who have lost loved ones.
God calls us as His people to minister in a changing world
and at the same time to be open to being changed by God’s Spirit in accord to
God’s purpose for the church and for our lives.
Christ calls us to a dynamic ministry in a dynamic environment and to
engage in a purpose-filled, faithful, loving, vital and joyful ministry.
A church which is serious about doing ministry today, must
be willing to live with the tension of what Bruce and Marshall Shelley have
identified as our “ambidextrous calling.”
On the one hand, we are obligated to remain faithful to the unchanging
Word of God. God calls the church to
reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ. We preach the unchanging gospel, God’s
salvation in Jesus Christ, God’s forgiving and transforming love in Jesus
Christ and the promise of life everlasting.
The gospel that says human beings are sinners and God sent Jesus to save
sinners. The letter of Hebrews 13:8 says:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.”
On the other hand, we must minister in an ever-changing
world. Our world is constantly in flux. Rapido.
Think of the many changes in the last twenty years - social,
economic, governmental, technological, scientific, business, and religious. Society is constantly shifting and changing so
rapidly that we hardly have time to catch our breath. Is this not true?
The message of the gospel must never change, Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, today and forever, but the methods we employ to spread the
gospel and reach people must be open to change.
The church’s methods and strategies must be flexible, creative, and
innovative. Our strategy for fulfilling
Christ’s great command and great commission must be in sync with the particular
demographics and needs in the community surrounding the church. The church’s mission must always strive to
be relevant to the community.
Consider the demographics of Pacific Beach
We as a church must seek God’s guidance and power and
inspiration to live in a changing world and not retreat to either one of two
extremes - the extreme of isolation from today’s culture or to the extreme of
conformity and imitating the latest ideas and fads of the culture. Jesus calls us to be contemporary, without
compromising the eternal truth of the gospel.
God has called us to reach out in this part of His kingdom
in this time and place. Is it a
challenge? I don’t have to answer
that. Is it a burden? No, as the great British theologian and
missionary to India Lesslie Newbigin said: "Mission
God so loved the world that He sent His only Son. God personally came into this world because
he loved this world and decided to save it.
And God sends us into the world to bring his love to others.
I think of an example of our loving people in the world, our
going out into the community in the name of Christ. Last week, at 1:00 a.m. the young adults from
our Sunday Night Roots went out for their bi-monthly Bottle Service. They walk out on Garnet just as the bars are
closing. They hand out free water
bottles. They set up a sign and hand out
flyers identifying our church. They
handed out 600 bottles to young people walking or jogging by on the street in
just over an hour. Why – it might just
have something to do with Pentecost. It
might just have something to do with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
What is the true test of a Spirit-filled church? No, it’s not the style of your worship
service. No it’s not having the word
Pentecostal in your church name.
Rather, I think Galatians 5:22 says it well: “The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.” If those spiritual
qualities permeate your life and the life of the church, you can be assured
that you are Spirit-filled.
My friends, by the grace of God we are and are becoming a Pentecostal Church
“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 tongues rested on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit.” Amen
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