Pentecost changes the way we see things

Pentecost changes the way we see things.

In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit rushes into that gathered room like wind and fire, Peter has to reach for the words of the prophet Joel to make sense of what is happening:

“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…”

Not just sons.
Not just the educated.
Not just the powerful.
Not just the ones society expected to lead.

Daughters, too.

The miracle of Pentecost is not only that people hear the Gospel in their own languages. The miracle is that the Spirit is poured out without prejudice—across gender, age, class, and status. The boundaries people once believed defined who could speak for God begin to fall away in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The boundaries that people STILL believe define who can speak for God fall away by the gifting and the calling of the Holy Spirit!

That truth matters deeply.

Because the Church does not grant calling.
The Church recognizes calling.

The Spirit is always the initiator. God calls, equips, and empowers. The role of the Church is not to decide who is worthy of being called, but to prayerfully discern and affirm where the Spirit is already moving.

That distinction is crucial—especially for women in ministry.

For generations, many women have had to carry not only the responsibility of their calling to ministry, but also the burden of proving that God could possibly call them. Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit has never been confined by human expectations or opinions or proclamations.

And wherever the Spirit is poured out, the Church is invited to pay attention.

Pentecost is not simply the birth of the Church.
It is the unveiling of a Spirit-filled community where God’s calling is wider, deeper, and more expansive than we ever could have imagined! Thanks be to God!

All love,
Leslie