{"id":23989,"date":"2026-03-11T15:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T15:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/what-is-pentecost-the-church-s-birthday\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:17:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:17:23","slug":"what-is-pentecost-the-church-s-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/what-is-pentecost-the-church-s-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Pentecost? The Church\u2019s Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It happened to me years ago, in Europe on a Sunday in May, and a French friend said to me in French, \u201cBonne Pentec\u00f4te\u201d which means \u201cHappy Pentecost.\u201d I wished her the same but observed to myself: Does anyone ever wish anybody else \u201cHappy Pentecost\u201d back in the States?<\/p>\n<p>Nope. It\u2019s never happened to me. Not yet. And it\u2019s too bad because <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/on-pentecost-the-church-celebrates-its-birthday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pentecost<\/a> is a major holiday, a big feast day, an occasion to observe with much celebration. Think of it as the church\u2019s birthday. Imagine a cake at your church with nearly 2000 candles on it and sugared writing, \u201cHappy Pentecost!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/on-pentecost-the-church-celebrates-its-birthday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>Read More About the Meaning of Pentecost<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jesus didn\u2019t leave behind him a massive organization. He didn\u2019t create a lengthy constitution with a long list of rules. He didn\u2019t build a magnificent building. He didn\u2019t even leave behind a book (that would have to be created by others).<\/p>\n<p>What He gave His followers were stories that they shared endlessly, sayings that they mulled over (and we continue to contemplate), the practice of breaking bread and drinking wine in community and the vivid\u2013and sometimes painful\u2013memories of His Crucifixion and Resurrection.<\/p>\n<p>He kept promising that in his absence He\u2019d send them the Holy Spirit to guide them. I don\u2019t doubt they must have been mystified by that. What was this Spirit He promised? How would they know when it arrived? And how would it help them?<\/p>\n<p>They found out on Pentecost. Christ had died and risen and come back on earth before leaving for good. Now that he was gone they were scared. What were they going to do? How were they going to put the life-changing love they\u2019d gotten from Jesus to work? How was it going to happen?<\/p>\n<p>According to the book of Acts, they were gathered together in Jerusalem, when a sound from heaven like a fierce wind filled the house and \u201cThey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them\u201d (Acts 2:4).<\/p>\n<p>This gift of \u201ctongues\u201d was a means of communication. They could suddenly speak to their fellow Jews in Jerusalem who had come from every different nation. They could be understood. They had power that they didn\u2019t know they had, and they could spread the good word that they had heard.<\/p>\n<p>Because of them, the good news spread to a few hundred and then thousands and over the years to millions and now billions. This was the beginning of the church. This is why that day, Pentecost, has been celebrated over the centuries and is celebrated today.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the birthday of the church, the place where you worship whether it\u2019s a magnificent cathedral, a school auditorium, a gathering of believers on a sandy beach or in a friend\u2019s living room. \u201cHappy Pentecost!\u201d we can say to one another. \u201cHappy Birthday, church!\u201d Because of the Spirit, because of Jesus, because of His love, we\u2019re here. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It happened to me years ago, in Europe on a Sunday in May, and a French friend said to me in French, \u201cBonne Pentec\u00f4te\u201d which means \u201cHappy Pentecost.\u201d I wished her the same but observed to myself: Does anyone ever wish anybody else \u201cHappy Pentecost\u201d back in the States? Nope. It\u2019s never happened to me. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":30634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[72],"ppma_author":[476],"class_list":["post-23989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday-prayers","tag-stories-of-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Is Pentecost? The Church\u2019s Birthday - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Pentecost? 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