2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost in Greek or Shavuot in Hebrew marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel (Exodus 34:22). It also marked the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel who were assembled at Mount Sinai.

On this day, about seven weeks after the resurrection, God the Holy Spirit moved in an extraordinary way on the assembled Disciples. Jesus had foretold about this before He ascended, though His followers didn’t know exactly when. Both events, the giving of the Torah and raining down of tongues on the Disciples, altered the lives of all who experienced it.

What did it mean for the Disciples? What were they to do with what they received? How should they have responded?

As Believers, we all have experienced what I call “God moments.” God moves in your life and you are forever changed. It could be something like these Disciples experienced or it could be something much simpler, such as a moment between you and your child (or parent). Or it could be a time when you had no words to say to someone heartbroken but God gave them to you for that moment in time.

Don’t misunderstand. What happened in that house on the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago was significant to the growth of the Early Church. Obviously it changed the lives of those in the house as well.

When these God moments come and go – and they will – pause and reflect on them, give Him the Glory for allowing Him to use you, and tell others of His deeds. As we will see in the chapters that follow, the Disciples did just that and the Church grew great and mighty because of it.