Pentecost: More than Hype
Remember & Expect
We’re heading into Pentecost Sunday, and it’s got me thinking.
Thinking about my own journey with the Holy Spirit—how He’s always been there, patient and persistent, while my understanding and theology limped along behind, playing catch-up. I came to faith in a tradition that was mostly Father, Son, and Holy Scriptures. Great foundation. Beautiful reverence for the Word. But let’s just say the Spirit didn’t get much airtime—at least not the kind that involved power, presence, or spiritual gifts.
Then I married a woman raised in the wild, wonderful world of charismania. We’re talking 80s and 90s-style Pentecostal: sword-swinging, flag-waving, tongues-on-the-mic, maybe even a surprise shofar.
After we were married, we found our way into a Vineyard church. Naturally supernatural. Supernaturally natural. Less hype, more presence. No yelling, just a quiet confidence that God was in the room. It was the church we’d go on to pastor for years—Vineyard in roots, Curate in name.
That season reworked me. It undid the tight knots of my neat theology and invited me into something more mysterious. My faith moved from head-heavy to heart-awake. I encountered God, not as a footnote in my beliefs, but as fire in my bones. And I’m grateful—so grateful—for the patience of the Spirit who doesn’t need me to have it all figured out before showing up.
A World Hungry for More
These days, it seems the world is hungry for something more.
We live in a time of spiritual contradictions—where mindfulness apps trend and churches shrink, where people reject religion but still want transcendence, still want wonder, still want presence. We want peace that lasts longer than a playlist. We want power that doesn’t come from self-optimisation but from something holy. People are looking for something real. Pentecost is that.
Three Ways Churches Treat Pentecost
So here we are. Pentecost Sunday again.
How do we approach it?
Generally, I think there are three ways churches treat Pentecost:
1. Anticipate it
For Pentecostal and charismatic churches, there’s often a build-up of prayer, longing, and hunger. We’re not necessarily expecting literal tongues of fire to drop from the rafters, but we are hoping for the Spirit to move—tangibly. That people would feel it in their bones. A sense that God is not just with us, but touching down in the room. Empowering. Healing. Speaking. Filling.
2. Acknowledge it
In more traditional settings, or churches aligned with the church calendar, there’s a slower, more reflective pace. Pentecost is marked—respected—as a theological moment. Maybe not with as much noise, but still with deep significance. A day to remember what happened and to ponder what it means to live on this side of that history-shaping event.
3. Ignore it
And then, of course, some churches just skip it. Not out of rebellion—just scheduling. Or maybe it feels uncomfortable, out of step with the culture of the community. So we move on. Business as usual.
Let’s Not Skip It. And Let’s Not Hype It.
But here’s my plea: Let’s not skip Pentecost. And let’s not hype it either. Let’s hold both memory and mystery. Let’s remember—and expect.
I’m all for an increased expectation this Sunday. I’m all for prayer and space and laying on of hands. I’m all for asking the Holy Spirit to move in power—to fill, to heal, to empower. People need a “tell and show” experience of God, not just another message about Him. We need it. I need it.
My life has been forever changed and shaped by these moments. I still remember some of the first experiences of the tangible presence of God—
they wrecked me in the best kind of way and have shaped who I am today.
But this has to be held in tension with remembering. We don’t need to recreate Pentecost—we need to live in light of it.
Just like we don’t try to redo Good Friday; we live in the reality of Christ crucified and victorious. We don’t try to rerun Resurrection Sunday; we live as those raised with Christ. We don’t try to restage the Ascension; we live in the mystery that Christ rules and reigns now, hidden in plain sight.
And so with Pentecost: we remember the Spirit has been poured out.
This isn’t just ancient history—it’s present reality. We’re not waiting for it to come; we’re waking up to the fact it already has.
We Are the People of the Spirit
We are the people of God because we have His Spirit.
His Spirit has been poured out on all flesh—sons and daughters, young and old.
What was once for a few is now for all.
We are the temple. We are the carriers. We are the dwelling place of God.
We are marked, empowered, graced.
We are called to be priests and kings, witnesses, sons and daughters, proclaimers of Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
We have His Spirit!
And while we were baptized in the Spirit when we believed, repented, and were baptized, we also need to be continually filled.
Because we leak.
Because there’s always room for more—think of yourself like an ever-stretching balloon.
We’re rivers.
We’re meant to be poured out, again and again.
So be filled for ministry. Be filled for witness. Be filled for whatever breakthrough your community, your family, your heart needs.
Expect & Remember
So, pastor, leader, worship planner, preacher—can I ask?
How are you shaping your Pentecost Sunday?
What would it look like to carve out space this week—not just for remembering Pentecost but for living in the light of it?
What if you made room for both reverence and risk?
For laying on hands, praying bold prayers, waiting in silence, speaking life, welcoming gifts, and teaching the story?
People don’t just need to hear that God is real.
They need to see it.
They need the “tell and show” version of faith.
So let’s not reduce Pentecost to a date on the calendar.
Let’s step into it like it’s still happening—because it is.
A Pentecost Blessing
May this Pentecost Sunday…
…be more than a service.
May it be a space of encounter.
May the Holy Spirit fill you again and again,
and may your church be soaked with a sense that God is here, now.
May we be people who remember Pentecost—
and also live like it’s still shaping the world.
