SHARING THE GOOD NEWS JOINT PENTECOST SERVICE TO ECHO MESSAGE OF UNITY.Byline: Holly Andres Staff Writer SYLMAR - Having no luck finding a Pentecost greeting card to give to friends this Sunday? That's probably a godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Rev. Samuel Platts of Church of the Foothills. The reverend is pleased that the holiday, a significant one for Christians, has not become overpowered o·ver·pow·er tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers 1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue. 2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm. 3. by the marketplace. ``Pentecost is one of the three major Christian holidays, the others being, of course, Easter and Christmas,'' said Platts. ``Pentecost is the time of the giving of the Holy Spirit. It hasn't, thank the Lord, been commercialized yet.'' Pentecost, observed by Christians worldwide, occurs 50 days after Easter - the word is derived from the Greek for 50th. In one of the messages of Pentecost, as described in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes to Jesus' apostles APOSTLES. In the British courts of admiralty, when a party appeals from a decision made against him, he prays apostles from the judge, which are brief letters of dismission, stating the case, and declaring that the record will be transmitted. 2 Brown's Civ. and Adm. Law, 438; Dig. 49. 6. as both a whirlwind whirlwind, revolving mass of air resulting from local atmospheric instability, such as that caused by intense heating of the ground by the sun on a hot summer day. and as ``tongues of fire tongues of fire manifestation of Holy Spirit’s descent on Pentecost. [N.T.: Acts 2:1–4] See : Inspiration .'' The apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and were then able to communicate the Gospel of Jesus so that all could understand the words in their own language. ``Pentecost marks the beginning of the Christian church. We celebrate it as the birth of Christianity, the church of the Lord worldwide,'' said the Rev. Chip Graves of North Valley Foursquare Church in Sylmar, who will deliver the Pentecost message Sunday at Lutheran Church of the Foothills. The joint service came about after Platts decided to walk across the street from his house to meet his new neighbor. He found out that he and Graves had a number of things in common - both have children, wives who walk for exercise, and are Navy vets and pastors. ``Lutherans getting together with a Foursquare church might seem strange but it isn't. ... Both our churches were founded by the Holy Spirit,'' Platts said. ``It's good just to have fellowship with other churches,'' Graves said. ``We're not a closed congregation. Getting together with Sam's church is just keeping the walls down.'' Platts explained Pentecost by recalling the story of the Tower of Babel Babel (bā`bəl) [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. in the Old Testament. In that story, people tried to build a tower up to God, but God confused their language so they couldn't understand each other and they stopped building. ``Pentecost is just the reverse. Everybody can come together,'' Platts said. ``Pentecost gives us a vision of the unity of the human race. ``Church is intended for everybody. We have historical or man-made differences between Christian churches but the core message hasn't changed.'' Wearing a red item on Pentecost is traditional in some churches to symbolize the Holy Spirit as the ``tongues of fire.'' Even though the Foursquare members don't follow that tradition, those attending have been invited to participate in the custom. The Rev. Tim Willett, the associate pastor at NVFC NVFC National Volunteer Fire Council and among those planning to wear red, will provide music for the contemporary songs. Willett, who Graves called `our key worship leader at NVFC,'' will help lead inspirational in·spi·ra·tion·al adj. 1. Of or relating to inspiration. 2. Providing or intended to convey inspiration. 3. Resulting from inspiration. songs. ``There's a song we do called 'Let the Walls Fall Down.' We trust the Holy Spirit to break down walls that appear between us,'' Willett said. ``We come together as 'one in Christ.' That's the value of getting together. It also helps to remove the 'I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if we can worship together' way of thinking.'' Graves said his Pentecost message will be in the form of a challenge to those attending the service. ``I'm going to encourage them to ask the Lord to empower them with the Holy Spirit,'' he said. ``I'd like them to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and to share it with others. That's what the Gospel is all about, spreading the good news.'' The joint Pentecost service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Church of the Foothills, 13425 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar. A potluck picnic lunch will follow. Call (818) 362-7700. North Valley Foursquare Church is located at 13390 Beaver beaver, either of two large aquatic rodents, Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, known for their engineering feats. They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North America from the arctic tree line to the S United St., Sylmar. Call (818) 362-7745. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The congregations of the Revs. Chip Graves of the North Valley Foursquare Church, left, and Samuel Platts of the Church of the Foothills will celebrate Pentecost together on Sunday. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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