But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

While we are away this weekend, we listened to one of the pastors of our church speak as Pentecost Sunday throughout the world. It marks the day that Holy Spirit began fulfilling the promise of Christ to not only be with His followers, but to be in them, empowering them to live the life God planned. Unfortunately, most of the Christian world today pays little more than lip service to who the third person of the Trinity.

“Most Christians in the history of the church the Spirit was believed in but scarcely experienced as a powerful presence, either in the individual life or in the community, there grew up the idea that the Spirit was a quiet, unobtrusive presence. “

Gordon Fee

He continues, “for the earliest Christians, it was quite the opposite. The Spirit was always thought of as a powerful presence. Indeed the terms Spirit and Power at times are nearly interchangeable. For them life in Christ meant life in the Spirit, and that meant life characterized by power, not simply by some quiet, pervasive force.”

Even a light reading of the New Testament agrees. Scripture reveals the early followers of Christ as a movement that turned the first century world “upside down” (Acts 17:6).

“The fact that it (the Early church’s understanding of the Holy Spirit) effectively got lost can scarcely be denied as “Christian life came to consist of conversion without empowering, baptism without obedience, grace without love.” – Gordon Fee

So, honestly ask yourself this question, no matter your background. Is it possible the Holy Spirit has been forgotten or ignored?