Global Christian Worship

This Sunday, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost — when the Holy Spirit blew through the house and all the people inside began proclaiming the Word of God in their native languages.  

Here are some paintings, prayers, and meditations to help you think about Pentecost.

1. Icon of Descent of the Holy Spirit (Novodevichy Convent, Russia)

2. Prayer to the Holy Spirit written by St Augustine (North Africa)

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.

Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.

Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.

Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.

Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.  

Amen. Amen. Amen.

prayer and icon from

http://mosaicbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2014/06/pentecost-many-gifts-one-spirit.html

3. ‘Holy Spirit’ by Mark Jennings (USA)

http://pixels.com/featured/holy-spirit-mark-jennings.html

4. Book chapter by Brian McLaren: The Spirit is Moving (Pentecost Sunday)

Read the entire chapter at
http://jerichobooks.com/pentecost-blog/
Here are excerpts:

The Bible describes the Spirit with beautiful and vivid imagery: Wind. Breath. Fire. Cloud. Water. Wine. A dove. These dynamic word pictures contrast starkly with the heavy, fixed imagery provided by, say, stone idols, imposing temples, or thick theological tomes. Through this vivid imagery, the biblical writers tell us that the Spirit invigorates, animates, purifies, holds mystery, moves and flows, foments joy, and spreads peace…

At the core of Jesus’ life and message, then, was this good news: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of aliveness, the Wind-breath-fire-cloud-water-wine-dove Spirit who filled Jesus is on the move in our world. And that gives us a choice: do we dig in our heels, clench our fists, and live for our own agenda, or do we let go, let be, and let come … and so be taken up into the Spirit’s movement.

That was what the disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost, according to Luke, when the Spirit manifested as wind and fire. Suddenly, the Spirit-filled disciples began speaking in languages they had never learned. This strange sign is full of significance. The Spirit of God, it tells us, is multilingual. The Spirit isn’t restricted to one elite language or one superior culture, as almost everyone had assumed. Instead, the Spirit speaks to everyone everywhere in his or her native tongue…

5. The Holy Spirit by Gisele Bauche (Canada)

http://bauche.bask.ca/gisele.html and
http://baucheart.com/gisele/bio/index.html

6. Here’s a short article about the origins of Pentecost, and the bottom has a slideshow of about 20 artistic renderings of Pentecost - especially note the stained glass windows in the second half.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/04/pentecost-2014_n_5446980.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000051

Here’s one of the stained glass windows from that webpage - this one is from Church of the Assumption, Our Lady’s Island, County Wexford, Ireland.

7. Pentecost by Mark Wiggin (England)

http://www.veritasse.com/prints/wiggin-pentecost-group.html

8. The Jewish roots of Pentecost are well-known, as the Church Festival is connected with the Jewish Festival Shavu'ot. The 'Feast of Weeks’ commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm

9. This painting by Martha Stern is CHAG SHAVU’OT (FESTIVAL OF WEEKS / PENTECOST)

David and Martha Stern are responsible for the Jewish New Testament, where I found this image painted by Martha.
https://www.facebook.com/JewishNewTestament.DavidHStern?fref=photo

They write about this painting,

In Israel it is customary to wear white on Shavu’ot to remind us of the Israelites who purified themselves before receiving the Torah. Children wear white clothes and wreaths of flowers and carry little decorated baskets of fruit to school, representing the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. People eat dairy products on Shavu’ot and read the book of Ruth because of the connection with harvesting. This is a big holiday for Israeli agricultural settlements.

Martha’s picture shows on the right side Moses receiving the Torah, written in stone, on Mount Sinai amid dark clouds, thunder and the brightness of God’s presence. On the left side we see the same day, Shavu’ot, more than 1,200 years later in Jerusalem, when the same Torah was given to the same nation, Israel, written on hearts instead of stone, as the followers of Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua, were filled with God’s Holy Spirit, fulfilling Jeremiah 31:30-34, where it is prophesied that God will make “a New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.” The text, which becomes the whirlwind of God’s presence spreading across the picture, says, “I will write my Torah on their hearts,” from the same passage. The bright yellow at the top is not the sun but God’s presence (with Yud-heh-vav-heh written in).

We see the same people of God and the same presence of God stretched through time and history!

Chag Shavu’ot sameach! (Happy Shavu’ot!)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=780354571983178&set=a.512680528750585.120203.499204183431553&type=1

10. 'Holy Spirit Coming’ by He Qi, China/USA

http://www.heqigallery.com/shop/Easter_Prints.html

Currently a Minnesota residence (USA), Dr. He Qi studied at Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing Art Institute in China and Hamburg Art Institute in Germany. He was the first among Mainland Chinese to earn a Ph.D. in Religious art after the Revolution(1992). He also received his Honorary Doctor Degree from Australia Catholic University in Melbourne (May, 2011). He is also a member of the China Art Association and a former council member of the Asian Christian Art Association(1998-2006).  He received 20th Century Award for Achievement in recognition of outstanding achievements in the field of Religious Art Theory and Christian Art Creation of IBC in Cambridge UK. His art works have been displayed in museums, galleries, universities and churches, in New York, San Francisco, Berkeley, Chicago, Los Angels, Minneapolis, St.Paul, Birmingham, Pittsburgh, St.Louis, Hartford, Richmond,Tokyo, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Nanjing, London, Oxford, Geneva, and many more places.
http://www.heqiart.com/