May is Holy Spirit month

OK, so the theological purists among you will quickly realise that every month ought to be Holy Spirit month. (I agree.) However, in May we have two special opportunities to focus on the work of this much misunderstood and (dare I say) frequently avoided person of the Trinity.

On 31 May we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We will read again Luke's account in Acts 2 about how what started out as being a very ordinary day of celebration (the Day of Pentecost was already well established at that time as a double celebration of the wheat harvest and the giving of the law at Mount Sinai) turned into an extraordinary celebration as the believers heard something that sounded like the blowing of a violent wind, saw something that looked like tongues of fire coming to rest on each one of them, and then were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

This must have been an extremely amazing spectacle to witness!

But of course God's Holy Spirit was not just for then. God longs that we know more of the work of his Holy Spirit in our lives today. Which brings me to our second special opportunity.

On 10 May at 3.00pm we welcome the Bishop of Dorking, along with members of a good many other churches in the Deanery, to St Nicolas for a service of Confirmation with Baptism. Please remember to be praying for all the candidates, including those from St Nicolas: Christina Jones, Katharine Curran, Vicky Morgan, Jessica Parsons and Jonathan Salmon. The bishop will pray for the candidates:
"Let your Holy Spirit rest upon them:
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding;
The Spirit of counsel and inward strength;
The Spirit of knowledge and true godliness."

Yes, if they are to be faithful disciples of Jesus, they will certainly need the help and strength of the Holy Spirit.

So how about this as a special prayer for May.

"Lord, please help all of us at St Nicolas to know more of the work of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen."

In Christian love

Alan Jenkins