How do you celebrate your birthday? - Or maybe you don’t!
That would be a shame because birthdays are really significant as they mark a beginning of life. Each person is precious and birthdays remind us of that each time they come around.
With the passage of time people often feel that it’s not worth marking them or celebrating them. But I think that is wrong. Each year is a milestone when we can look back and give thanks for all that has happened and for the very fact of our existence.
On Sunday we celebrated the birthday of the Church, - Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the first disciples and they were filled with life in a way they’d not known before. They became the very first Church.
Just as a birthday reminds us to celebrate life in all its fullness, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church reminds us of Jesus’ own words “I came to give life - life in all its fullness ”.
We are people created by God to be filled with His Spirit in order to be fully the people God intends us to be.
Pentecost is the greatest birthday celebration of the Church, We mark the day out by wearing red and often having a cake. It is not an ordinary day! We give thanks and pray for God’s Spirit in us for the rest of the year.
Children get excited by birthdays, they count the days leading up to them, they recognise something special in them.
Don’t let your own birthday become just an ordinary day – however old you are. Be excited by the day. Give thanks for your coming into the world. that you were given a start in life. Pray for the Spirit of God to renew you for the year to come.