Pentecost devotional series 2026
We live in the privileged age of the gospel having reached the ends of the earth, and yet there are still people who have not heard the message of Jesus.
In the weeks leading up to Pentecost, we will explore Jesus’ direction to His disciples, and to us, to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19a), through following the book of Acts and the history of the Church.
Read Acts 1:1-11
The first chapter in Acts begins with a helpful summary of the end of Luke’s Gospel and follows a conversation between Jesus and His disciples before He ascends into heaven.
‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth ’, Jesus says to His disciples, and ‘after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.’
The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the disciples, and they wondered why Jesus would not remain with them. Pentecost Sunday shortly follows where all would become clear…
Read Acts 2:1-12
The disciples had no idea what to expect – a recurring theme throughout the gospels – and played out plainly in Acts 2.
Pentecost was a Jewish celebration that occurred 50 days after the Passover festival. With ‘God-fearing Jews’ from all over the known world gathered in Jerusalem, God chose this day in 33AD to pour out His Holy Spirit, first to the disciples, then to the Jewish audience.
The Holy Spirit arrived as a violent wind and descended visibly on the disciples in ‘tongues of fire’. Thus, an evangelistic flame was lit that would never go out until Jesus’ return. What this meant bewildered the apostles: we now know it was the beginning of early Church.
16 April was IFES Global Giving Day where we rejoiced with our fellow IFES movements that the gospel continues to go out to students across the whole world.
The ends of the earth were further than the other early apostles could have imagined. Join us in praying for two regional CU movements in the Caribbean and Latin America. Prayer points on our social media.
You can visit the link above to read stories like Hendi’s, a Staff Worker in Mexico, and Samantha’s, a Staff Worker in St Vincent & the Grenadines on IFES website.
Read Acts 10:1-48
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved – a statement from Romans 10:13 we may know well. But how often do we stop to consider the Holy Spirit’s role in leading us to want to be saved in the first place?
In Acts 10, we meet Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile (non-Jew). Despite being as Roman as they come, Cornelius was an upright man and exactly the sort of person you’d want to know.
Stationed in Caesarea, the Roman capital of first century Judea (and modern Israel), God chooses Cornelius to pave the way for the gospel to spread where it hasn’t before.
Instructed by an angel to send for the Apostle Peter, Cornelius patiently waits.
In Jewish custom, it was forbidden for Jews to associate closely, visit or eat with non-Jews, not least because they had laws forbidding them to eat certain foods.
The narrative helps us to understand Peter’s headspace; he had been reminded by God in a dream that there was no longer clean and unclean (v15). He can go against these customs. Thus, Peter enters Cornelius’ house with God’s blessing, in the power of the Holy Spirit, but in full humility that he is a servant to the gospel. It’s easy to miss just how significant this is.
‘Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.’ - Acts 10:34-36
‘The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message’ (v44). What an astonishing and revolutionary event for the Jews who had converted to Christianity. No longer a chosen few, many were to become evangelists to the gentiles in Judea, and to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Spirit had come upon the Gentiles in a second Pentecost, and Cornelius and the other God-fearing Jews were baptised that day.
'The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.’ - Acts 11:1
After explaining what had happened in Caesarea to the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 11:1-8), the gospel begins to reach the gentiles outside Judea.
Read Acts 11:19-26 and Acts 13:1-12
A church is established in Antioch (modern-day Syria) and with the help of Christians from there and from Jerusalem, the first true missionary journey took place, to Cyprus.
St Barnabus is one of those on this first missionary journey from the newly established church in Antioch. With an evangelistic but heavy heart, the church agrees to let him go.
Although not one of the 12 disciples, Barnabas becomes a prominent apostle. Along with St Paul, they meet a Roman official (proconsul), Sergius, and his attendant Elymas, a Jewish man who practices sorcery & is actively trying to prevent Sergius from hearing the Word of God.
Paul demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit by calling out the false teacher, and the Lord blinds him. Witnessing Paul’s words and this act of God, the Lord works in the Roman official’s heart and praise God, brings him to faith! Another Gentile convert to Christianity.
The gospel first reached Judea and the Middle East, before spreading to Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean. Join us in praying for two regional CU movements in the Palestine and Cyprus. Prayer points on our social media.