From it's earliest beginnings the Jewish people had all sorts of feasts where they remembered where God had been good to them.

Feast of Harvest, celebrating the first grain harvest of the year, came 50 days after Passover. In the New Testament of the Bible, which was written in Greek, this festival is known as Pentecost (Pentekostos in the original), which means "fiftieth".

A painting of the first Pentecost.

God chose the first Pentecost after Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, in the year AD31, to give his gift of the Holy Spirit to his friends (Acts 2:1-4).

This was an event talked about many, many years before by the Old Testament prophet Joel who said: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh"(Joel 2:28-29;Acts 2:14-17).

The account talks about each person present hearing the speech of the disciples in his own native tongue (Acts 6-11).

At first the people in Jerusalem who witnessed this miraculous phenomenon were astonished, with some attributing the actions of the Christians to drunkenness (Acts 2:12-13).

The Holy Spirit is sometimes pictured as flames or as a dove.

These astounding events demonstrates the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is important that everyone can hear the good news that God loves us in a language we can understand.

Many people believe that this Pentecost was the beginnings of the Church.

Pentecost serves as an annual reminder that our Creator still works miracles, granting his Spirit to his people, empowering them to carry out his work in this world.

The Holy Spirit came to Jesus when he was baptised.

Christians believe that God can be thought of as “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit” - this is what is meant when we talk of the Holy Trinity (trinity means three).

So the Holy Spirit is part of God's being. In the Bible the Holy Spirit is described as the power of God at work in our lives (Acts 1:8;Romans 15:13, 19), the same power that was at work in the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:1-2) and in the ministry of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:14; Acts 10:38).

When Jesus was baptised by John in the river Jordan the Holy Spirit was seen being given to Jesus (Mark 1:9-11).

The coming of the Holy Spirit dramatically changed the lives of these early Christians and countless others throughout history. It can do the same for us today.

Humanly speaking, no matter how hard we try not to, we still do things that are wrong (1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:23). If we ask for God to forgive us for the wrong we have done and ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit then the power of the Holy Spirit will help us to change our behavior for the better, it will transform our lives.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes pictured as a dove or as flames.

Yes, God offers the gift of his Holy spirit to you, to me, to everyone.

All we need to do is to pray a prayer saying sorry to God for the wrong things we have done, to thank him for sending Jesus to die on the cross for you and to ask him for the gift of his Holy Spirit.

God already loves you, no if's no but's. Totally loves you.

He will forgive you when you say sorry and he will give you the gift of his Holy Spirit.

As to what will happen, that's a difficult one to answer. You may feel warm inside, you may feel a tingle in parts of your body, you may cry, you may burst out laughing. You may not feel anything. No one can tell.

But you can be sure that God will answer your prayer!

If you need some help in what to say in your prayer then click here.

If you are still not sure then speak to someone at Church who works with young people. If this is not possible then contact us.