Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2011-05-01 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 7 Zemplenagard, Hungary, were personally touched by the Bible selection from 2 Samuel 7:20 „And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! ” as can be read on the tombstone of Rev. Kiraly’s father who died at the young age of 52 while serving in the Reformed congregations of Zemplénagárd and Révleányvár. Rev. Tibor Király and his family Rev. Király remembered his father’s faith and ministry with love, respect, and with thanksgiving to the Almighty God. The congregation was honored with the presence of Zsófia Trombitás, the Consul of the Republic of Hungary, who read the greetings of the Consul General, Karoly Dan. The singing of the Himnusz was followed by blessings in English and Hungarian. Letters arrived from Hungary, Canada, and many states of the USA, as pastors and congregations sent their greetings and blessings to the newly ordained minister including the Rt. Rev. Sándor Szabó, Bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. More than 200 guests enjoyed the banquet in Calvin Hall. Thanks to Mrs. Anna Bibo Király, for organizing the beautiful event in honor of her husband, and for the lovely flower arrangements in the sanctuary and Calvin Hall. Many thanks to the ladies of the Mission Guild who prepared the festive dinner and pastries. Thanks to all who pray and support the ministry and mission of Calvin United Church of Christ in Fairfield. I praise God for His sustaining love and mercy. The Calvin Synod has been blessed with another new servant of God. „Soli Deo Gloria.” Rt. Rev. Béla Poznan Bishop of Calvin Synod, UCC Beyond Easter - Toward Pentecost By the grace of God the joyous Easter holiday is behind us. Our journey of life is back to normal. OiSr hearts has been warmed by the love of mothers, as we paid tribute to them on Mother’s Day. And now we are heading toward Pentecost. The 40 days following the resurrection of Jesus passes so fast, we can hardly re-live all that our risen Master taught and performed, before we realize that He is leaving us to return to His and our Father, who sent Him to this earth to change all of us. The story of Pentecost has been written in great detail by the Gospel writers, but especially by Luke in the Book of Acts. I think we have heard it many times before to the point that like so many things in the Gospel we take it for granted. The Scriptures tell us that seven weeks after the Resurrection, and ten days after the Ascension of Jesus went back into heaven, but before He did He assembled the disciples and reminded them of His promise that very shortly that Holy Spirit will descend upon them in such a wonderful way that we call it the 'Birthday of the Church.' We did not have the privilege to be there on that fateful days, but what we read about is in the scriptures we know that since then nothing has ever been quite the same since. I am sure you who are familiar with the scriptures will say: most of us have heard all that before. And so when we say, "What happened at Pentecost?" we know what we are going to hear before we hear it. We are told what we are supposed to need, even before we may sense any real personal need of being filled with the Holy Spirit. We are pre-conditioned as to what to expect even before we seek and find any personal experience of Pentfecost. To be exposed to the biblical teaching is for the most part very good indeed. The scriptures help us into the experience of full surrender of our lives to the Lord, plus strengthens our faith that brings cleansing and power and fullness of His Presence! And yet I wish that we could come to Pentecost with "new understanding " and see if there are aspects of God's grace we may be missing. Much of what took place can never be analyzed and explained. Pentecost, even today with all our knowledge and sophistication is still a mystery. We believe that the same Holy Spirit that came to and into the church in the second chapter of Acts still comes to live in the churches that we attend today. What does the Bible show us about the abiding Presence of God in the church and in our individual lives? The question that we still raise today, and for which we still desire to have a satisfactory answer is this: “What really happened at Pentecost?” First, let us see the evidence of Spirit of Pentecost: In the Book of Acts we read that the evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God came as a RUSHING MIGHTY WIND. This signifies the uncontrollable nature of the Spirit. Just remember the teaching of Jesus “you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from and where it is going.” God's Spirit, is NOT simply at our beck or in front of us, but it is an all surrounding presence. Even though the disciples experienced it inside that Upper Room, as they were meeting together, yet evidently Continued on page 8 I
