Magyar Egyház, 1979 (58. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-05-01 / 5-6. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 MAGYAR CHURCH A MESSAGE FOR PENTECOST There is no greater curse in a family, than to develop the spirit of division and dissention which will soon end the best relationship in the home. The same spirit of jealousy, hatred and ill will, may rule the hearts and minds of church members thereby ruining the most beautiful church and community, when temptations of evil create misunderstandings and divisions among the believers. Who can imagine a greater tragedy and national catastrophy than when a nation is divided, and brother fights against brother and bloodshed and warfare destroy every right of civil and religious liberty. All such divisions are the by-products of the evil spirit, the turning away from our God and getting farther and farther down the road of human philosophies and individual follies. The secret of the first Christian church was the outpouring unifying power of the Holy Spirit of God. “You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and you shall he my witnesses’*: said Jesus to the disciples. Indeed, this is exactly what happened at that memorable first PENTECOST: God blessed them and filled them with His spirit and the fearful disciples became brave, the timid became adamant, the questioning and doubting Thomas became an unmovable witness of our Lord. Generally speaking all of them, except Judas, the one who betrayed the Lord, became filled with the spirit of God on that first PENTECOST, when 3,000 men and women in Jerusalem believed and formed the first Christian church. For a long time they were so strongly united, that no power of the devil, no persecution, no imprisonment, nothing was able to destroy them and the church spread from one country to the other, from one continent to another until gradually Christians can be found in almost every nation and in every corner of the globe. As we look around in our Hungarian Reformed Churches in America, what can we see? First the terrible divisions which slowly divided almost every congregation. In one city sometimes two or even three little churches struggle to survive, due to secessions and divisions which occurred years ago; there seems to be no power able to bring the opposing sides closer together. We have great difficulty to find bi-lingual pastors, when in one city, in one Hungarian Reformed Church, one pastor would be able to supply the needs of a UNITED congregation, hut to achieve unity seems to be almost impossible. Two small groups of Hungarian Reformed Christians in different denominations often refuse to combine their efforts and maintain a bigger and better church. Just because, forty, fifty or perhaps sixty years ago someone hurt someone and the personal grudge is like an incurable cancer, while the struggle for survival continues. Hungarian Reformed Christians regardless who you are and where you live, hear the message of Pentecost: “BY ONE SPIRIT, WE WERE BAPTISED INTO ONE BODY” I Cor. 12:13. All the walls of division should be eliminated, all temptations should l>e overcome, all personal ambitions and grudges should lie expelled. Open your hearts before the Holy Spirit of God, open your home and your churches and hear the words of the apostle: “be filled with the spirit!”__Return to the Lord on every side, and God will bless you and every church with many spiritual blessings. The spirit of God is a mighty force: the psalmist said: “wither shall I go from Thy spirit?” PS. 139:7. God is close to you and to all His people. YOU should be close to Him. Do not find excuses for staying away from the House of Prayer. Do not find any reason, why you cannot be “ONE” with your fellow Christians. The time is NOW!!! All divisions among Hungarian Reformed Christians in America should be broken down: the time is here, when our Lord God Almighty would like to fill our lives, our homes, and our churches with the fruits of His spirit: “joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.” Gal. 5:22. Cast out of your hearts all alien spirits, the feelings of jealousy, anger, hatred, malice, rather open your heart to the blessings of the spirit of God, so
