The Church begins with God's Spirit. God is the giver. He gives or imparts His Spirit to human agencies, that is to people, individuals who work with Him both individually and corporately. And this is mere fact, not supposition: it is never people that make or create the Church but God, and always God. God instills the Church in our hearts, and we become the Church. However, this experience is quickly weighed down by our cultures, and has been weighed down such that we need to learn to be the Church afresh by actively listening to God's prophecies to us.

Today on Pentecost Sunday, we, together, honour the tradition of celebrating and remembering the anniversary of the Church as it first came to us through a culture that was dependent on the traditions of the people of God: the Jewish nation, and in particularly the phariseic people, who were most like Jesus Christ in belief. And, more importantly, we honour God's action in these people as He entered their lives in a supernatural way and transformed them into people of power. And today too, I am being forced to consider the deep meaning of prophecy, and especially the words of scripture: God's Holy Word.

I have noted in my bible class this morning the general contention by many biblical scholars that prophecy tends to have three repetitions in application to history. That is, it is fulfilled often in the days in which it is spoken and then in wider application at a later date only to be fully realized in some distant future. There is in fact a feeling of endlessness or bottomlessness to it. "Man has not yet plumbed the depths of its meaning" has been a sentiment to students of prophecy. No wonder then the desire of believers to search out the true appearance of the Church, or rather the original form it once took, or was to take, so long ago.

Pastor Katsumasa Hirota of Chapel Noah felt moved to reiterate the teachings of the Spirit this day as it is found in Acts 1:4,5,14, and 2:1,4,33. These show us how, to some degree, the Spirit transformed believers into the Church. Indeed, it is by the power of God that we are transformed from prisoners of Satan into the free people of God -- and for those who do not yet know this freedom it is directly analogous to a drug addict suddenly finding no need in relying on the power of drugs. What a great miracle that is! In fact, science has no cure for drug addicts; alcoholics are taught to live with their weakened states only to really be free of the temptations of drugs when they have died. This is not freedom at all! What God can do for us is quite different. His freedom is quite real - not surreal. How we long for such freedom!

What the original Church was -- apart from empowered by God's Spirit -- is surprisingly simple. The Church, it should be clear in my useage of the word, is the people who believed enough in the reality and power of Jesus Christ to have accepted Him as their personal agent of eternal salvation, in short, people who really believed in Jesus Christ. The difference between this first Church and the many forms that followed, and that even follow and frustrate us today, can be clearly seen in the seperation of belief from traditions. "And I will give my people circumcised hearts.." "My will will be written in their hearts.." It is sad that we always end up, inspite of all of our good intentions, falling down the same holes that our Christian forebearers did. We look to the experiences of men, albeit church leaders, and we stop depending on what God has written, here, in our hearts. Back to the point of the fact: the first Church -- the prototype -- is always with us, and always within our reach. "What I want is for my people to turn to me and be saved."

Now returning to the idea of prophecy, we find that prophecy always follows a common pattern. That is: it is God's desire revealed to us. And it is worth noting that God always gets what He wants, so that we could say that prophecy is God's revealed will as well. The reiteration of prophecy is also interesting. Both in our lives and in history this can be found: The number three is God's signature. It is the stamp or seal, if you like, of God. Watch out for it in your readings, and I dare say, in your lives. But, don't be misled in understanding by the World's definition of prophecy. For biblical prophecy is not what the World calls prophecy -- it is not necessarily "fortune telling", but what it is is God's words - and most specifically His words to us (or you, as the case may be). To understand this is to be finally free. It is God's words that we need in our lives. "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that flows out of the mouth of God."

So here is a blueprint - it should not be new to many of you though I would say that it has been grossly neglected in our lives: 'We need to actively depend on God in our lives.'

Oh, we need people to be sure, but perhaps not in the ways we have grown used to. That we need people, there is no doubt.

Not so long ago the term "gestalt" was coined describing what more recently was to be called "synergy". Together, we can understand, we are much faster, much more able to do than we are apart, and this is a good thing. However, we need our God even more that this. It is our Creator that gives us the tools and the power (collectively the blessing), not people.

Sadly, traditions have been leading and regularly lead us to our own undoing, undermining our dependence in God by refocusing our attentions on human agencies. Not that traditions are evil, but what a great trap they are when we come to putting them first in our lives. No, much better to focus on our true saviour: who is Jesus Christ and let style worry about itself.

In being the Church we need to stand a little away from culture, all culture, and ask our God "What is it You will for me at this time?" "How can I best serve your purposes with what you have given me?" It is in these active questions that we find the Church and that we are the Church and that the Church is in us.

God's blessings to you this Pentecost!

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