Last month Pentecost marked the end of the spring festival season. The autumn festivals are now three months away. As we know, Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the return of Jesus Christ. Pentecost commemorates the day when the New Testament Church began. How do we "bridge" the time — symbolically speaking — between the festival seasons?

The New Testament church began on Pentecost when the holy spirit was poured out on Jesus' disciples. The outpouring of the holy spirit also reminds us of the promises Jesus gave His disciples, because it is through that spirit that those promises were fulfilled and continue to be fulfilled in us.

In John 14:18 Jesus told His disciples: "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." A few verses later we read in verse 23: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

That promise was fulfilled when the disciples received the holy spirit on Pentecost. And it is an ongoing promise, because Jesus speaks in the present tense in John 14, verse 23: "We will make our home with him." The Father and the Son make their home with us today via the holy spirit.

In fact, Jesus promised to be with His disciples until the end of the age: "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). The fulfillment of that promise is also made possible via the presence of the holy spirit in our lives and in the church as a whole.

Pentecost reminds us that God is a faithful God – He keeps His word, as does His son! And because they keep their word and are with us, we will be there when the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled — at the return of Jesus Christ!

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!