Marked by Fire

As I was reading through Acts, I noticed several dates written in the margins of my Bible. It turns out I was reading Acts around this same time last year—Pentecost.

The earliest date was 2024. I remember in 2024 reading through Acts with my husband as we prepared for a summer mission trip to El Salvador.

I discovered that  I studied the book of Acts each spring. Leading up to Pentecost. Not for any particular reason other than this: reading about the early Church fascinates me. 

I just love her.

Let me explain.

In Acts, I see them gathered in the upper room, tongues of fire filling the space. The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible. He came just as Jesus said He would. And the fire of the Holy Spirit  marked them.

It marked them deeply.

And in a moment, the Church was birthed.

Out of fire and wind.

Out of willing hearts and laid-down lives.

In a moment, the greatest revival begins.

It changes the known world while laying a foundation for future generations—

for you and for me.

We are living on the other end of a 2,000-year-old sacrifice.

It awes me every time.

The Church in Acts and her beauty.

I see her in Acts—3,000 souls added in one day (Acts 2:41).

I study their humanity.

They disagreed. They debated. They went separate ways.

Yet they remained united in the gospel.

I read about them teaching one another the Word and sharing their testimonies of Jesus.

No clock.

No program.

Just awe, wonder, and a hunger that could not be satisfied.

They absorbed every teaching.

Miracles were the norm.

And persecution was the cost.

They broke bread together in fellowship.

They created systems to meet every need among the people.

They served the orphan, the widow, and one another.

They felt an urgency to make Jesus known—to tell everyone He had come.

I am fascinated by her.

She held both unity and conflict.

She welcomed the called and the broken.

She transformed the world.

She is beautiful and worth protecting.

She is the fruit of Christ's resurrection and the beginning of His Church on earth.

The fire that birthed her still transforms lives today.

It is constant and unchanging,

because its source is God Himself.

And because Jesus died and rose again, we have access.

Twenty years ago, the same fire marked my life. 

Today, that same holy fire still marks willing hearts.

We get to continue the legacy.