Pentecost — Bible story for kids

Fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, his followers were together in Jerusalem. Peter and John were there with the other disciples. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had also joined the believers as they prayed. They were waiting for the gift Jesus had promised: the Holy Spirit. They did not know exactly what would happen. They only knew Jesus had told them to wait.

Then, suddenly, a sound came from heaven. It was like the roaring of a powerful wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. The disciples looked up in wonder. Something like tongues of fire appeared, separated, and rested on each person. The fire did not burn them. It was a sign that God’s promised Spirit had come.

Every one of them was filled with the Holy Spirit. At once, they began speaking in languages they had never learned. The Spirit gave them the words to say.

Jerusalem was crowded with Jewish pilgrims who had come from many different lands for the Feast of Pentecost. When they heard the sound, a great crowd gathered. The visitors listened in amazement. Each person heard the disciples speaking in his own native language.

“How can this be?” they wondered. The disciples were from Galilee, yet people from distant regions could understand them. In language after language, the followers of Jesus were declaring the mighty works of God. The good news was not meant for only one place or one people. It was for every nation.

Many in the crowd were amazed and puzzled. They asked one another what this could mean. But some people laughed and accused the disciples of being drunk.

Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles. Only weeks earlier, fear had led him to deny that he knew Jesus. Now the Holy Spirit gave him courage to speak before the crowd.

Peter explained that God had promised to pour out his Spirit. What they were seeing was the fulfillment of that promise. Then Peter told them about Jesus. Jesus had done mighty works among them. He had been crucified and killed, but God had raised him from the dead. Death could not hold him. Jesus was alive, exalted by God, and had poured out the Holy Spirit.

Peter’s words pierced the listeners’ hearts. They asked Peter and the other apostles what they should do.

Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. He said they, too, would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s promise was for them, for their children, and for people far away whom God would call.

Those who gladly received Peter’s message were baptized. About three thousand people joined the believers that day. What began with a small group waiting and praying became a great family filled with God’s Spirit. The church was not merely a place. It was a people gathered by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and ready to carry God’s good news into the world.