June 4 is Pentecost Sunday. This marks the day Jesus baptized the Early Church in the Holy Spirit, fulfilling His promise to empower them to share the gospel throughout the world (Acts 1:8; 2).

Here are three valuable lessons kids’ ministry leaders can teach children from the story of Pentecost.

1. Pentecost means the Holy Spirit no longer just visits some people some of the time. Throughout the Old Testament, we see a God who spoke only to His chosen people. Even then, He spoke only at certain times. Pentecost marks the time when God removed that barrier completely, first through the redeeming work of Christ and then through the coming of the Holy Spirit. It meant the beginning of God’s promise in Joel 2:28-29 that He would pour out His Spirit on all His people.

As a Christ follower, Pentecost is a celebration that God is with me all the time. It means I can know and be known by the Holy Spirit, regardless of my age.

2. Pentecost marks the beginning of the Early Church. God visited the early Christians in a powerful way on Pentecost. As we see in 2 Corinthians 1:22, it represents the fact that God put His seal of approval on that first group of people by visiting them and giving them the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is a chance to remind kids that God is at work.

For kids, it’s important to know that Pentecost represents the fact that church is more than a place to see friends. Instead, we gather together to celebrate God and to be involved in His great mission.

3. Pentecost reminds us to celebrate the work God is doing and to celebrate that He allows us to be part of it. For the Jewish people, Pentecost was a celebration of the harvest as they offered God bread baked from their harvest (Leviticus 23:17). In a similar way, it symbolizes for Christians the beginning of God’s spiritual harvest in the world.

For kids, Pentecost is a chance to remember that God is at work through them individually and in the lives of kids around the world. We get the chance to be part of the spiritual harvest God is giving through the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost can be a challenging topic to cover with kids. But when we take the time to break it down and unpack the beautiful truths from the celebration, it can be one of the most powerful stories for teaching kids about their role in God’s work of reaching the world with the good news of Jesus.

This article originally appeared on the Healthy Church KIDS blog. For more on Pentecost, listen to the Influence podcast “Why Every Believer Needs to Be Baptized in the Holy Spirit.”