Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

Prelude is an interesting term. It refers to something that comes right before the main event or precedes a larger happening.

In times of war, it can mean the time when there is a heavy air bombardment before there is a ground attack. In concerts, it refers to the music played before the main orchestra performs. 

Let’s think about it for a moment, however, in the church realm. Many churches today have some form of prelude. It might be quiet music playing over the speaker system as people enter and take their seats. It could be as simple as someone playing the piano while the congregation gathers. Sometimes, it can be majestic music with both the piano and organ, or even and orchestra playing as people enter. It can be music played by many sorts of instruments. Rarely does a prelude involve someone singing from the front. Almost always, it consists of music playing while people gather for the church service.

Now, let’s then think about the people coming into the service. Sometimes the prelude goes almost unnoticed. Some people enter the church the church, talk with friends and greet each other, and rarely, if ever, even cognitively think about the prelude. Others may greet a few people and then pause, becoming aware of the beautiful music. They might take a moment to reflect on their week, say a prayer, or focus on God. And there are others who totally appreciate the efforts of those providing the music and let the atmosphere take them to a place of spiritual preparation for the rest of the service to come.

Preludes can be wonderful times of reflection and worship.

They can also be times of healing and preparation for being filled with whatever God has in store. The days between Acts 1:9 (when the Bible says that Jesus was taken up into a cloud) and Acts 2:1 (when the disciples were all together in one accord and the Holy Spirit was poured out in a stronger way than ever before) were a prelude – a prelude to a time of remarkable work that has been going on in the world ever since. 

Let’s not, however, discount the prelude!

While the Bible doesn’t give much detail about those days before Pentecost (other than to say that another disciple was chosen to be one of the original twelve), I imagine that those days were filled with much prayer, discussion, meditation, healing of personal relationships between the disciples, and study of the words of scripture and the words of Jesus that had not yet been written down. It was a very important prelude indeed! 

All these things were needed in the prelude to the day of Pentecost. All these same things are needed today in our church as we seek the outpouring of the latter rain through the Holy Spirit. They are needed for us individually, and they are needed for each congregation in this conference. Pentecost 2025 is something we can be praying for now in this time of prelude.

In this prelude to 2025, we can be earnest in prayer, earnest in study of the Bible, earnest in seeking the healing of broken relationships, earnest in quiet meditation on the life of Christ, and earnest in encouragement with each other.

Let us all be united in one accord!