For the week of May 19 - Pentecost
Morning Prayer: Send forth Your Spirit, O God, and renew the face of the earth. Dwell among us, even though Your presence will startle and unsettle us. Grant us Your peace, we pray, as justice and love pour down upon the yearning earth. Amen.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Touch Holiness, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi. Copyright © 1990 by The Pilgrim Press.
Opening Hymn #577 God of Grace and God of Glory
- God of grace and God of glory, on Thy people pour Thy power;
Crown Thine ancient church’s story; bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour, (of this hour)
For the facing of this hour.
- Lo! the hosts of evil round us scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways!
Fears and doubts too long have bound us; free our hearts to work and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days, (of these days)
For the living of these days.
- Cure Thy children’s warring madness, bend our pride to Thy control;
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
(kingdom’s goal) lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.
- Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore;
Let the search for Thy salvation be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving Thee who we adore, (we adore)
Serving Thee whom we adore.
Ezekiel 37:1-5, 13-14
37The hand of the Lord came upon me, and He brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4Then He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O My people. 14I will put My spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.
Children’s Time John 16:13-15
When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
Children’s Message
We celebrate this morning Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has returned to heaven with God and fulfilled His promise to send us the Advocate.
An Advocate is a friend. The Holy Spirit is our friend. The Holy Spirit will always point us back to the teachings of Jesus and Jesus’ love. It should be a comfort to us to know we have such a friend. One who loves us and can only speak the truth, because the Holy Spirit can only speak what Jesus says. It is for our benefit and the benefit of the whole world for us to have the Holy Spirit.
What a gift we have, to always have Jesus’ wisdom with us.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Does the Holy Spirit come to you with rushing wind and tongues of flame – or the strange warming of the heart experienced by John Wesley? However you experience God, let the three persons of the Holy Trinity use you and your gifts to His service.
Offering prayer: Heavenly Father, as we gather on this Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of the transformative power of Your Spirit, breathing life into dry bones and igniting the hearts of Your people. Just as You enlivened the early church with the wind and fire of Your presence, empower us to prophesy life into the brokenness of our world. May our offerings today be a testament to our faith in Your promise of renewal and restoration. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #393 Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me.
Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me.
Message Scripture: Acts 2:1-13 (CEB)
2 When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. 7 They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? 8 How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” 12 They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” 13 Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!”
Message: A Mighty Wind Rev. Ron French
On April 27, 2011, the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded hit parts of the Southern United States causing catastrophic damage in six states. Four of the tornados which swept through the South on that terrible day were destructive EF5 tornadoes, which is the highest ranking possible for a tornado. EF5 tornados are extremely rare and yet on that day alone there were four EF5 tornados killing an estimated 346 people. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons have always been with us. However, there are disturbing indications that with the earth gradually warming they are becoming ever more violent. You do not want to be in the path of one of these freaks of nature.
Probably the most famous tornado of all time exists only in a work of fiction. Once there lived a young girl named Dorothy. Dorothy lived with her aunt and uncle in Kansas during the depression. One day a violent tornado struck their house. This powerful storm takes Dorothy and her little dog Toto to an entirely new world. Nothing in this new world resembles the world in which she previously lived. In this new world there is immense beauty of which she had never dreamed. But there was also danger. Along the way Dorothy develops friendships with a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who desperately needs courage. Together these four, plus Toto, have a mighty adventure as they seek to find the Wizard of Oz. By the time Dorothy returns home to Kansas she has learned many lessons about life.
Our lesson from the Book of Acts on this Pentecost Sunday begins with the sound of a violent wind. We have no reason to believe that it was a tornado. No damage was recorded. Nonetheless, this wind filled the room where the disciples of Jesus were gathered. The disciples did not realize it at the time, but this wind would carry them on an adventure that would last for the rest of their lives. It would be an adventure both fascinating and frightening, delightful and dangerous, life-changing and life-surrendering. You know the story. On the day of Pentecost, a violent wind filled the house where the disciples were gathered. And what seemed to be tongues of fire came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
The day of Pentecost was a Jewish holy day, and the city was filled with Jews from every known nation on earth. When they heard the sound of this mighty wind and the disciples speaking in various languages, a crowd gathered. One reason they gathered was that each person in the crowd heard their own language being spoken. Remember, they represented every nation known at that time and yet each of them heard the disciples in their own language. Utterly amazed, people in the crowd said: “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language?” (2:7-8) So, what did this mean?
For one thing, it means that God was there. There is no other explanation for Pentecost. The wind, the tongues of fire, the crowd who heard the disciples each in their own language, this was a world-changing event. God was giving birth to a new movement, a movement that was destined to sweep across the earth.
Do you think it was coincidental that this miracle occurred at a time when Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem? Of course not, this was in the plan of God. God was preparing the way for the Gospel to enter every land. We are a universal faith and that was exactly what God intended. One day “every knee shall bow” the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:10. Not just every Western knee nor every Caucasian knee nor every Bible-belt knee but every knee on this earth will bow at the name of Jesus.
Of the world’s more than eight billion people Christians make up approximately one-third. 653 million Christians live in Latin America. 415 million Christians live in Asia. 718 million Christians live in Africa. Central and South America in the last generation have experienced an explosion of Christian converts. In Asia, China continues to be the big story. David Aikman in Jesus in Beijing estimates that there are currently one hundred million Christians in China, most of whom worship in underground churches. We are a universal movement; it was no accident that the Spirit of God fell upon the church on this particular day when so many foreigners were present in Jerusalem. This was God’s plan all along. All the world’s people will someday be God’s people. That’s the promise of Scripture.
Notice the second miracle that took place that day: the change that occurred in the lives of the disciples. Remember, these men who were testifying had been in seclusion since Christ’s crucifixion out of fear of the Roman authorities. The resurrection raised their spirits, but it did not change them into dynamic apostles of Jesus Christ boldly proclaiming His name and performing miracles that all the world could witness. Yet here they were witnessing in such a way that even strangers who spoke no Hebrew or Aramaic, understood what they were saying.
Of course, some of the onlookers made fun of them. There are cynics in every crowd. “They’re full of new wine,” some of them said. But Simon Peter put things straight in a hurry. Imagine this, Simon Peter spoke up and this time he got it right. As the story continues in the second chapter of Acts Peter is uncharacteristically eloquent. He raises his voice and addresses the crowd: “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the Profit Joel:
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young shall see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Even upon my servants, men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’” (2:14-18) Peter spoke, and the crowd listened. Miraculous!
But it wasn’t just Peter who was transformed at Pentecost. On that day Thomas the Doubter became Thomas the Dynamic. He later took the Gospel to India where he was martyred. Simon the Zealot whose name implies that he was more interested in politics than in religion became known not for his politics but as an effective preacher of the Gospel. There are no reliable records, but tradition says he was killed for his preaching. Nearly all those men who were testifying eventually paid the ultimate price for their devotion to Christ.
Only one of the twelve disciples probably died a natural death. And that was the beloved disciple, John, the one chosen by Jesus to care for His mother. It is said that he died in 98 A.D. According to the historian Jerome, John was so frail in his final days at Ephesus that he had to be carried into the church. We are told that one phrase was constantly on his lips: “My little children love one another. It is the Lord’s command, and if this alone be done, it is enough.”
Brothers and sisters can there be any doubt that something miraculous happened on the Day of Pentecost? Something that could only have come from God. The writer of the Book of Acts tells us that three thousand people were added to the church that day. What an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was.
Now notice a third thing: these were ordinary people who were used by God in an extraordinary way. None of these men were high powered executives, none were entertainment superstars, none were government officials. They were very ordinary people with ordinary dreams until the Holy Spirit fell upon them on the Day of Pentecost. The disciples were very much like you and me. Before Pentecost they were still looking out for their own interests. They were weak, confused men who were caught up in something they really didn’t understand. But after Pentecost they were so transformed that they turned the world upside down.
Wouldn’t you love to see such a miracle take place in the church today?
It could happen, sisters and brothers, but everyone of us would need to surrender ourselves to God like the disciples surrendered themselves to God.
We would need to pray that whatever it costs, God would use us to touch our family members, touch our neighbors, touch our co-workers just as the disciples touched the lives of people around them. We would need to become new people. We would need to pray that the Holy Spirit would work through us in such a way that we could make a real difference in our community.
Some of us would have to overcome things like our shyness and timidity to do that. Pastor Edward Markquart of Seattle, tells about someone he knows who did just that. He was a young man named David Hughes and, at the time he was playing professional football for the Seattle Seahawks. Hughes came to Markquart’s church to the men’s Bible study to speak publicly for the first time about Christ. Hughes told the men gathered there that he was more scared of talking to them about Christ than he was of preparing for a professional football game. “He was not a professionally groomed Christian speaker,” says Markquart, “and that was what was good about him. He just quietly told what had happened in his life. He told of the time when he was eleven years old and his father, a police officer, was killed and they had a huge police escort to his father’s funeral. The eleven-year-old David was strong…or so he thought…and fought back all the tears. Time passed. Years passed. Recently, a police officer in Seattle was killed, and there was an enormous police escort at the funeral. [Witnessing this event] David Hughes pulled his car off to the side of the road and started to cry intensely. For fourteen years the feelings from his father’s funeral had been bottled up in him, but now he was ready to talk. He talked about the importance of reading his Bible every day, of praying every day, of worshiping God every day.” Pastor Markquart says, “I was so glad we heard this man before he got professional with his words, while he still got a nervous stomach, while he had not learned to be smooth in his delivery. God touched David Hughes’ heart, spirit, and tongue so that he spoke the right words to us.”
That’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost more than 2,000 years ago. The Holy Spirit came as a mighty wind upon a group of untrained, uneducated Galileans and they started speaking with such sincerity and power that everyone who heard them knew immediately what they were saying and were touched by their words. Could this happen again? Could it happen here?
Closing Hymn: #558 We Are the Church
Refrain: I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together!
- The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple,
the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. - We’re many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces,
all colors and all ages, too, from all times and places. - Sometimes the church is marching, sometimes it’s bravely burning,
sometimes it’s riding, sometimes hiding, always it’s learning. - And when the people gather, there’s singing and there’s praying,
There’s laughing and there’s crying sometimes, all of it saying: - At Pentecost some people received the Holy Spirit
And told the Good News through the world to all who would hear it.
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
