Acts 2:1-21
Romans 8:26-27
Ancient Words by Michael W. Smith
The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray…
Creator God in heaven, you who set your children on fire on the day of Pentecost…we pray for that same spirit to fall upon us this day on those gathered here in this church and in all of your churches around the world. Speak to those gathered in your house today so that we may know your will for our lives. We thank you for your ancient words that still guide us today. Speak Lord…your friends are listening…
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles:
Well…this is Pentecost Sunday!!!!! It is one of my favorite celebrations in the Christian calendar. It is the birthday of the church! Without it…we would not have the church as we know it today. It is a day that we celebrate the gift of the Counselor…the Holy Spirit…the promise made to us…the followers of Christ when He ascended into heaven. It is the fire that burns within our hearts that keeps the church growing. It is that unquenchable fire that enables us to do extraordinary things in our ordinary lives for the kingdom of God here on earth. (Amen…Alleluia) I was telling Ray this morning that if he sees me starting to float to the ceiling to get out the tethers.
I have been thinking a lot about Huntley’s sermon last week and about the statement that someone had made about the small church. You know…the statement that “Small village churches like this will soon close”. How can that be? With the Pentecostal fire within the people of the church how can the small church close? You see…I see it like this…that mustard seed thing that Huntley talked about…to me it begins with the Pentecostal fire that is within the church…it’s within this church.
Through this fire…this church reaches out to those in the community. This fire helps us keep an orchard amount of seeds that we can be planting. Whether the church is large or small, it is this fire that makes us courageously step out in faith to do the mission of the church today. How large was the church when it began on that fateful day so long ago? Not that big…only a few good men (and women) but it was these few men and women that went about spreading the seeds of Christ that made the church grow to what it is today. Huntley was right…size doesn’t matter. (We have that fire within)
Let me give you an illustration…yesterday…after they had put in a new sewer system…I was watching the guy put down seed to reseed the lawn. He was using this seed spreader and walking back and forth, spreading the seeds, so that we would have a nice, lush lawn. When I went to talk with him he told me that he had a mixture of seed and fertilizer that he was using in order to reseed the lawn. Well…this got me to thinking about Pentecost Sunday and what it means. Ok…here goes my analogy that I came up with…
1. The Guy on the lawn…this is the Pentecostal fire within each and every one of us. It’s in you and in me…
2. The spreading of the seeds and fertilizer…the seed is the word of God that we share with those around us and the fertilizer is our actions that others see in us that can bring them closer to God.
3. Now the lawn needs to be watered…the lawn (the harvest) may be watered by you or by me or even someone else but the seed needs to be watered by someone. If not…it dies right where it is…it becomes scorched by the sun and produces nothing. It doesn’t have a chance to grow. (we never know if we are planting or watering but if we don’t do it the Word becomes void…it dies right where it is)
4. We need to take great care in our lawn. With the sun it will germinate and grow. (The seeds we spread germinates in the Son by the Son. It is God that makes it grow! When we care for others…the seeds that have been planted germinate and God can then make them grow)
This wonderful gift of Pentecost, the Spirit within us, is the Spirit of God. It enables us to hear God’s voice and guidance. By the power of that same Spirit we can walk on water and not be afraid. We can cry out to the Lord in the midst of our fear for help and step out in faith. You see…we are given the Spirit of power and might. We have that hunger within us to
1. Learn more about God…
2. To study God’s Word...
3. To serve God…
4. To right wrongs…
5. To bring more people into the presence of God
We can come like a child, by the Spirit, into the throne room of grace and not be afraid. (Children aren’t intimidated by limits or risks) We will have the fruits of the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22-26…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, truthfulness, gentleness, and self control (This is one that helps us fight against the temptations of the world). (Are you feeling it...that fire within you...Just waiting to be released.) Fruitiness…when the Spirit is alive in our hearts, the character of God comes into us as the Spirit works to conform us ever more closely to the image and character of Christ.(We have a fire within)
The Spirit helps us in our weakness as the Romans passage told us this morning. I have had those times when I have come before God not knowing how or what to pray. (and I’m sure that some of you have too) I am in such a state that I can’t utter a word and it is this gift of Pentecost that has helped me in my weakness. But…the Spirit not only helps us as we pray in our weakness but in all of our weaknesses. That Spirit…that fire of Pentecost…helps us when…
1. We need words of hope…
2. We need to step out in faith…
3. We need to follow God’s plan for our lives…
4. We need to reach out to those who are “unlovable”…
The list goes on. (We have a fire within)
Well…since we have the fire within…how can we use it for God’s glory you ask? Well…let’s look at what the Apostles did on that glorious day of Pentecost. The scripture tells us that they spoke in people’s native tongue about the greatness of God. This made me stop and think for a moment…How do we speak in others language, in their native tongue so that they can understand about God’s saving grace and love for all? Well one way God speaks to us is in the different translations of the bible. I can’t believe how many there are. But the way that I see it…God speaks to each of us in a different way, by reading a certain translation of the Bible, the Word is broken down in a way that we understand what it is telling us better. By reading this version, that we can understand, we are equipped to share that message to others. ((The fire within is stoked)
One way we can reach others is to meet them when and where they are. We need to speak plainly, in ways that they will understand. Jesus spoke in parables to the people. These parables were for (for the lack of a better analogy) certain types of people. They worked for those whom He was talking to at the time but if he used only one type, there would have been people left out…people who wouldn’t understand the meaning of the parable. He came for the lost and confused sheep not the ones who understood. In order to bring people to an understanding and be saved we must meet them where they are as Jesus did. You see…this fire within…enables us to become God’s servants, Christ’s friends, in order to carry on Christ’s ministry to the world. And as the scripture from Acts tells us, not just men but women as well. (We share that fire within)
Oh Beloved…it’s Pentecost Sunday. Are you feeling that fire within? As John Wesley would say “Are you feeling strangely warmed” this morning? It’s the birthday of the church and there is a lot to celebrate about! My challenge to you is this…go out and share that fire within…spread those seeds of Pentecost so that the world would be set ablaze. Don’t let that fire within you go out as you minister to others in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. As the song from Kathy Tricoli states…Take your candle (that fire within you)…go light your world.
AMEN!
==============
edited May 24, 2017
Strangely Warmed – v2
June 2, 2009
Strangely Warmed
Call to Worship: Psalm 104:31-33 (NIV)
Unison Prayer,
“Almighty God, Giver of knowledge and might, we come
before your throne to worship You in Spirit and truth. We
pray that your Spirit of illumination would fall upon us
gathered here today so that we may hear your still small
voice, guiding us as we sojourn through this world. May
we
feel Your presence with us here today. Come Spirit, fill
our
hearts this day. Amen”
Epistle Reading: Romans 8:26-27 (New King James Version)
children’s time message
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Gospel Reading: Acts 2:1-21 (New Living Translation)
and sermon, “A Fire Within!”
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
May 31, 2009
Pentecost Sunday
and
Acts 2:1-11
Matthew 28:19
Upper Room daily devotional for 5/31/09
and
Acts 2:1-21
Alive Now for 5/31/09
and
Acts 2:12-21
Upper Room Disciplines 2009 for 5/31/09
and
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
and
sign in front of church
“Are You
Smoldering?
Come in and
Get All Fired Up!”
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
&
edited December 30, 2016
the epiphany of John Wesley- v5
editing original
edited January 10, 2016
the epiphany of John Wesley – v4
(merging edits to original and version 3)
edited January 16, 2015
the epiphany of John Wesley – v3
(merging edits to version 1 and version 2)
edited January 8, 2015
the epiphany of John Wesley – v2
January 6,
2015
the epiphany
of John Wesley
“I felt my heart strangely warmed.”
John Wesley’s
Journal
May 24, 1738,
describing
what happened to him at Aldersgate
about Martin
Luther’s response to reading Romans
&
June 16, 2013
Annual Conference
New England United
Methodist Church
2013 Theme: Strangely Warmed; Formed by God
“Were not our hearts
burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening
scripture to us?”
--Luke 24:13-35 led by Bishop
Sudarshana Devadhar
sermons:
-
“Recognizing the
Holy”, 6/13/2013 (by Reverend Hand),
o reflection on Luke 24:13-35, the Walk to Emmaus
-
“Episcopal
Address, 6/13/2013 (by Bishop Devadhar)
-
“A Word about
Work” , 6/14/2013 (by Reverend Hand)
o reflection on Luke 10:25-37
-
“Do you see . . .
?”, 6/14/2013 (by Bishop Devadhar)
o reflection on Luke 7:36-50
Honored Guests - http://www.neumc.org/pages/detail/814
Conference Preacher – Rev.
Stephanie Moore Hand –
June 12, 2013 to June 15,
2015
All of my
poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016, and 2017. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See
all 44,110 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
Christ, Faith, God, grace,
love, Savior, Methodist, Suncook United Methodist Church, Spirit, Father, Son, NEUMC,
justice, inclusion, Luke 24, Emmaus, mercy, Luke 10, Luke 7, joy,
#faith #God #Christ #love #grace
#Savior #servant #witness #Spirit #NEUMC #justice #Luke24 #Emmaus #Luke10
#Luke7
==============
Aldersgate,
Christ, Epiphany, Faith, God, grace, John Wesley, love, UMC, Pastor Ruth Foss,
prayer, Methodist, savior, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, strangely
warmed, works, Spirit, Martin Luther, Romans,
#Christ #God
#grace #works #love #UMC #Savior #Matthew2 #Magi #Luke2 #Epiphany #JohnWesley
#Methodist #Aldersgate #justified #Spirit
:) :)
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