Sermon, "Fire in the hole!", by Pastor Ruth Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, Pentecost Sunday, May 26, 2012

May 27, 2012
Pentecost Sunday/Memorial Day
The Witness of the Holy Spirit
Psalm 104:31-34 Common English Bible
Ezekiel 37:1-14 NRSV Bible
John 15:26-27, 16:8-14 NRSV Bible
Acts 2:1-17 Message Bible

Fire in the hole!

A reading from the Book of Acts, chapter 2. . . verses 1-17. I am reading from the Message Bible this morning. . .

Good Morning. . . today we are celebrating Memorial Day. . . A day when we remember loved ones and those who gave their lives for our freedom. It can be a day of sadness for some as they remember those who have gone before us. . . those who touched our lives in a special way. Even though there is sadness, we also have those memories of them that give us joy still.

When I think of those who have gone before me, there is one who really stands out in my mind. . . our Risen Lord Jesus. Jesus came to teach you and to teach me a new way of living, a radical way of living and even though we are saddened by His death. . . there was and is great joy in His resurrection. I am sure the first disciples were saddened by His death and had great joy in His resurrection and His coming back but when He came back it was only for a short time. When He left again He promised He would always be with them and as well as with us through the Spirit that was given on that first Pentecost morn. Pentecost was the completion of Jesus’ ministry on earth. So today, we also celebrate the anniversary of the Spirit given on Pentecost as well as the birth of the church. . . Pentecost explained, short version.

The readings from this morning really tell us just how powerful the Spirit of God really is. It is God’s breath within us that helps us. . . emboldens us. . . and gives us joy. . .

In the Ezekiel Scripture that Teresa read this morning the Spirit of God. . . the ruach. . . the breath of God (in Hebrew). . . revived and made the dry bones come alive. WE can be like those bones at times. We can be the living dead, just walking around without hope, faith and love. We can be dead because of despair, sin and darkness. But, the Spirit of God makes us alive again and emboldens us to witness to Christ. A fire in the hole of dry bones.

The John Scripture talks about the Spirit being re-supplied, so to speak. The spirit was at one time only given to just a few hand-picked people of God. Now Jesus is promising a re-supply of that Spirit but not just a chosen few but for all who believe. Humanity now has the Counselor. . . the spirit of truth to help us on the journey. . . the Witness. . . witness to/of Jesus that emboldens us to carry on that witness. . . this is the Spirit of Convince. . . it is the spirit that convinces the world. We alone cannot do it. . . we cannot change the heart of a non-believer. But, it is the Spirit within us that touches the Spirit of another, whether they know it or not. . . and we have the Guide. . . it guides us into the truth, opens our eyes in order to see the truth. . . God’s truth. A fire in the hole of humanity.

And the Acts scripture. . . which I must say is one of my favorite pieces of scripture in the bible. . . The Spirit is re-fired. . . there were tongues of fire above the peoples head. It was an outward sign of what was happening inside of them. It was actually a communal thing. . . a communal experience. They were together in Jerusalem. Together they waited with anticipation for the Spirit. It was the gathering force for them. It gave the disciples, for you and me, for us the ability to witness about Christ. . . to witness to God’s word.

The Spirit and the word are inseparable. . . when God’s word is preached, read and the sacraments like the Lord’s Supper. . . communion as we call it here are administered there is a re-firing. . . a renewing of the Spirit within us. And now it is for all! These men and women spoke in many different tongues that they didn’t speak before proving the Spirit is for all. A fire in hole of the soul of every believer.

We need to, no, we have to, reignite that Pentecostal fire within Christ’s Church as well as in the life of every single believer. We need to begin by looking within ourselves. . . within our own mirror to begin the change. Then and only then, we can go forth in Jesus name with that fire in the hole of our own lives to spread the hills ablaze with a fire that cannot be quenched. We will be emboldened to go forth, in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel to ALL nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and yes. . . the Spirit. Then and only then we will be able to help fill the hole in humanity with the fire that burns bright. The fire of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Amen!

May 26, 2012
Acts 2:1-17 (The Message Bible)
Pentecost
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV Bible)
The Valley of Dry Bones
John 15:26-27 (NRSV Bible)
John 16:8-14 (NRSV Bible)
Worship Theme: “The Witness of the Holy Spirit”
Call to Worship (Psalm 104:31-44 Common English Bible)
Unison Prayer
Prayer of Dedication (GBOD 2012 Acts 2:1-21)
and sermon, “Fire in the hole!”
by Pastor Ruth Foss
https://twitter.com/PastorRuthFoss
http://www.facebook.com/pastorruthfoss
http://www.ahandmaidenofthelord.blogspot.com
http://pastorruth.posterous.com/
A Handmaiden of the Lord
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
http://www.suncookumc.org
http://facebook.com/groups/136632035559/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suncook-United-Methodist-Church/102221356487965
Suncook, NH
May 27, 2012
Pentecost Sunday
&
John 17:6-19 (The Message Bible)
John 17:11b-19
1 John 5:9-13 (NRSV)
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “The Church Prepares for Ministry in the World”
Call to Worship (Psalm 47:1, 6)
Unison Prayer (Abington Worship 2012)
Prayer of Dedication (GBOD Psalm 1)
and sermon, “One, Two, Three . . . Go!”
http://pastorruth.posterous.com/onetwothreego
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/05/sermon-onetwothreego-by-pastor-ruth.html
by Pastor Ruth Foss
https://twitter.com/PastorRuthFoss
http://www.facebook.com/pastorruthfoss
http://www.ahandmaidenofthelord.blogspot.com
http://pastorruth.posterous.com/
A Handmaiden of the Lord
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
http://www.suncookumc.org
http://facebook.com/groups/136632035559/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suncook-United-Methodist-Church/102221356487965
Suncook, NH
May 20, 2012
Seventh Sunday of Eastertide
Ascension Sunday
&
John 15:9-17 (Common English Bible)
Acts 10:44-48a (NRSV)
1 John 5:1-5 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “That’s What You Call Love”
Call to Worship (Psalm 66:1-2, 4)
Unison Prayer (Worship Sourcebook ©2004)
as we all bowed our heads during the pastoral prayer
pastoral prayer
prayer before offering
Prayer of Dedication (GBOD 2012, John 17:6-9)
Hymn, “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” (TFWS #2223)
(John 13:34-35; Ephesians 4:4-6)
and sermon, “I Wanna Know What Love Is”
(with nod to Foreigner, acknowledgement of division
at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference on the issue of
same-sex marriage and ordination of gay clergy,
and the announcement this week that President Obama
believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry)
by Pastor Ruth Foss
https://twitter.com/PastorRuthFoss
http://www.facebook.com/pastorruthfoss
http://www.ahandmaidenofthelord.blogspot.com
http://pastorruth.posterous.com/
A Handmaiden of the Lord
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
http://www.suncookumc.org
http://facebook.com/groups/136632035559/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suncook-United-Methodist-Church/102221356487965
Suncook, NH
May 13, 2012
Sixth Sunday of Eastertide
Mother’s Day
&
John 15:1-8 (Common English Bible)
Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV)
1 John 4:7-12 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “Life in Christ”
Call to Worship
Unison Prayer
Prayer of Dedication (Acts 8:26-40)
and sermon, “Piety and Production?”
by Pastor Ruth Foss
https://twitter.com/PastorRuthFoss
http://www.facebook.com/pastorruthfoss
http://www.ahandmaidenofthelord.blogspot.com
http://pastorruth.posterous.com/
A Handmaiden of the Lord
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
http://www.suncookumc.org
http://facebook.com/groups/136632035559/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suncook-United-Methodist-Church/102221356487965
Suncook, NH
May 6, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Eastertide

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 21,090+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.