Day of Pentecost - A
It would be hard to document the assertion in detail and with wealth of satisfying data. But there are good reasons to picture less talk "per capita" or "per church" about the Spirit and Pentecost in the centuries preceding our own. Yes, Spirit is tucked away in biblical texts and hymns and all. But as for vital witness and presence, the twentieth century produces evidences.
On New Year's Eve 1900 a woman at a prayer meeting in Topeka started speaking in tongues. Next morning, in this telling of the story, her friends resolved to stay together, and something like modern Pentecostalism was being born, or showing up. At the end of the century, the pentecostal, charismatic, Spirit-filled movements are the fastest growing in Christianity, especially in the poor world where...
On New Year's Eve 1900 a woman at a prayer meeting in Topeka started speaking in tongues. Next morning, in this telling of the story, her friends resolved to stay together, and something like modern Pentecostalism was being born, or showing up. At the end of the century, the pentecostal, charismatic, Spirit-filled movements are the fastest growing in Christianity, especially in the poor world where...
We've all seen them -- women and men, girls and boys, wrestling with huge sails attached to a small board, seeking to stand and balance and catch both the wind and the waves just right -- windsurfers. It is one of the hardest sports to learn and succeed at, but to those who have made it an art, it is one of the most rewarding experiences of freedom. One stands between heaven and earth, supported by nothing more than the fluid surface of a lake or ocean, and powered by the breath of this world's atmosphere. To catch the right breeze is a craft not easily learned. To merge with wind and surf and sky is a delight.
So it is today in our celebrations of Pentecost. We are spiritual windsurfers. We are people caught up in heaven's powers and gliding across earth's terrain with the...
So it is today in our celebrations of Pentecost. We are spiritual windsurfers. We are people caught up in heaven's powers and gliding across earth's terrain with the...
Wayne Brouwer
An ancient Jewish legend declares, “Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given.” One wonders whether James might have had that in mind as he penned these words. According to the Jewish teaching, it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mt. Sinai.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mt. Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mt. Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
Frank Ramirez
Acts 2:1-21 is the obvious choice for your Pentecost lectionary text and perhaps you have used it on many occasions. However, the lectionary includes several options and I explore them in this Charting the Course to try to show there is more than one way to experience God’s Spirit.
Through what lens do we see most clearly the Spirit of God, and how should we interpret what is lived before us? On the Day of Pentecost, we glibly describe what occurred and we interpret that Spirit through the images of the rush of a mighty wind and something that looks like tongues of fire. These powerful images are correct and scriptural, but God’s Spirit is present throughout scripture, manifested in many different ways. When it comes to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, it’s not...
Through what lens do we see most clearly the Spirit of God, and how should we interpret what is lived before us? On the Day of Pentecost, we glibly describe what occurred and we interpret that Spirit through the images of the rush of a mighty wind and something that looks like tongues of fire. These powerful images are correct and scriptural, but God’s Spirit is present throughout scripture, manifested in many different ways. When it comes to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, it’s not...
Sandra Herrmann
As far as the earliest church was concerned, the ability to speak in tongues was the definitive event that proved to anyone watching that the Holy Spirit had entered a believer. Paul was insistent that Gentiles ought to be admitted to the fellowship of believers, and after Peter saw Gentiles speaking in languages they had never learned, he agreed with Paul.
Wayne Brouwer
An ancient Jewish legend declares, "Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given." One wonders whether James might have had that in mind as he penned these words. According to the Jewish teaching it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mount Sinai.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
David Kalas
Schuyler Rhodes
I expect that our culture has become a rather cynical audience for speech.
We remember one president's infamous "read my lips" promise about new taxes. We remember another president's notorious parsing of the meaning of "is." And we have watched so many other politicians as well who calculate and exaggerate their way to elected office and to deniability.
Beyond the politicians themselves, our culture has been exposed to so much over-the-top rhetoric in public debates. All night long on cable news channels we can listen to two sides arguing with each other and casting careless aspersions. Every third or fourth debatable policy, it seems, is somehow tied to Hitler or the Holocaust.
We remember one president's infamous "read my lips" promise about new taxes. We remember another president's notorious parsing of the meaning of "is." And we have watched so many other politicians as well who calculate and exaggerate their way to elected office and to deniability.
Beyond the politicians themselves, our culture has been exposed to so much over-the-top rhetoric in public debates. All night long on cable news channels we can listen to two sides arguing with each other and casting careless aspersions. Every third or fourth debatable policy, it seems, is somehow tied to Hitler or the Holocaust.
David Kalas
This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Accordingly, our first reading is the familiar story of
Pentecost from chapter 2 of Acts. And, accompanying it, we have two other passages that
bring to light the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discusses the gifts of
the Spirit and in John 20, Jesus breathes on his disciples, saying, "Receive the Holy
Spirit."
It would be natural enough, therefore, for us to conclude that we should preach this week about the Holy Spirit.
In so many of our churches, the Holy Spirit is the most unmentioned member of the Trinity. Of course, in other churches, he may be talked about quite a lot, but that is probably more the exception than the rule in church history.
It would be natural enough, therefore, for us to conclude that we should preach this week about the Holy Spirit.
In so many of our churches, the Holy Spirit is the most unmentioned member of the Trinity. Of course, in other churches, he may be talked about quite a lot, but that is probably more the exception than the rule in church history.
Do you know the name L. L. Zamenhof? It's not a name you hear every day. Zamenhof was born in Warsaw, Poland, in the 1800s, when Poland was a part of Russia. The society Zamenhof grew up in was a polyglot society, in which he heard Polish, Russian and French spoken, plus smatterings of other European languages. He became convinced that the problems of the world, the strife and the conflict that he saw, could be healed if there were a common language in the world. He rejected the major languages - French, German, English, Russian - because they were difficult to learn and native speakers would have an advantage over non-native speakers. When he was still in his teens, he began work on a planned language, which he would eventually call "Lingvo Internacia," and in 1887 published the first...
Perhaps it is inevitable that as Christians we focus on the second article of the Apostles' Creed so intently that we often lose sight of the first article about God the Creator and of the third article about the Holy Spirit. Yet this day and the season of the church year that follows help us focus on the Holy Spirit within the so-called "normal time" in which Jesus lived and taught and in which we, too, live out our lives.
As we discuss these three lessons for the Day of Pentecost, we have opportunity to reflect upon the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's essential role in our faith. Indeed, without the Spirit the first two articles of the creed make no sense. Some scientists over the years have insisted that one can explain creation without God, and people in all times...
As we discuss these three lessons for the Day of Pentecost, we have opportunity to reflect upon the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's essential role in our faith. Indeed, without the Spirit the first two articles of the creed make no sense. Some scientists over the years have insisted that one can explain creation without God, and people in all times...
Lectionary Commentary and Sermon Illustrations
Emphasis Preaching Journal provides in-depth lectionary-based commentary on lectionary texts, plus thousands of sermon illustrations to help you create riveting sermons.For over 45 years, Emphasis has provided subscribers with scripturally sound, lectionary-based commentaries and sermon illustrations that connect with the people in the pews.
For each week, Emphasis writers delve into the heart of the lectionary readings, providing you with several fresh, solid ideas -- based squarely on the lectionary texts -- for creating sermons that speak powerfully to your audience. They look for overall themes that hold the readings together. Then, they zero in on the themes and the specific scripture links, suggesting directions for the sermon and worship service. Since a single idea each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, writers suggest several, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.
