Emphasis Preaching Journal

Acts 2:1-21
In one of my churches we had members who came from a number of countries and spoke a number of languages. On Pentecost I had a few of them come up during the service and read a scripture in their native language, so that our other members could get a feeling of what it must have been like on that day of Pentecost. The rest of the people were reading the words in English in their Bibles.

I had a little feeling like then on the mission field when I preached in English and I had a translator at my side turning it into Nepali for those who did not know English. When we met Americans on our trips abroad, they seemed to feel that everyone in the world should know English. It is almost a lingua franca in most countries. Now American businesses are hiring technicians in other countries. When I phone for help with my computer I almost expect to hear a voice with a strong East Indian accent. I answered one with a cheerful “Namiste,” and he answered back “Oh, so you have been over here.” The woman who answered was so excited that we talked for almost a half hour on both tech and non-tech subjects! Those people on the day of Pentecost were also surprised and felt welcome. God wants us to feel welcome. He wants to speak our language.

A friend of mine was a translator for the Bible society. He used his computer to help create translations of the Bible for many in Africa. There were 39 languages in Nepal, but the emphasis was on teaching them English. There were too few in some language groups to make it practical to publish another translation. Most people in faraway countries have a second language. Even though there were 39 languages in Nepal, Nepali was the official language so the schools all used Nepali and English.

Today we have pentecostals and charismatics who occasionally burst out into strange languages. In a few cases these languages are recognized. Paul thought it was interesting and said that even he had the gift, but it was more important that people could understand you when you told them about Jesus.

The things that speak the loudest today are still miraculous healings and other miracles. Think how many rush to a tent on the edge of town to take part or witness a healing service. That is what brought most of the people in in Jesus’ day!

These are all interesting thoughts, but the most import thing is to tell others about Jesus and what he has done for us.
Bob O.


Acts 2:1-21
The events of Pentecost are fast-paced and dramatic. As 120 believers have gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem praying, suddenly a strong hurricane-like force entered the building. Then tongues like fire appeared over their heads and the Holy Spirit spread through their numbers, and they started speaking in different languages as the Spirit prompted them. 

These believers received the “baptism with the Holy Spirit” that the prophet Joel spoke of in his prophetic book. 

Dr. David McKenna, in his book What a Time to Be Wesleyans, writes: “Whether we are ‘filled with the Spirit,’ ‘sanctified by grace,’ or ‘purified by love,’ Wesleyans will not quibble. If faith is working through love in the experience of holiness and the practice of holy living, Wesleyans will be the first to say with graciousness of their founder, ‘It is enough. Give me your hand.’ ”

He continues: “Although Pentecost is cited as the momentous event that confirms God’s desire for a holy people, sanctification is a strong Bible word with meaning throughout scripture. What happens when a human being with an insatiable thirst comes into the presence of the Holy God?”

McKenna writes that God gave the disciples a glimpse into His Awesome Presence. That God is the sovereign God of the universe, and without doubt God writes the script for human history. As disciples, we understand that God in his holiness shows his moral character: “He is pure, complete, and whole.” 

Holiness is our focus upon the character of God. It is his desire that we are to wait on his holy presence.

McKenna writes: “Here is where our holiness begins. Not only does the holiness of God call out the Christ who redeems us, but it also gives us the promise that we can be imprinted with his character. God’s desire is that we be holy as he is holy...” We are to worship in reverent awe of who he is, and we are to walk in his idea of conduct and life. 

What McKenna says of those of Wesleyan leanings is the truth for all who follow Jesus. Our desire is to be holy. It is bowing at the foot of the cross, living in the power of the resurrected Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us the presence of the Holy God so that we can conduct our lives’ affairs with purity of mind and heart.

What a time to be a Spirit-filled Christian!
Derl K.


Acts 2:1-21
Think of all those times you’ve filled out a job application and struggled over your resumé. What sorts of things do we list? The things we succeeded at? What would we like to hide, if we could? Our failures! When you think about the competition for some jobs, you’d be foolish to list those failures.

However, here in the story of Pentecost we witness the foundation of the church. Who speaks for the church? Peter -- the same apostle who denied Jesus after his arrest. Not once, not twice, but three times. Peter might be considered a failure. But our Lord does not insist we fill out a resumé or an application to become a leader in the church of Jesus Christ. In this scripture Peter talks about the job requirements -- whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

Failure is part of life. We all fail at one time or another. What we do with our failure is another matter. We cannot serve Christ and the church and expect that we will encounter nothing but success. God uses people like Peter, like Elijah, like Paul, to show us that it’s not finishing undefeated that matters. It’s God who triumphs in history and at the end of history. Sign up for your place on the team!
Frank R.


Romans 8:22-27
Creation groans, and we groan along with it. Our groaning is a bit like a baby crying. The child is cared for, has a bonded relationship with her parent. So does the creation and we. Yet the relationship is not enough. Babes that we are, we yearn for more, even though we are not sure what we want. Paul Tillich captured some of these groaning feelings of fear and discontent: “In every conscious being, life is aware of its exhaustibility; it dimly feels that it must come to an end, and the symptoms of its exhaustion not only make it conscious of this fact but also awaken a longing for it... it is the existential awareness of one’s finitude which poses the question of whether the continuation of finite existence is worth the burden of it” (Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, p. 57).

We groan, we yearn, for an escape from the numbing, ambiguous sense that life is ebbing away, that our lives and the things we care about will not last forever. John Calvin reminds us that there is no way out of this hopeless, meaningless yearning -- except by God’s deliverance through the Holy Spirit: “For experience shows, that except we are supported by God’s hands, we are soon overwhelmed by innumerable evils, Paul reminds us, that though we are in every respect weak, and various infirmities threaten our fall, there is yet sufficient protection in God’s Spirit to preserve us from falling, and to keep us from being overwhelmed by any evils” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, pp. 311-312).               

Elsewhere Calvin elaborated further on how the Spirit actually makes a difference in our lives, strengthens us to confront all the meaningless of creation’s groaning:  “God gives us the Spirit as our teacher in prayer, to tell us what is right and to temper our emotions... not that he actually prays or groans but arouses in us assurance, desires, and sighs, to conceive which our natural powers would scarcely suffice” (Institutes [Westminster edition], p. 855).
Mark E.


John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
The Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. They are all one and united. Like I often say, I am three persons: I am a father and I am a son and I am a husband, and I use different languages for each and have different relationships, but I am still only one person. As a father I can tell my children “I will be gone for a little while, but your mother will be here.” I know that will give them comfort.

Sometimes we don’t “feel” the Lord’s presence, so we ask the Holy Spirit to come to us. Words cannot adequately explain how the three relate to us. Roughly speaking, the law came from the Father, forgiveness and salvation came from the Son, and the Holy Spirit guides us in our everyday life. He can heal us from sadness, but he can also lead us into service for him. He gives us whatever we need to serve -- the gift of prophecy, and, yes, even a gift of healing! Each one of us may have different gifts, and all are needed to serve our Lord. But may the glory all go to the Lord. Let all our service be seen by men so that God may receive the glory.

It makes me think of someone who had a new job in Hawaii. He went there to establish himself and find housing, etc. It was a sad day when he left because his family had to stay behind, but they could look forward to being with him one day. In the meantime he sent many communications describing their new home.

When Jesus went off to be with the Father there was grief to see him go, so he assured the disciples that his Spirit would send messages from him. That Spirit came because Jesus left. Then our eyes will be opened to all the sin in this world (even today -- times never change). That in itself should make us wait eagerly yet patiently for his coming to us and our coming to him.

The Spirit will tell us what is yet to come. It could be a spiritual prophecy, or we can find it in his Word. The Old Testament looked forward to Jesus’ coming and his tragic end. We can also find words in scripture that give us strong hints about our future. They may be different for each of us since all are not called to be pastors and missionaries, but if we study the Word and listen for his message to us, he will make it known.
Bob O.


John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
The year was 1917, and Allied forces were bombing the small German village of Safenwil. The pastor of the church was a liberal minister who had been trained in theological schools that taught him the social view of God, but little of the power of the resurrected Jesus to transform lives. He doubted very much the biblical view of just who Jesus was. He confessed his weak view of the divinity of Christ. He doubted that Jesus was able to help the poor, the suffering, and broken people of his war-torn parish. Christ could not assist these people with the difficulties and problems they were now facing. The pastor’s name was Karl Barth.

But it was during this time, as he came to the view that Jesus was more than what he had studied at his theological training center, that he came into a deep personal relationship with Christ. He discovered that Christ was sufficient to help overcome sin, disappointment, and need. Barth not only helped his parishioners to discover this Jesus, but everyone throughout the Western world. 

He later wrote: “Look once again to Jesus Christ in his death upon the cross. Look and try to understand that what he did and suffered, he did and suffered for you, for me, for all of us. He carried our sin, our captivity, and our suffering, and did not carry it in vain. He carried it away.... He broke the ranks of our enemies. He has already won the battle, our battle. All we have to do is follow him... through him, in him we are saved. Our sin no longer has any power over us. Our prison door is open...” (Calvin Miller, The Book of Jesus [Simon & Schuster, 1998], pp. 481-482).
Derl K.