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<DIV>Sermons for Pentecost: </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Acts 2:1-21 –
<STRONG>“Are You Pentecostal?” </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Acts 2:1-21 –
<STRONG>“The Broken English of Pentecost” </STRONG>by Leonard Sweet</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=4
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Acts 2, the sermon titled "Are You
Pentecostal?"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The well known author and preacher Fred
Craddock tells a rather funny story about a lecture he was giving: A few years
ago, when he was on the west coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first
lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to
know if you are Pentecostal." The room grew silent. Craddock said he looked
around for the Dean of the seminary! He was no where to be found. The student
continued with his quiz right in front of everybody. Craddock was taken aback,
and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said,
"No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am
charismatic?" the student said, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal."
Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, "I want to
know if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "I don't know what your question
is." The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." He left.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">What are we talking about this morning? Is the
church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an
adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In spite of the fact that the church doesn't
know what the adjective means, the church insists that the word remain in our
vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a
noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church,
refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere.
The church insists that the word is an adjective; it describes the church. The
word, then, is "Pentecostal."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">If the church is alive in the world it is
Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist! </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How do we keep this aliveness, this fire
burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us,
if we are to be Pentecostal? Simply these three things:</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1. We Are To Be Of One Accord</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2. We Are To Join Together Constantly in
Prayer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">3. We Are To Repent</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline
above can be obtained by joining <A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com
href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/admin/FCKeditor/editor/dialog/www.eSermons.com">www.eSermons.com</A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Acts 2:1-21 the sermon titled “The Broken
English of Pentecost” <BR><BR>Sermon Closer - The Broken English of
Pentecost by Leonard Sweet </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">(Please note: We usually include the sermon
opener in our newsletter. This week, we are including a section of the
sermon’s conclusion.)</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV>Have you ever heard of “broken English?” Did you know “broken English” is
an actual language? North Carolina Judge Jesse Caldwell tells the story of
Vietnamese woman who was waiting her turn to be examined in a crowded hospital
emergency room. She gradually became aware of a frustrating “non-conversation”
being attempted a few seats down. A nurse was trying to ask a new patient for
some details on her illness. The patient spoke Spanish. The nurse did not.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Vietnamese woman listened for a minute then realized that while she
didn’t speak Spanish she did understand the broken-English bits and phrases the
Spanish speaking patient offered as answers. Because of her own experience of
learning to communicate in “broken English,” the Vietnamese woman could hear the
heart and gist of what this other woman was trying to say. The Vietnamese woman
offered to “translate” the broken English of the Spanish speaker into something
the nurse could understand. She was so successful at bridging the brokenness of
their languages that eventually the Vietnamese woman was hired by the hospital
as a kind of generic translator. Brokenness was the common language spoken by
all hospital patients.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Holy Spirit speaks through broken people to a broken world, using
language every broken heart can hear and understand.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because we know what it is like to be broken by hatred, we can speak of the
healing love of Christ’s sacrifice.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because we know what it is like to be broken by despair, we can speak of
the healing hope of Christ’s forgiveness.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because we know what it is like to be broken by doubt, we can speak of
the healing faith in Christ’s promises.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because we know what it is like to be broken by illness, we can speak of
the healing wholeness of Christ’s resurrection.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because we know what it is like to break down doing church — program
church, purpose-driven church, seeker-sensitive church, organic church,
missional church, NCD church, simple church, we can stop doing church and start
doing Pentecost.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. In fact, Christianity is
still the fastest growing religion in the world. But it’s growing not in the
North and West, but in the South and East. Why the difference? Why is
Christianity surging in the South and East and not in North America and
Europe?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Because where the body of Christ is growing the people aren’t trying to do
church. They’re doing Pentecost. Maybe it’s time for us as a church to stop
relying on our own powers and programs, our blueprints and boilerplates, and
start doing what these early disciples did: trust the Spirit and do
Pentecost… </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be
obtained by joining <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A></DIV>
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