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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, May 26, 2012 8:18 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Pentecost Sunday<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Dear Friends,
Tomorrow’s sermon is entitled “Pentecost” or “Empowered Lives” and
deals all the Acts lesson (Acts 2: 1-11). Here it is:
Happy Holy Spirit Day! Yes, today is Pentecost- the day we honor the
Holy Spirit. You’ll notice that the name of the sermon is “Empowered
Lives”- and that’s really appropriate, because that’s what the Holy
Spirit will do for you if you only allow God to work. We heard the
story of Pentecost in the first Bible reading (Acts 2: 1-11). You
remember the story- Jesus had been with the disciples teaching,
supporting, mentoring, and loving them for three years. Just when
they were beginning to think this would go on forever- getting better
and better, he was arrested, crucified, died, and buried. They
thought their lives were over, useless, when- on Easter Sunday morning
he rose from the dead! He stayed with them- teaching and encouraging
them, for forty days, then was taken up to heaven (the Ascension-
which we celebrated last Sunday). Before he ascended, he told them to
stay in Jerusalem until they received power from heaven- so that’s
what they did. On the Jewish Thanksgiving morning they were in the
upper room together (still hiding from the Roman authorities) doing
what they always did on Sunday morning- hearing the Scriptures,
praying, and celebrating Holy Communion (the Bible calls it “Breaking
the Bread”), when there was a mighty wind and flames of fire
illuminated each apostle’s head. Burning with the power of the
Spirit, the disciples- who had been so very frightened just moments
ago, rushed out of the room preaching, proclaiming, telling everyone
about Jesus. Now there were about 180,000 people in Jerusalem,
because Pentecost was a time when anyone who could was expected to
sacrifice in the temple. Of those 180,000 people- 120,000 were from
foreign nations and spoke little or no Aramaic- which is the language
the disciples spoke. Picture this- here were the disciples preaching
in Aramaic to people who did not understand that language, but the
miracle of Pentecost was that they could hear them in their own
language. Three thousand people were baptized, many of whom went back
home to their own countries to teach and preach about Jesus- setting
the stage for churches to be established across the entire area.
That’s why Pentecost is called the birthday of the church- in fact,
many churches actually have birthday cakes today. A few years ago,
one of my Internet friends said she was going to use those candles
that you can’t put out, so when members tried to blow out the flames,
they would simply relight- symbolizing how the fire of the Holy Spirit
can never be extinguished. Many other churches use helium-filled
balloons in their worship services to remind people that the Holy
Spirit empowers us to soar through life’s difficulties instead of
being overcome by them.
As you can see, we also have helium-filled balloons this morning, and
I’d like us to use them to get some Pentecost- meaning for our lives.
When I went to Meijers yesterday, I’m sure the salesman thought I’d
lost my mind when I told him that I wanted one “I love you” balloon,
five nicely-filled red balloons, one half-filled, sort-of-soggy
balloon, and four unfilled balloons. My question is- which type of
balloon represents you?
I’m going to try to blow up the plain empty balloon. That’s how many
people try to live their lives- under their own power with no God-
lift. It works as long as things are going well, however life doesn’t
always go that way. Sometimes you get tired. Sometimes people let
you down. Some days are just one problem after another. Then there
are the really serious problems- the sicknesses, the losses, the
deaths. Our own power is no match for the worst that life can throw
at us. Are you living life your way? Jesus has a better way.
Remember, he said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
Next let’s look at the half-filled balloon. When the salesman first
gave it to me, it was full and flying high. Many of us are living
lives like this balloon. When we first made decisions for Jesus and
fullness of life, we felt we could overcome anything in his name.
Actually, we were right. The problem was- we slacked off. We let our
Bible reading and prayer life and church attendance slip. We stopped
receiving Holy Communion every week. We became like a car whose
battery was losing its power. Instead of getting a charge, we slipped
further and further away from God and the Holy Spirit power he offers,
and we started relying more and more on our own power. If this
balloon reminds you of yourself, get back in touch with your source of
power. Follow the example of the apostles with Holy Communion at
least once a week, daily prayer, and Bible reading.
Finally- that soaring balloon proclaiming “I love you”- it represents
the best we can be when we stay close to our source of power.
Our problem is not making a choice for Jesus- it’s keeping the
commitments we make. I’m going to close with a story. This is a
story about the First Goose Church of God in Christ. Pastor Gander
waddled up to the pulpit and began his fiery sermon. “What kind of
birds are we?” he thundered. “Geese!” the congregation answered, and
an “Amen” was heard from somewhere in the back. “That’s right!” shot
back the Pastor. “We are GEESE! God made us GEESE to be GEESE, and not
DUCKS or SPARROWS or KIWIS!” “AMEN!” honked several congregants. “And
what are these things that GOD has given us, these MAJESTIC
appendages?” “WINGS!” shouted the congregation, honking its approval
of this fine observation. “And WHY did GOD give us these fine
wings?” “To FLY, Pastor!” said Mrs. Thelma Gosling, standing up in
the first row. “We can FLY with them!” Choruses of: “That’s right,
Thelma!” and “You go, girl!” rang out from around the room. The
pastor really started to groove now. “God wants us to FLY! We can soar
above the clouds! We can fill the skies! We are God’s flying children!
The moles can dig, the lions can hunt, but we can fly! We can catch
the winds beneath our wings and thrill to the sensation of the breeze
through our feathers. We can reach the mighty mountain tops and skim
the tips of the giant Sequoias!” “AMEN! We can FLY!” the congregation
echoed back. “If GOD wants us to fly, then what do we gotta do?”
challenged the pastor. “We gotta FLY!” said the congregation. “We
gotta WHAT?” asked the pastor. “We gotta FLY!” “WHAT?” “FLY!!” “WHAT!”
“FLY!!” And as the congregation WADDLED out of the church and WALKED
home, they remarked to one another on how inspiring the pastor’s
sermon was that morning (The Rev. John Ramsey, Ottawa, Ohio). So
don’t be like those geese- don’t waddle home. Use your Holy Spirit
power. Don’t block the Spirit. Live what you believe and stick with
it.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements are posted on our parish web site. The address is:
<a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</a> .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan
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