Category: Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday Intergenerational Message

The Story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21)
Pentecost is one of my favourite days of celebration in the Church Year! You may really like Christmas, and Easter Sunday is pretty special, but Pentecost is amazing!

I love that I get to wear my red stole on Pentecost. The red colour reminds us of the fire of the Holy Spirit, and my stole also has these lovely doves flying down to bless God’s people. I’m happy to see that many of you wore red today too!

We’re going to start today by telling the story from the Book of Acts about what happened on the first Day of Pentecost after Jesus died and went up to heaven. Marianne and I thought it would be fun to tell the story from Acts 2:1-21 by singing about it. But we’re also going to need your help to make the story really come alive!

The story takes place in Jerusalem seven weeks after Jesus went up to heaven. So we’re going to need someone to hold the sign for Jerusalem, so we remember where we are.

On that day in Jerusalem, the disciples were gathered together in one place. So we’re going to need some people to … Read more »

Acts 2:1-21
John 15:26-27
Romans 8:22-27

“Speak!”

I began to write this sermon in the middle of the week when I was suffering from laryngitis. The virus that took hold of me a week before started by giving me a sore throat, and then made my voice get hoarse, and then caused it to disappear almost entirely. All the coughing I was doing just made the throat situation worse, and I agonized with every cough, knowing that it was doing even more harm to my vocal chords with each one.

I explained to my doctor how important my voice is to my life and work – as a preacher and as a singer. I wanted her to take pity on me and prescribe some anti-biotics, but it was also true. I don’t know how I could fulfill my calling without my voice. It would be a lot more difficult.

There are a number of places in Scripture where the mission of the disciples and the mission of the church that would follow are expressed. In Luke 9, when Jesus first sends out his disciples in his name, he tells them “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, when … Read more »

Acts 2:1-21
John 7:37-39

“Channels of Living Water”

On Thursday evenings when First Church folk gather on Zoom for “Tea and a Chat,” I usually offer some kind of brief devotional or reflection, along with a question for discussion. This week, I highlighted the story of that first Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and noted the way that God surprised the first Apostles with the powerful experience of God’s presence in wind and fire, and the challenging mission of proclaiming God’s deeds of power to the world.

It’s not unusual for God to show up in people’s lives with an element of surprise. It happened many times throughout the stories of Scripture, and our little group on Zoom shared stories of our own experiences of being surprised by God, often in a positive way. I could have honestly said that I was surprised to be moving to Regina three years ago, and that I was surprised to be saying “yes” to a nomination to be Moderator of our church. But looking back, many of those surprises came with both challenges and also blessings.

Another topic of conversation in our First Church fellowship gatherings online this week has been “the wind.” On Tuesday evening, our … Read more »