I’m so glad we turned the H/AC system over to AC last week—now we are freezing to death! Oh well, that’s life, and aren’t we glad for a little variety in our lives? We would be bored if it was always 72 degrees and sunny, and it only rained at 2am, and only gentle breezes… The dramatic weather changes and the struggles that life provide keep us on our toes, condition us to adapt and adjust, making us strong… So give God thanks for the challenges, rather than complaining about the conditions! I know that sometimes that is really hard, but if we could just learn to accentuate the positive, as the song goes, we would find life so much more enjoyable.
This Sunday is Pentecost — my favorite Sunday of the year; not just because we have baptisms, and we do and not just because everyone will be wearing red—my favorite color, and not even because it’s the birthday of the church and we’ll have cake! That first Pentecost was when God decided to pour out the Holy Spirit on all who would receive Christ as their Lord! Christmas and the incarnation, and Easter and the resurrection are important too, but they are locked into historic events that took place long ago, that ancient people witnessed. Pentecost is something available to each of us on a daily basis. The Spirit has been given to us, to fill us and equip us for service, to comfort and encourage us, and assure us that we are God’s special children. It is good that we have a day to celebrate the Spirit’s place in our lives! I hope you will be here, dressed in red of course, to help us celebrate!
Scriptures for Pentecost are Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-35; Romans 8:14-17 and John 14:8-17, 25-27. Jesus calls us to not be afraid, The Holy Spirit empowers us to do so.
Texts for the second Sunday of Pentecost include: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:12-15.