Celebrating Pentecost – A Sermon for Pentecost Sunday
Text: Acts 2:1-4, 12 LSB
And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance… 12And they all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
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The Virgin Mary: The First Lady of Pentecost
My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed (Luke 1:46-48).
Every year as we approach the 4th Sunday of Advent the gospel reading provokes us to reflect upon the Virgin Mary. As a protesting Pentecostal, there are certain presumptions that I bring to the task. The greatest presumption is to ignore any honor bestowed upon the Virgin, to make her a footnote in the Christmas story. But if I desire to hear the Spirit in the written word of God, then I must be willing to put my presumptions aside and take a fresh look at Mary, the mother of my Lord Jesus Christ.
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The Spirit filled the House
God is omnipresent. God’s presence fills space and time; God’s presence transcends space and time. God’s omnipresence means that God is not confined within, or limited to, a specific time or place (Acts 17:24). Even so, God has, at times, revealed God’s self locally, in a specific time and place.
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Why Pentecost Sunday Matters
This past Sunday was Pentecost on the liturgical calendar. Every Anglican, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic church celebrated Pentecost – the outpouring the Holy Spirit. Most Pentecostal churches yawned. I suggest that Pentecost Sunday is just as important as Christmas and Easter.
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Pentecostal Jazz
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On this Pentecost Sunday…
On this Pentecost Sunday, I am thinking about terrorism. The news of the morning was about another Islamist terror attack in London. I am reminded that God has not given us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV). Just as the earliest Christians boldly proclaimed the gospel in the midst of persecution, so too must we be bold in our gospel witness in the midst of terrorism.
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