Church Prayer

Pentecost June 4, 2017 Prayers for the church Sermon Opener – Are You Pentecostal? - Acts 2:1-21 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 nowhere 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. 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? 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." If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist! [Insert your own tradition here.] 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: 1. We Are To Be Of One Accord 2. We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer 3. We Are To Repent Today is the last day of Easter, but it is the first day of ordinary time. We start the year out focusing on Jesus, the events in his life, honoring him as our Lord and savior. But we halfway into the year, for the next six months it is all about you. It is all about you being a Pentecost people making a difference in the world. Sticking together, constantly in prayer, serving the Lord in all that you do. Acts is the story of how the church began, how we started our mission, and why we do what we do. Pentecost is the only church holiday that is mentioned in the bible. all of the people has gathered in Jerusalem. They were not expecting a hot wind to come into town also and to bring in a new spirit. Before this moment everyone was in their own world doing their own thing. But this spirit bought in a sense of unity and togetherness. Jesus didn’t come to save just one of us, but all of us. They All Come Together John Ortberg tells the story of a friend who made his first trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line from Chicago to Georgia. On his first morning in the South he went into a restaurant to order breakfast, and it seemed that every dish included something called grits...which, as my Tennessee friends tell me, is exactly the way God intended it. Not being familiar with this southern delicacy, he asked the waitress, "Could you tell me, exactly what is a grit?" Looking down on him with a mixture of compassion and condescension, she said, "Sugar, you can't get just one grit. They always come together." John Wesley knew there was no personal holiness without social holiness, and Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard says, "You can no more go to God alone than you can go to the North Pole alone." We're just like grits...you can't get just one. They come together. John E. Harnish, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Stay Together A man tells of being on a bus tour in Rome which was led by a guide who spoke English. Their first stop was a basilica in a piazza which was surrounded by several lanes of relentless Roman traffic. After they were all safely dropped off, the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the church. Then they spread out to board the bus, which was parked across the street from the church. The frantic guide shouted for the group to stay together. He hollered out to them, "You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. But if you cross together, they think you will hurt the car!" There is always much to be said for unity, particularly the unity of the Spirit. Barbara Brokhoff, Grapes of Wrath or Grace, CSS Publishing Company Sticking together is important, sticking together for a purpose is good, but sticking together in the name of Jesus Christ makes all of the difference in the world. I really like Peter’s explanation of what was going on that first Pentecost Sunday. Everyone was gathered together in the sanctuary praying. They were all praying in their separate tongues. People who did not know what was going on looked at the scene and assumed that everyone there must be drunk. But Peter explains but it is 9am on a Sunday morning, the liquor store is not even open yet. These people are responding to the spirit of God. And even though they spoke different languages, those who were present understood what was going on. Sermon Closer - The Broken English of Pentecost by Leonard Sweet 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. 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. The Holy Spirit speaks through broken people to a broken world, using language every broken heart can hear and understand. Because we know what it is like to be broken by hatred, we can speak of the healing love of Christ’s sacrifice. Because we know what it is like to be broken by despair, we can speak of the healing hope of Christ’s forgiveness. Because we know what it is like to be broken by doubt, we can speak of the healing faith in Christ’s promises. Because we know what it is like to be broken by illness, we can speak of the healing wholeness of Christ’s resurrection. 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. 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? 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… When we stick together and we pray and do God’s will, the world may not always understand what we are doing, but the always get the language of the heart and the language of spirit within us. The spirit does not necessarily work for us, it works within us. Like a dead balloon, we have to make sure that we are filled with God’s spirit and not just hot air. If we make sure that we have a connection to God, people may not know God for themselves, but they can see God through us. That is why prayer is important. Praying together is even more important. I have included a prayer for the church in the bulletin. As we enter into Pentecost, we are in the home stretch of our time of transition. I think we did this last year, but we will do this again this year. The whole month of June will be Pentecost time for us. A time of anticipation of God’s spirit coming to Englewood-Rust in a new way! The prayers of one faithful person makes all of the difference in the world. But imagine the power that we can generate if the whole congregation is on one accord, praying one prayer! I am going to invite you all to pray this prayer at least once a day for the next month. Pray it believing that the spirit is praying with you, and making it so. As a matter of fact, the Spirit has already prepared your future, God is just waiting on you to see it and to claim it! I invite you to add to this prayer as you see fit, and if there is anything that I need to add for everyone let me know. Just yesterday, the pastor asked for prayers in finding a suitable place to stay as she begins her ministry here. So let us continue to lift up one another in prayer, that we can inherit the power to change and make a difference. It is important to keep leaders in prayer. But remember that Pentecost power is about you all. Pentecost is the last day of Easter, but it is the first day of ordinary time. At first, the disciples were focused on Jesus, what he said, what he did, what he meant. Pentecost was the day that they realized that the power that they saw in Jesus, was now in them. No longer were they just disciples, they were apostles – witnesses to the power of God. They saw it for themselves and they could use it in their lives. For the next six months, the rise or fall of the congregation is all about you all. It is about how well you stick together as a congregation, how much you depend on prayer, and how willing you are to serve God. Let the power of Pentecost be invested in you. I have told this story before but What Is Your Other Plan? Erasmus, the famous Renaissance scholar, once told a classic story which was designed to emphasize how important it is that we take up the torch of Christ’s ministry with great commitment. In the story, Jesus returns to heaven after His time on earth. The angels gather around Him to learn what all happened during His days on earth. Jesus tells them of the miracles, His teachings, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. When He finishes his story, Michael the Archangel asks Jesus, “But what happens now?” Jesus answers, “I have left behind eleven faithful disciples and a handful of men and women who have faithfully followed me. They will declare My message and express My love. These faithful people will build My church.” “But,” responds Michael, “What if these people fail? What then is Your other plan?” And Jesus answers, “I have no other plan!” Jesus is counting on you and you and you and me. But the good news is, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is here to melt us, mold us, fill us, and use us. James W. Moore, What Do You Do With Such A Gift? Let us begin our time of prayer, by praying together…… Amen. Children’s time….. A Dead Balloon A "dead balloon" -- has no life. It continues to lie wherever you put it. It doesn't move. It has no power. Take a "dead balloon" and do what Jesus did -- blow in it. What happens? It's full of air; but it is still dead, going nowhere until that power is released. [As an illustration, the "powered balloon" can be released.] Under the "spirit's/breath's/wind's" power, the balloon can move. It goes out. However, when the wind power within the balloon is released, you don't know where the balloon is going to go; but you know it's going somewhere. (We don't know where the wind comes from or is going.) Jesus did not give the disciples the Spirit's power so that they could stay behind locked doors in fear. It is given as a power to move people out into the world -- even if we don't always know exactly where we will end up. What happens to the balloon after it has "spent" its power? It seems dead again. All out of power. It's flat. There's no more "spirit/breath" within it. On one hand we are not like that balloon. Jesus promises that the Spirit will be with us forever. We will never run out of the Spirit's power. The Spirit given to you in baptism remains forever. On the other hand, over and over again in Acts, we read that certain disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. Their filling didn't just happen once, but over and over again. So we also need to be refilled. Weekly we return to church as a refilling station. To receive Jesus again in the hearing of the word and in the sharing of sacrament and through the fellowship of the saints. Brian Stofregen, From his Exegetical Notes. Additional illustrations…… Shaped by the Winds of God Most times, when I'm called to conduct a funeral of a loved one from the church, I'm asked by the funeral director if I'd like to ride with them rather than to drive my own car. And most times, I take them up on the offer, for it is more relaxing not to have to worry about driving. I must say that I've had some interesting and informative drives out to the cemetery. One director told me about the effect God's Wind has on things that grow. It seems that over time, trees that have to stand out in the open become shaped in the direction the wind is blowing. Unless there are other trees around to block it from happening, a tree will eventually be shaped by the force and direction of the wind. Then, as living proof, the funeral director began to point out to me tree after tree that had all been shaped in this way, trees that I confess I had passed by many times, but had never really seen until then. Once this was pointed out to me, I began to see them everywhere. The cemetery was literally filled with them! All shaped by the Winds of God! I leave you with this question. Like those trees in the cemetery, do we, as individuals, and as a congregation, show any evidence of being shaped by the Winds of God's Spirit? Is the new beginning Pentecostal experience a fresh, yet continuing presence in our lives? David R. Cartwright, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Guided by the Spirit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. ____________________________ ____________________________ Humor: How Were You Attired? Recently, a judicial friend was presiding over a case in a small, rural county. The defendant was charged with drunk driving and trying to assault the police officer who arrested him. To convict the defendant on the assault on an officer charge, the District Attorney had to proved that the defendant knew the person he was assaulting was a police officer. And the easiest way to do that is to show that the officer was wearing a police uniform, and therefore the defendant knew that this was a police officer. So the District Attorney asked the officer on the witness stand "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" The witness looked at him blankly. It was clear he didn't know what the District Attorney meant by "attired". Everyone saw this but the District Attorney. "Would you repeat the question, please?" In a slightly irritated voice the District Attorney said, "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" The witness still was puzzled. "Say that again", he pleaded. "How were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" barked the District Attorney. My friend said you could suddenly see the light bulb come on in the officer's head, and he proudly proclaimed "I was traveling on standard issue radial tires!" This officer needed an interpreter even within the English language! That's what I'm getting at: We all need our own personal interpreter, full time, 24/7. So much of what we hear, even within the English language, we don't understand. And nowhere is that truth more evident than with people who are new to the church. Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ____________________________ Scribbling With Their Tongues Reader’s Digest once carried a wonderful story of a mother who was describing her family’s visit as tourists to Wales. She was describing her six-year-old son’s reaction the first time he heard the Welsh language being spoken. “Mom,” he said, “it sounds like they’re scribbling with their tongues.” That is how the disciples may have sounded when the Spirit came upon them, like they were scribbling with their tongues but they were not speaking gibberish. They were speaking known languages that people who overheard them could understand. Some of those present that first Pentecost made fun of the disciples and accused them of being intoxicated. If the police had happened by, they might have issued warrants reading “drunk and disorderly.” But the apostle Peter stood up and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Then Peter proceeded to tell them about Jesus. Peter’s preaching made an impression. About three thousand were added to the church on that one day. King Duncan, ChristianGlobe Illustrations ________________________ Christianity's Initial Growth In less than 100 years the fire of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was carried as far as Spain to the west, India to the east, and Ethiopia to the south. It subsequently took several hundred years for the Gospel to arrive in the northern reaches of Europe, but it did. Down through the centuries the flames of the Fire burned brightly. The Christian faith gained and its ranks grew because people who were attracted to Christ had their lives changed. When people were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, they came to know that peace that passes all understanding. The followers of Christ were known to demonstrate enormous courage under duress. Roman authorities tried to stamp out the Church by persecuting those who claimed Christ as Savior. The plan backfired. Those who were torn apart by wild animals in Roman arenas for the entertainment of the emperor and his entourage faced their deaths so courageously that others were attracted to the faith rather than repulsed by it. R. Robert Cueni, Tenders of the Sacred Fire, CSS Publishing Company. Sermon Opener - True Communication The disciples, despite the presence of the Holy Spirit, were misunderstood. They were perceived, because of their exuberant behavior, as being loaded. Sauced. Drunk. How rare it is to experience real communication. The kind of communication where every word is clearly and completely understood. Years ago a conscientious homeowner wrote to a manufacturer of cast iron pipes, telling them that he had found that by pouring pure hydrochloric acid down his drain, he immediately opened his grease clogged pipes. He asked if there was any way in which the acid might be harmful to the pipes. The plumbing manufacturer wrote him back. "Thank you for your letter. The effect of such acid upon ferrous-constructed materials is certain to be deleterious. We therefore strongly urge you to cease such activity in the interest of the future of your plumbing." He read their letter and responded, thanking them for their letter, telling them that he was relieved that he was doing the right thing in using the acid on the pipes. Another letter from the manufacturer: "We fear that there may have been some miscommunication in our correspondence. Acid, of that density, applied to cast iron pipe, is certain to have dubious results. Therefore, please desist from your current practices." The homeowner read the letter, then wrote back, thanking the company for its response, telling them once again that he was delighted that he was doing nothing which might harm the pipes. Finally, an exasperated manufacturer sent a telegram: DON'T USE ACID. IT RUSTS THE HELL OUT OF THE PIPES! The possibilities for misunderstanding are limitless. William Willimon, How Can I Hear You?, Adapted. The End Is the Beginning The end of the gospel of John always sends us back to the beginning. Every ending always implies the beginning of something new. On December 31st, the last day of the year, we celebrate the beginning of the New Year. Pregnancy ends with the delivery of a baby, and a new life begins—for both the parents and the baby. When you finish High School, you enter a new world of college or work. Jesus’ death on the cross was an ending, but it was also a beginning. Pentecost is the last day of the Easter season, and it is also celebrated as the beginning of the church. Carla Gorrell, Looks Like a Conspiracy It Is So Hard for Us to Wait! "Wait" is a cruel word for our frenetic, frenzied, whirling, busy world. We are so impetuous and impatient. Why write it when you can phone or fax it? We expect instant results and instant action. After all, we have instant foods and instant drinks, so why not instant results and instant responses? We can't wait. We want people to understand now! We want people to change now! Waiting for the Lord's leading and timing is so hard, but still Jesus said to do it: "Wait for the promised Holy Spirit." Don't run ahead of God, for if you run without waiting on God, you will run with no power (and with disastrous results). If you try to "hurry up" the hatching of a baby bird or chick, you only destroy the baby to be born. So, too, when we run ahead of God do we destroy the wonderful plan that he has in mind. So, having been told to "tarry," the disciples went to that upper chamber to wait and to pray. In fact, they devoted themselves to prayer. What must it have been like as they met in that room for the first two or three days? They would be gathered in close physical proximity, but their wills might well have been miles apart. The confinement would lend itself to arguments and dissension. Remember, these were normal people like you and me. There had been a lot of disagreements among them previously. They had experienced sharp divisions over rank, importance, and who would have the highest seat. They were strong-willed persons with conflicting ideas. But the waiting and the praying began to do something for them, for the scripture says that they (on the tenth day of waiting), when the Spirit came, were of one accord! Imagine that! As they prayed and tarried they became fully open to God and more loving toward each other. Such harmony and peace prepared their hearts to receive the Holy Spirit. Barbara Brokhoff, Grapes of Wrath or Grace, CSS Publishing Company