Readings: Acts 2:1-21
This week at church, we witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It didn’t look like fire or sound like rushing wind, like our story in Acts, but we saw it as we baptized a new sibling in Christ. And we witnessed it again as we prayed over our confirmands, publicly affirming their baptisms.
Each of you, in your baptisms, received the same Holy Spirit we read about in the Pentecost story today. And that same Holy Spirit is with you, today.
Our particular Bible story today has some extraordinary things happen. But it is ordinary things, and ordinary people, which God uses to make these extraordinary things happen. God takes us, ordinary people, and uses us for the extraordinary purpose of showing God’s love to the world.
Baptism is a life-long journey. It’s not about a destination, knowing God to a certain level, or becoming a certain amount of holy. It is a life lived in faith—not answers. Simply, it is a life living in the promise that it is God alone who makes us worthy to be called children of God, and the body of Christ. It is God alone who turns our actions and love into signs and participation in God’s love for the world.
We promise to live among God’s faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth
We promise these things knowing that it is not we, ourselves, who can do any of this. But it is God that comes along with us. It is God who takes what we do—takes the ordinary—and turns it into something meaningful, something extraordinary, something that proclaims the good news of God in Christ and seeks justice and peace for everyone.
Baptism is a life living into the promise that God has claimed us and will use us.
When the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost—All the gathered people received it. Everyone present had their ears and eyes opened to what each other had to say. Though they spoke in many languages, each heard and understood in their own native tongue.
You all have a story to tell, you all have the Holy Spirit with you. How is God working in you, and in us, today—to proclaim Christ, to serve all people, and to bring justice and peace in the world?
Let us all experience God’s fire, as at Pentecost, and God’s will be accomplished in and through us today.
Each of you, in your baptisms, received the same Holy Spirit we read about in the Pentecost story today. And that same Holy Spirit is with you, today.
Our particular Bible story today has some extraordinary things happen. But it is ordinary things, and ordinary people, which God uses to make these extraordinary things happen. God takes us, ordinary people, and uses us for the extraordinary purpose of showing God’s love to the world.
Baptism is a life-long journey. It’s not about a destination, knowing God to a certain level, or becoming a certain amount of holy. It is a life lived in faith—not answers. Simply, it is a life living in the promise that it is God alone who makes us worthy to be called children of God, and the body of Christ. It is God alone who turns our actions and love into signs and participation in God’s love for the world.
We promise to live among God’s faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth
We promise these things knowing that it is not we, ourselves, who can do any of this. But it is God that comes along with us. It is God who takes what we do—takes the ordinary—and turns it into something meaningful, something extraordinary, something that proclaims the good news of God in Christ and seeks justice and peace for everyone.
Baptism is a life living into the promise that God has claimed us and will use us.
When the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost—All the gathered people received it. Everyone present had their ears and eyes opened to what each other had to say. Though they spoke in many languages, each heard and understood in their own native tongue.
You all have a story to tell, you all have the Holy Spirit with you. How is God working in you, and in us, today—to proclaim Christ, to serve all people, and to bring justice and peace in the world?
Let us all experience God’s fire, as at Pentecost, and God’s will be accomplished in and through us today.
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