May 17, 2024

Dear Road Church Friends,

The earth’s atmosphere is the life-sustaining air that we breathe. Just imagine! Every creature since the days of the dinosaurs has breathed the same air that you and I are breathing today.  Every breath we take has, at one time or another, been associated with another living organism. The recycled air we breathe is all the air there ever was or ever will be. That is why it’s important that we be good stewards of the environment.  I see our atmosphere as an illustration of the role the Spirit of God plays in the life of a church.  What the atmosphere is to earth, the Holy Spirit is to the church. The Spirit is the source of our spiritual life, and Pentecost is a perpetual reminder of the vital importance of the Spirit to the life and ministry of the church. More about this on Sunday.

SERMON:  Pentecost Is Forever 

SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:1-8, 13-18, 21

On the day of Pentecost, the Apostles were all together when they heard the sound of a loud rushing wind surrounding them. Then they saw flickering tongues of fire hovering above them and coming to rest above each of them. Now devout Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem for Pentecost. Upon hearing the sound, a large curious crowd moved toward it and gathered around the Apostles. Suddenly the Spirit of God prompted them to begin loudly praising God in foreign languages. This amazed the crowd. They asked each other, “How is it that we hear these Galileans speaking in our native language? But some sneered and said, “this is only the babbling of drunkards.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, shouted, “listen to me all you people! We are not drunk, it is only nine o'clock in the morning! You are witnessing what the prophet Joel predicted: ‘the Lord says, the days are coming when I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. I will put my words in the mouths of your sons and your daughters. Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. I will even speak through your male and female household servants! They too will be prophets. In those days everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

THE SWEETEST LIVES

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,

Whose deeds, both great and small,

Are close knit strands of unbroken thread

Where love ennobles all.

The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells;

The book of life the shining record tells.

The love shall chant its own beatitudes

After its own life working. A child’s kiss

Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad;

A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;

Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense

Of service which thou did render. 

                    Blessings to you all,

                    Pastor Norm

This Service on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/cxIt6gYU9x8?si=1CRnbyz0Yne5URd3