Order, Words, & Voices
05.28.23, Acts 2:1-24
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Billy/Linda
Thank You Lord
Jesus Lover of My Soul
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading Acts 2:1-24 OnLine – Peyton
Songs Billy
How Great Thou Art/Your Love is Deep
Message The Voice Rick
Music Billy
How Great Thou Art
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music
Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.
Music (slides) – Billy/Linda
Thank You Lord
Verse
For all that You’ve done
I will thank You
For all that You’re going to do
For all that You’ve promised
And all that You are
Is all that has carried me through
Jesus I thank You
Pre-Chorus
And I thank You thank You Lord
(And I thank You thank You Lord)
Thank You thank You Lord
(Thank You thank You)
Chorus
Thank You for loving
and setting me free
Thank You for giving
Your life just for me
How I thank You Jesus I thank You
Gratefully thank You thank You
Jesus Lover Of My Soul
Verse
Jesus lover of my soul
Jesus I will never let You go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay
You’ve set my feet upon the rock
And now I know
Chorus
I love You I need You
Though my world may fall
I’ll never let You go
My Savior my closest Friend
I will worship You until the very end
Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick
Leader: From the opening movement of creation, God’s Holy Spirit moved on the waters, bringing to life the creative love that is God.
Response: As the people forgot God, the Spirit called them back.
Leader: In times of fear and tumult, the Spirit sang the song of hope through the prophets, calling the people back to God with melodies of redemption and forgiveness.
Response: The Spirit sang the song of hope at the birth of Jesus.
Leader: The Spirit called to the regular people, starting with some fishermen, a call to come and follow God. These witnessed God’s miracles of merciful compassion.
Response: Hanging on the cross, Jesus forgave those who crucified Him.
Leader: Early in the morning, the women were startled by the news of Jesus’ resurrection. They were called to be the first preachers of the hope of the resurrection.
Response: While hiding in fear, the disciples were astounded by Jesus’ presence.
Leader: The Spirit gave hearing, understanding, and even a voice to those witnesses of the empty tomb.
Response: The Spirit opened their hearts to the hope in emptiness.
Leader: May we listen for the voice that crosses lines of division, speaks hope in the midst of hopelessness, unites in midst of division – may we know the voice that speaks Peace.
Response: May our voices communicate love, may our lives speak joy, may our walk reveal mercy and justice.
Leader: Amen.
Response: Amen
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’ – Rick
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading (No Slides) Peyton – Online
When Pentecost Day arrived, the disciples were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house. Individual flames of fire landed on each one of the disciples. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
On that day, there were pious Jews from every nation in Jerusalem. The crowds were mystified when they all heard the disciples speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Aren’t these who are speaking all Galileans? Yet, we all hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!”
Peter and the other eleven apostles stood before the crowd of foreign speakers. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone currently in Jerusalem! This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:”
“God says, ‘In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Even upon my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit and they will prophesy. I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be changed into darkness, and the moon will be changed into blood, before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene was a man whose credentials God proved to you through miracles, wonders, and signs – which were all performed through Jesus while he was among you. You yourselves know this. In accordance with God’s established plan and foreknowledge, Jesus was betrayed. You, with the help of wicked men, had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. God raised him up! God freed him from death’s final grip, since it was impossible for death to hang on to him.
Acts 2:1-24 (CEB)
Music (Slides) Billy/Linda
How Great Thou Art/Your Love Is Deep
Verse 1
O Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy pow’r thru’out
The universe displayed
Chorus
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Verse 3
And when I think
That God His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die
I scarce can take it in
That on the cross
My burden gladly bearing
He bled and died
To take away my sin
Verse
Your love is deep Your love is high
Your love is long Your love is wide
Your love is deep Your love is high
Your love is long Your love is wide
Chorus
Your love is deeper
than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled
Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled
Bridge
So who shall separate us
Who shall separate us from Your love
Nothing can separate us
Nothing can separate us from Your love
Chorus
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Message – The Voice (Slides)
Growing up, I can remember that there was always a blue vase sitting on my grandmother’s table, and most of the year, that vase was filled with stems of wheat. Eventually, as the wheat became brittle, the stems would disappear until the next harvest when new fresh stems would fill the vase. I never really gave it much thought, and, as I got older, I remember looking at a top shelf in a closet and finding many of these crisp and fragile wheat stems. I thought of that wheat as I was preparing for today, Pentecost Sunday, I was reminded of those wheat stems and my grandmother’s tradition of cutting a small bundle to sit on her table as a reminder of another successful harvest.
[Slide – Screen Share – leave up until note to close]
Three times a year, the Israelites, would also recognize and remember God’s provision at their Harvest Festivals. Even though we non-Jews know little of these holidays, they were, nonetheless among the most important Holy moments. one following the fall harvest called Pesach (pay-saak), the second following the winter harvest called Shavuot (shuh-voo-owt), and the third, following the summer harvest called Sukkot (soo-koat). First born males, fifty days after the planting of their fields, would travel to Jerusalem, bringing the first fruits of their harvest to the temple as offerings of recognition of God’s provision of the seeds, sun, and water – elements that only God could providee.
[Slide] This second harvest festival, Shavuot, after the destruction of the second temple, would carry the added emphasis of remembering God’s provision of the Guiding Law to the Israelites. This holiday, Shavuot, the holy moment of remembrance of God’s provision of sustaining harvest and the guiding Law, is the setting for us today.
[Slide] Shavuot in the greek language is the familiar word Pentecost. Today, 50 days after our recognition of Jesus’ resurrection we recognize God’s provision of the Spirit.
[Slide] Today, 50 days after our own holiday remembering God’s provision of the resurrected Jesus (Easter), we remember the day the Jewish followers of Jesus were given the Spirit. The day the waiting disciples of Jesus were pushed out of their hiding places and into the streets where Jewish foreigners from over fifteen countries, speaking over fifteen different languages, were walking the streets of Jerusalem remembering God for holy provision. This was a group that probably, due to language and geographical differences, had not heard of Jesus.
[End Screen Share]
I have to wonder what went on in the minds of the disciples who, at Jesus instruction, were confined to a room while they waited for the arrival of the Spirit. They had seen the resurrected Jesus. While almost everyone else assumed Jesus was still dead, these waiting and silenced disciples knew Jesus was alive, they had walked, talked, and continued to learn from Jesus. Yet, here they sat, stuck together, having to learn how to live out what they exclusively knew – while being confined to these others who had the same experience and insight. It must have been comparable to being forced to be silent, not telling the outcome of an athletic event, or the end of a Netfix show, because someone had not seen it yet, because others were not yet ready to hear it. Maybe this was their time to live out Mercy, Compassion, Justice, Selflessness, Hope, and Peace.
All the wild, just outside the door where these men hid, thousands walked the street who did not know what the disciples knew, thousands who needed to hear the stories of the followers of Jesus. But, Jesus had told them to wait.
So, what were they to do cooped up in this room together. No telling of stories because everyone else in the room had their own version of those same stories. They were aching to tell others, but, instead they had to wait.
I wonder if this excruciating wait was orchestrated by God. Jesus, earlier, had breathed the Spirit on these men, maybe that was to enable them to wait. Maybe, this time of waiting was their time of doing. To play out the life of Jesus in the midst of these possibly annoying associates. Maybe it was their time of immersion into reality so they were ready to speak with the perspective of God, with the eyes and heart of God, so that they could speak to these unknown others.
The disciples could not speak until they were given the voice to tell their story. A voice that would be uniquely given for the audience of each disciple. Words, cultural understanding, Empathy, and Love.
Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN, shares a holy moment he experienced after he lost his voice and was ordered by his doctor to remain completely silent for six weeks, not even humming was aloud.
[Slide – Screen Share – leave up until note to close]
Glenn writes, I was scared out of my mind. What was I going to do if I couldn’t speak? What good is a preacher who can’t talk? The doctor said something I thought was curious. He said, ‘Speaking is a secondary function.’ That means that talking isn’t necessary to live. We have to breathe. Our hearts have to beat, but we don’t have to speak. That means if speaking gets in the way of living, your body will simply stop speaking. As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep well during that time. I got up at night a lot. I walked around the house and wondered how I would take care of my family. What would I do if I couldn’t speak? One night when I couldn’t sleep, I walked into my study and began to write in my journal. [Slide] The first sentence I wrote was, ‘What will I do for God if I can’t preach?’ [Slide] The next sentence I wrote was the answer. ‘Then, you’ll find another way to praise Me. God is still God.’‘ That doesn’t change with my circumstances or whatever situation I may be in. God is still God. Jesus is still our hope.
[End Screen Share]
The disciple asked themselves, how do we do the work of the apostles when we cannot speak?
So, on this particular day of Shavuot, or Pentecost, thousands of foreigners who did not speak the language of the Hebrews were in the streets of Jerusalem. They were all making their pilgrimage, which they did three times a year, to remember that God, once again, had provided the provision of the Harvest, and the guiding Law.
Then something unusual happened. A strong wind and a loud burst got the attention of those in the streets. But it was not just a wind in the streets, it was also a wind in the room where the disciples were hiding. Jesus had told them to wait now the Spirit pushed them out onto the street.
Flames of fire, the Spirit, landed on the head of each of the disciples who were now on the streets, the streets, immersed in the crowd of foreign pilgrims. The disciples began to speak, but this was a different voice. It was a voice aimed at each pilgrim that shared the cobblestone streets with the disciples. The voice the Spirit came was not a prerecorded message from God, it was truly the experience of the disciples who had witnessed the life, teachings, and death of Jesus – it was the voice from each of the disciples genuinely sharing their own experience of life as seen in the life and resurrection of Jesus. It was not a just the ability to translate but it was the ability to speak in an understandable way, to the hopes and cultures of the foreign listeners.
Then, Peter, spoke to the entire crowd. He did not speak about guilt, he did not really speak about death, he didn’t even really speak about heaven, he spoke about life. He spoke of the life of Jesus, he spoke of the resurrection, he spoke of the impact of Jesus on his life.
As the door swung open to my daughter’s preK classroom on the last day of school before Christmas break, Hannah was the first of the children that ran down the ramp to us, the parents. Hannah grabbed hold of me and began excitedly telling me about a visit of santa to their classroom that day. I was half listening while trying to finish an ongoing conversation with another parent. Hannah was undeterred by my conversation and began to speak louder and with a greater urgency. I was equally undeterred and continued my conversation, until the teacher’s assistant also became undeterred saying, “Rick, Dad, you need to listen to your daughter.” The aid spoke not just words I should have heard, but with an understanding of me and my distraction, I listened. Hannah, who now had my complete attention, began to enlighten me that Santa was tired of milk and cookies and would prefer to have a slice of pizza, he didn’t care which kind because he loves all pizza, and a glass of water, because mild does not go well with pizza and Mrs. Clause would not let him drink sugar cookies because his weight and cholesterol was too high. So, every day until Christmas Eve, our daughter spoke from a personal experience, that we had to have at least one piece of pizza left over for Santa to eat. Later she would learn that it was actually her dad who liked pizza and that, he too, needed to pay attention to his weight and cholesterol.
This was the experience of the disciples, they had a story they were aching to tell, but up until this day, their voices did not have the ability to be heard or understood. It was an urgent story of life, a story of hope, a story that would change their perspective, a story that would let them see through God’s eyes rather than their own self centered eyes.
This was not a voice of a preacher, it is the voices of those who have a story to tell, their own story to tell. A story told through how we live our lives, a story that tells of life, a story that explains our striving for peace through our reality of chaos, a story that explains why we hang on when all we want to do is give up. Our story reveals our imperfections and trials while at the same time sharing our hope and perseverance.
In Peter’s second moment of speaking he emphasizes that this same Spirit is ready to reside in the hearts of those who choose to follow Jesus, to let Jesus be their shepherd and Lord. Those who heard the voices given to the disciples, would eventually return to their homelands where they, too, would received their own understandable voice that would affirm the message of their lives.
In the book of Acts, we see the arrival of the Spirit, and then the Spirit taking up residence in the lives of those who choose to follow, have an immediate impact. There is an unquenchable hunger for truth, there is an undeniable unity, and, for those who continue to allow the Spirit to be their guide, there will be unhindered sacrificial lives lived.
[Slide – Screen Share until end of verse]
‘So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
[Slide] God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness.
[Slide] God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin.
[Slide] He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness.
[Slide] People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit.
[Slide] The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you.
[Slide] If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness… (Romans 8:1- 6, 9–10a CEV)
[End Screen Share]
Music (Slides) Billy/Linda
Verse 1
O Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy pow’r thru’out
The universe displayed
Chorus
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Community (Slides) Rick
- Summer Series – ‘Good’ (Return to Narrative Lectionary looking at the OT September 11 through until Advent)
- Next Sunday, June 4, Rick, ‘Everything is Good’, Genesis 1:31
- Summer Bible Study – James, Let Rick know if June or July, and day of week, that best fits your summer calendar, Lunch time or Evenings for four weeks
- Armageddon last chance (only 1 response) – possibly one session discussion?
Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we go forth from this place and enter a new week, may we each experience God’s presence. May the wind of the Spirit startle our senses and blow through our lives; may the fire of the Spirit scorch our complacency and light our way. And may the blessing of the Holy One – the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, rest with us now and forever more.
May the Spirit immerse our heads, hands, and feet, our thoughts, hearts, feelings and emotions, resulting in compassion for all others and ourselves. May the Spirit give us the voice to live and communicate our unique stories of hope and life. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with each of us; Amen. (Borrowed and adapted from CMB, CPC, & Joanna Harader)
Closing Peace Rick
Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.
Order, Words, & Voices 