PREACHER TO PREACHER

From the Editors

A community is a group of people who share a common story. They share common values and a common purpose. Without that sense of vital connection, we’re just a collection of folks who may worship together but don’t really belong to each other. Pentecost is about the creation of Christian community as much as anything else.

When the Holy Spirit descended upon those disciples, something truly miraculous happened. All the peoples of the world were represented in Jerusalem that day, and God began to show them that the whole world was being reconciled and redeemed. The fractured, alienated peoples of the earth, broken into so many different languages and cultures, were now being healed and brought together—not politically, not economically, but spiritually. The miracle is that through the Holy Spirit, true community can finally happen.

The promises of the past and the hope of the future were all brought together in this moment in which God in effect said, “I will make you My holy people, a community of faith. Your common story will be the story of God redeeming the whole world through Jesus Christ. Your common purpose will be to gather people from all cultures, all lands, all backgrounds under the common banner of the kingdom of God. Your common vision will be to go into all the world until everyone has heard the good news of salvation. And that common story, that common purpose is what makes you a community—a people who belong to each other and love each other.” That’ll preach to a world that is hungry for genuine community. Real belonging and identity is part of what it means to be in the kingdom of God. Pentecost announces to us that it’s here and now!

The first set of sermons for the Pentecost season is presented by Dr. H. Ray Dunning. Dr. Dunning served for over three decades as professor of theology at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. He was chairman of the Department of Religion and Philosophy and was the founding chairman of the graduate program in religion. He is a former president of the Wesleyan Theological Society and is the author of numerous publications, including Introduction to Wesleyan Theology (with W. M. Greathouse) and a Wesleyan systematic theology titled Grace, Faith, and Holiness.

The next set of sermons for Pentecost season are presented by Dr. Roberto Hodgson. Dr. Hodgson is currently serving as Hispanic mission director for Multicultural Ministries in the Church of the Nazarene. Dr. Hodgson began his ministry in the United States by starting the Hispanic congregation at Washington National (First) Church 20 years ago. Later he became the Washington District Hispanic coordinator and helped the district start 10 new churches. He has served as one of the original members of the Hispanic Strategy Committee.

The sermons for the balance of ordinary time are presented by the editors. We have also included a wedding homily from the creative pen of Dr. Wesley Tracy, former editor of Preacher’s Magazine.