These are the sermons as they appear in Preacher's Magazine. Go to the home page and select Sermons from the menu bar to get to the full length sermons.
Our preaching resources for Pentecost 2008 come from Dr. Sam
Vassel and Rev. Mark Hendrickson. Sam is serving as senior pastor for Bronx
Bethany Church of the Nazarene in Bronx, New York. Mark is serving as co-pastor
with his wife Stefanie for the Church of the Nazarene in Drexel, Missouri.
I trust that these wonderful pastors will contribute to your Pentecost preaching!
Introduction to the Series
Welcome to the season of Pentecost! As we continue in the journey of the Christian year, Pentecost marks the day we celebrate the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in our world. It’s a time of celebration and expectation for God to create something new in our lives, showing us new depths of maturity in our relationship with Him. Following Pentecost, we enter into Common Time, where we have the opportunity to dig into some of the “nitty-gritty” issues of the Christian life.
The lectionary passages for this season call us to get busy working through the nuts and bolts of our faith. The working-out of our salvation (many times with fear and trembling!) is the theme that ties the season and this sermon series together. We display liturgical colors in our gatherings and use a children’s sermon time to teach the congregation the meaning of each color. As the fire-cleansing red of Pentecost gives way to the green of common time, we call our people to a summer of spiritual growth and maturity. We are going to jump into some of the important claims of the Gospel while looking in a mirror and examining our own lives. Do we as individuals, families, and a community of faith really live what we say we believe? In the next few weeks we are going to find out.
Introduction to the Series
Pentecost marks the Church’s historical starting point. It reflects the work of the Spirit empowering the community of Jesus to embody His presence and continue His redemptive work in the world.
In response to His disciples’ question concerning whether it was time for Him to restore the kingdom of Israel, Jesus asserted that the knowledge of the times and the days were in God’s authority (Acts 1). His disciples were to experience for themselves the powerful presence of the Spirit. This would make them effective witnesses everywhere in the world.
Against the background of curiosity regarding God’s eschatological agenda evidenced in fictional writings and movies, the words of Jesus to His first disciples need to be heard again. It is not for us to know the time and date. We need to know and experience what the Spirit is doing so we might be effective witnesses. Instead of seeing the book of Revelation as a riddle to be decoded, the Spirit-informed Church will hear from the risen Christ.
