*The flowers in the Sanctuary today are to the Glory of God and in loving memory of grandparents John & Alta Wilson; Herbert and Mable Winterton, and dear parents Keith and Doreen Winterton, and are given by Sandra Winterton
*Penny Social. Thank you.
*We welcome the members of Middlesex Lodge Number 379. Thank you for being with us today. And in advance thank you for the lunch.
*June 20 Tuesday Planning Meeting. 7 p.m..
*Epiphany Emporium. Crafters Show and Sale. Saturday June 17. 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. Set Up Fri. June 16. Help needed.
* Mint smoothies Sandra $3.
*Jeremy Smith in Concert. Sunday July 30 at 2:00 ! 10$ Lets all come!
Craft Club – Saturday, June 10 – 10am-noon
*Food Cupboard. Butch. 519-615-9106. Text or call.
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs–in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
2:13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Sermon
Acts 2:1-21
When was the last time you had trouble communicating with someone? Maybe it’s because you didn’t understand the other person’s language.
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Here is an interesting fact: there are a little over 7,000 languages in the world. But communication researchers believe that most of them share one common word. This one word has the same meaning in every language, and it has a similar pronunciation in almost every language. What is the “universal” word I’m talking about? It’s “Huh?”
N.J. Enfield and his colleagues studied 31 languages from 16 different language family groups, and they came up with the same conclusion: “Huh?” is the easiest and fastest sound to make when we don’t understand something said in a conversation. Conversations usually move quickly, and it takes less than a second to say “Huh?” It is also a sound that can be made when the tongue and mouth are in a relaxed position, so it doesn’t require much effort. This is universally understood to mean, “Wait a minute. I didn’t understand you.” It’s one strange little word that encourages clarity and better communication.
In an article for American Scientist magazine, Enfield writes, “. . . Huh? does not stand for universal confusion. It stands for universal cooperation. It shows that there is a global need, and willingness, to pause a conversation and sort out a communication problem as it occurs.” (1)
We will all feel a little better next time someone says, “Huh?” to usbecause it gives me an opportunity to clear up any misunderstanding.
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A few months back, I read an interview with Luis von Ahn, the creator of Duolingo, the most popular language learning app in the world. Almost 50 million people around the world use this app each month. Luis was born in Guatemala, where he saw a vast gap in the educational opportunities offered to poorer children.
As he said, “. . . what happens is the people who have money can buy themselves the best education in the world, and because of that, they remain having a lot of money, whereas the people who don’t have very much money barely learn how to read and write and therefore remain not having very much money.” He created Duolingo as a free learning app because he wanted every person on earth to have an equal opportunity to learn another language, especially English.
According to Luis, approximately 800 million people around the world are trying to learn English in order to lift themselves out of poverty. It was always his dream to give the poorest citizens the same educational opportunities as the richest citizens in terms of learning a new language.
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Back to our Bible Story.
The believers sit and wait as Christ had instructed them until they received the promised Holy Spirit. Then it happened. Our Bible passage reads: “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
This is a pivotal moment in human history. It’s the beginning of the worldwide Christian church.
God sent His Spirit on us for the purpose of partnering with us for the good of the world. So yes, you could say this is a really important moment.
The first great gift we receive from Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit fills us with the mind of God.
What would we see if we saw it through God’s eyes? Wouldn’t we see a world that is governed by God’s peace and love and justice?
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In 2020, a 13-year-old boy named “Abraham” was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Abraham would need to undergo radiation treatments and a bone marrow transplant to treat his condition. That’s a lot for anyone to endure. So the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Abraham’s hometown, arranged to grant him a wish to cheer him up as he went through treatment.
Most of us can imagine dozens of things we wished for when we were 13 years old, but this young man isn’t like most of us. Abraham used his wish to request help to feed the homeless citizens in Jackson’s Poindexter Park for a year.
In September 2021, Abraham and volunteers from the Foundation, using food donated by local businesses, served meals to around 80 homeless people in Poindexter Park. The Make-A-Wish Foundation partnered with Abraham to get supplies and volunteers so that he could serve a meal once each month for one year to those in need.
How did a 13-year-old get the vision and compassion to feed the homeless people in his local park for one year? As Abraham said in an interview with his local news station, “I am a person of hope, so when you come against a big mountain, you have to remember you have a big God.”
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That’s what the Holy Spirit did for the believers at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit reminded them that they have a big God, a God that would equip them for any challenge. It filled them with the mind of God, with God’s passion and vision for filling the world with His grace and truth. And from that point on, no matter what challenges they faced, the believers at Pentecost lived as people of great hope.
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At Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit on a group of believers to fill them with the mind of God .
What kind of vision does God have for us? How does God want to work through us? There are powerful and awesome dreams God has for this world that He wants to accomplish through ordinary people like us.
Hymn: Jesus Shall Reign
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
does its successive journeys run,
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.
To him shall endless prayer be made,
and praises throng to crown his head.
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
with every morning sacrifice.
People and realms of every tongue
dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim
their early blessings on his name.
Blessings abound where’er he reigns:
the prisoners leap to lose their chains,
the weary find eternal rest,
and all who suffer want are blest.
Let every creature rise and bring
the highest honors to our King,
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud amen.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers:
Empowering God,
you gave the church
the abiding presence of your Holy Spirit.
Look upon your church today and hear our petitions.
Prayers: Gus; Jay P.;Maddex; Randy; Rick W.; Shelley and Martin C.; Sharon; Anne F.; Marcel D.; Tara; Jeff B.; Nicole; Shelley (Sandra); Jean (Bruce J.);Sarah-Jane P.; Linda H.; Sharon D.; Philip D; Jacquie and Cam D.; Janice L & Darrin R; Roland; Helene.(Suzie D.) Debbie H (Lorenz); Garfield; Eunice S.; Connie C.; Jack and Julie. (Church) Joel; Melanie; Marlene H. Pam B. (Barb & George); Ella D., Keanna, Nancy (Dan & Sue); Donna Mc.; (Ron and Jan);Jamie; (Gloria);Diane; Norma A,;Dave F.; Peter T.; Dan B.;. (Garfield & Diane); Marilyn; Val ; Karen T.;Bill, Sheila, Jessica, Sonya, Jamie (Peter); Allan (Brian G.); Dori; Belinda,; Kim; Ross B., Francis & Bill W.; Jeff G. (Dori);
Grant that, gathered and directed by your Spirit,
we may confess Christ as Lord
and combine our diverse gifts with a singular passion
to continue his mission in this world
until we join in your eternal praise. Amen
As our Savior taught us, let us pray,
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.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to God,
whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer based on Scripture for today:
Perplexing, Pentecostal God,
you infuse us with your Spirit,
urging us to vision and dream.
May the gift of your presence
find voice in our lives,
that our babbling may be transformed into discernment
and the flickering of many tongues
light an unquenchable fire of compassion and justice. Amen.
Blessing from the Book of Common Prayer:
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.
Our Parting Blessing Song:
May God’s blessing surround you each day
As you trust Him and walk in His way
May His presence within guard and keep you from sin,
