Pentecost

This is the article I wrote for our church's monthly newsletter:

Pentecost. This may be my favorite Holy Day of the church year. For me, it infuses the worship service with an energy that can often be sadly absent the rest of the year. Don’t be surprised to come into the sanctuary that day (May 11) and find it ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

So what is Pentecost exactly? It’s often referred to as the birthday of the church. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus' mother and family, and many other of his disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover, called “The Feast of Weeks”. While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on humanity promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival. Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present, many of whom had come from all corners of the Roman Empire. This created a sensation. The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day. (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).

In short, it is the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the church. Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to believe and trust in Christ as our Savior. This gift of faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ is the reason Pentecost is the third "mega-festival" of the church (the other two are, of course, Christmas and Easter) and why we celebrate it with such joy and thanksgiving.[i]

We believe that the Spirit also brings the gifts of wisdom and discernment. You will always hear me invoke the presence of the Spirit before I read Scripture, so that we will hear and understand God’s word to us, and be empowered and inspired to share it with others.

Lastly, it is also an affirmation of our belief in a Triune God. As Presbyterians, we sometimes think we’d rather leave the exuberance of the Holy Spirit to those arm-waving, ‘Amen!’ shouting Baptists and Pentecostals. But without the gift of faith given to us in the Spirit, we could not have found the gift of life and salvation it leads to in Christ. If you ask me, that calls for an ‘Amen!’ no matter what denomination you’re in.

The Spirit isn’t just about boisterous alter calls and speaking in tongues. It represents the power of God in our lives. It comes to EM-power us, giving us the gift of witness and discipleship. It can be as gentle as a breeze or as mighty as a hurricane. It can always move you to marvelous things—if you let it. So I challenge you to let it. Open your arms to receive the Spirit and ask that it work through you to empower others in Christ's love as well.

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[i] http://www.stpaulskingsville.org/pentecost.htm

Second one down

I wanted to make this a separate post since it's a totally separate matter. But I did have my other phone interview with the Church Much Closer to the In-Laws. They really seemed interested in me. We talked for close to an hour, and it was a good hour, not the kind that seems to never end. By the close of the conversation, they were already asking me when I could come up for a neutral pulpit. So pretty soon after returning from Canada, it looks like I'll be off on another trip of a much different nature. I'm hoping they'll feel like flying me up there, I don't think I really want to drive for 9-10 hours before preaching and then turning around and doing it again to come home. Especially if I have to do it alone, which it looks like I may have to since P will be negative on vacation after we get back from Canada.
This church did exactly what I hoped and asked good questions. It was clear they'd read my PIF and drawn questions from it and they'd been well led by their interim as to who they are and what they need from a pastor. I was pretty impressed. And I think they were too, which is a very good thing for me.
On the other hand, I have no idea what this area will be like to live in, other than it seems to be rather expensive, at least the housing market is. But then again, this church is also offering a whole lot (and I mean a whole lot) more to a first time pastor than anywhere else I've looked. Of course, it's also fairly close to a very popular east coast beach area, and though I don't go beach crazy like some folks, I do enjoy it on occassion, but even better is that it's also right on a reservoir that is a great recreational lake area. I need to do a little research on the area. But it is well-populated enough to be a likely area for P to find a job too. That's my main concern on the family front.
Well, I do need to get going on all that post-vacation-no.-1 laundry. I'll let you know how things are going. I hope to hear back from Church Much Nearer to My Family soon about whether or not they want to do a face-to-face or let me go. That'll be big news. Until then.

Great News!!

Well, if you've kept up with my dilema, you know I recently had only one church that had contacted me so far about pursuing a call. Well, no longer!! I got contacted today by Church Much Nearer to My Family, and it's in a city where P can almost certainly find a job and not have a monster commute. I believe his company actually has an office in this city, so he could just transfer. This is so good, because the longer I have to think about it, the more I'm thinking my childhood issues with poor, small towns could be a big problem if I tried to work in an even smaller and poorer town than the ones I grew up in. I'm still open to a face-to-face interview, but, well, this new opportunity is really the kind I was hoping for all along, good for the entire family, I think.
If any of you have had an experience where you've had to choose between a job that is more certain, and waiting for a call that is less so, I'd love to hear about it and the outcome.