Coming Up Sunday, May 31

Sunday is Pentecost, the "fiftieth day" after Easter, which celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church.  On that day, according to the story in Acts 2, the apostles went out to preach the gospel to a crowd of people from many nations.  Those gathered heard the story, "each in their own language," a feat attributed to the Holy Spirit.  And, the story concludes, 3000 people were converted that day, exponentially increasing the number of Christian faithful, following Christ's instructions to make disciples of all nations.

During worship we will celebrate the Holy Spirit in the world and we will consider how we carry out  Christ's great commission to evangelize today.  Churches today are often criticized for caring more about tending to their own needs rather than spreading the gospel.  Declining membership and participation have forced many congregations into a peculiar survival mindset where they focus almost exclusively on keeping the members they have rather than boldly seeking to share the enduring and saving message of Jesus with a desperate world.  Worse, they forget that their service is meant to leave a legacy to those Christians who will follow in later generations.  

At the outset of the Civil War, in his 1861 annual message to Congress, Abraham Lincoln suggested that the war had significance beyond that time: "The struggle of today, is not altogether for today -- it is for a vast future also."  The same could be said of the struggling churches; one eye must always be toward the example of faith we will leave for future generations.

This Sunday we also collect the special Pentecost offering to support new churches throughout the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  The New Church Ministry provides training, resource support, grants and other services to new congregations throughout the denomination.  More information is available here.