Words of Welcome

Romans 8:22-27 Charles Spurgeon wrote that "any fool can sing in the day. When the cup is full, a person draws inspiration from it." But what happens when night falls and the cup is empty? Spurgeon wrote that when he experienced the "bliss of spiritual liberty," he could climb near the throne of God and "sing as sweet as seraphs." But confine me, fetter my spirit, clip my wings, make me exceedingly sad, so that I become like the old eagle -- ah! then it is hard to sing. In fact, it’s unnatural to sing during times of trouble, except perhaps to sing the blues. But, as Spurgeon wrote: "songs in the night come only from God; they are not in human power."1 I. THE PROMISE OF PENTECOST Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day on which we celebrate the promise, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. It’s this Spirit who empowers us to sing even during the darkest of nights. It was on the Day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit fell on an uncert

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 There are many kinds of leaders, some gentle, some tyrannical, some fun and some not so fun. Some are honest and others are crooks. When you think of a leader, maybe you think of Donald Trump or George Steinbrenner, both of whom are well know for saying: “You’re Fired!” Barack Obama, like Ronald Reagan, is known for his charisma, while Abraham Lincoln was known for his strategic vision. Some leaders are known for being micro-managers, while others take a more hands-off approach. You may have noticed, that everyone I’ve mentioned is male, which may derive from the fact that the glass ceiling remains in place. It may have, as Hillary Clinton suggested, begun to crack, but we’re still waiting to see how or if women will change our leadership styles. One of the issues that women wrestle with, in ways men have not, is how to balance work and family. We’ve just assumed that men will put work first, family second. But for women, the choices have always been m

1 John 5:1-6 Perhaps you can remember watching those old Western movies, the kind that John Wayne appeared in back in the forties and the fifties, back before Clint Eastwood’s more complicated Westerns began to appear. In those movies of yesteryear, there were good guys and bad guys, and you always knew who was who. Sometimes, they even wore different colored hats – one white, one black – just so you didn’t miss the point. We call this dualism, and dualism lets us see everything in black and white, either/or terms. You’re either with us or against us, and if you’re against us then you must be evil. And if you’re evil, then I may have to destroy you. We like to see ourselves living on the right side of things, which means that our opponents must be evil. As a nation we’ve spoken of our enemies in terms of evil empires and an axis of evil. It seems to make sense to us, but maybe life isn’t so cut and dry. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln was right when he pointed out that both sides d

1 John 4:7-21 Mothers are often fearless, especially when it comes to the safety of their children. As you might expect, scientists having been studying this phenomenon, and they think they’ve figured it out. Apparently, it has something to do with hormones, or more specifically, a drop in peptide levels that occurs during lactation. When this happens, fear vanishes. Scientists made this discovery by studying mice, but it doesn’t take detailed studies of mice to know that mothers normally will do everything they can to protect their young. Just try getting close to a grizzly bear cub or a lion cub and you’ll quickly discover that their mothers don’t take kindly to such offenses. Although I’ll take the scientists at their word, I prefer John’s explanation. It might not be as scientific, but it makes sense. According to John, love is the answer to fear, not fluctuations in peptide levels! But, that shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us. 1. God is love! I’ll admit tha