RE: cONnect – Introducing Our 2017 Summer Sermon Series

Painting of the Holy Spirit descending by Alessandro Filipepi Botticelli

Pentecost is the celebration of the birth of the Church.  Jesus had ascended into heaven 10 days before the feast, and in his parting words to the disciples he said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The Holy Spirit did arrive in a powerful way during the Jewish festival of Pentecost, a commemoration of Moses going up on the Holy Mountain to receive the 10 Commandments.  The first Pentecost did not go so well.  Moses came down the mountain to see that the people had managed to break the First Commandment in dramatic fashion just moments after the command had been given!  They worshiped other gods, golden calves.  The result was ugly – 3,000 people lost their lives.

Centuries later, when the Holy Spirit caused Peter to preach the Gospel, the result was beautiful, 3,000 people were baptized and brought into God’s eternal family.  Instead of 3,000 going from life to death, 3,000 were led from death to life.  We see that God wants to be in relationship with his people – and his people to be in relationship to one another.

Today we introduce our Summer Sermon Series:
We will spend the summer exploring how God calls us to constantly reconnect with three key relationships – With God, with our Church and Family, and with our Community. We kicked off the series with this sermon on Pentecost.

This is an essential lesson for our current cultural climate.  We live in times when we are surrounded with superficial connections.  These connections promise a substitute for the messiness of real relationships and conversation, but fail to deliver.  Think of all the variety of apps available to help people find a ‘hook-up,’ but fail to help people find truly fulfilling relationships.

If you simply search the terms “Connected But Alone” you will find all kinds of articles come up.  I wanted to share four with you here.

THIS is a wonderful TED Talk by the very insightful Dr. Sherry Turkle
THIS is an article from the Independent
THIS is an great article from Christianity Today
THIS is from the NYT blog awhile back

All are worth checking out.

We live in a culture that is desperate for real and substantial relationships.  And God’s church, born on Pentecost, is uniquely positioned to be the answer to the isolation so many face.  God wants us to know HIM, and to know HIM together.  Let’s go on this journey of reconnection TOGETHER this summer!