Okemos Community Church
Sunday Sermon
May 31, 2020

Click here for a link to the Sermon

"Pentecost: The Nativity of the Church"
based on Acts 2:1-12, 38-39.
Discover how the gift of the Holy Spirit empowers us for such a time as this.

Happy birthday, Church. It is approximately the 1,987th birthday of the Church. That's a lot of candles. And a lot of Light--which is truly needed in these dark times.

Pastor Rick Blunt teaches how Luke, the author of both Luke and Acts, constructed them in parallel form. For instance, the well-known nativity story of Jesus is told in the second chapter of Luke. Likewise, the nativity (birth) story of the church is told in Acts, chapter 2.

It is a wonderful and powerful story of Pentecost, but Pastor Rick encourages hearers to not let the details of the story divert them from God's purpose in sending the Holy Spirit upon the first church. He points out that Jesus himself names the purpose in Acts 1:8. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses to Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The gift of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to be witnesses for Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Currently, the world is in great need of that witness. We need some Light to guide us through this darkness.

Pastor Rick calls the church to name racism as sin and declare it antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the midst of protests erupting to riots, the church can be a calm presence. It can work to change systemic racism, but subtle and blatant, overt and covert. He calls us to be allies to the oppressed and abused by using our voices to amplify their cries. He calls us to listen, and pray. He invites us to bring hope, offer help, point to healing, demand justice, and silence hate-speech and inflammatory rhetoric.

The Holy Spirit came and comes so that we might be witnesses for Jesus Christ. The Spirit brings power and strength; it gives us courage. Let the Light of God shine, the love Christ surround, and the healing peace of the Holy Spirit be within us so that we can bring peace and healing, hope and help, justice and mercy, reconciliation and redemption to all the earth.

Music to go with this message

"Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart" arr. L. Kauffman, sung by the Tapestry Chamber Singers acapella SATB choir 4:20 minutes
https://bit.ly/DescendUponMyHeartTapestry

"I'm Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing" arr. André van Ryckeghem, sung by The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford. SATB acapella, 2:16 minutes
https://bit.ly/SingWhenSomerville

"I'm Gonna Sing Till the Spirit Moves in My Heart" by the Allen Cathedral Choir, 5:13 minutes
https://bit.ly/SingTillTheSpiritAllenCathedral

Sermon Linkhttps://youtu.be/qY1bJWuvv_U

Please click on the blue text above to view the sermon and music selections

*Copyright © *2020

Our mailing address is:
PO Box 680, Okemos, MI 48805
e-mail: office@okemosOCC.org
phone: 517-349-4220
www.OkemosOCC.org

Pastoral Care Emergencies

(Use this number after office hours, evenings, weekends)
517-258-1275


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Okemos Community Church · PO Box 680 · Okemos, MI 48805 · USA

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