for Sunday, May 19, 2013
Pentecost
Year C
lectionary focus: Acts 2:1-21
Good morning!
Today we come to the end of the Easter Season. Today is called Pentecost. Today we celebrate the birthday of the church. But we are not celebrating the birthday of this church. Our church, Edgewood Presbyterian Church, is 101 years old this year and we do make a big deal of celebrating how long EPC has been here…but today we celebrate the birthday of the world church. For almost two thousand years, people have been coming together in congregations all over the world to follow Jesus’s commandment to love God and to love one another. Today we celebrate that we are not Christians alone. We are Christians together. We are a family with Christians all over the world.
Our Bible story today begins with the disciples at Easter. They have seen Jesus risen from the dead and then watched Him ascend to Heaven. They are still struggling with the Easter mystery. And suddenly the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are overwhelmed with the Easter joy…they know that Jesus, though in Heaven, is still with them always.
And the Bible story goes on…Jesus is not just for them; they are not just a few lucky people. Jesus is for everyone in the whole world: the people then and the people now. Jesus is still with each of us. And Jesus still loves each of us. We are all blessed people. We are all part of God’s family.
At my house, when someone has a birthday, we usually have two parties: one with our friends and one with our family. Today, we celebrate the birthday of the church with just one party, one party celebrated all over the world…because as Christians, our friends are our family. And as Christians, we are all God’s children…brothers and sisters from one church building to the next all around the world.
So today we say, Happy Birthday to the church! And with churches all over the world, we celebrate that we are all one family…that we are all God’s children.
Will you say a prayer with me? (This is an echo prayer: the leader says a line and the children repeat it.)
Dear Lord,
Thank You
for Your world church.
Help us
say Happy Birthday
with our family
all over the world.
Amen
We are not Christians alone.
My mission is to share, inspire, and encourage.
on the chancel steps 
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