Spirit Connections - A Sermon for Pentecost Sunday

Preached at Grace Anglican Church, Pentecost Sunday, May 11, 2008

Numbers 11:24-30, Acts 2:1-21, John 7:37-39

I am currently serving two congregations that don't often worship together. On Pentecost Sunday, which was also Mother's Day, we had a joint service preceded by a breakfast by the men for the mums and families. Since there was no Sunday school we had an intergenerational service, and that always calls for a creative approach to the sermon. I was inspired by the account of the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2, and wondered how that could be preached in a way that celebrated the Spirit's work as a unifying force in our parish. A visit to the dollar store and six rolls of bright red crepe ribbon later, I had an idea.

On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate God's gift of the Holy Spirit which created the Chrsitian church. Ordinary people were given hope, strength, courage and wisdom to show Christ to the world around them. Two thousand years later, the church is still being created. God still pours out his Spirit on his people to send them into the world.

I've asked Caitlin to come and stand beside me with our processional cross. I've also given six rolls of red crepe tape to six families in our midst. Each of these rolls of tape represents a gift of the Spirit, as mentioned in our readings this morning. Each roll of tape will go back and forth through the church, showing the ways that the Spirit is at work in our midst. The only rule is that when the tape crosses the aisle, it has to be wrapped around the cross. Why the cross? Because the cross represents our Lord Jesus Christ, who told his disciples that he would leave them the Spirit as their (and our) comforter and advocate. Ready? Sound like fun? Here we go.


“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” (Acts 2:1)
This ribbon represents God’s gift of the holy spirit which brings us all together in the church. We came today as two congregations, each with their own identities, histories and traditions, but we are reminded that church is really the gathering of all people who call on the name of the Lord. This ribbon starts with one of our wardens, Andy Van Koot, who will be leading your selection committee, and goes to the other wardens who lead our congregations.


“”I will put our my Spirit upon all flesh, and your Sons and your daughters shall prophesy”. (Acts 2:17)
This next ribbon represents God’s gift of the holy spirit to our young people and to our Sunday school and children’s ministries. All of us, old and young, have a place in the church as God’s family. We give thanks for our adults who teach our young people about what it means to be Christians, and we give thanks for our young people for wanting to grow in their faith. This ribbon starts with Alex and Kristyn McCoy, who are part of our Sunday school team at Grace, and is passed to young families and Sunday school teachers.


“We hear them speaking about God’s great deeds of power”. (Acts 2:11)
This ribbon represents God’s gift of the holy spirit that inspires us to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to the world around us. The word evangelist comes from the Greek and means a teller of good news, as Peter and the apostles were tellers of the good news to people who had come to Jerusalem from all around the world. This ribbon starts with Lynn Trute who edits out Missing Link newsletter, and it should be passed to anyone who is involved in the Magnetic Church group, where we learned ways to be better evangelists.

“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!.” (Numbers 11:29)
We give thanks for God’s gift of the holy spirit that we hear week by week in church in the public reading of scripture, God’s word revealed to us, and in the preaching of the word, which helps us understand the word of God. This ribbon begins with Kaywyn Allison, who coordinates our readers at St. George’s, and with Patsy Allison, whose preaching often blesses this parish, and it should be passed to anyone else who reads scripture during our worship.

Jesus said “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive;” (John 7:37-38).
Jesus said “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive;” (John 7:37-38). We give thanks for the gifts of God that we call sacraments. Through baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, through confirmation we are strengthened by the Spirit as we grow in our Christian lives, and through the Eucharist we are refreshed in communion with Christ. This ribbon begins with the Redfearn family and with Christ and Rebecca who recently celebrated their first communion, and it should be passed to any other family which has had a baptism or confirmation recently.

"We hear them speaking about God's deeds of power" (Acts 2:11).
We give thanks for God's acts of power in our midst, and for the Spirit's gift of healing. This ribbon begins with the Miles family. For the last three years we've prayed for Katie's recovery from her car accident, and we've been amazed at her progress. Who would believe that this year we would be talking about how well she did at her first year at Western? This rubbon should be passed to any other family or member who is praying for God's healing.

It was a great Sunday. A lot of ribbon was passed, tossed, and thrown around the church. The cross was well-covered in red, and it was amazing to see how interconnected these two diverse groups were. Hopefully we are all beter equipped to talk about the Spirit and its work in our lives.