Be the Church

by | May 30, 2023

The Rev. Suzanne Trump shares this outline of her sermon:

Acts 2:1-21

Text Focus Sentence: Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival that marked the fiftieth day after Passover. Luke portrays the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the disciples before the gathered and astonished people assembled in Jerusalem for the festival. Filled with the Spirit, the disciples were able to witness to the power of Christ’s resurrection.

Sermon Focus Sentence: The expectations that God has The Rev. Suzanne Trump, Associate Pastor of Formation and Compassionfor those who identify as Christians rooted in the Jewish story connection between Pentecost and the giving of the laws to Moses.

Function Statement: We are called to be the church in our community

“Be the Church”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

  1. There is an old episode of Law-and-Order Special Victims in which a young girl is interviewed on what happened to her mother
    1. And she is very specific and very succinct with her answers
    2. And each answer ends with “The End”
    3. So today here is my sermon
    4. We are not called to Go to Church, we are called to Be the Church
    5. The End
    6. Okay, not really the end but keep that in mind as we think about the meaning of Pentecost
  1. Pentecost is rooted in the Jewish Festival of Shavuot which occurs the 50th day after Passover
    1. the Greek name is Pentecost
    2. Jewish people look to make three pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Passover, The Feast of Tabernacles, and Pentecost
    3. Pentecost is a harvest festival where families bring the first fruits of their harvest
    4. Asking for God’s continued blessing upon the harvest
    5. It is a beginning of blessing for the bounty of the earth
    6. Except in the case of the early Christian Church it was the blessing of the bounty of people
    7. Harvesting of people
    8. And related to Pentecost is the giving of the Torah and the Law
    9. The Torah is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible where God’s story is told
    10. The story is both written and oral
    11. The oral story was passed down from one generation to the next
    12. Looking at Exodus 19: 16-19
      1. On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder.
    13. Can you see the similarities to the story that Janet told from Acts?
    14. Continuing in Exodus chapter 20 is when Moses was given the 10 Commandments
    15. In Acts it is the Holy Spirit who is teaching and arrives through images fire and loud noise
    16. And so some say that Pentecost is the beginning of the church
    17. We are not called to go to church but to be the church
  • what does this mean?
    1. God’s spirit was poured out on all
    2. Everyone had access, everyone understood in their own language
    3. We come to church to be nurtured
    4. To be supported
    5. To learn and grow in faith
    6. To help each other to see the gifts we have been given
    7. It is like getting an oil change and a tire rotation
    8. It isn’t about changing the oil or rotating the tires
    9. It is about prepping our vehicle to take us places
    10. To do things
    11. To be about life
    12. And so this is what Pentecost is about
    13. Learning to be the church
    14. We are church not for ourselves but for the sake of the community
    15. Church is not private, not solitary, not done within these four walls
    16. Church is out there
    17. To be the church is to be God’s people in the world
    18. Sharing God’s love and forgiveness
    19. It is not about us!!!!
    20. It is not about us!!!!!
    21. Think about what you want your life to mean
    22. Think about the difference you made in the lives of all who loved you
    23. That is what you want to be remembered for, right?
    24. God does not want us to simply go to church and leave it there
    25. God wants, demands that we share God’s love
    26. What do we want people to know about FPC-Bethlehem
  1. Tim McGraw song: Standing Room Only
    1. I get so mad at things that don’t matter way too much
      I let the way back when’s and my old friends scatter like they were dust
      I get to chasin’ that rainbow pot of gold right into the pourin’ rain
      With nothin’ to show for it, standin’ there soakin’ wet
      Lookin’ up shakin’ my fist as the thunder rolls
      Now and then on nights like this I catch a thunderbolt[Chorus]
      I wanna live a life, live a life
      Like a dollar and the clock on the wall don’t own me
      Shine a light, shine a light
      Like mama’s front porch when I’m lost and lonely
      Start forgivin’ and start forgettin’
      Be somebody that’s worth rememberin’
      Live a life so when I die
      There’s standing room only, standing room only
      Standing room only, standing room only

      [Verse 2]
      I wanna take my grudges and my old regrets, and let ’em go
      I wanna learn how to say a lot more yes and a lot less no
      Girl, I wanna dance and shout and love out loud, and come alive
      Don’t wanna be the guy too cool to laugh and too scared to cry

      [Chorus]
      I wanna live a life, live a life
      Like a dollar and the clock on the wall don’t own me
      Shine a light, shine a light
      Like mama’s front porch when I’m lost and lonely
      Start forgivin’ and start forgettin’
      Be somebody that’s worth rememberin’
      Live a life so when I die
      There’s standing room only, standing room only

  1. Stop judging my life by my possessions
    Start thinking ’bout how many headlights will be in my procession[Chorus]
    I wanna live a life, live a life
    Like a dollar and the clock on the wall don’t own me
    Shine a light, shine a light
    Like mama’s front porch when I’m lost and lonely
    Start forgivin’ and start forgettin’
    Be somebody that’s worth rememberin’
    Live a life so when I die
    There’s standing room only, standing room only

    [Outro]
    Standing room only, standing room only
    Standing room only, standing room only
    Standing room only, standing room only

  1. Keep coming to church, but more than that can you “Be the church” for God and this community?
    1. Can we as a community of faith “Be the church” for this sake of God and this community?
    2. We are not called to Go to church, we are called to Be the Church
    3. The End!
    4. Amen