Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the emessage that was sent to God's people at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The scripture text is Acts 2:1-21 . I used only part of the passage. I know I am not alone in thinking this way, but have you ever been awestruck by the manifestation of the works of God in the book of Acts? Miracles were happening all over the place. It's no wonder the church grew exponentially! There are well meaning Christians of other denominations who would tell us that the age of miracles was completed when the canon of scripture was put together, but is really? Neal D. Presa takes on this scripture text from Acts in the blog, The Hardest Question, http://thq.wearesparkhouse.org/yearb/pentecostnt-2/. Here are but a few things he mentioned. 1. This is Pentecost in God's world. The Holy Spirit is on the move. Everything is shaken. We should not be surprised that the "tectonic plates of our fixed expectations and calcified thoughts need to be shaken up and stirred....

This is the message I shared on 5/17 with God's people at St. Timothy, Bemus Point and St. Mark, Mayville. The gospel text is Luke 24:44-53 . What is Ascension and why are we celebrating it? Jesus' ascension to the Father is basically the conclusion of Easter. The ascension both closes the period of Jesus' ministry on earth and opens the period of the church's mission. It is like God is saying, "Tag--you're it! Now you're me in the world." This important feast is often overlooked in the American Protestant church. The irony is, this is the third pillar of the Christian faith. Christ became incarnate, Christ died and rose from the dead and Christ ascended into heaven. We confess these every week in the Creed. The Feast of the Ascension is always on a Thursday, right before the last Sunday of Easter. If it is not observed on Thursday, we can observe it on the following Sunday, as we are doing today. Many times it is skipped altoget...