Lectionary Readings & Sermons

May 2008

May 4 - 7th Sunday of Easter (Youth Sunday/Pentecost Special Offering)
"Don't Stop Believing" Romans 3:21-24

May 11 - Pentecost Sunday (Mother's Day)
"We've Got The Spirit" *Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; *John 20:19-23

May 18 - 1st Sunday after Pentecost
"Sabbath" *Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13;
Matthew 28:16-20

May 25 - 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
"Who Is Welcome" Genesis 22:1-4; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23;
*Matthew 10:40-42

*Denotes the Scripture that will be read during worship on that Sunday.

THE SEASON AFTER PENTECOST
May 18-August 31 - Pentecost 1

   On Pentecost, fifty days after Easter and a feast already honored by the Jews as a harvest feast, we celebrate the roaring entry of the Spirit. We celebrate the fruits and effects of the driving wind and the scorching flame of the Spirit. The disciples are filled with a new wisdom and are prompted to express themselves, their timidity transformed by an infusion of divine enthusiasm. The harvest becomes the fruitful birthing of a people taking on the work of redemption, of people who live by the Spirit.
   In the mystery of Pentecost came understanding—the ability to speak and hear the word, each as we come to know it, understand it, and proclaim it in the uniqueness of our personhood. The gift is to interpret the meaning of Christ’s mission as it unfolds in our human experience, and through it we discover a common language. Gertrud Mueller Nelson, To Dance With God, New York: Paulist Press, Inc., 1986.
   In the season after Pentecost, we reflect on what it means to follow in the way of Jesus. As we do so, we celebrate God’s liberating justice, extravagant compassion, and universal grace. We ponder what it means to live each day in relationship with God as Christ’s disciples. We grow in discipleship, faithfully following in the way of Jesus, which liberates people from barriers that discriminate, divide, and burden. God’s presence, God’s reign, includes God’s compassionate and liberating justice. Towards this vision we are called to embrace Jesus’ radical teaching and example, and practice the presence of God in everyday living-in ordinary time. Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life, Pentecost 1