Spirit and Community

A sermon for Pentecost Sunday given at the United Church of Acworth, New Hampshire on May 19, 2013.

Acts 2:1-21
Romans 8:14-17

I think it is fitting that we are welcoming 
and commissioning Mark on this day in the church year.

Pentecost is called by many the birthday of the church.
That may sound strange depending on your definition of the word “church”

Pentecost was the day when a group of disciples had an extraordinary experience 
that launched them into the streets sharing the good news of forgiveness.

They had begun in fear.
They weren't certain what to do now that Jesus was gone.
They were probably meeting together on this day to pray and seek guidance from above.

And then into their midst, breaking through their peaceful prayer time
a sound like the rush of a violent wind, filling the house 
and a vision of divided tongues, as if made of fire, resting on each one of them.

Oneness in Practice

A sermon for the seventh Sunday of Eastertide given at the United Church of Acworth, NH on May 12, 2013.

John 17:20-26

I remember the first day we drove up into Acworth center to come to this church.
It was August or early September we had moved to South Acworth 
just in time for my brother's 14th birthday.

We lived that year in Brenda McCumber's old house which is now the Turner's house 
next to the Village Store.

And so since school hadn't started yet, the trek to Acworth center was unfamiliar.
It seemed like a long drive for being in the same town.

And it was raining.

But I remember arriving and coming to the door 
and George and Mickey Randall were just inside 
greeting us and welcoming us to church.
And I remember experiencing the big spacious narthex,

And we climbed the long and winding road of the stairs up to the sanctuary.
And entering through the double doors, we were once again greeted
Scott and Laurie Luther-Houghton
And this time with bulletins in hand.
And we found a pew and sat.

Believing

Reflections from a sermon for the sixth Sunday of Eastertide given at the United Church of Acworth, NH on May 5, 2013

Acts 16:9-15

Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5

There is no manuscript for today's sermon.  

It was mainly focused on Lydia and how she encounters Paul while praying down by the riverside in Philippi.

Lydia, if we project a little bit, is a bit like many nowadays who consider themselves "spiritual but not religious."  Who want to worship God and seek out the wisdom of God through reading, conversation, nature (going to riversides), prayer and meditation; but who do not feel like they can identify with one particular organized religion.

Many criticize these individuals, but Diana Butler Bass helps to show in her book Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening that this movement has something to teach those who are part of an organized religion.  There is something to be learned.