May 26, 2020
Dear Church,
Happy Birthday! Of course, your personal date of birth may not fall this week, but as part of the church, we all share a “birthday” this weekend. On Sunday, the 50th day after Easter, the church celebrates Pentecost. It was on Pentecost that the disciples in Jerusalem received the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised before he ascended into heaven. With this form of divine power in the world, the church was born. Their proclamation of good news, and the spread of the gospel in word and deed, began to change the world.
This year, it seems especially important to point out that the birth and beginnings of the church—the uniting of people through the power of the Holy Spirit for the sake of mission—happened without a big brick building, without stained glass or an organ, without hymn books or microphones or candles. The church came into existence simply by the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit, a power that we still claim and rely on today.
How is the Holy Spirit still working in us and through us to reach all kinds of people? I invite you to reflect on this question, as well as the entirety of Acts 2 this weekend and in the coming days. And of course, I also invite you to tune into our Sunday service at 9:30 on the radio at 1390AM or on-line at www.firstlutheran.tv. We hope to have our archiving feature on that website set up for this weekend, and I apologize for those of you who looked for a service recording these past two weeks and did not find it! Links to recorded services will continue to be posted on our flcminot.com website if firstlutheran.tv is not yet fully functional.
Remember that there is an opportunity to worship in-person next week on Wednesday, June 3rd in our parking lot at 7 pm.
This will be a chance to see familiar friendly faces and to sing and pray together, all from a safe distance. Plan to park on the street or in the south lot and bring a lawn chair to sit on if you can. Members of the church council will be there to guide and direct worshipers for the sake of everyone’s health and safety.
Finally, I pray that peace and joy are yours. Have a good week—God is with you.
In Christ,
Pastor Brandy