Memorize & Ponder for Sunday June 8, 2014
Pentecost
Acts 2:6-8 (NRSV)
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,
Because each one heard them speaking
in the native language of each.
Amazed and astonished, they said,
‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us,
in our own native language?’
Throughout 2014, the Christian community at Brentwood Presbyterian Church is getting to know Jesus, the Christ, in a refreshing and transformative way. We invite you to listen for what the Spirit is saying in the text, then question how those insights might change the ways you see things and act in the world. Share your thoughts during the week on the meaning the Spirit creates for you in this text by posting a comment here.
A Provocative Pondering
This Pentecost Sunday, Brentwood is delighted to be hosting the Kirking of the Tartan service held annually by the Sons of Scotland.
Brentwood is a very diverse congregation, with members from more than a dozen native lands, among them Scotland. Like many countries and regions in this world, Scotland has known known its share of tribal/clan conflict and strife. Too often, the church has condoned such rivalry.
That must change. The story of Pentecost is the story of the birth of a community of faith that is the Body of Christ, united and working together to continue his ministry on earth, with the inspiration and support of the Holy Spirit. The love God showed to all of humanity and to the creation itself in the work and witness of Jesus Christ encompasses all tribes and clans, drawing them into a mission that generates a peaceable commonwealth among all human beings.
We are far from that ideal today. God invites us to become more active in the creation of such a commonwealth. That is what ‘kirking’ is really about – placing your tribal and national loyalties in their proper place as the world comes together as the family/clan of God’s beloved children.
Join us in our study groups and worship services to ponder together what the Spirit is teaching us through this text.