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This Week's Sermons
Are You Pentecostal?
Acts 2:1-21
The well known author and preacher Fred Craddock tells a rather funny story about a lecture he was giving: A few years ago, when he was on the west coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal." The room grew silent. Craddock said he looked around for the Dean of the seminary! He was no where to be found.
The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody. Craddock was taken aback, and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said, "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" the student said, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, "I want to know if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "I don't know what your question is." The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." He left.
What are we talking about this morning? Is the church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?
In spite of the fact that the church doesn't know what the adjective means, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church, refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere. The church insists that the word is an adjective; it describes the church. The word, then, is "Pentecostal."
If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist! [Insert your own tradition here.]
How do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us, if we are to be Pentecostal? Simply these three things:
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This Week's Sermons
Are You Pentecostal?
Acts 2:1-21
The well known author and preacher Fred Craddock tells a rather funny story about a lecture he was giving: A few years ago, when he was on the west coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal." The room grew silent. Craddock said he looked around for the Dean of the seminary! He was no where to be found.
The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody. Craddock was taken aback, and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said, "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" the student said, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, "I want to know if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "I don't know what your question is." The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." He left.
What are we talking about this morning? Is the church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?
In spite of the fact that the church doesn't know what the adjective means, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church, refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere. The church insists that the word is an adjective; it describes the church. The word, then, is "Pentecostal."
If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist! [Insert your own tradition here.]
How do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us, if we are to be Pentecostal? Simply these three things:
- We Are To Be Of One Accord
- We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer
- We Are To Repent
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Or, sign up by calling toll free anytime (including weekends) 1-800-777-7731.
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Leonard Sweet's Sermon
Fire from Heaven
Acts 2: 1-21
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream."
Is there any food more universally loved than ice cream? It's cool and creamy. Silky smooth. You can have it in any flavor you desire. Even garlic. Ice cream is the ultimate "cool" comfort food.
Of course there was no "ice cream" until there could be "ice-on-demand." That means available ice when it was not threatening to bring down your roof or freeze you to death during a blizzard. Ice cream did not come into its own, was not tasted by other than the uber-rich, until both electricity and its kissing cousin "refrigeration" came into the mix.
It used to be "ice cream" was a summertime back-experience. The ingredients — eggs, sugar, vanilla, cream — went into a container with a crank-handle and a lid. You set the container in ice and you stirred the mixture until it finally began to freeze up. Ice cream was a product of both industrial engineering and elbow grease.
[If you can find an antique ice cream maker with crank handle and paddle, fantastic. Doubly fantastic if someone in your church can make some ice cream in it, or in another ice cream freezer maker.]
Have you checked what's in ice cream these days? At least the featured "coupon" ice creams that come in such an array of flavors, but with this array of ingredients: whey, guar gum, tapioca starch, mono and di-glycerides, polysorbates, artificial flavors, artificial colors, carrageenan (also known as seaweed).
Where's the cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar (then you add the flavors--real peaches or raspberries or pecans or chocolate or caramel)? The smaller the number of ingredients, the more premium the brand. The larger the list of ingredients, the cheaper the brand. Premium ice cream is made of a minimum of ingredients — cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, ice and crank. The bare minimum. The basics. The "real deal" is what speaks to people the world over.
At Pentecost the most basic of basics came forward with power and presence. God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the disciples and transformed them...
The rest of Leonard Sweet's Sermon and all his sermon resources can be obtained by joining MaxieDunnam.com. When you sign up you will get immediate access.
CLICK HERE to join MaxieDunnam.com today.
Or, sign up by calling toll free anytime (including weekends) 1-800-777-7731.
Leonard Sweet's Sermon
Fire from Heaven
Acts 2: 1-21
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream."
Is there any food more universally loved than ice cream? It's cool and creamy. Silky smooth. You can have it in any flavor you desire. Even garlic. Ice cream is the ultimate "cool" comfort food.
Of course there was no "ice cream" until there could be "ice-on-demand." That means available ice when it was not threatening to bring down your roof or freeze you to death during a blizzard. Ice cream did not come into its own, was not tasted by other than the uber-rich, until both electricity and its kissing cousin "refrigeration" came into the mix.
It used to be "ice cream" was a summertime back-experience. The ingredients — eggs, sugar, vanilla, cream — went into a container with a crank-handle and a lid. You set the container in ice and you stirred the mixture until it finally began to freeze up. Ice cream was a product of both industrial engineering and elbow grease.
[If you can find an antique ice cream maker with crank handle and paddle, fantastic. Doubly fantastic if someone in your church can make some ice cream in it, or in another ice cream freezer maker.]
Have you checked what's in ice cream these days? At least the featured "coupon" ice creams that come in such an array of flavors, but with this array of ingredients: whey, guar gum, tapioca starch, mono and di-glycerides, polysorbates, artificial flavors, artificial colors, carrageenan (also known as seaweed).
Where's the cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar (then you add the flavors--real peaches or raspberries or pecans or chocolate or caramel)? The smaller the number of ingredients, the more premium the brand. The larger the list of ingredients, the cheaper the brand. Premium ice cream is made of a minimum of ingredients — cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, ice and crank. The bare minimum. The basics. The "real deal" is what speaks to people the world over.
At Pentecost the most basic of basics came forward with power and presence. God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the disciples and transformed them...
The rest of Leonard Sweet's Sermon and all his sermon resources can be obtained by joining MaxieDunnam.com. When you sign up you will get immediate access.
CLICK HERE to join MaxieDunnam.com today.
Or, sign up by calling toll free anytime (including weekends) 1-800-777-7731.
