Sunday, May 31, 2020

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

The Coming of the Holy Spirit


Today, the Christian Church celebrates the day of Pentecost. It was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples of Jesus, following His resurrection. 
I Judaism the Festival of Weeks has been celebrated as a Harvest Festival for centuries. It was celebrated seven weeks and one day, hence pente, or fifty, after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the early first century the celebration took on a remembering of the covenant during Noah’s time that God made between Himself and “all flesh that is upon the earth.” He would never again wipe out all of mankind as He had done in the flood. 


After the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD which ended the bringing of offerings to the Temple, the festival shifted from its agricultural roots to a remembrance of the giving of the law, the Ten Commandments, to Moses on Mount Sanai. 



Acts: 1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

And while staying[a] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”



 

In the passage today, the disciples have gathered together, and they are waiting for the Holy Spirit. They actually don’t know what they are waiting for. Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit, the promise of God the Father. But what that would actually look like, they had no idea. But they waited for about 10 days. 
And then, as the book of Acts tells the story, “there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”


The gift of tongues has created quite a stir in the Christian church over the years for many reasons. Some have and some don’t. There are even people who say in only existed in the past, during the early days of the church, and is no longer available to the followers of Jesus. But with all of the controversy, two things are true, from my perspective. It is only a gift, it is not the be-all-end-all of the Christian experience. And, it is not designed for every Christian to have the gift anyway. The apostle Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthian church, “ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” There are a variety of gifts and they are distributed around the church as the Holy Spirit deems appropriate and they are to be used for the common good of the church. Gifts are not designed to make someone stand out and be better than another, but they are distributed to the members of the church so that the church can work together as a cohesive group to accomplish the work of Jesus Christ. 
But, back to the story. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended in a violent way, a mighty rushing wind filling the whole house where they were gathered. Each of the people began to speak and the languages were not their normal language. Yet the commotion caused a large crowd to gather around the disciples and those people were from all over northern Africa, the middle east, and southern Europe, as we know these places today. And each of the listeners were surprised because they were hearing the disciples speak in their native language about the mighty acts of God. 


It was quite an experience and over 5,000 people said they wanted to follow Jesus as the Christ on that day. 
We know the Holy Spirit is God. We believe in what we call a Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without going into the theology of the Triune God or Trinity, let me just say, the Holy Spirit is God, along with the Father and the Son, Jesus. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers at the time they believe in Jesus as their Savior. The Father knows how to give good gifts to His children and He freely gives the Holy Spirit to us when we ask.
 
It is nice to have the experience of feeling the Holy Spirit come into our presence and touch us in some mystical way, but the joy of the Holy Spirit is all of the things He does for us behind the scenes. He is our spiritual teacher. He is the one who helps us understand the Bible when we read it. He reminds us of the words of Jesus when we need to have the spiritual help they offer. We can read the Bible and promptly forget what we have read, but when the time is right for us to know something from the Bible, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the words we have read. In this way, we have the spiritual knowledge we need at the right time in our life. 
The Holy Spirit also makes us aware of our sins, not to condemn us, but to help us. When I am aware of my sins and let God know how I feel, He does not try to make me feel bad about what I have done, but because of what Jesus has done, God forgives us, restores us, and helps us make better choices I the future. Those better choices are another thing the Holy Spirit does for us, He teaches us about righteousness, or living according to God’s agenda rather than our own. 
 
There are so many other things the Holy Spirit does for us, but it is interesting how the Bible shares that His main task is to Glorify Jesus. He gives people words and music so they can write songs for the church to sing. He helps us to see the work of Jesus in all of creation, I love seeing a beautiful sunset and remarking, “Jesus painted a good one tonight.” He helps us in our relationships with one another, so we set aside what we want and seek to help others in the body of Christ find what is best for them. 
 
What a blessing the Holy Spirit is for our lives. Often, we do not even see evidence of His presence, but He is actively at work. 
 
The Holy Spirit is available to help. The first step in having the Holy Spirit is to ask Jesus to come into your life, forgive you, and make you whole. Without Jesus, the Holy Spirit cannot do His work in your life. Then you need to ask the Holy Spirit to pour out over you. We often sing the little chorus, “Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.” 
 
I Bless you in the name of Jesus, with the hunger to know more of Jesus and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Especially on this day of Pentecost. 


May the Holy Spirit have free reign in this world, to calm the disruptions in people’s lives and to bring wisdom to the research doctors and scientists so they might find a vaccine for this virus. 


Pastor Edd


Monday, May 25, 2020

Memorial Day Weekend, Turn Your Radio On!





We hope you will enjoy Edd Breeden's sermon yesterday that we have uploaded onto Youtube as well as the little number shared by our choir, "Turn Your Radio On".  Each Sunday, we upload our sermon to this same YouTube channel for Bonny Doon Church.

Hopefully, you and your family have enjoyed a meaningful Memorial Day despite restrictions of sheltering-in-place.   In addition to remembering those who died to protect our freedoms, this weekend often marks the beginning of Summer when families take vacations and many of us look forward to camping trips.   Our church, we will continue to meet online for the foreseeable future.   We hope you will consider joining us in worship.

Since we began to shelter-in-place, our pastor Edd Breeden has been walking through the Psalms and sending a daily devotional as encouragement to anyone on our church email list.  Below is Sunday's post "Enjoying the Presence of God".  To receive these devotionals simply add your name and email and "Sign Up" at the bottom of our church's web page.  Each Sunday, he delivers a sermon on the current Psalm during our virtual church service.   


Enjoying the Presence of God

 

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 

I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.

I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

 

My eyes grow dim with waiting. This is where an attitude adjustment is needed. Why am I waiting and not enjoying? This is a choice we can make, we either accept our situation and make the best of it or we become more and more discouraged. 

 

Solomon was a king who tried everything to find happiness. He lays out a litany of experiences in the book of Ecclesiastes. In chapter 3 he speaks the words, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” (Ecc. 3:2) And after a long list of conditions he concludes with, “What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;  also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.” (Ecc. 9-13) According to Solomon, God does His best for us. We need to accept our “lot” in life and move on. Apparently, we have a choice, although many times finding the switch to change from “eyes growing dim” to “being joyful,” is not an easy thing to do.

 

Why do I focus so much on the circumstances than on the blessings God has given me? Because, right now, I do not see the blessings as blessings. I see the circumstances as in the way of my plans and I do not see any benefit for me in my situation. What does it take to change that thinking to, “Whatever situation I find myself in, God is with me and He is going to help me through this and together we will be victorious?” I heard a quote last week that I liked, “We live in fear” and I might add, frustration, “because we project our past into our future.” Why not project the truth into our future, God has given us life to be busy with and He has made everything beautiful in its time? Let’s look to the future with the eyes of faith that God will always do what is best for us. And that includes the circumstances we currently find ourselves in. 

 

 

10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.

 

David talks about the reaction he receives from the people around him. There is a fine line between having people like you so you can share the gospel with them and sharing the gospel with them whether they continue to like you or not. David talks about God and gets persecuted. Do we avoid talking about our faith to remain friends with those who might not like what we have to say? This is not an either-or question. There might be times when the best approach is to ease up on our conversation to give others a chance to process the faith in their own time. And there might also be times when if we do not say something about our faith in Jesus and their need for the same, that might never again have a chance to know Jesus. Are the fields ripe for harvest, as Jesus called it, or are we still in the process of cultivating the field? 

 

There is no right answer to this question. We each have to decide that timing for ourselves. But do not wait too long to avoid persecution that you fail to share with others the reason for the hope within you. 

 

 

22 Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. 

23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.

27 Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you. 

 

David’s approach of what He wants God to do to his enemies is contrary to the Christian way of thinking. It is much in line with what we feel often. Somebody has done something to us, and we want them destroyed. We are so angry we would like their plans to backfire and consume them. We would like to have them wallow in their own circumstances and have it be difficult for them. And we might even feel like David, let them receive punishment upon punishment. 

That is our old nature coming out. The human attitude is to have the enemy destroyed. Yet Jesus said we should turn the other cheek when we are confronted. Meaning we should not let our enemies get the best of us by wearing us down and causing us to think and do the same evil they do. 

 

God said that vengeance belongs to Him, and He is the only one who can clearly bring judgment in the best way possible. Any attempt I would have on dishing out judgment on others would not be enough, that is why the first thought is to wipe them off the face of the earth. But God says, “love your enemy, do good to those who hate you.” 

 

What is God trying to do? If you love others, with the love of Jesus Christ, no matter how they treat you, you will show them something they do not have. Jesus knows they will appreciate this love and strength in such a way that they will think about changing from “the kingdom of darkness” to the “kingdom of light.” It is when they cannot understand the love that they melt. If we treat them like they treat us, they do not see the difference between us and them. They cannot see a benefit to following Jesus if He does not make a difference in our lives. But if we live in such a way that they see a disconnect between their way of thinking and ours, then they will question where we have something more real than they do. And they just might then be able to listen to the Holy Spirit and make a change. 

 

Life is good, God in present, and He is blessing you, no matter the circumstances in your life. 

Do not hide your faith in Jesus, especially not to avoid persecution. 

And do not seek revenge against others, Let God handle them, just love them with the love of Jesus.  

 

Be Blessed Today. 


Edd Bredden












Friday, May 01, 2020

Bonny Doon "Virtual" Spring Craft Faire



Bonny Doon "Virtual" Spring Craft Faire

With the "shelter-in-place" order, we have moved our Spring craft faire online. Join us on Zoom to visit with your favorite vendors and see their newest creations.
 

So how will the online craft faire work?

When joining the online craft faire, you will initially enter a Main Room. Our craft faire host will help you navigate between different vendors. Each vendor will have their own "breakout room" which acts as a virtual booth. When you would like to check out a vendor, you indicate to the craft faire host which vendor you'd like to visit. The host will place in in the vendor's "breakout room". Once you are in the vendor's breakout room, you will be able to visit with the vendor and other individuals in the room. Whenever you are ready, you will be able to leave the room on your own and return to the Main Room.

When you have found "that perfect something" that you'd like to purchase, you will work with the vendor to sort out payment. Each vendor will have their own mechanism for accepting payment. Some may use Venmo, others may use Square ore PayPal. Payment for products and delivery of products is left up to you and the vendor.

By clicking this link you can join our virtual craft faire using Zoom video conference:
https://zoom.us/j/5013145479.