MAY 24 LIVE Worship

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:03:31]Well, >> good morning everybody.

[00:03:34]>> Welcome to worship this morning on this beautiful Sunday morning. Those of you here in the sanctuary and those of you watching online, we're so glad to be together and I'm glad to welcome you today to God's house. There's a lot going on today. You'll notice a few changes in the uh the uh lurggical decorations today and I'll talk about that in a moment. It's also Memorial Day weekend which is a time when we remember those who's gone before us who've given their lives in service and sacrifice and also just remembering people who've gone before us. And in that light I just want to Is David Reid here today? Just wanted to say I am wearing his wife Lois's stole and she passed away a few years ago. She was a Lutheran minister. So, in her honor, I'm wearing her stole, a red stole, which is the lurggical color of what day in the church?

[00:04:28]>> Pentecost. And so, here we are in Pentecost. I'll talk a little bit more about what that is later, but the lurggical colors are red and white. And you'll see the flames of fire on these uh flags. And if you come on the other side, you'll notice doves. Both of those are symbols of the Holy Spirit. And then you'll notice here these lovely um uh uh hangings that were painted by our own Susie Skugstad who's here today. I saw her. Yeah. Thank you for And she uh painted these a few years ago to honor Pentecost and to give us the uh the chapter from the book of Acts from which Pentecost comes. So I'm going to get back to that in a moment. But welcome everybody. We're so glad you're here today. Um, if you want to take a moment to, if you're a visitor, sign in one of these connect cards that are in the pew racks in front of you and let us know uh, you're here and leave us any contact information you'd like to leave us so we can be in touch with you.

[00:05:27]There's also a place on the back for prayer requests for anybody. And there's an online version, too. Just two quick announcements. Coming up in two weeks, we will have choir Sunday, which is just a wonderful occasion when Steve Maine brings the the the choir on choir Sunday, but also other musicians to have a wonderful service focused on music.

[00:05:49]And it's kind of like Memorial Day in our church. It's kind of a time in Pentecost to think about the beginning of summer as well. And then on that day, that very same day in two weeks, we will also have our congregational meeting which will take place right after the service. So please stay for that. We want to make sure we get a quorum. So don't leave right after worship and go off and get coffee. But we'll have time for that on that day. But please come. A lot of good stuff to talk about the life of our church as well. Speaking of which, I want to invite our liturgist Julie McDonald to share a little bit today about something coming up in our church.

[00:06:27]Good morning everyone. Um I'm here um to announce a couple of things that Women Together are putting on. Women Together is a very loosely structured group of women that came out of the women's retreat two years ago. And we put on events that are just wonderful fellowship events and usually help us grow in the spirit as well. And what's special about Women Together is all the events are put on by members of the church who share their talents with the rest of us. We don't bring in outsiders and sometimes it takes a lot of coaxing to get people to put on an event for us.

[00:07:02]So we have something very special coming up next Saturday at 1:00 1 to 2:30 in Guild Hall. Kimry Leong, a member of our church who is not a dance instructor, is going to be lead us in leading us in group movement, also known as lurggical dance. She learned it from her mother.

[00:07:21]It's very slow and gracious, easy to do.

[00:07:25]But just as we enjoy singing together, the act of moving together can be very fulfilling. So you can come watch, you can come participate. So please show up next u Saturday at 1:00.

[00:07:37]It'll be a great day. Um, also in on June 28th, Women Together is going to be leading be beginning a short series of classes on spiritual practices to connect and deepen our relationship with God. It's going to be less led by Nancy Walters who is herself an ordained minister. And um the first topic will be prayer as a spiritual practice. So, you'll hear more about that later. Hope to see you next Saturday, one o'clock in Guild Hall.

[00:08:09]Thank you.

[00:08:10]>> Thanks, Julie. Speaking of spiritual practice and the spirit, one of the spiritual practices is to read and pay attention to scripture as well as a way of connecting with the spirit of God.

[00:08:22]So, let me read you the longer version of the second chapter of Acts, which tells us what Pentecost is all about.

[00:08:31]Listen now for God's word. when the day of Pentecost had finally arrived, which is 50 days after Easter and for the Jewish people it was 50 days after Passover. So it was also a Jewish festival, the festival of Shabuot or tabernacles when they remembered and celebrate the giving that God giving the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Si.

[00:08:53]So all these Jewish people from all over the world were gathered in Jerusalem for that holiday. When the day of Pentecost had finally arrived, the disciples of Jesus were all together in the same place. Suddenly, there came from heaven a noise like the sound of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then tongues seemingly made of fire appeared to them, moving apart and coming to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the words to say. There were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem at that time. And when they heard this noise, they came together in a crowd. They were deeply puzzled because every single one of them could hear them speaking in his own his or her own native language. They were astonished and amazed. These men who are doing the speaking are all Galileans, aren't they? So, how is it that that each of us can hear them in our own mother tongues?

[00:09:55]Everyone was astonished and perplexed.

[00:09:59]"What does it all mean?" they were asking each other, but some sneered.

[00:10:04]"They're filled with new wine," they said.

[00:10:08]Then Peter got up with the 11. He spoke in a loud voice. "People of Judea," he began. "All of you staying here in Jerusalem, there's something you have to know. Listen to what I'm saying.

[00:10:21]These people aren't drunk."

[00:10:23]As you imagine, it's only 9:00 in the morning.

[00:10:26]They're sharing the good news that the one who was crucified and rose from the dead, Jesus, that God has made him both Lord and Messiah to save the world. So repent and be baptized, every one of you, in his name, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

[00:10:45]So those who welcomed his message were baptized and that day about 3,000 pe persons were added to the followers of Jesus who came to be known as the church. We're celebrating the birthday of the Christian church and the gift of the spirit. So let us prepare our hearts and minds to worship God as God's people as we listen to the prelude.

[00:13:08]Please join me in saying the call to worship. Come Holy Spirit.

[00:13:14]>> Come be the wind and fire that transform our lives.

[00:13:20]>> Breathe upon us as we study your word of life.

[00:13:24]>> Kindle faith from our believing doubt.

[00:13:28]>> Cleanse us from our wewardness.

[00:13:31]Deepen our passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[00:13:35]>> Give us voice to proclaim your mighty works in every tongue.

[00:13:40]>> Fill your church with power. Come Holy Spirit come.

[00:14:17]Heat. Heat.

[00:14:26]Jesus forever blessed My voice in the heart of darkness And when the sky is the seam and again.

[00:16:15]and Holy Ghost.

[00:16:22]Hallelu.

[00:16:32]As we remember all the saints who've come before us, we're called to be honest about how often we fail to live up to their example. So, let's admit our need for God's mercy as we say together the prayer of confession.

[00:16:47]>> Gracious spirit, you indeed are the breath upon the waters and the wind beneath our wings. Yet, how often we think that because we cannot see you, you are not really there. We begin to trust our own strength, make our own decisions, enjoy our own triumphs, succeed by our own hard work. And we cross an invisible line and turn from your invisible presence. No longer do we seek you with all our heart, mind, and soul. We neglect the labors of prayer and the work of silence. We cut ourselves off from the fellowship of faith and neglect our searching your holy word. Gracious spirit, forgive our blind eyes which do not see your hovering presence. Let us feel once again the breath of life which flows from your constant care. Renew us and all creation. In Jesus' name we pray.

[00:17:51]Amen.

[00:17:54]Still with thee break Morning.

[00:18:31]Thee.

[00:18:43]Amen.

[00:18:51]>> Friends, with joy I declare to you that in Jesus Christ, God forgives you. God has loved you, loves you now, and will love you always. This is the good news of new life. Believe it, pass it on, and be at peace. Amen.

[00:19:08]>> Amen.

[00:19:10]>> I invite you all to greet one another.

[00:19:23]Anyways, Let's continue now in prayer.

[00:20:08]Holy Spirit of God, we come together this day to give you praise, to give you thanks.

[00:20:15]We open ourselves to the fresh breath, the fresh breeze, the fiery power of your presence as our mothers and fathers in faith have done for generations.

[00:20:27]And this weekend, we're also remembering those who have gone before us, who gave their lives on behalf of our nation in times of service and struggle. So we pray for our nation today and for your church which contains all nations and has no borders.

[00:20:45]Call us to our better angels. Move us to overcome what divides us to mend the fabric of our community and to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you and with one another.

[00:20:59]Spirit of truth, as you've spoken to people in all times and places, in a mighty wind or a still small voice, speak to us again today.

[00:21:08]Even if we don't have or know the words to pray, speak and pray through us.

[00:21:14]Refresh and revive us. And with each breath we take, wherever we are, let us know we're never alone.

[00:21:23]Spirit of peace, there are times when life seems so out of control or things happen that just seem so senseless and cruel, but still you call us to come to you in prayer. So along with our words, move us to act, to stand and to work for what's right and just, healing and lifegiving.

[00:21:43]Some of us today are in need of your tender care. Some of us could use a word of correction or forgiveness.

[00:21:50]We also know of so many others in so many places in our own community and around the world who face a time of desperation.

[00:21:59]They seek mercy, compassion, comfort, and peace, healing, and hope to be set free from all the forces that beat them down or hold them captive.

[00:22:12]So in a moment of silence, we lift up the needs, the cares of anyone, any people we know of today in silence.

[00:22:32]Spirit of the living God, fall aresh on us today. And as we remember the sacrifices of those who've gone before us, give us a fresh spirit to guide our path ahead as your people in this place and in every place. Hear us now as we pray together with one voice in whatever language the words our Lord Jesus has taught us, saying, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[00:23:07]>> Give us this day our daily bread.

[00:23:10]Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[00:23:19]For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

[00:23:26]Well, a little different today. We're not having a coral anthem right now. So, you're going to have to keep listening to me talk for a bit. The choir is going to sing the offeratory a little bit later after the sermon. So, here we are.

[00:23:39]We're in a on another Sunday morning.

[00:23:41]We're continuing our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, stories that Jesus told. And the parable we're going to look at today actually fits really well with the theme of Pentecost 2. So it's it they fit together really well.

[00:23:58]And so let us hear now listen to God's word to us today from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

[00:24:09]After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levy or Levi sitting at the tax collection station. And he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up, left everything, and followed him. And then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house. And there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others reclining a table with them.

[00:24:35]The Pharisees and the scribes were complaining to Jesus' disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

[00:24:42]Jesus answered, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

[00:24:55]And then they said to him, "John's disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink." Jesus said to them, "You cannot make wedding attendants fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."

[00:25:19]And then he told them a parable.

[00:25:24]No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on to an old garment.

[00:25:29]Otherwise, not only will one tear the new garment, but the piece from the new garment will not match the old garment.

[00:25:38]Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wine skins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out and the skins will be ruined.

[00:25:50]But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins.

[00:25:56]And no, no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says the old is good.

[00:26:02]This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. And let's pray.

[00:26:08]Holy God, we pray that you will grant us the eyes to see and the ears to hear and the hearts and minds to understand your word to us and your world this day as best we can in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:26:23]Well, how many of you have ever seen a one of those lists that shows up online or in your email box? I get them all the time in my email. a list of church bulletin bloopers. How many of you ever seen those? I know some of you have because you send them to me. So, and I have seen pretty much all of them. They mostly are like the old standards like the sermon today is on our stewardship theme.

[00:26:54]I upped my pledge now up yours.

[00:27:01]The choir will meet at the Larsson house for fun and sinning.

[00:27:10]>> Okay. Yeah. Well, maybe they're gonna do that. I don't know. Maybe it's not a blooper. I don't know.

[00:27:15]And then one I really like. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.

[00:27:25]Well, if you take out our bulletin today and you look at it or if you look at the email yesterday that went out from the church about today's uh service, you'll notice that next to where it says sermon, it says my name, Reverend Dr. Don Ashburn, preaching today. And right under that it says filled with new wine.

[00:27:49]Filled with new wine. Now, in case there is any doubt, that is just a sermon title.

[00:27:57]I am not filled with new wine or with old wine. I may be filled with coffee, but that's about it today. It's just that when I came up with that sermon title, I was doing a deep dive into the wine making process in first century Palestine.

[00:28:14]I wanted to know why exactly you can't put new wine into old wine skins, let alone why you'd want to drink new wine anyway, unless it's a bojlet nuvo for Thanksgiving or something like that. Why would you want to drink something that's brand new when everybody knows most wines improve with age?

[00:28:33]Anyway, before we get to that, let's put this passage I just read into some context. Jesus is just by the Sea of Galilee. He's up in the north of Judea and Galilee. Has just called the first four of his disciples. They are all bunch of just regular everyday old fishermen.

[00:28:52]And then he's healed a couple people and and a whole big crowd starts following him. And then he meets a tax collector by the name of Levi or Levy who we also know as Matthew who wrote the first of the gospels.

[00:29:08]Now, to be honest, I doubt any of us here today or watching online really enjoys paying taxes, but I doubt we would hold it personally against an individual employee of the IRS or the franchise tax board. But things were different in Jesus day because the taxes that Levi collected from other Jews went straight to the Roman Empire.

[00:29:38]actually not straight because the Romans farmed out the collection of taxes wherever they went um to the people that were part of the empire, anybody, they farmed it out to local entrepreneurs who' pocket a share of the proceeds of the taxes for themselves.

[00:29:58]That's how they made money.

[00:30:00]So tax collectors weren't just seen as collaborators with an oppressive foreign power or doing something you don't happen to like. They were also known to be crooks, vile.

[00:30:17]That's why the religious authorities saw them as amongst the worst of sinners.

[00:30:23]And tax tax collectors, Jewish tax collectors were almost always kicked out of the local synagogue.

[00:30:29]They were social outcasts.

[00:30:33]But who does Jesus approach?

[00:30:36]A tax collector by the name of Levi. And immediately Levi quits his job and follows him. And then he invites Jesus to this big old dinner party with a bunch of his tax collector friends because who else is going to go to a dinner party put on by a tax collector than other tax collectors, right? But Jesus goes, of course, this draws the attention of the religious authorities who are Pharisees who are basically rabbis who believe that the the only way or the best way to get close to God or to do what God wants you to do is to be a Jew, a member of the chosen people, and to scrupulously follow all the laws that are written down in the Hebrew Bible.

[00:31:24]And now they see Jesus eating with some of the worst rule violators they can imagine, tax collectors, which points out how important the rules of table fellowship were 2,000 years ago.

[00:31:45]Because back then, nothing showed more clearly who you are than who you eat with. There was an ancient neareastern saying that says,"I know who you are because I saw who you ate with."

[00:32:00]So who you eat with means so so very very much. So to the Pharisees, Jesus eating with sinners means he may be one of them.

[00:32:12]But why would he, if he calls himself or wants to be a rabbi, a righteous person, why on earth would Jesus sit down and have a meal and identify with the worst sinners imaginable?

[00:32:27]Now Jesus responds when they ask him why he does this. He says, "Those who are well don't need a physician, only the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[00:32:42]Now that might sound kind of weird to us today, but in ancient times it was common knowledge. Everybody believed that sickness was a result of sin.

[00:32:54]Either your own sin or somebody else's sin. Somehow something wrong had happened and God was either making you get sick or allowing you to get sick as a kind of uh recompense for something that was wrong done wrong. So Jesus quite naturally is equating being sick with being a sinner. That's how his culture saw things and being well with being righteous or good.

[00:33:25]So it's perfectly clear to the Pharisees, hey, we're the good guys, right? We're the good guys. There's nothing wrong with us. We are healthy. We are well. We are untainted by sin and we are uncorrupted by helping out foreigners.

[00:33:42]And anyone else who isn't like us is almost by definition a sinner.

[00:33:49]And you and I might think that's more or less the definition of being self-righteous, judgmental.

[00:33:57]But notice that Jesus doesn't call him out for this.

[00:34:03]He'll have plenty to say later on in the gospel about hypocrisy and self-righteousness and judgmentalism and all this stuff, but for now, he's just getting started in his ministry and teaching. He's calling into question here the whole distinction between being sick or well, righteous or a sinner, in or out, us or them.

[00:34:28]And he leaves it up to his listeners to decide which category they fit in.

[00:34:37]Are they?

[00:34:39]Are you and I simply one or the other?

[00:34:43]Saint or sinner, well or sick, in or out?

[00:34:49]Or maybe we're a bit of a mixed bag.

[00:34:53]The point is Jesus the physician identifies with those who know they sin at least to a degree. They fall short of what God has called them has called us to do. They know they need help, mercy, and forgiveness and to find a new direction in life. That's who he's called to.

[00:35:16]So he opens up in his teaching and his presence a pathway to God's grace and mercy and forgiveness for them because they have opened their hearts to him.

[00:35:31]Now the Pharisees go on to complain that Jesus and his disciples don't fast. That is they don't refrain from eating for designated periods of time. And he uses a very well-known metaphor from the Hebrew Bible of a wedding feast. the wedding feast to describe what he's doing. He's saying by using this metaphor or symbol, he's saying that in his life and in his message, he is bringing into reality that joyous time beyond belief when God acts decisively to save the whole world from evil and from empire.

[00:36:09]Jesus is saying that time has arrived in me right now in Jesus.

[00:36:17]A day is going to come later on when he's taken away. That is when the Bible says he's lifted up into heaven to be enthroned with God on the right hand side. But for now in the gospel, when he's still with the disciples in the flesh, now is not a time to fast.

[00:36:35]Now's the time to feast, have a party, a wedding banquet, which brings us to the parable of wine skins.

[00:36:45]It's short, the parable of the wine skins, but like all the other parables we've looked at in this series. It starts with a very ordinary situation that anybody 2,000 years ago in Palestine would have totally understood what Jesus was talking about, although we might not 2,000 years later.

[00:37:02]So, everybody knows, probably we know this too, that you don't just tear off a piece of cloth from a new garment and sew it onto an old garment to patch it up. If you do, you're going to wind up ruining both garments.

[00:37:20]In the same way, Jesus says, "No one puts new wine into old wine skins.

[00:37:27]Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins. it'll spill out and the skins will be ruined.

[00:37:36]Okay, now we can get into some deep details about how they made wine in first century Palestine. You knew it was coming, right?

[00:37:44]Anyway, wine was a very, very big part of culture, everyday life back then, all over the Middle East and lots of other places. Mainly because the water was so bad and unhealthy that people of all ages, including children, drank wine on almost every meal, but they also would often dilute it with bad water or other things as well. So to make wine they would crush a harvest of grapes. Then they would strain the juice, the stems, the the skins and of the yeast that clung to the stems. And after that they would put the remaining must into sealed ceramic containers to ferment.

[00:38:26]Now after they wanted the wine to travel, they didn't have bottles or anything like like that. So they had wine skins which were basically made out of goat skins. And so what they would do is they would take these goat skins, they would put the must, the grapes and the yeast etc. into these goat skins.

[00:38:44]They would seal them seal them up to make them airtight and then they could travel.

[00:38:50]So as everyone knows as at least in Jesus day as wine ferments gases that pre pressurize gases pressurized a airtight container right so as everybody knew in Jesus time a wine skin has to be fresh has to be fresh has to be soft and supple capable of expanding and stretching while the gases bubble away.

[00:39:22]Old wine skins are rigid.

[00:39:26]They've already been stretched as far as they can go. So, if you put new wine in to ferment, the skin's going to crack.

[00:39:34]It's going to burst and everything's going to be ruined.

[00:39:39]So, that's wine making 2,000 years ago.

[00:39:44]A little bit of it, I can promise you. I studied a lot more of that. But anyway, so in the parable here, Jesus is once again taking a very ordinary fact of life to teach a lesson about the new way of life he is proclaiming in his ministry.

[00:40:04]The new way of life that Jesus is proclaiming just won't fit into old patterns and practices that separate people into categories.

[00:40:17]It'll be like putting new wine into old wine skins.

[00:40:23]Something's going to burst because you just can't contain the wideness of God's mercy and love and grace for all people and for all of creation within our cramped human distinctions of who's in, who's out, who's saint, who's sinner, who's us or them. You can't fit that in our narrow little wine skins, our narrow little ways of understanding the world.

[00:40:55]And that brings us to Pentecost, the day we're celebrating. As you heard earlier, Jesus disciples are suddenly able to receive the gift of speaking in other languages so that every people under heaven can understand. Looked something like this.

[00:41:13]They can hear the people listening the message and they can respond to it too. The message that Jesus is the longexected Messiah who has come to save the world.

[00:41:26]And while some respond positively to that message, others don't or can't.

[00:41:35]They sneer. They say, "Don't listen to these babbling Galileans. They're drunk, filled with new wine."

[00:41:43]Which may remind you of the parable, right? Especially the end of the parable, which only shows up in Luke's gospel. It doesn't show up in the other gospels that also tell this parable.

[00:41:56]Jesus says this to the Pharisees. No one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but they say the old is good.

[00:42:08]In other words, old wine can taste good, it can be so good, in fact that why' you ever want to try something new?

[00:42:21]In the same way, it is easy to stick with our familiar tastes, habits, ideas.

[00:42:30]Not that traditions or old things are necessarily bad and shiny new objects or new things are always good. They aren't.

[00:42:37]But it's certainly true that just clinging on to what's comforting or familiar can make it extremely hard to hear and to embrace the lifechanging, lifegiving message of Jesus.

[00:42:57]I was thinking about this a couple weeks ago when I was in Charleston, South Carolina. How many of you ever been to Charleston, South Carolina? Beautiful, beautiful place. Loved it. Beautiful old city on the Atlantic Ocean coast. I really enjoyed my time there, especially since it wasn't August when it's uh hot and sticky.

[00:43:20]Anyway, I learned that one of the nicknames for Charleston, I didn't know this going there. I learned that one of the nicknames for Charleston is the holy city. Holy City. Because apparently it has more churches per capita than any other place in America.

[00:43:35]And I believe there churches everywhere.

[00:43:38]They also have it in their uh well at least they say this. It's not really in their uh uh law, but there's this idea that everybody has common knowledge that no building in Charleston can be taller than the tallest church steeple, which today happens to be a Lutheran church of all things.

[00:43:58]So it's the holy city, Charleston, South Carolina.

[00:44:04]What else is Charleston known for?

[00:44:09]Well, way back in 1861, Charleston was also the city where a civil war started that killed 800,000 Americans all in defense of the abomination of keeping black people enslaved.

[00:44:25]And it makes me wonder, how can a city or a people or a nation that claims to be holy or Christian engage in such dehumanizing behavior for generation after generation or willingly cause such division?

[00:44:48]Of course, that's a question not just for Charleston or America, but for all people everywhere. Because I mean, we humans have a natural tendency to divide ourselves. We divide ourselves into tribes or parties or nations, religion, denominations, whatever it happens to be.

[00:45:07]We cling to people and ideas we're familiar with, news sources, whatever, and we close ourselves off from what may seem different or threatened or new.

[00:45:24]We're like old wine skins, unable to hold the new wine that Jesus wants to get inside of us to ferment.

[00:45:38]But you know there's hope even for old wines because in Jesus' day it was also common to recondition old wine skins.

[00:45:55]They would clean them out, soak them in oil just long enough to make this old letter soft again and supple and receptive to new wine. They didn't let it go to waste.

[00:46:06]And you know, a similar thing can happen to you and me when we get stuck in rigid, tired, old ways of being or thinking or doing.

[00:46:23]We call it that process of reconditioning. We call it repentance.

[00:46:31]repentance, which simply means turning around. Turning around. It's taking account of your life, your thoughts and actions that may have hurt other people or yourself. It's taken account and it's somehow being able to see it through the lens of God's grace and love and then it's taking account of your life and then it's it's taking responsibility to take a new path in life knowing that God goes with you wherever you go.

[00:47:04]Now, it's not always easy.

[00:47:07]As I said, thank God we're never walking alone.

[00:47:13]Because the Holy Spirit can do for us what we can never hope to do for ourselves and give us what Paul calls in Galatians 5 the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

[00:47:33]Maybe not all at once. I mean, there's only so much fruit or wine you can ever take in at one sitting. But happens.

[00:47:42]I've seen it.

[00:47:45]Like last Saturday afternoon, right here in the sanctuary, right here at church, we hosted a graduation ceremony for 11 guys who had just finished our partner, City Team Ministries 6 to 12 month program of uh recovery from addiction and training to live a new life.

[00:48:09]And they shared some right from here from this pulpit. They shared some amazing stories of how God's spirit along with mentors and friends and family gave them the power and the support to do what they could never have done on their own.

[00:48:24]At various points in their lives, every single one of these guys had been seen as losers, social outcasts, as sinners, even sometimes by people who call themselves Christians.

[00:48:38]But then after the ceremony, as a church, as the body of Christ, we hosted them and their families over there in the guild hall for lunch.

[00:48:55]We had a feast in God's house.

[00:49:00]Let me tell you, even if absolutely no wine was served for obvious reasons, some old wine skills were getting reconditioned to ferment and to yield a new vintage of grace and acceptance and love and mercy.

[00:49:24]So on this Pentecost Sunday, how open are you to take in the new wine that the spirit wants to get inside of you. Are you rigid, stuck in your old ways that divide people into categories of us, them, in, out, saint, sinner?

[00:49:44]Or are you open to receive the richness of God's grace and love for all people including yourself in Jesus name.

[00:49:57]Let's pray.

[00:50:00]Holy God, we give you thanks for this day and we pray that your spirit in the still small voice or in a mighty wind will speak to us, breathe on us, enter into us to to bring us to a place where we can hear your message. We can respond to it positively. We can ferment new wine and yield a tasteful, wonderful, faithful, lifechanging vintage. God, wherever we find ourselves today, every single one of us here or watching online, lead us to a place of acceptance, of repentance, and also to new life. For we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

[00:50:51]>> And now I want to invite us all to respond to God's grace, God's mercy, God's message of new life as we give and receive this morning's offer.

[00:52:19]all the She staring the belly of black is I had the The wind shing.

[00:54:06]Silent not my darling.

[00:54:40]to your teeth.

[00:54:55]Shall not fall.

[00:55:04]still his mortal son shine.

[00:55:34]Shine again. Shine.

[00:56:05]Something is more When the days pass away, Shall And the sun for the Love and Sh.

[00:58:14]Sh.

[00:59:11]Praise from all blessings.

[00:59:19]Praise him all creatures here.

[00:59:26]Praise him all the host.

[00:59:34]Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:59:51]Let us say together the prayer of thanksgiving.

[00:59:56]Spirit of God, in Christ, you give us so much love, more than we can imagine. You fill us with abundance and mercy.

[01:00:06]So in response, we give you now our dollars and our talents.

[01:00:11]>> We bring to you our love and our skills.

[01:00:15]>> We bring to you our devotion and our time.

[01:00:19]>> Take all of this and dedicate our gifts to your ministry and service in Jesus name. Amen.

[01:00:56]We are God.

[01:01:10]was now breath of God until my heart is until my will is to we are holy Till this Earth.

[01:02:41]The parting of the choir you just witnessed there. Thank you. Choir is a beautiful piece. Thank you, Steve, for composing it. And you can come back in two weeks to choir Sunday and hear some more great music and enjoy God's spirit, God's presence. But wherever you are, you can sing a joyous tune because God is with you. The spirit can fill you up and can move you to become the person that you were meant to be, to be filled with new wine and to be able to live in to the new life God has for you in Jesus Christ. So have you as you leave this place today uh may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be and abide with each and every one of you both now and forever more. Amen.

[01:03:27]>> Amen.

[01:03:46]Heat.

[01:04:01]Heat.

[01:04:19]Heat.

[01:04:23]Heat.

[01:04:31]Heat. Heat.

[01:05:04]Heat.

[01:05:06]Heat.

[01:05:26]Heat.

[01:05:30]Heat.

[01:05:37]Heat.

[01:05:50]Heat.

[01:05:58]Heat.

[01:06:13]Heat.

[01:06:37]Thank you.

[01:06:45]I just heard on my email sermon that our final violence.