Scribd
Upload
372 views2 pages

Sermon Pentecost Sunday

The sermon compares the season of graduations to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It notes that both graduations and Pentecost involve a transition to the next phase, with the graduate or disciples relying on new mentors or the Holy Spirit. The sermon discusses how Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to help the disciples inspire others to believe in Jesus, remain in relationship with God, and realize Satan's defeat. It argues that the congregation has come to a point of "graduation" in letting the Holy Spirit work through them to fulfill God's mission, though struggles may occur, just as graduates face challenges. The sermon encourages the congregation to listen to the Holy Spirit, their mentor, as

Uploaded by

api-268657801
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
372 views2 pages

Sermon Pentecost Sunday

The sermon compares the season of graduations to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It notes that both graduations and Pentecost involve a transition to the next phase, with the graduate or disciples relying on new mentors or the Holy Spirit. The sermon discusses how Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to help the disciples inspire others to believe in Jesus, remain in relationship with God, and realize Satan's defeat. It argues that the congregation has come to a point of "graduation" in letting the Holy Spirit work through them to fulfill God's mission, though struggles may occur, just as graduates face challenges. The sermon encourages the congregation to listen to the Holy Spirit, their mentor, as

Uploaded by

api-268657801
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Pentecost and Graduation: Oddly Similar

A sermon by
The Rev. Janice Ford
This is the season of graduations. Whether someone is moving up from nursery
school to Kindergarten, or high school to college, or college to the work world,
inherent in graduation is the idea that the graduate has met all the necessary
requirements, and their current teachers can step aside to let the graduate continue
on to the next phase of learning. Hopefully, the graduate knows that there is more to
learn, and that he or she will need to rely on new teachers and mentors to continue
to grow.
Jesus promised that he would send the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit would
testify on his behalf. He explained to his disciples that in the past they were not
ready to hear and understand all that he had to say. Even then, as he was
speaking, he realizes they are probably still not ready. Still, he knows that he will be
leaving them soon, and he needs to prepare them for what is to come.
Jesus was pretty clear about why he was sending the Holy Spirit, and inherent in
that reason was the disciples mission. The Holy Spirit was being sent to prove the
world wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment. Sin was concerned with not
believing in Jesus and his ministry. Righteousness was concerned with being in
right relationship with the Father, and judgment was concerned with the
condemnation of Satan as ruler of this world.
The role of the Holy Spirit was to help the disciples inspire others to: believe in the
message of Jesus, remain in relationship with the Father through Jesus, and realize
that God would ultimately defeat Satan.
The question for us is this: how is the Holy Spirit helping us to do these things today
in this community and in the world?
I believe that our faith community has come to the point of graduation in terms of
letting the Holy Spirit work within us so that we can do Gods bidding. We are small,
but we are strong. We are doing our work quietly but effectively. We are taking
purposeful steps toward fulfilling the mission God has set out for us, but there is
always more to be done. We know that in the days after the Holy Spirit first came to
Jesus followers there were troubles. Carrying out the mission was not easy. Just
as the new graduate may struggle to embrace the new learnings and the new culture
of the next educational step, we, too, may struggle from time to time. We, too, may
be unsteady and unsure and self-doubting. But just as that new graduate looks to a
mentor or guide to keep them focused and on-task, we have the Holy Spirit to do the
same for us.
Jesus said, I will not leave you comfortless.

I know that has been true in my life, and I believe it is true for us as a congregation.
Jesus always gives us what we need to carry out our mission in his name. He
shows us the way to go. In the words of our Savior, When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own, but will speak what
he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
We need to be listening well to our mentor, the Spirit of Truth. We are about to
graduate. Amen.

You might also like