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Times are tough for the Holy Spirit among mainline Protestants...

Illustration
Day of Pentecost - C
Romans 8:14-17
Mark Ellingsen
Times are tough for the Holy Spirit among mainline Protestants. A 2008 Barna Research Group poll found that 2 out of 3 Americans regard the Holy Spirit as merely a symbol of God's presence and not a living reality. But Paul testifies that the Spirit lives and has a real job to do. Sinners that we are, we would not be following Jesus were it not for the Holy Spirit. It is like Martin Luther once wrote: "I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him.
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Proper 5 | OT 10 | Pent. 2
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For May 28, 2023:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Acts 2:1-21
The church in America is losing members big time. And a 2022 Gallup poll revealed that only 31% of the American public really trusts the church. Martin Luther offers a word of comfort in these circumstances:

It is not we who sustain the church, nor will it be our forefathers, nor will it be our descendants. It was and is and will be the one who says, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world...”
Wayne Brouwer
An ancient Jewish legend declares, “Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given.” One wonders whether James might have had that in mind as he penned these words. According to the Jewish teaching, it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mt. Sinai.

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (vv. 1-2)

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