Pastor's Page

 June is birthday month for the church. Not our particular congregation,  but the whole world-wide church of Jesus Christ. The first Sunday, June 4, is  the Day of Pentecost, our celebration of the first Christian evangelistic effort which resulted in the conversion of 3000 people to the new faith and the    beginning of the church. Luke tells us the story in Acts chapter 2. Some unusual things happened that day and believers saw in these events the hand of God

Much has changed in the nearly 1,987 years since that first Pentecost. The church has grown and matured. It has suffered persecution and experienced triumph. It has endured bitter theological disputes. It has brought hope to the sinful and suffering and perpetrated terrible crimes. It has existed in  hiding and it has been established as a state religion. It has divided into many denominations which sometimes cooperate and sometimes see themselves as rivals.

In America the churches have in the past enjoyed special, but not official, status as upholders of the social order. However, today American society is paying less and less attention to the church. An increasing number of Americans identify with non-Christian faiths, such as Hindu or Muslim, but the fastest growing group is those who have no religious affiliation at all. Our society is more secular, and America has become less a nation of Christians and more    a mission field.

Things have changed and are continuing to change, but in some ways  they are similar to the situation on that first Pentecost. People still need to  hear the good news of Jesus Christ. They need to know that God loves them, sinners though they are, and will receive and forgive them. And people need  for the church to attend to their physical and emotional needs as well. If we want  people to take the church seriously, we need both to tell the good news and to demonstrate the good news. Read Acts 2 and then read on into chapter 3. You will find that the first evangelistic sermon was followed  immediately by the healing of a lame man.

 People aren’t just listening to what we have to say, but looking to see what we do. The words and actions of the first Christians showed that they had learned and were practicing Jesus’ teaching, that we should love the Lord God and love our neighbors as ourselves.

Pastor L. Timothy Doty