Month: June 2022

Trinity Sunday
First Sunday after Pentecost:
Year C

First Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalms 8
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5
Gospel: John 16:12-15
Romans 5:5

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Trinity Sunday

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

God our Heavenly Father, God is in us all around us, in everything that is seen and unseen, He is the creator of Heaven and Earth. As the earth breaths and moves…. we are dancing around with it; and we are divinely connected to Heaven and Earth.

Jesus the Christ, the Son transformed from God born to be the savior of the world, to bring light into darkness. The promised Messiah, who was promised by God to bring salvation to the world.

And

The Holy Spirit has been written about throughout the Bible. In (Genesis 1:2), the Holy Spirit is moving about the surface of waters. 

From the beginning of the bible Genesis to the end of the bible Revelations, The Holy Spirit, flowing around and through us, tending to us, to help show us the way, to guide us and comfort us, teaching us, moving along the side of us, counsels us and intercedes for us, because the scriptures tell us that God will send an advocate to be with us. 

I have had many experiences with The Holy Spirit sometimes it is a visual feeling, sometimes it’s a profound spiritual feeling and sometimes it is a gut feeling.

One day I had this strong desire to contact a friend, I had a gut feeling something was wrong…I emailed her, just saying are you doing, OKAY? It turns out the ambulance was at her house getting ready to take her to the hospital for unexplained chest pain.

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

(Romans 8:16)

The Holy Spirit will connect with your internal human spirit, the question is being aware of it. 

Knowing that the Holy Spirit is communicating with you, is and will be life changing.

The most recent experiences I had with the Holy Spirit, was when I was given the news that I had cancer, but they didn’t know where the primary tumor was and I would have to have more testing. 

I was of course worried, where was the primary tumor? I woke up during the night thinking about it, suddenly I heard God say, “I am the primary” in other words, do not worry about it. God was with me and he was the primary.

Gospel: (John 16:12-15)

This Gospel is packed with wonderful messages!

Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Jesus has been with his disciples for 3 years and they have been taught many things during that time, throughout the John’s gospel, he focuses on The Holy Spirit many times.

John the Baptizer gives witness to the fact that, after baptizing Jesus, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove” (John 1:32).

Jesus introduced the Spirit into his conversation with the Pharisee… Nicodemus….” he declares “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3-5) 

Jesus explained to the unnamed Samaritan woman “God is spirit….” (John 4:24) 

And finally:

In Jesus’ farewell message “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (John 20:22)

Jesus tells his disciples “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 

John 15:15, 

The disciples are his friends! He wants to tell them and maybe he feels a little bad about it, because he can’t. Just like we would, if we wanted to tell our friends something, but we can’t tell them for some reason.

Jesus…says…so listen to me! When the Spirit comes, he will guide you into all the truth. The Spirit!!! They need to listen to Jesus now, pay attention to the Spirit…he will declare to you the things that are to come! He will glorify me, Because! He will take what is mine and declare it to you.! The Holy Spirt will take what is in Jesus and declare it to them! All that the Father has is mine. For!! This reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Wow! You see…. we are left with this message years and years later. We just have to trust in what we have been taught through the living Word!

We are told that, in the future; in the unfolding of time, we will be told and we will hear what the sprit is saying to us, the Spirit will guide us, speak to us, and declare all to us all that we need to know! We are given a picture of the three persons of the Trinity. Jesus speaks of himself, of the Spirit’s activities and of the Father. 

Conclusion:

The Holy Trinity is an invitation to a relationship with God, Christ Jesus and The Holy Spirit and internal and external relationship.

It is okay to be a Christian and not know everything, believe me, I for-one have worried about not knowing as much as I think I should know.

The Good News:  

We have been given an invitation to continue to dance our way through all that he has created in and around us. To learn to love and expose ourselves again and again to the presence of God in our lives, to listen to the teachings of Christ Jesus, and to be aware and open to The Holy Spirit, guiding and leading us to be good disciples for Christ Jesus.

Amen

Rev. Lola Culbreath

Seventh Sunday of Easter, The Sunday after Ascension Day 
Year C
May 29, 2022

First Reading: Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
Second Reading: Revelations 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Gospel: John 17:20-26

Collect:

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen

Jesus Ascension

The Ascension Day happen on Thursday and we remember that Jesus ascended into heaven, that was heaven’s affirmation that he had accomplished everything he had come to do.  

In Luke’s Gospel 24: 50, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshipping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God.”

Gospel: John 17: 20-26

Lifting his eyes up to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”

We hear the conclusion of Jesus’s great “priestly prayer,” in which he calls for unity within the church, so that Christians can witness to the presence of God in their lives. 

Jesus prays for himself, then for his disciples and for those, “who will believe in me through their message” This is a prayer for all who will come later and believe in him, as Lord and Savior.

It is a prayer of intercession, an act of asking or requesting something on behalf of someone else.

When we pray at home to God our Father, for others, our family or friends, and those known and unknown to us, we are interceding on their behalf.  And as we pray and it involves talking and listening to God.

Jesus “I have given them that glory which you gave me.” These are powerful words when you think about the fact that Jesus is saying: The love that he and his Father have for each other, is what He wants for us. 

This gospel of John… it portrays a prayer of Jesus, as he addresses his Father, it takes place before his betrayal and crucifixion, theses’ events refer to as his “glorification”.

The disciples are about to experience great trauma at Jesus’ death. They have failed to understand. They expect a Messiah of worldly power, like King David and have not been able to grasp the very different person of Jesus’ and his ministry. 

Jesus gives a final testimony prayer for his beloved followers and all that come after them, the future believers.

Jesus prays, “that they may all be one; even as you Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me” 

In this prayer for the disciples, he prays for unity and indwelling of divine presence that will challenge the world to believe. I like to think of it as a Divine unity! But are we?

Conclusion:

Because of our Faith, we believe in things that we cannot see. God’s love is rooted and grounded in our beliefs.

The love then… can only come, as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit; as we allow ourselves to be filled, we know and experience God’s love for us. And we are filled so much with the Holy Spirit, that everyone will see the love that God has for us and them.

Our intercession prayer today, where we what to intercede on behalf of others, where we cry out for mercy, where we cry for more of God’s love, then hate and for God to comfort the families and friends in Uvalda, Tx and Buffalo, Ny.

On this Ascension Sunday, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

Let me leave you with part of his prayer: “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” 

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath