January 2, 2017 – Christmas + 8
Go Tell It……

“Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion.” Isaiah 52:6-8

“Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born. While shepherds kept their watching, Over silent flocks by night, Behold throughout the heavens, There shone a holy light.” Hymn “Go Tell It On The Mountain”

On this date, January 2, 1921, two months following its first broadcast: “KDKA aired the first religious service in the history of radio. It was undertaken by Westinghouse to test its ability to do a remote broadcast far from a radio studio. Pittsburgh’s Calvary Episcopal Church was chosen because one of the Westinghouse engineers happened to be a member of the choir and made the arrangements. The junior pastor, Rev. Lewis B. Whittemore, preached because the senior pastor was leery of the new medium. The technicians (one a Jew, one Catholic) were outfitted with choir robes in order to keep them from distracting the congregation. KDKA soon offered a regular Sunday evening service from Calvary Episcopal Church. The senior pastor, Rev. Edwin Van Ettin, overcame his initial reluctance to become the regular speaker. (Regular broadcasts continued through 1962.)” (Christianity.com website)

We live in a society where we have many mediums at our finger tips, literally, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t need the ability to make a radio broadcast – all we need is the courage to take to social media or our phone and share a message of love and blessings in the name of Jesus. We don’t have to have the eloquence of a pastor, we don’t need to have the ability to author a great tome – we just need to have the courage and the willingness to share our stories – talk about why Jesus is important to our lives. Thanks to people like KDKA, Westinghouse, and the pastors at Pittsburgh’s Calvary Episcopal Church, there are regular broadcasts of religious services and bible studies across the air waves. Millions of people have been introduced to the Gospel because of these radio shows.

Pastor Dave