When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² 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. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. ⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷ Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹² All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:1-13

Mother Teresa once told a story in which she had a dream about ministering to the sick and dying. When she expressed this dream to her superiors, they asked her, “How much money do you have?”  She responded, “Two pennies.” They responded, “With two pennies you can’t do anything.” She replied, “With two pennies I can’t do anything, but with G-d and two pennies, I can do anything.”

This is the whole point of considering ministry for Jesus Christ – that all ministry needs to be considered along with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus will say to us that even with faith as small as a mustard seed, we can do great things. As such, we should never believe that we have too few resources or too little money to do effective ministry for Jesus Christ – because with the work and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the church, we too can do great things. With the Holy Spirit leading us and guiding us, we seemingly can do anything. And, just for good measure, here is an Old Testament warning:

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1

Pastor Dave

“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. ⁷ He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. ⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. ⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. ¹⁰ The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. ¹² Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. ¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. ¹⁴ From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—¹⁵ he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds. ¹⁶ A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. ¹⁷ The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save. ¹⁸ Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, ¹⁹ to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Psalm 33:6-19

Peter Craigie, states this about Psalm 33: it is “a timely reminder of the essence of biblical theology” and that is what lies at the heart of the good news of all of scripture – G-d rules the world.  Seldom do we think about the world or try to understand it in terms other than in scientific terms. Seldom do we think about international politics in terms of G-d’s will. I mentioned this in a sermon once… “When they (scientists) look at the elemental stuff of the universe, they realize that if even only a few of the many variables of the stuff of the universe were just a small degree different, then life would not be able to exist at all. If particles weighed just a little bit more or less, forces were off by just the slightest degree, then nothing would be able to exist. Paul Davies, a professor of mathematical physics, as he ponders our universe, he concludes…“We, who are children of the universe…can nevertheless reflect on the nature of the same universe.  What is (humanity) that we might be party to such privilege? I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama. We are truly meant to be here.”

We are truly meant to be here in this world because we were created by G-d. As such we should be reminded daily of the fragility of life in our suffering and loss as well as our prosperity and abundance. Sustained by our creator who loves us so much and continues to love us, we need to continue to “trust in his holy name.”

Pastor Dave