Acts 2:1-211 Corinthians 12:3b-13 Dear Partner in Preaching, This will be a very different Pentecost. On one level, that’s pretty obvious, as it’s been a very different everything – Lent, Easter, spring, Memorial Day, and more – this year. On another level, however, this particular Sunday will be even more different in light of the now national debate on opening up church buildings. It seems that nothing these days – wearing masks, the death toll of the virus, congregational worship – can escape the taint of partisan politics. As a result, many of us are now making decisions that we hope are informed by the best...

John 14:15-21 Dear Partner in Preaching, If last week was a time for lament, perhaps this week is the time for promise. Neither of those ever happens in isolation, I realize. Endless lament that doesn’t lead to an openness to a new and different future is simply despair, and a promise that is offered too quickly or blithely is meaningless, even insulting. But… just as we took Thomas’ and Philip’s challenges to Jesus last week as permission to name our own fears, insecurity, and confusion, so also we might this week take Jesus’ words about the coming Spirit as permission to hear and claim and be transformed by God’s...

  John 20:19-23, Acts 2:1-21, I Corinthians 12:3b-13 Dear Partner in Preaching, Have you ever noticed that the arrival of the Holy Spirit doesn’t remove the disciples from challenges and hardships, but rather equips them to persevere, even flourish, amid them? And that this seems to be the unified witness across the New Testament about the Spirit’s work? In John, for instance, the disciples are hiding in the upper room out of fear that those who crucified Jesus may come after them. And what does Jesus do as he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them? He doesn’t take them away from Jerusalem or fortify the room in which they’re...

John 14:15-21 Dear Partner in Preaching, You have an advocate! Someone who is looking out for you. Someone who is on your side. Someone who encourages you and supports you. Someone who speaks up for you and is willing to hang in there with you through thick and thin. So, before going forward, take a moment and think about what it feels like to hear that – that someone has your back, that someone is invested in your future, that someone will not give up on you…no matter what. It feels good. More than that, it feels like a relief, especially when you feel like your back is up against the wall. Even more than that, it feels empowering, like...