Letter from Amy: May 27

“Amazed and astonished, they asked…” (Acts 2:7)

Dear friends,

I always love Pentecost Sunday. The children’s leadership, the languages, the paper airplanes, the candle lighting, the testimonies of God’s Spirit at work, the quiet prayers for gifts. I am often surprised by which of the Isaiah 11 gifts most resonates with me in a given year; this year, I was moved to pray for Counsel (described as, “to listen to God in our hearts; to receive God’s guidance about what should be done, and how to do it”). I continue to ask God for counsel, and I continue to pray for all of us to be strengthened by the Spirit in our areas of need over the coming days and weeks. If you have a story to share about a particular gift or movement of the Spirit in your life, I’d love to hear it.

One of the many privileges of my role is that I get to see the Spirit breathe new life (or reawaken dormant life) into your lives, often in surprising and unexpected ways. The Spirit’s work is always amazing to behold; always expands my imagination of the work God wants to do in each of us; always moves me to ask God for more (“amazed and astonished, they asked…”).

This recently happened with our beloved member Shari Hughes. You might remember praying for her a few Sundays ago at the conclusion of the service, the day before she set out on a trip-of-a-lifetime to France. Shari has been gracious enough to share her post-trip reflections with us, and I encourage you to read, enjoy, and perhaps allow a holy curiosity to stir in you (“amazed and astonished, they asked…”).

This week is Trinity Sunday, when we contemplate the mystery of the Three-in-One. This is the only Sunday of the year that we recite the Athanasian Creed. I encourage you to read Becky’s wonderful reflection on this admittedly complex creed in preparation for Sunday's trinitarian contemplation ("amazed and astonished, they asked...").

This Sunday also kicks off our annual short sermon series called Ordinary Church. For the next four Sundays, we will read Acts 2:41-47 each week, which describes the community of Jesus-followers that was formed at Pentecost.

This sermon series is a bridge each year between Pentecost and the longest season of the church year, Ordinary Time (it's also a bridge in our secular calendar, carrying us to the end of the school year!). Each year, we preach this series in order to contemplate our life in community before we all scatter over the summer.

Through the lens of Acts 2:41-47, we’ll focus on four characteristics that mark the ordinary life of the church we see in scripture. These characteristics are articulated as “we are” statements, because they’re not just about what we do, but also about what kind of people we are and are becoming together, by the Spirit. Those statements are:

We are worshipers. (This Sunday!)

We are generous.

We are peacemakers.

We are citizens of God’s kingdom.

I missed this series last year as I was on sabbatical (thank you!!), but I’m delighted to return to it this year and to reflect together on what it means to be an ordinary church, following Jesus in our ordinary lives, amazed and astonished and asking, in our particular time and place.

In the aftermath of Pentecost, let's keep being amazed and astonished and asking together for more of the life of the Spirit among us. Please reach out if there’s anything you’d like to talk or pray about.

See you Sunday!

With love,

Amy