We continue last week’s story and hear Peter’s sermon to the crowd, the first sermon in the history of the Church. Peter tells the story of Jesus the Messiah and urges the crowd to repent and be baptized, to receive the promise of God which is “for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

This week we celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. On this day, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit upon all the believers, and filled with the Spirit they went out into the streets to proclaim the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the life-breath of the Church and the wind that fills our sails. Come, Holy Spirit!

This week we celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. On this day, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit upon all the believers, and filled with the Spirit they went out into the streets to proclaim the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the life-breath of the Church and the wind that fills our sails. Come, Holy Spirit!

Guest Preacher, Rev. Gregg Mast, President of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, preaches on 1 Corinthians 15.

Guest Preacher, Rev. Gregg Mast, President of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, preaches on 1 Corinthians 15.

If you’ve never heard another word from 1 Corinthians, I can almost guarantee you’ve heard chapter 13. Paul’s “Ode to Love” is a wedding favorite, and often read when love is at its peak. However, these words were originally written for very different circumstances: to a community split into factions and embroiled in conflict. What does it look like to love when things aren’t going well?

If you’ve never heard another word from 1 Corinthians, I can almost guarantee you’ve heard chapter 13. Paul’s “Ode to Love” is a wedding favorite, and often read when love is at its peak. However, these words were originally written for very different circumstances: to a community split into factions and embroiled in conflict. What does it look like to love when things aren’t going well?

Rev. Tom De Vries, General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America, preaches on Acts 18:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18.

Rev. Tom De Vries, General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America, preaches on Acts 18:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18.

As the Gospel continues to spread “to the ends of the earth”, it encounters opposition yet again in Thessalonica. There the leaders of the Jews accuse them of disturbing the peace or “turning the world upside-down”. While this accusation is clearly false, they are saying more than they know for the power of the Gospel does turn the world upside-down.