Preachrblog

The Day of Pentecost May 15, 2016 Hello. In French, “Bon Jour”. In Spanish, “Hola”. In Hebrew, “Shalom” In Chinese, “Ni How”. In Swahili, “Habari”. And in a new language I am still learning, “Howdy, y'all” I won’t say hello in every one of the more than 775 languages of the world. But if you ever wondered where we got all these languages, Scripture is clear that it all goes back to a tower. And every time we struggle with a translation, we can remember the judgment of God on an arrogant humanity which worked together against him. Genesis 11 tells of a time when there was only one language, and the people of the world worked together. They got an idea. They would build a tower, all the way up to the sky. They would make a name for themselves. They would ascend to the heavens, perhaps even to God, on their own. They would not disperse and fill the earth, according to God’s earlier command. They had their own ideas, their own plans. This wasn’t too long after the flood,...

Matins Easter 6 May 1, 2016 Acts 16:9-15 “The Unexpected Course of the Gospel” Paul and Silas, Timothy and later, evidently Luke began the travels of Paul's Second Missionary Journey. Immediately before our text, we read of how these men had intended to preach in various places in Asia minor (which is modern day Turkey). But they were frustrated. Something got in the way of it all. Perhaps the circumstances didn't allow it. Perhaps they heard through some direct message from God. We don't really know. Nonetheless, the “Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” to carry on with their own plans. Instead, Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia, saying, “Come and help us”. Macedonia, you might recall, is just north of Greece. And so by leaving Asia and going to Macedonia, Paul and company are actually moving from one continent to another. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation goes with them – from Asia to Europe. And so they ...