Good morning, church! Pentecost is the day the church is born. We who were scattered, we who were far off, we who have come from many places and endured many things, we who have been tempted, sometimes, to give up hope, we who have wondered if we really belong, and we who have experienced the assurance of belonging:

God has gathered us all together and made us into a people. God has breathed life into us, generation after generation. God has emboldened us with wind and fire to be his people on this earth. God has commanded the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and among us that we might be a holy people, the body of Christ in the world, for the world. God has given us life--life in abundance--that we in turn might be a source of life for the world. 

When you think about it, that is truly awesome. We might think we're just ordinary people, and we are. But, by the grace of God, we're also so much more! We are God's inspirited children. We are heirs of the Gospel. We are products of God's everlasting love. We are those in whom God has entrusted the most important news the world has ever known . . . that in Christ Jesus there is life abundant for all God's children and justice for the least and the outcast and that God's love endures from generation to generation.

Today the church is born again. Today we baptize and confirm new members of the family. And there's enough Spirit for them, too, and many, many more to come. And we're all fed from the table of the feast of life and we find new strength for the journey. Strength for whatever we're facing at this moment in our lives. Strength to endure. Strength to overcome. Strength to fly high and soar in the freedom and ecstasy of God's love.

God's people continue forward, generation after generation, for the church will endure for all time. We need never worry. We need never fear. We need only breathe deep of the Spirit and claim the power of this holy day and live boldly as God's chosen and precious ones.

God has given us an incredible gift. And God has given us an awesome responsibility. God needs us to be the church. Needs each of us. All of us. Today our confirmands say "Yes" to God. Today those being baptized and received into membership say "Yes" to God. And as they do, it is incumbent upon each of us here today to examine our own hearts, to take measure of our faithfulness, and to ask God to give us a new measure of energy and dedication to the Kingdom. God is faithful, and we are able.

Receive the power, church, the wind and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Welcome the Spirit: Advocate, Comforter, Guide, Teacher and Presence. Receive the Spirit's power and abiding presence today. Make a new commitment to Christ and his church. And be the people God is calling us to be. Amen.

© Patricia E. Farris, 2001. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution. All other rights reserved.