A perfect Pentecost

Other than the first Pentecost recorded in the Book of Acts, I can't think of a better Pentecost Sunday than ours last week.  Many of our members wore red, as is our custom on Pentecost.  Our worship began with the baptism of a 9-year-old boy who had professed his faith in Christ several weeks ago.  I had baptized his older brother a couple of years ago, and Sunday Raines followed Christ in baptism.

But, Sunday was also Mothers' Day, and we usually do our Parent-Child Dedication service on Mothers' Day.  This year, Raines' parents, Andrew and Staci, dedicated their newest boy, Charlie.  So, a baptism and infant dedication on the same day.

This week we're sending one of our members on a mission trip to Port Sulphur, Louisiana.  Karen is going to help rebuild houses as part of a team from our Baptist association.  We commissioned Karen to go representing our congregation, which had given generously to cover her expenses for this trip.  Later in the summer, both Karen and her son, Cameron, will go back to the Gulf Coast area, so we also commissioned Cameron for that mission trip.

The Holy Spirit was certainly at work in our midst.  My text was the lectionary reading from I Corinthians 12:3-13.  We read the words of the Apostle Paul, as he said...

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

And we agreed that God was at work in our midst, calling forth the gifts of his people in a variety of ways.  A baby, a child, a teenager, and an adult -- all responding to God's call and claim on their lives.  Pentecost continues wherever God's people experience God's presence and respond in faith.