5-16-08 This Week at First Pres

'In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit….' Acts 2:17-18

It is the season of Pentecost, and all around I am seeing signs of God's Spirit poured out on this people! In a flurry of wind chimes and crepe paper and the flutter of wings we celebrated Pentecost Sunday with abandon, I am still grinning as I remember the amount of laughter and depth we shared in worship (and the amount of crepe-paper there was to clean up!)

- This morning, daily bread has been given to twelve dozen families in our community. They have been blessed by the hands and hearts of volunteers led by the Spirit, who are doing discipleship together.

- I couldn't help noticing the crisp look of the fresh white paint, blue trim, and power-washed brick of our sanctuary. The stewardship committee has made that happen (especially Dale), and the project was paid for by gifts to the campaign we called 'A Lot of Work'. I think we meant that there was a lot of deferred maintenance to do, but today I think "We need fresh paint and a safe parking lot- we have a lot of work to do, and we need welcoming space in which to do it!"

- The Spirit has been poured out on our youth, and the young men and daughters of this congregation are ready to lead us in creative and energetic worship on Youth Sunday! I can hardly wait!

- And look! We have a new website!!! The Spirit has been poured out on the multi-talented Jennifer Butler, who has created this beautiful resource to keep us connected and to invite new friends in.

I am particularly moved by all of this, since I was under the weather and missed a couple of days of work this week. But look! The Spirit never falters, the Body of Christ is Creative, and the work of ministry springs up all around!

Remember to pray for our 7 confirmation students: Trevor, Jacob, Matt, Zane, Christian, Grant, and Bethany. They begin writing their statements of faith Sunday, trying to wrap words around what they believe, who they want to follow, and how they want to live. Pray that the Spirit of God will be poured out on them, that they will see visions and dream dreams- and be empowered to make them come true.

See you on Sunday~

Sandy