Text:\u00a0 Psalm 51: 10-15<\/p>\n
10<\/sup><\/em> Create in me a pure heart, O God, Before Jesus ascended back into heaven, he told his disciples, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.<\/span> But these men were hardly ready.\u00a0 They were confused and reluctant.<\/p>\n But then came the promised Holy Spirit on that day of Pentecost.\u00a0 Their reluctance became boldness.\u00a0 Their confusion , clarity.\u00a0 And like a rock dropped in a big pond, the good news of our risen Savior went out in all directions.\u00a0 They shared it. \u00a0Others shared it until all these years later God\u2019s saving message came to you and me that we could hear it, believe and be saved. That we could become baptized children of God.<\/p>\n And we Lutheran Christians have great reason to celebrate this festival of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 For what do we know about our faith in Jesus?\u00a0 The apostle Paul said it this way.\u00a0 No one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit<\/span>.\u00a0 In other words, our believing is not something we chose to do.\u00a0 Your faith and mine \u00a0is a wonderful gift worked in us by God the Holy Spirit through the gospel.<\/p>\n Yet at times, maybe even this very moment, our Christian faith can become a kind of shrug your shoulders kind of faith.\u00a0 It can be like someone in the room who says so little, you hardly know he\u2019s there.\u00a0 That faith is here in our heads, but seems to have little effect on our hearts, our lives.\u00a0 So we listen to the good news like we listen to a boring professor drone on and on.\u00a0 And worse yet, when we are with someone who doesn\u2019t know Jesus, who needs our Savior, our lips say nothing.<\/p>\n When that happens, we need help.\u00a0 We need it big time.\u00a0 We need the kind of thing that King David prays for here.\u00a0 We might even say, we need a kind of personal Pentecost.<\/p>\n And more or less, we all do, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 We all need the Spirit to come and work in our hearts.\u00a0 That\u2019s where we are going with these inspired words:<\/p>\n O HOLY SPIRIT, LET PENTECOST BEGIN WITH ME<\/strong> King David prayed:\u00a0 Restore to me the joy of your salvation<\/span>.\u00a0 We might hear those words this morning and ask the same for ourselves. We might wonder: <\/span>I am a Christian.\u00a0\u00a0 Why is that joy missing from my heart. I remember that joy in Jesus, but where did it go?<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n Well it might seem strange but it\u2019s true.\u00a0 This joy, Christian joy begins with a godly sorrow over the way we\u2019ve lived our lives.\u00a0 It begins when we take to heart what we deserve from God.<\/p>\n Think of King David.\u00a0 Only when a brave prophet called Nathan confronted David over his sin could this joy be his once more.\u00a0 Or think of the crowd that Peter addressed at Pentecost.\u00a0 Luke tells us:\u00a0 They were cut to the heart. They said:\u00a0 Brothers what shall we do<\/span>.\u00a0 So it might seem strange but it\u2019s true.\u00a0 Christian joy begins with a godly sorrow over my sin.\u00a0 It begins with something called contrition, that the Holy Spirit must work in our hearts.<\/p>\n So if the Good News of God\u2019s forgiveness in Christ brings little joy to your heart.\u00a0 If it is the same old, same old, it just might be that we are not hearing what the Spirit says about your life and mine.\u00a0 For what does King David ask of God?\u00a0 Do not cast me from your presence.<\/span> Don\u2019t throw me away Lord.\u00a0 Don\u2019t treat me as I deserve<\/em>.\u00a0 To know that, to confess that is the beginning of joy in our Savior.<\/p>\n But even then, without the Spirit that joy is elusive.\u00a0 We could stand before Jesus dying on the cross.\u00a0 We could visit his empty tomb.\u00a0 We could listen to Jesus say to us in the gospel. Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven. We could listen to every wonderful promise of God in Christ and still be minus this joy.<\/p>\n I suppose we could rev ourselves up in a frenzy of empty-headed emotionalism.\u00a0 We could babble in what some call tongues.\u00a0 We could turn up the music and jump up and down until we felt some kind of thrill.\u00a0 But that isn\u2019t what King David is praying for here.\u00a0 No, he prays restore to me the joy of your salvation.<\/span> In other words:\u00a0 Make me joyful again that you have saved me by your grace and mercy.\u00a0 Make me joyful that you will not reject me or toss me into a real place called hell.<\/p>\n Well that joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 It comes when he enables me to think of Jesus\u2019 cross and realize.\u00a0 That\u2019s how much God loves me.\u00a0 That he would bleed and die for me.\u00a0 That\u2019s how much God wants me to be with him.\u00a0 That God would cast away his own Son to suffer for my sins.\u00a0 So we pray:\u00a0 O Holy Spirit, Let Pentecost begin with me.\u00a0 Renew my heart with joy in Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s how Pentecost started.\u00a0 The Spirit came to the hearts of Jesus\u2019 apostles in a remarkable way.\u00a0 The sound of a rushing wind inside the house and tongues of fire that settled over their heads.\u00a0 But the Spirit did more than bring them joy comfort and understanding.\u00a0 He did more than sweep away their doubts and fears.\u00a0 There was a crowd of onlookers that the Holy Spirit brought before them.\u00a0 And just like any people we meet, this was a crowd of dear souls for whom Jesus has also died.\u00a0 So the Spirit did for these men what King David prayed for here:\u00a0 O Lord, open my lips and I will declare your praise<\/span>.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit opened their lips to tell the good news.\u00a0 And here again we say:\u00a0 O Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Let Pentecost begin with me. Open my lips to lead the lost to Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about it.\u00a0 How are people brought to Jesus?\u00a0 Most of the time, not by pastors and missionaries.\u00a0 Before Andrew was an apostle, what did he do?\u00a0 He brought his brother Peter to Jesus.\u00a0 After Pentecost, what did these new believers do?\u00a0 Many of them went back to their homes in the countries from which they came.\u00a0 They told their loved ones.\u00a0 They told others about Jesus.\u00a0 So when Paul finally got to Rome, there was already a congregation of believers there.<\/p>\n Or think about China.\u00a0 Some would tell us that Christianity did not really take off there until the missionaries were killed or kicked out.\u00a0 What has happened?\u00a0 Many people have been brought to faith.\u00a0 People told people they knew.\u00a0 People brought people they knew to learn more.<\/p>\n Then think about yourself.\u00a0 Most likely you didn\u2019t get a flyer or see a commercial.\u00a0 Someone you knew brought you.\u00a0 Maybe as a child to holy baptism.\u00a0 Someone you knew, told you.\u00a0 Someone you knew encouraged you.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit moved their hearts and opened their lips.\u00a0 And now we ask the Spirit to do the same for us.\u00a0 Open my lips.\u00a0 Open my lips to lead the lost to Jesus. <\/strong><\/p>\n Is it important?\u00a0 Ask the rich man that Jesus tells us about with poor Lazarus.\u00a0 After the rich man died, he went to hell.\u00a0 And notice something in that account.\u00a0 There it only took moments before he begged and pleaded with Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers before it was too late for them. Who do you know on that same road?<\/p>\n Or think about what you now have in Jesus.\u00a0 You are wealthier than Mark Zuckerberg.\u00a0 You have more than the force<\/em> with you. You have the Son of God, your God and brother, who is with you always.\u00a0 You have a hope that can never perish, spoil or fade kept in heaven for you.\u00a0 So is it important?\u00a0 Is it important that we lead people to Jesus?\u00a0 Is it important we listen to the Spirit\u2019s prompting to open our lips and tell that friend about Jesus?\u00a0 Is it important in a place where too many churches no longer believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life?\u00a0 Is it important?\u00a0 You bet it\u2019s important!<\/p>\n Sp Pentecost is not just a day to look back in time and ooh and ah at what the Spirit did long ago.\u00a0 It\u2019s a day to look forward.\u00a0 To pray for what David did.\u00a0 That the Sprit renew my joy in my Savior.\u00a0 And open my lips.\u00a0 Open my lips to lead others to know him , love him and live for Him.\u00a0 O Holy Spirit let Pentecost begin with me<\/strong>.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Psalm 51: 10-15 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nand renew a steadfast spirit within me.
\n11<\/sup> Do not cast me from your presence
\nor take your Holy Spirit from me.
\n12<\/sup> Restore to me the joy of your salvation
\nand grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
\n13<\/sup> Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
\nand sinners will turn back to you.
\n14<\/sup> Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
\nthe God who saves me,
\nand my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
\n15<\/sup> O Lord, open my lips,
\nand my mouth will declare your praise.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI.\u00a0 Renew my heart with joy in Jesus
\nII.\u00a0 Open my lips to lead the lost to Jesus<\/p>\n