Southminster Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 799 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228, 412.343.8900, www.spchurch.org, Rev. Dr. Daniel B. Merry, Senior Pastor.

Scripture – Acts 2:1-13

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Bob’s thoughts:

It was nice to get back to Southminster where we knew Pentecost would be celebrated. We have attended Pentecost services in years past where we were the only two people in church wearing red and no one knew why we did.

When the pastor commented that by next week’s worship service the scaffolding would be removed, I was embarrassed to admit that I never noticed it, even though it was on both sides of the sanctuary, but behind me. I came in and never looked in that direction.

The sermon started out about languages, where the Holy Spirit came upon the followers who began to speak in different tongues. This brought to mind an embarrassing experience in Vietnam. I was explaining to a housemaid with exaggerated motions and a sarcastic attitude that I wanted a button sewn on, handing it off to her with instructions, “Just like this.” She had a great time bringing me down when she showed me I had sewn the front of the shirt to the back.

God used this experience to prepare me when, a few months later we were forcing our good intentions on an orphanage and being “ugly Americans.” I was able to use my limited communication skills to convince the head maintenance person that, with his guidance our help would work.

Scripture talks of the coming of the Holy Spirit sounding like a tornado. I have been through a tornado, a hurricane, and a typhoon, but it is still hard to imagine that noise indoors.

I thought the choir was lacking some of their usual enthusiasm until they presented the offertory and the praise was on their lips and faces. The stringed bass was a true asset.

I have never experienced many greetings at Southminster, but today my Marine service was acknowledged at the door and in the pew and, along with other veterans, I was thanked at the end of the service. Though we are only welcomed by a few, it has always felt very genuine.

Jan’s thoughts:

We chose to visit this church today because we wanted to worship where Pentecost would be recognized and celebrated.

We arrived with minutes to spare, but we’ve been here numerous times so did not need to look around. Nevertheless we were greeted by a friend with whom we ended up sitting, which is always nice.

The bulletin was perfect for this Pentecost with all the headings printed in red. Quite lovely!

It was a joy to hear a string bass accompanying the choir. I was surprised at the effect of a single deep-sounding instrument.

The Prayer of Confession is missing in many churches, and the first line in the confession today was: Almighty and ever gracious God, we confess that we have failed to open our hearts to the power of Your Spirit. For me, that is what today was about…I need to open my heart to the power of the Holy Spirit much more than I have in the past.

The sermon was entitled “PENTECOST…something positive…” He spoke of the amazing tongues of fire and everyone hearing speech in their own language, and made three positive points: 1 – something positive has come into the world…God came with a voice everyone could hear and understand; 2 – something positive is expected of the people of God…many positive things are being accomplished through the generosity of this congregation; 3 – something positive is expected of us individually…and the most effective way to accomplish good for the Kingdom of God is one person at a time.

It’s true: our God specializes in using the little we have to offer to bring about great things.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You will inspire this church to continue to support the missions they do and send their people out in Your name. Amen.