L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that pours itself out in sacrificial death.

L: Teach us to praise you in the tongues of humans and angels.

P: Teach us to worship you, our God in Spirit, Truth and Redemptive Love.

L: We worship the One who calls us to become faithful witnesses to Truth.

P: We praise the God who teaches us the joy of becoming fruitful through

L: Allow the flame of your Spirit to anoint our hearts as we worship you today.

P: Bring Pentecostal power to our worship and fervor to our witness.

Notes: Pentecost Sunday. Often Pentecost is a time of reflection on the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit that awakens a frightened group. The flame that descends, the tongues that are spoken and the conversion of the three thousand become the focus of the story. It was a miraculous revival. Next to the death and resurrection of Jesus there is no more vital episode in forming the resurrection community. What is truly miraculous is the way the community begins to live in covenant with each other and with God. They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teachings (study); fellowship with each other for nurture, support and accountability; the breaking of the bread as an awareness that the living Christ was alive and working through them; and prayer which focused their hearts, lives and hopes on seeking God.

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: Hope overcomes despair.

P: Sacrificial love defeats death.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that overcomes death.

L: The empty tomb speaks to us of a morning filled with promise.

P: The tomb is empty. He has risen from the bed of death.

L: We rejoice in what we have seen and what we have not seen.

P: We worship the God who raised Jesus from the dead and calls us to the mystery

Notes: One can not bring hearsay evidence into a courtroom. Stephen testifies to what he knows: Jesus is the Christ who redeems not only Israel but the world. The same Jesus who was put to death on the cross has been raised from the dead. When Stephen tells the truth his witness angers those who do not want to accept his word. Stephen dies, but his death precipitates the growth of the Faith: When the Christians are scattered they carry the witness throughout the world and Saul, who hears and sees the faithfulness of Stephen, begins a spiritual journey that will make him a great apostle of Christ.

A Community Of Word And Table Luke 24:13-32

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: God's new day has dawned.

P: As children of the light we rejoice in its promise.

L: Come, see the place where they laid him.

P: The stone is rolled back. The tomb is empty.

L: He is not here. He lives.

P: Because He lives, we who were once dead in our trespasses and sins can live also.

L: We gather around the table of hope to rejoice in the giver of life.

P: We come to the table of promise that we, the resurrection community, become

Notes: This makes a good communion sermon. (See Illustration: "And That’s What Its All About") The resurrection community lives in the comfort and excitement of knowing that the risen Christ is made known to us in everyday life as we travel down the highways and byways of life and as we eat. Note that Jesus expounds the scriptures (Word) and worships (Blessing the meal). The disciples recognize and acknowledge his presence and hurry to share their testimony with the others.

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that pours itself out in sacrificial death.

L: We worship the One who teaches us to be servants.

P: We praise the God who calls us to come and die to self.

L: We worship the One who calls us to come and live.

P: We praise the God who teaches us the joy of finding our lives as we lose them in

L: Lift your hearts in hope.

P: We lift them to the God of life and death who is the promise and power of the

Notes: Deacon is a verb. It is used in the New Testament of Peter’s Mother-in-law. After she is healed by Jesus, she "deacons" (serves) him. Before it was an office in the resurrection community, the diaconate were those who served in the community. They freed others for their ministry by performing other ministries so the church could fulfill the fulfill the mission left to it by Christ. As the community grew so did its areas of ministry. The men and women of the community accepted the call of God in their lives to use their talents to further the gospel. Great service in the resurrection community is done by those who are willing to do mundane chores.

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: He is risen.

P: Risen indeed.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that pours itself out in sacrificial death.

L: We worship the One who teaches us to share the good news.

P: We praise the God who calls us share the story of grace, hope and redemption.

L: We worship the One who calls us to come and live our faith as witness.

P: We praise the God who teaches us the joy of telling the mighty acts of God.

L: Lift your hearts in hope as you live your lives in faith.

P: We lift them to the God of the resurrection.

Notes: Philip is a deacon. He yields himself to the leading of the Spirit and opens the doors of the kingdom to a stranger. He baptizes him into the resurrection community and begins what will become the church in Ethiopia. Paul stays with Philip and his four unmarried daughters who are prophets of the resurrection community (Acts 21). Philip is sensitive to the Eunuch’s hunger for God. He has no program or formula for sharing the good news. He begins at the point of need and allows the Spirit to work through him to create an opportunity for grace.

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that pours itself out in sacrificial death.

L: We worship the One who judges us and calls us to accountability for the sake of the

good news.

P: We praise the God who calls us share the story of grace, hope and redemption.

L: We worship the One who calls us to come and live our faith as witnesses.

P: We praise the God who teaches us the joy of telling the mighty acts of God.

L: Lift your hearts in hope as you live your lives in faith.

P: We lift them to the God of the resurrection.

Notes: The resurrection community is a community of truth. This episode in the life of the church acknowledges an ethic that calls members of the community to honesty in dealing with each other. The lies are told to the Holy Spirit. Satan works to destroy the community from inside as well as from outside. This lesson is not the easiest to preach, but the truth spoken in the story of this couple needs to be heard and shared as a warning.

L: The Lord be with you.

P: And also with you.

L: We are the resurrection community.

P: We live in the mystery of love that pours itself out in sacrificial death.

L: We worship the One who calls us to become sanctified, holy and whole.

P: We praise the God who calls us share the story of transforming grace, hope and

L: We worship the One who calls us to become faithful witnesses to Truth.

P: We praise the God who teaches us the joy of becoming what God calls us to be.

L: Lift your hearts in hope that the vision of God might be fulfilled in you.

P: We lift them to the resurrecting power of God.

Notes: When Christ brings people to the gospel the resurrection community must acknowledge, accept and affirm the power of God that works to change them. It is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. The results are just as spectacular and miraculous. God transforms Ananias as he transforms Saul. When Ananias responds to God’s prompting and places his hands on Saul for his healing, he calls him "Brother Saul."

Other sermons may be added to this series by examining the way the Holy Spirit operated in the resurrection community.

(I had the congregation stand and to the left hand and right hand stanzas of The Hokeypokey before telling the story.)

I received one of those jokes that makes their rounds on the internet. They are forwarded from one person to another so that one might expect to receive the same joke over and over. They are the cyberspace equivalent to the fruitcakes that used to make their rounds during the holidays. For some reason this one caught my eye. It was a series of questions. One of them was, "What if the hokeypokey is really what it is all about?" I chuckled and never thought much more about it.

A few days later my wife and I were playing Scrabble. (That is about as exciting as it gets around the parsonage.) While waiting for my turn I decided to look up hokeypokey in the dictionary. Hokeypokey refers to cheap ice cream sold by street vendors. Its origin is the phrase "hocus-pocus".

Hocus-pocus comes to us from the years when the church worshipped in Latin. The people knew that when the priest said, "Hoc est Corpus Christi" that it was the most sacred moment of worship. "This is the body of Christ." They emulated the words as they remembered them trying to recapture their magic and power. What they most often said sounded something like "hocus-pocus".

For those of us who follow the risen Christ, the hockeypokey is what it is all about. We recognize Christ as ever present in our world. As we travel the highways and byways of life, when we enter into conversations with strangers, when we study and discuss the Word of God, when we sit together at the table we acknowledge the presence of Emmanuel, God with us. So, do the hokeypokey, turn your self around so that your headed in the right direction because that is what it is all about.

Some years ago I was counseling a group of ten to twelve year olds at youth camp. Our lesson for the day was on The Lord’s Supper. As we sat in the warm sunshine beside the water I competed with the frogs and the rocks and the sticks, stones, giggles and whispers for their attention. I asked them, "What do call that time when you have bread and wine at your churches?" One child replied, "The Lord’s Supper." Another said, "The Eucharist." Someone said, "Holy Communion." One little boy said, "At our church I think they call it ‘Holy Reunion’."

I have thought about his response many times over the years. Indeed, it is Holy Reunion. When we celebrate at the Table we are linked with our brothers and sisters in all times and places. We are reunited with those who sat around the Table at Jerusalem at the first Supper and every brother and sister who have celebrated it since. We are united with every Christian who meets at the table around the world and within our congregation in the joy of God’s greatest gift. And we are united with those who will share in this meal after we are gone. We link time and space and place in the mystery of grace. "For as often as you do eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you show his presence until He comes."