Happy birthday, church! 

No, it isn’t Woodridge UMC’s anniversary. That happens in October. Rather, this Sunday is Pentecost! A day we often talk about as the beginning, the birth, of the Christian church—and a day we encourage you to wear RED. 

Why wear RED? Because the main image of Pentecost is a flame. Thus, RED.
(OK, orange and yellow also work. Or some combination of red, yellow, and orange. Think Iron Man. Or the Flash. Or Spider-Woman or Human Torch or Shazam or Red Tornado or certain iterations of Daredevil or Captain Marvel…wait, what are we talking about again?? Oh, yeah wearing RED.) 

But what if this year we dig a little deeper into the meaning of Pentecost? It is a curious detail that the story of scripture includes not one, but two exceedingly distinct descriptions of Pentecost. 

The Acts of the Apostles (aka Acts, aka Gospel of Luke, Vol. 2) offers the version with which we are most familiar. 

Meanwhile, John’s gospel provides a wholly-incompatible telling. 
—How do we reconcile these two stories?
—In what ways might God be breathing new life into our community, our congregation, our lives?
—In what ways might we be on fire with God’s Spirit?
—Or are we even open to the possibility of God’s presence in our community, our congregation, our lives? 

This Pentecost Sunday, May 28th, wear RED and bring your ideas to add to the discussion as Pastor Dave considers those questions and more in his sermon, “A Song of Fire and Breath.”

 Worship with us Sundays at 10:00am in person or online via our Woodridge UMC YouTube Channel. All are welcome!