THE PARISH CHURCHES of
NORTH MARSTON and GRANBOROUGH
SERMON FOR THIS WEEK
Sunday 24th May
PENTECOST
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
(Acts 2:4)
Sermon preached on Sunday 24th May 2026
Pentecost Sunday
By Rev Petra Elsmore
READINGS
Acts 2:1–21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “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.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
GOSPEL READING
John 7:37–39
37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ 39Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
TALK
I wonder if you can think about a moment in your lives that was a turning point. And what were the consequences of that moment and how it has affected who or where you are now?
Was it a ‘big’ moment or did it happen quietly?
What feelings did you have during and after?
In what way did it change you?
Today we celebrate the Pentecost. As we’ve read about it in Acts 2:1–11, we have seen that it was a major turning point for the early believers, the disciples and the first followers of Jesus.
Pentecost is a word rooted in history long before the Church adopted it as it's Birthday — the word pentēkostos means “the fiftieth day,” and it refers to the spring harvest festival, the commemoration of the law given at Mount Sinai. It was a day of remembering God’s provision and God’s guidance. It is during this ancient celebration, and the 50th day after Jesus was raised from the dead, that we witness the disciples gathered together. They are still quite unsure of what comes next; you can imagine that they are still a bit confused and anxious, the memory of Easter events still fresh in their minds, they were maybe fearful but also hopeful. They were waiting for the coming of the Spirit, as Jesus promised them. Also there was nothing particularly remarkable about them, they were just ordinary men and women.
Yet, this is where God chooses to breathe his Holy Spirit. And what we witness is a a great dramatic event—the rush of the violent wind, the tongues of flames, the chaos and noise of all those gathered speaking in many different languages, all creating a fantastical picture. Yet the point of the story is not in that dramatic picture and its different elements, but rather in the transformations that happened, the transformation of those ordinary people, who a moment ago were hesitant and fearful but now were drawn together and formed into the Body of Christ. It was a defining, turning point for the early believers. Pentecost is a time of transformation.
It is also a time of unity and inclusion. In all that drama of the day, Luke tells us that the crowd gathered and was bewildered, “because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each… in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
We are told that people of different backgrounds and cultures were gathered together; they were speaking and they understood each other. They were shocked and amazed— not only by the message itself, but by the fact that they understood. The Spirit broke down the barriers that languages and cultures so often impose on people. Those barriers came down, even if just for a moment. But in that moment, in that experience, there is a call to unity and inclusion that the church is meant to carry forward.
When we look at this scene in Acts, it’s easy to get lost in the spectacle. But if we stay with it for a moment, we realise the deeper wonder is not in the fire or the wind—but in the understanding and through that in the transformation that takes place. All these people, with different languages, stories, temperaments, and memories, suddenly hearing one another. Such a contrast to what we witness in the world today. We are daily encouraged to divide, to draw lines, to sort people into categories of “us” and “them.” Difference is often treated as something to fear or control, something that makes another person less significant, less deserving, or less welcome.
So when we read this story of Pentecost, we are confronted with a different vision: It is a picture of what a community could be - ordinary people united, and connected to each other, people who are not afraid of difference, but can see that they enriched by it.
The Pentecost was a turning point for the disciples and for the first believers. If we consider the turning points in our lives again, I think you would agree that they are not always spectacular and sometimes they even arrive quietly, without us recognising their importance until much later. But whether they come with a rush and unexpected, or if they arrived gently, God still meets us right in the midst of such moments and uses them to change us in ways we might not have thought possible.
Jesus speaks in John’s gospel about those who are thirsty coming to him, and about the living water that will flow from within them. The disciples on Pentecost were not trying to achieve something impressive; they were simply waiting to receive from God, they were open. and thirsty for guidance, for comfort and courage, they needed all these. And the Spirit met them there, in the place of their need.
I think that is something the Church sometimes forgets. We feel the pressure to prove ourselves—to show that we are relevant, active, organised, doing enough, being enough. There is always some new initiative that would, if done well, ensure that we as a church are successful and relevant. We hope that if we can just do all the right things, the Spirit will reward our hard work. But Pentecost suggests something different. The Spirit is not waiting for us to succeed. The Spirit is waiting for us to be open and ready. God wants us to be open and ready to receive his Spirit. And it is in that openness that the Spirit meets us.
And when the Spirit does come, things may not always stay comfortable. Pentecost was bewildering. Transformation rarely leaves us where we are. But that’s fine, because that’s about being changed and transformed, growing in the knowledge of God, into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, becoming the people that God meant us to be. Pentecost is not about that one event all those 2000 years ago, it s ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our midst, God’s ongoing gift to ordinary people who continue to share life together, to pray, to listen, to seek understanding, to serve their neighbours. It is for us.
It all begins very simply—with an openness and with the courage to say, “Lord, I am here; let your Spirit come.”
May God change us and transform us by his Spirit, as we offer our lives to the work of his kingdom.
Amen.
Sermon preached on Sunday 17th May 2026 in Granborough
Easter 7
By Richard Webster
READINGS
Acts 1.6-14
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
GOSPEL READING
John 17.1-11
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
THE TALK
Hope
The Japanese art of paper folding or origami has recently become a fixture in our house. Often that is what happens when you travel, you find something new to do, something new to exercise your mind. We have recently visited Japan. So the latest craze is origami, the books which have been gathering dust have been pulled out, paper has been found and hours spent folding paper in to different shapes. I would like to introduce you to the crane. Before I do so I need to get the joke out of the way. As told by a Chinese guide I had one holiday. What is the most common species of crane in China? The construction crane. (By way of explanation there is so much building work going on in that country that these cranes are everywhere).
The paper crane is everywhere in Japan. The legend of the crane is deep rooted in Japanese folklore in which the making of 1000 cranes will grant your wish or answer prayers. Senbazuru or the folding of 1000 cranes has become a symbol of hope and peace having found renewed meaning following the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The story goes that following the devastation of that attacked one survivor, Sadako Sasaki a 2 year old girl at the time, decided to make paper cranes in the last few months of her life. She was supposed to make only a few but ended up making many more, trying to make 1000, hoping this would lead to her recovery. Sadly she died at the age of 12, before completing her task, from the effects of radiation. In the memorial park in Hiroshima is a display of paper cranes alongside the names of those who are still missing after the explosion. There is also a statue of her holding a crane. She has also been memorialised in other countries. As an aside I recently visited Hiroshima and saw the horrors resulting from that attacked. In the museum there are exhibits and artifacts from the time and many pictures. Subsequently I read a book on the survivors, a most harrowing book but with elements of hope from those who survived. In the hotel we stayed at in Hiroshima was a table with squares of paper and instructions on how to make a crane. Your creation could be left in a box, with the rest of the flock, or taken away. The instructions were in Japanese and English depending on which side of the instruction sheet you looked at. No guessing as to which set of instruction were followed first until a helpful Japanese couple showed how it should be done and which instructions to follow. Several cranes were made.
You may well be asking yourself how does a paper crane, a piece of origami, fit in with the reading we have heard today? A good question and one that I have been pondering for some time. Really I just wanted to talk about cranes and origami but we need to consider what the readings are saying to us today. Let’s think about hope
We are at the end of the Easter season, Jesus has had a last meal with his disciples, been betrayed, crucified, buried, risen again and met several times with his disciples and followers. Now is the time for Him to leave earth and for the Holy Spirit to more visibly take his place. We celebrate the first of these as Ascension Day which was last Thursday 14th May but is often celebrated on the following Sunday, which is today. We celebrate Pentecost next Sunday.
The reading from John is could lead us into some pretty deep theological thinking. However let us look at it as we would a flat square of paper ready to be turned into a symbol of peace and hope. This passage is set before Jesus’s betrayal and crucifixion. Before he rises from the dead and before he ascends into Heaven. We are taking a step back in time. Jesus reflects on the work He has completed on earth and in his prayer requests to be glorified. Glorified, a difficult concept, but clearly to do with both Jesus and God the father showing a mutual understand that each part of the godhead is there to shine light on all parts and each is a part of bring people to prospect of eternal life.
Jesus, knowing what is to come and that he will be leaving them prays for His disciples. He again reflects on the work he has done on earth saying he has been faithful in revealing the Word to them and asking that they will find protection from the devil. That they will be kept faithful. They have received the teaching of Jesus and understand that He had come from God, even if they don’t fully understand everything about him. Jesus is asking that they will be protected and united in their mission to spread the gospel, that the spiritual life of believers will be grounded in a knowledge of God and obedient to His word, the true gospel. He knows the disciples are about to go through a very difficult and testing time, as is He. Jesus is asking that the disciples will be left with the hope of eternal life while he himself will be returned to his rightful place in heaven after a job well done.
The reading from Acts takes us a step further to the actual Ascension, but not before the disciples have questions. Questions which were based on a misunderstanding of Jesus’s mission. Are you going to restore the kingdom of Isreal now? Perhaps a bit of a hot topic then, as Isreal was under Roman occupation, as it is today with all that is happening in the middle east and elsewhere in the world concerning Jews and the state of Isreal. Jesus skilfully avoids a direct answer saying it is not for them to know when such things will be happening. However He does leave them with the hope/promise of receiving the power of the Spirit. Not only that he commands them to be his witnesses and spread the Gospel. That said He leaves them with no doubt many unanswered questions. What are we suppose to do?, how are we suppose to do it?, who’s going to be our guide and mentor now?
Enter two angels, stage left. What are you looking at? Jesus is gone but he will come back. More questions in the minds of the disciples – where has he gone? When is he coming back? What do we do now? But off they trot back to Jerusalem praying as they go, probably asking for answers to their questions. Did they understand what was happening and why? Probably not. Were they worried? Quite possibly as they had just witnessed their leader/teacher/guide disappear. Did they lose hope? Quite possibly to some extent but they were at least praying through the situation. And they locked themselves away again at least for a short while.
A very human reaction and one which probably resonates with us. Something happens, it hurts us and dents our hopes and we feel like just climbing back into our shell, into our safe place. But we have the benefit of hindsight, which the disciples didn’t have, The Spirit did come and give them and us new hope, a sense of purpose and courage to face whatever was to come.
So how should we respond?
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Go out there and be God’s people in the world
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Have hope when all may appear lost because we have the guidance and strength of the Spirit with us.
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Pray that the world will be filled with peace and hope for a better future for all.
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Make a crane, make 1000 cranes.