“And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Meds, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” – Acts 2:8-11
Besides being one of the more difficult passages for lectors to read, this text for Pentecost Sunday speaks of the challenge to proclaim the Gospel in every age. How do we speak to people in their own native language? For us, in contemporary times, the challenge is to use the language of Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. These are the languages we need to use. Social Media is where the conversation is taking place. Who knew we would be exploring cyber evangelism, but we are. The possibilities are both daunting and amazing. To think, through Social Media, we have a platform to the world. We have begun to move away from just having a website to venturing out into social media to tell others about the story of the gospel and the story of Zion.
Here are some examples. Our recent video about Feed My Starving Children has received over 1,300 views. My sermons are posted every week and every week people watch them. One week, over 500 people clicked on that particular sermon. We regularly have pictures posted of people in the life Zion, events of Zion, and thoughts from Zion. This is a start, but we have just scratched the surface. How else can we use these languages?
I want to invite everyone to participate in the conversation. You can send you ideas to me or the church office. They will be passed on to the Communications Committee. In the meantime, you can always share a video or sermon that speaks to you with others. You can add your comments to the things that are posted on the Zion sites. You can find additional resources we might use. We have the opportunity to speak to the world for the sake of Christ. In the spirit of Pentecost and by the Spirit, may we, like those early disciples, speak in the languages of others about God’s deeds of power.
Peace,
Pastor Summer
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