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The Festival of Pentecost, the "birthday" of the church, can often be a day of self-congratulations and reminiscences, and this might be especially true today as we celebrate the 25th birthday of our congregation. The way Luke tells it, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit's dramatic implosion in the Christian community was not intended as a sign of the church’s glory or importance. The focus is not on the spectacular but on how the disciples are changed and inspired as God gives them "the whole store."

Today as we reflect together on who we are as a congregation, as we mark our 25th Anniversary and as we anticipate the future to which we are being called I want to call on four sayings from a great American philosopher and commentator….Yogi Berra.

1. "If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

The road that brought us here to this day has many forks in it. Many, many times choices and decisions have been made by many, many people. The Ellis family in donating land to the Presbytery for a New Church in the “deep woods” of rural North Fulton County! The generosity of Clyde Lafitte in adding great value to that purchase! The Presbytery in choosing Dwight Bayley, and Sarah, and Peter and Stephen, as the faithful and inspiring Pastor, and the first fruits of the new congregation.

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it." Dwight, you and your family came to that fork and you took it – and you took the correct fork! You were joined by a small but growing group of people who committed to worship, fellowship and service, together as a Presbyterian congregation, offering time and energy, prayer and sweat; their basement so the choir could practice; their know-how in being church; their desire to serve, to lead, to give, to dream. In time many others took that same fork in the road that would lead to Northminster Presbyterian Church.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit’s arrival was manifested as the faithful begin to speak in other languages. You see, then and now, Church takes place when disciples give voice to the Spirit-inspired mission and the message of God's love for the world in Jesus Christ. When this, the grace of God is shared and proclaimed to all people, in all languages, to "the ends of the earth" Church happens. That first Pentecost some of those watching wanted to hear more; while others cynically attributed the jabbering to "new wine." Into this noise and confusion steps Peter to interpret what is happening. In no uncertain terms, Peter explains that the responsibility for Jesus' rejection, condemnation and crucifixion rests upon the shoulders of all who ignored Jesus, all who denied Jesus, all who rejected Jesus.

Peter sees that the first, essential mission of the newly formed church is proclamation; Spirit-inspired speech to share the message of Christ with the world, the whole world. To proclamation the essence of God the church must never adopt a special lexicon of "salvation-speak" or "churchionics," rather the Church must speak openly, easily, truthfully and clearly to all – to the undeclared, to the unbelieving, to the believing, to the saints of God, to all who will listen. The message of God’s grace is to be clearly articulated, not with obtuse or archaic ramblings or babblings but with sincerity, sensitivity and certainty. The Holy Spirit is the power of God that pushed the church out from that locked Upper Room into Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth even to Roswell, GA!

The names of the nationalities represented among those who heard the Good News of Jesus on Pentecost included all the then known nations of the earth. Just think of how far that very same message has been carried and shared by this congregation over the past 25 years – to Raintree, to Newton School, to Raintree (again) and then to this site; to Jones Bridge, Holcomb Bridge, State Bridge; on Highway 9, Highway 120, Highway 141; on Nesbit Ferry, Bells Ferry, McGinnis Ferry; to Milton HS, Roswell HS, Chattohoochee, Centennial HS, Northview HS, Alpharetta HS; to Northside, St. Joes, Scottish Rite, Emory, Piedmont, North Fulton Regional; to Lamplighters, Son Seekers, Pioneers, PrimeTimers; with Softball, Golf Ball, Olympic Torch; on Super Sunday’s, Grubby Sundays, Pledge Sundays, Women’s Sundays, Youth Sundays, Children’s Sundays; to Philadelphia, New Orleans, Tennessee, Thornwell, Slidell. To Jamaica, Vancouver, Ethiopia, Manaus, Tijuana, El Salvador.  "If you come to a fork in the road, take it", go God’s way, this will always be the Northminster way!

2. "Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore, it's too crowded."

As people we are prone to disagree, to let our self-inflated opinions of ourselves get in the way of God’s work in the world. Partly due to our location and demographics, throughout almost the entirety of Northminster’s life there have been fallings in and fallings out. There is no hiding it - we are a “take charge” bunch of folks. And I don’t just mean the pastors, and the staff, I don’t just mean Darlene or June or Ben or George! We are all pretty much used to making decisions and carrying them out; used to people paying attention to our opinions. People often look to us for guidance. And then God brings us together into the one church and sometimes we have let God down.

Passionate about the life of this new church, our church, the church some of us watched grow from nothing, change has not always been easy to accept, new options or new people have brought their challenges. Living in transient communities, with many, many choices and options for everything from dry cleaners, to ice cream, to banks, to restaurants… there have been times when the grass seemed greener some place else. Anxious to give ourselves or our children every perceived advantage, being where the action was said to be has been too much on our minds.  When growth happened in leaps and bounds, some felt that they no longer mattered so much, that their ideas were being closed down or shut out. When difficult decisions were being made not everyone was on the same side. When things did not always work out the way we all hoped, there might have been a rush to blame. Where once we were only one step removed from our beloved pastor, now there were other layers of leadership.

I say all this because it is true; it is part of the first 25 years of our story.... for good or ill. I hope that such problems will have less effect over the next 25 years as we mature into a congregation in which there are many different views about many aspects of faith and life. Together we are stronger for being diverse, together we can be a community of the one who said, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

I say all this not to rehash stuff you hoped wouldn’t get mentioned today, not to point any fingers, not to stir up blame but hoping that we draw a line and avoid getting locked into real or imagined struggles from the past. It is vital that we keep on affirming who we are as a Presbyterian Congregation – that we are open to all who trust in Jesus Christ, that we affirm the ministries of all men and women, that we welcome children and youth, that we aim to pay full attention not only to what God is doing inside of us, but to what God is doing in God’s world around us. That we will always be ready to act out of love and respect; that we will never threaten anyone with a vision of hell or a fundamentalist blitzkrieg or a scripturally rootless Rapture Theology run amuck. I say all this so I can say this: If you are a former member of Northminster and are now well connected and involved in the church where you now worship, please know our encouragement and love as you serve God. If you are a former member of Northminster and you are not fully and well-connected in the life of a church please accept our encouragement to get so connected – there or here or somewhere. And of course, if you are a former member of Northminster and you have drifted away from faithful participation in the life of a congregation, you are welcome, you are always welcome here! "Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore, it's too crowded." Whether the crowd is large or small, God has room for all at Northminster Presbyterian Church!

3. "You give a hundred percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn't enough, in the second half you give what's left."

Those of us who struggled to master a foreign language know how difficult it is to communicate with people who come from different places or who speak a different language. The English-speaking tourist usually reverts to the dodgy strategy: speak slowly and very loudly. Even having an unusual accent can be difficult; just ask the church who called a Scottish pastor – it was hard to understand him all the time, you really had to listen!

Twenty five years together is a great milestone to celebrate, but it is a marker that will quickly fade as we move into the challenges of the coming years. God has more for us to do and be – more than we have yet been or become. We need the leading and inspiring of God’s Holy Spirit as we carry on our God-given mission of sharing the love of Jesus with every person and family and situation in which we find ourselves. By the Holy Spirit, God would end the division of language and geography so that all may come to experience the love that knows no end, the love that ends death, and pain, and despair. This is the task on which we must be focused and to which we devote our lives, giving 100% and then some more.

4. "Hey Yogi, what time is it?" "You mean now?"

It is time now to allow God to take and use these words of mine and all your thoughts and reactions. It is time to prepare to express our faithful unity at the Lord’s Table, one place where we are all equal, equal in need, in receiving God’s acceptance, in being called together to be fed so we can go forth to serve God in the world.

“What time is it, now?” It is time to draw close, and be drawn closer to God, and to each other, in the embrace of God’s love, God’s love for you, God’s love for Northminster, God’s love for the Church of Jesus Christ in every place, God’s love for the world.

“What time is it, now?” in the words of the new draft Vision Statement:
Called to trust Jesus Christ,
to glorify God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we at Northminster Presbyterian Church
commit to be a faithful community of:
Worship and Welcome
Growth and Outreach
Care and Compassion

“What time is it, now?” My friends it is time to keep taking the correct fork in the road, to keep on making the faithful choice of committing together to give our all with and to and for the God who in Jesus offered all for our sake and for the sake of the whole world. Our mission today, is the same as the mission of the church on the Day of Pentecost: to share God’s love in Jesus Christ with all! Today God says well done, good and faithful servants, now keep on keeping on. Each of you and all of us together have A STORY TO TELL, A LIFE TO LIVE!  Amen.