Context is Crucial
 

Acts 2: 7-8

We can get an instant translation of a word in a different language on the Internet. This gives an accurate, literal, translation but there are lots of details that need to be filled in. Context is crucial. The words of the disciples at Pentecost were more than just words literally translated into different languages. They had the power to transform a person’s life. Countless people across the world can testify to the fact that hearing the Gospel transformed their life for the better and it still does today.

After the tragic, humiliating death of the founder of the Christian faith, his followers proclaimed his victory over human failings, sin, and proclaimed that his death demolished death.

Pentecost Sunday reminded us of some of the miraculous events surrounding the early days of the Christian faith’s formation.

People from different nations heard the Gospel preached in their own language by uneducated men from Galilee.

When a person responds to the Gospel’s offer of transformative life in Jesus Christ, it is the beginning of a lifelong adventure of faith and loving service to others.

Most people in Richmond have all they need and much of what they want. How can we preach the Gospel in a language they can understand and respond to?