Have you ever noticed that there are certain professions where age is an advantage. There is just something reassuring about a little gray hair or no hair and a few wrinkles. I think when a person looks a bit weathered it evokes confidence and maturity. In ministry for example, the more mature you look, the more people tend to open up to you with their problems or go to you for your opinion. I remember when I first began my ministry in Bloomer WI. I had just turned 24 and I looked it. Back then I had a baby face and a thick head of auburn hair. Trust me, I did.

Well one day I called on a member of the church who was probably in her early forties. We were having a nice conversation in her living room when suddenly she began to pour her heart out to me. She had a lot of person problems. and she was freely sharing with me when suddenly she stopped and said; “Oh I shouldn’t be telling these things to you, you’re to young to be of any real help.”

Yes there is something reassuring about age. In banking, for example, somehow you feel a bit safer when your banker has a few gray hairs and wears conservative suits. In medicine, you want your doctor to look older then you’re oldest kid.

People who fly a lot also feel just a little more secure when they see that their pilot has a full head of gray hair. Really when you stop and think about that you sense that that is kind of silly when you realize that elderly people like to take naps. But that is the way we are. Age reassures us, it puts us at ease. Now the same is true for institutions and businesses. The older they are the more they evoke trust. That’s why institutions and businesses like to put the year of their establishment in their advertising. The assumption is that there is a correlation between longevity and quality, and I think there is.

Now I have no idea what the longest standing business is in our country, but I do know what the longest running institution is. Do you, know? The oldest institution in our country or in the world is the church. There is an old hymn that goes; “Oh where are kings and empires now of old that went and came? But Lord thy church is praying yet a thousand years the same.”

Actually the church is almost 2000 years old which is really remarkable. No empire, no nation, no business, no institution, no kingdom has survived as long as the church. Now why has the church survived? Well we can’t say it’s because the people of the church are perfect, we know better then that. The great writer CS Lewis once said that he avoided the church for a long time because when he went to it he discovered the same people that he was trying to avoid during the week. No the church hasn’t survived because its people are perfect. Nor has it survived because of its leadership. But do know why I think the church has survived? I think it has survived because from the very beginning God has blessed the church with the Holy Spirit. Our church here in Delavan I think is an example of that, we are here only because of the Holy Spirit and some of you people here today are here only because of the Holy Spirit. No one invited to come to this church, but for some reason you came to this church and found a home. Now why did you choose this church and not one of the other two churches across the street? Maybe it’s because of the Holy Spirit?

In our scripture for this morning we find our author Luke telling us how the church grew in its infant stage. Now when you study the book of Acts, as some of you did with me two years ago, the author Luke make its very clear that the reason why the church grew was because God’s hand was with them. Luke mentions that in our scripture today. It was God who added to their numbers and it was God who raised up leaders like Stephen, Barnabas and Peter and Paul.

The church came into existence because of God. It was born and it grew because of the constant acts of the Holy Spirit, thus Luke named his book Acts. The book of Acts is about God and how God acted through the Holy Spirit to bring forth the church. So we are here today because of the Holy Spirit.

For two thousand years it has been that way; empires rising and falling, coming and going, but the church is still here, and in some parts of our world still growing. Yes God’s church is growing, in spite of its shortcomings, in spite of its corruption, in spite of its sometimes ineffective pastors and back sliding members.

In spite of itself God’s church continues in this world and the only reason for this is because its members possess a power greater then themselves. And that power is called the Holy Spirit. God gave it at Pentecost and it is still with us today, guiding, directing and empowering. Cardinal Suenes, in his book entitled: “A New Pentecost” wrote this about the Holy Spirit: “It is like a breeze which we can not see, but yet the leaves quivering at its touch tell us it is there.”

God’s Spirit is like a breeze which gently touches us. Do you see feel God’s gentle touch in our congregation. I do. I see the touch of God’s Spirit in so many ways. I see God’s Spirit working in the way we are slowly growing in membership and worship attendance. Six years ago if there were thirty or forty here on a Sunday morning that was considered a good Sunday. Now if we have forty here on a Sunday we consider that to be a poor Sunday.

I see God’s Spirit nudging people to come and be a part of our congregation, to come and join us in worship. There are new faces, here in our congregation, that weren’t here two or three years ago and I am continually praying that God may send us more new faces. I hope you make this your prayer too.

I see God’s Spirit working in our financial giving. These are difficult times financially for many people, but yet our giving here is steady and sufficient. Clearly God’s Spirit has something to do with this. God’s Spirit is nudging us to give joyously and liberally even in these tough times. I think God’s Spirit is gently guiding some to keep inching toward “a tithe” with their financial gift and God is nudging others to make the support of the church a higher priority in their lives.

I see God’s Spirit working in our congregation in the many ways that we are reaching out in mission. Even though we are a small congregation I know we put many larger congregations to shame in the way that we are reaching out in mission. I know this because I talk to other pastors. Some of these pastors just shake their head when I start telling them about some of the things we are doing here in our church. Our work with the food pantry, our support of the 14th Apostle, our mission trips, our loose coin offering, housing the homeless in our fellowship hall, special collections of gifts to give to needed families at Christmas, ringing bells for Salvation Army, the summer children’s program currently taking place in our fellowship hall. These are just some of the things that we are doing in mission to try and make our world a better place.

I see God’s Spirit at work in our congregation in the positive morale that exists in our fellowship. People are happy and content here in our congregation. There is no bickering or factions here in as there are in some congregations. People feel as if they are growing spiritually and others say they are maturing in their faith.

I see God’s Spirit at work in the way that we care for each other. When someone goes to the hospital, or when someone is struggling with life issues, when someone struggles with their health members reach out to each other in prayer and support, cards, and phone calls.

Yes even though we are small, we are fortunate here at First Baptist and one of the reasons why we are fortunate is because God’s Spirit is blessing us just as that same Spirit blessed the early church.

So today may we be thankful for our church and for our blessings. And may we be thankful for God’s Holy Spirit, for like a gentle breeze its touching our lives bringing renewal and hope just as it did for the early church so long ago.