I don't think I'm alone in struggling to find words to preach about the elusive yet ever-present Holy Spirit.
Part of the challenge is the lack of material to draw from.
To put this lack in context, in the NRSV, "God" is named 4,736 times.
"Jesus" and/or "Christ" add up to a combined 1,563 mentions.
But "Holy Spirit?"
A whopping 110 mentions.
Even if you broaden the search to the mention of "spirit" (spiritual, spiritualist, Spirit, etc.), the spirit still clocks in with less than half the mentions of the next closest member of the Trinity at 643.
The point? There isn't as much to work from—but you knew that already.
With Christians' most revered day about the Spirit coming up on the Feast of Pentecost, I thought it would help to add a few more mentions about the Spirit to our personal preaching libraries.
I collected quotes from theologians, poets, and preachers to give us a few more words to work from.
Their wise and insightful words will spark your imagination, help you see the Spirit in a new light, and offer new directions for your sermons.
For example, could these words by Harold J. Berman speak more to our need of the Spirit in this moment?
The greatest challenge of the third millennium of the Christian era is to create out of the many peoples of the world one humankind. In accomplishing that goal, the emphasis of the Christian faith should be on the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, who inspires people of diverse languages, diverse cultures, diverse beliefs systems, diverse loyalties, to listen to each other, to learn each other’s languages, to discover what they have in common, and to join in overcoming the forces that divide them.
This collection of quotes will inspire and help you articulate the movements of the Spirit throughout the season.
Download your (free) copy of "Pentecost Quotations for Preaching and Reflection (2022)."