The Festival of Pentecost – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon
Festival exordium:
These were exciting and uncertain times for the Lord’s disciples. Jesus had risen from the dead and visited with them on multiple occasions, teaching them about what He had done for all people and about what was still to come. But His appearances to them were unpredictable. He was not with them like He was before. Their interactions with Jesus had changed.
They still had many questions. What was Jesus going to do now? What part would they play in His plan? How would the Israelites as a whole be affected? They seemed to hold out hope that their death-conquering Lord would usher in an earthly kingdom. Several weeks after His resurrection, the disciples asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Act. 1:6).
Jesus’ response showed them they were thinking too small. He would establish a kingdom, but not the earthly kind. He said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (v. 8). The kingdom that Jesus would rule over was a spiritual and eternal one, and the power for expanding this kingdom was from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost. He came with the sound of a mighty rushing wind. He caused tongues of fire to rest upon them. He gave them the ability to speak in other languages (Act. 2:2-4). Through the Word they spoke, He worked faith in thousands who were gathered in Jerusalem, and 3,000 Jews were baptized that day in the name of the Triune God.
The Holy Spirit continues His powerful work today. He still works through the holy Word to convert the hearts of unbelievers and strengthen the faith of believers. Without the Spirit’s work, no one would believe. But because of the Holy Spirit, we gather here in faith together with countless others around the world and throughout history.
We pray for the Holy Spirit’s continued work among us when we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” This is not a prayer for an earthly kingdom but for a spiritual and eternal one—a kingdom that comes “when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and live godly lives here in time and hereafter in eternity” (Explanation to the Second Petition).
In celebration of the Holy Spirit’s work among us, let us stand to sing our festival hymn, #399, “O Light of God’s Most Wondrous Love”:
O Light of God’s most wondrous love,
Who dost our darkness brighten,
Shed on Thy Church from heav’n above,
Our eye of faith enlighten!
As in Thy light we gather here,
Show us that Christ’s own promise clear
Is Yea and Amen ever.
O risen and ascended Lord,
We wait fulfillment of Thy Word;
O bless us with Thy favor!
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Sermon text: 1 Samuel 16:14-23
In Christ Jesus, who kept His promise to send the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth and to convey the gifts of the Father and the Son to us sinners, dear fellow redeemed:
Today we are celebrating the powerful coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and the work He continues to do among us. But our Old Testament reading gives us an example of the opposite of the Holy Spirit’s blessed work. It tells us of the Holy Spirit’s departure. Not only did the Spirit of the LORD depart from Saul, but a harmful spirit also filled the void and tormented Saul.
It is no surprise that the departure of the Holy Spirit would coincide with the arrival of an evil spirit. The all-powerful Holy Spirit does not share space with demons. 1 Corinthians 6 describes the body of believers as “a temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (v. 19). But when the Holy Spirit is rejected and faith is lost, the door is left open for evil spirits. Jesus said that when an unclean spirit finds a “house swept and put in order”—a body not inhabited by the Holy Spirit—the unclean spirit “brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there” (Luk. 11:25-26).
What does surprise us about our reading is that the harmful spirit that tormented Saul was “from the LORD.” Even Saul’s servants acknowledged that the evil spirit was from God. This shows us that God has power even over the demons, and that He can use them for judgment as He sees fit, like He did with Saul.
Saul had started out well as king. God had sent the Holy Spirit upon him to give him courage and to lead the people (1Sa. 10:10, 11:6). But then Saul began to go his own way. He presumed to step into the position of a priest and offered unauthorized sacrifices to God (13:8-14). Later he disobeyed God’s command to completely destroy an enemy nation and all their possessions. Saul let the Israelites keep the best of the livestock and possessions and then tried to say these were kept as sacrifices for the LORD (ch. 15).
The prophet Samuel informed Saul that the LORD had taken the kingdom from him and given it to another. From this time on, Saul was troubled by the evil spirit. He had persistently rejected the Word of God. This is a warning for us that the Holy Spirit and the faith He brings can be lost. If we willfully and regularly go against what God says, the time will come when the Holy Spirit departs, and God passes the terrifying judgment that we will just get what we are asking for.
There is no blessedness apart from God. There is no love, joy, or peace. There is no patience, kindness, or goodness. There is no faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. These are fruits of the Spirit, so they are not possible apart from the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Saul no longer had these things because He had rejected the Holy Spirit. He became angry, paranoid, and jealous. He acted with selfishness and violence. He demanded absolute loyalty from his servants, even if what he demanded was wrong.
But it seems that some of his servants remained faithful to the LORD. They recommended that Saul employ a man who could play the lyre, an instrument like a harp but smaller in size. When he consented, they told him about David the son of Jesse. Not only was he skilled in music, they said, but he was also “prudent in speech, and a man of good presence.” “And,” they added, “the LORD is with him.” Saul was pleased with David, and his music-making was effective. “Whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.”
This underscores the power of music. I have never met someone who doesn’t like one type of music or another or have a deep emotional response to it. All music has power, but not all music is beneficial for the Christian. When music is used to convey messages or manipulate emotions for bad purposes, it is very harmful. A regular diet of music with lyrics that promote sin can eventually lead a person, like Saul, to reject the faith.
This is why our aim in the Lutheran Church is not to include music for its own sake in our worship. We don’t just sing songs that make us feel good. If that were the case, we might choose pop songs that have nothing to do with God. No, we are not just looking for an emotional high. We want to have music that conveys the soul-saving message of the Gospel, the truth that God sent His Son to redeem us sinners. It is through the message of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit brings us the spiritual gifts that Jesus won for us. Jesus said, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Joh. 16:14).
I expect that when David played music for Saul, he also sang God’s promises, and this is especially what brought Saul refreshment and relief from the evil spirit. The Word of God is powerful. Evil spirits cannot stand the Word. David knew the Word well. When Samuel privately anointed him king to one day replace Saul, we are told that “the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (1Sa. 16:13).
By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David wrote at least half the Psalms in the Bible, including Psalms like 22 (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”), 23 (“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”), and 51 (“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”). Many of these Psalms are the source for our Christian hymns, like Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” which he wrote after Psalm 46. The Word of God combined with music is a powerful weapon against the devil’s attacks and a powerful tool for strengthening faith.
Ephesians 5 says, “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 18-20). This is what happens when we attend the divine service each week. We sing to each other what God has done for us, and the Holy Spirit uses these praises to unify us and build us up. This is also why it is good to fill our homes with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” The more we are connected to the singing of God’s Word, the less vulnerable we are to the devil’s work.
The account of Saul’s affliction by a harmful spirit is a clear warning for us. No matter how faithful we have been in the past, and no matter how certainly we hold the faith today, if the Holy Spirit does not continue to move us to repentance through the Law and to comfort and strengthen us through the Gospel, we will not stand. The devil and his fellow demons are constantly looking for opportunities to get at us. They will not stop trying as long as we live here on earth.
But our merciful Lord does not give up defending and protecting us. Though we have on many occasions let down our guard and fallen into sin, He continues to call us back and forgive us. Even faithful David fell into terrible sins, but the Holy Spirit worked repentance in his heart. We join him in the words he humbly and faithfully sang in response to God’s mercy, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, And take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me with Your free Spirit” (Psa. 51:10-12, NKJV).
The LORD has not taken the Holy Spirit away from us. The Spirit Is Still at Work among Us through His holy Word and Sacraments. He continues to build us on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. He continues to join us together in the unity of faith like perfectly fitted stones in a holy temple. He continues to dwell among us and in us, bringing us all the spiritual gifts we need for this life and for the life to come.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from stained glass at Saude Lutheran Church)
(sermon audio not available this week)
The Festival of Pentecost – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon
Festival exordium:
When children are counting the days to their birthday, the days leading up to it go so slow. The anticipation builds and builds until finally… the day is here!
Just before His ascension, Jesus told the disciples, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Act. 1:5). What would that baptism be like? Jesus said it was not like the baptism that John administered with water. John had said of Jesus that He would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luk. 3:16).
The disciples’ anticipation grew with each passing day. Now it had been one day since the Lord’s ascension, then two, three, four, five. What did the disciples do while they waited? Filled with joy at Jesus’ promise, they together devoted themselves to prayer in Jerusalem (Act. 1:14). They also frequently worshipped in the temple, blessing God (Luk. 24:53).
Day six passed, then seven and eight and nine. Finally on day ten—a Sunday—the baptism promised by Jesus happened. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. If the candles on a birthday cake cause excitement, this fire was infinitely more exciting. Tongues of fire rested on the disciples, but we are not told where. Artists often depict it above their heads, but it may well have flashed from their mouths.
That’s where the power was—it was in the Word, God’s Word, the glad tidings spoken by the disciples. That’s where the power still is. We don’t see the fire, but the Holy Spirit still shines the light of salvation through the Word of God, which He has recorded for us in the Bible. This light flashes forth to enlighten our minds and gladden our hearts—even more gladness than little children feel on their birthday.
In celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian Church, let us rise to sing our festival hymn, #399:
O Light of God’s most wondrous love,
Who dost our darkness brighten,
Shed on Thy Church from heav’n above,
Our eye of faith enlighten!
As in Thy light we gather here,
Show us that Christ’s own promise clear
Is Yea and Amen ever.
O risen and ascended Lord,
We wait fulfillment of Thy Word;
O bless us with Thy favor!
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Sermon text: Acts 2:1-13
In Christ Jesus, who sent out the Holy Spirit from the Father to bear witness about His saving work to the whole world (Joh. 15:26), dear fellow redeemed:
It’s amazing how the same message can be heard in completely different ways depending on who the listener is. The disciples on Pentecost were speaking in other tongues, languages they had never known or spoken before. Some who heard them said, “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” But others just heard gibberish. They mocked the disciples and said, “They are filled with new wine—they are just babbling incoherently!”
This statement showed their ignorance. They did not understand what was being spoken, so they immediately brushed it aside. These skeptics were the first ones Peter addressed, when he spoke just after today’s reading. “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” he said, “let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day” (Act. 2:14-15)—9:00am!
They were not full of alcohol at this time of day. They were filled with God the Holy Spirit. He had been poured out upon them by God the Father and God the Son. Peter continued by quoting the words of the prophet Joel, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (v. 17). The Holy Spirit had come just as Jesus promised. The Holy Spirit had come to distribute the gifts that Jesus won for all sinners.
The Holy Spirit still works among us today. He works today in the same way that He worked on Pentecost. No, not with the sound of a “mighty rushing wind” or with “divided tongues as of fire,” as awesome as that would be. He works among us through words. That is especially what got the people’s attention. They heard about “the mighty works of God” in their own language. Their hearing of this powerful Word is what led 3,000 people that day to believe and be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mat. 28:19).
You have also been baptized in this way, and the Holy Spirit was poured out on you through the powerful Word. It is interesting to note that the evil spirits, the demons, hate the water. Jesus said, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none” (Mat. 12:43). But the Holy Spirit has been tied to water since the beginning. Genesis 1 says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (v. 2). And now the Spirit fills us—He is poured out on us—through the water and Word of Holy Baptism.
The apostle Paul encourages us to continue to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). He wrote this in his inspired letter to the Ephesians, again highlighting the contrast between the consumption of alcohol and the pouring out of the Spirit. He writes, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (5:17-18).
“Debauchery” is a word that refers to wild parties, carousing, the excessive indulgence of ungodly appetites. That is the door that drunkenness opens. The over-consumption of alcohol impairs good sense, it dulls the conscience, it makes us more willing to do what we know we should not do. It puts ourselves and others at risk physically and especially spiritually. That is foolishness and not the will of the Lord.
The Lord’s will is that we are filled with the Spirit, and Paul outlines what this results in. He writes that those who are filled with the Spirit “[address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” This is why we sing in church, even if we don’t think we can sing very well. We’re not singing to win any competitions. We sing to encourage one another. We sing the message of salvation to each other. We Lutherans have the best hymns ever produced, because we believe, teach, confess, and sing the pure Gospel by the grace of God.
We who are filled with the Spirit also “[sing] and [make] melody to the Lord with [our] heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 19-20). This has to be the Spirit’s work, because our hearts are not always filled with a song of praise toward God the Father. We do not give thanks “for everything” to God. But we should.
We were created by God the Father and redeemed by God the Son to praise Him through our actions, words, and thoughts. This praise should never stop, no matter what pain or sadness or turmoil we are feeling, because there is no goodness and no mercy apart from our God.
But as willing as our sanctified spirit may be, our sinful flesh is weak (Mat. 26:41). We focus on the troubles more than the blessings. We see what is going badly instead of what is going well. This perspective leads many to look for help in the wrong places, to temporary fixes that create lasting problems, like the bottle. These temptations only leave us more parched and more desperate than we were before. Only the Spirit can quench our thirst for help and salvation.
Jesus once told a woman at a well, a woman who had filled up her life with sin, that everyone who drinks regular water will be thirsty again. But He had a different kind of water to give, living water (Joh. 4:10-14). On another occasion, Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (Joh. 7:37-38). This “living water” is the Holy’s Spirit work to bring us the salvation of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is poured into believers through the Word and Sacraments. This is where we drink deeply of the Spirit, where we are filled with the living water of Jesus that washes away our sin. We come thirsty, parched from our wandering in the world’s wilderness, desperate for forgiveness. We come with our ears wide open and eager to hear the truth. We come to hear in our own tongue “the mighty works of God.”
We want to hear again and again what Jesus has accomplished for us, how He saved us from our foolish behavior, from our desire for what harms us, from our addiction to sin. He died for all these sins, and He rose again to declare that none of them is counted against you or me anymore.
The Spirit fills you with the forgiveness and life of Jesus. He covers you in His righteousness. Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Joh. 16:13,14). This is what the Holy Spirit does for you. He refuels your faith. He refreshes your spirit. He brings you the fruits of Jesus’ perfect work, so that you are comforted and strengthened in this life and prepared for the eternal life to come.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from stained glass at Saude Lutheran Church)
The Festival of Pentecost – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon
Festival exordium:
Wings. Water. Wind.
The first time we hear about God the Holy Spirit in the Bible is at the beginning of Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (vv. 1-2). “The Spirit of God was hovering.” That makes us think of the way a bird hovers in the sky. Fly forward.
After Jesus was baptized, “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him” (Mat. 3:16). Once again, the Spirit was hovering over the waters. Fly forward.
Jesus spoke with a man named Nicodemus and said to him, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Joh. 3:5). He spoke about the wind blowing where it wishes, flying wherever it flies, and declared, “So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 8). Fly forward.
Ten days after Jesus’ ascension, His disciples heard a sound from heaven “like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Act. 2:2). The Holy Spirit did not appear in the form of a dove, but He revealed His presence by the tongues of fire resting on each disciple. They began boldly to preach God’s truth in Jerusalem, and by the end of the day, three thousand souls believed the truth and were baptized. Fly forward.
When you were brought to the baptismal font, the Spirit of God was hovering over those waters. No one could see Him, but He was there with power. “[B]y the washing of regeneration and renewal” (Ti. 3:5), He caused you to be born again. He made you alive in Christ.
He still comes through the powerful Word and Sacraments, not bound by the laws of nature, not confined to space and time. He flies to you with the grace, forgiveness, and peace that are yours through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And He flies forward on His soul-saving, life-changing mission, adding more members to the church of God.
In praise of His magnificent work, we sing our festival hymn—hymn #399, “O Light of God’s Most Wondrous Love”:
O Light of God’s most wondrous love,
Who dost our darkness brighten,
Shed on Thy Church from heav’n above,
Our eye of faith enlighten!
As in Thy light we gather here,
Show us that Christ’s own promise clear
Is Yea and Amen ever.
O risen and ascended Lord,
We wait fulfillment of Thy Word;
O bless us with Thy favor!
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Sermon text: St. John 14:23-31
In Christ Jesus, whose ascension was the crowning moment of His saving work on earth, and who then sent out the Holy Spirit to distribute this salvation to sinners until the end of time, dear fellow redeemed:
It is very clear to all of you here why you needed God the Son to take on human flesh. You know that you are a sinner, and that you could not satisfy your debt to God. You needed Jesus to take your place, keep the holy Law for you, and die on the cross for your sins. But why was it so crucial that Jesus return to His Father? And why did the Father and the Son need to send out the Holy Spirit?
Jesus said to His disciples, “If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said ‘I am going to the Father.’” That does not seem like cause for rejoicing. Why would they rejoice when their great Teacher left them? He left them to suffer and die on the cross to make atonement for all sin. He had to go alone, because no one but Him could endure the wrath of God against sin. No one but Him could make peace between God and mankind.
When that work on the cross was complete, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luk. 23:46). And the Father received the spirit of His Son. He accepted His Son’s sacrifice. We know He accepted it, because He raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. Jesus’ state of humiliation and suffering had ended. Now all authority in heaven and on earth were given to Him (Mat. 28:18), and He ascended to the right hand of His Father in the flesh.
Since salvation had been won, it was time for these glad tidings to be distributed. Ten days after His ascension, Jesus made good on His promise to send the Holy Spirit. Suddenly the disciples, common men from Galilee, could speak in languages they had never known before. They now stood up and spoke, not to draw attention to themselves, but to draw attention to Jesus and what He had done for all sinners.
And the Holy Spirit did more than give the disciples the gift of multiple languages. Through the Word they preached, the Holy Spirit was also giving the gift of faith to those who listened. We are told that the people “were cut to the heart” when they heard what was said. They did not realize that Jesus was more than a prophet. Now they knew they had crucified the Son of God, and that death could not keep Him in the grave. After what they had done to Him, how could they expect Him to be merciful toward them? “Brothers, what shall we do?” they cried.
And Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That sounds simple. All they had to do was say they were sorry for their sins and claim to have faith in Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit would be theirs. But that’s not really what happened. It was not a cause and effect. It was not, “They do their part, and God does His part.” God did it all.
I guarantee that none of the people who were baptized on Pentecost Sunday woke up that day thinking, “It’s about time I admitted that I was wrong about Jesus. I should just believe that He is the eternal Son of the Father who died and rose again, and I should be baptized in the name of the Triune God.” It was the Holy Spirit who led them to repentance and faith and who prompted them to be baptized. All of it was gift; none of it was earned.
The same is true for you. You did not choose to be a believer in Jesus. Your parents or others brought you to the baptismal font and to church where the Holy Spirit worked faith in you. God had to do this work for you, because you were dead in your sins. An unholy person cannot make himself holy. Martin Luther put it this way, “If you yourself were holy, then you would not need the Holy Spirit at all; but since we are sinful and unclean in ourselves, the Holy Spirit must perform His work in us” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 24, p. 169).
That’s why Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” The world says the kind of peace you want to aim for is peace among nations and communities or an inner peace and calmness. But these kinds of peace are not permanent. The peace that Jesus left with us is the peace of His atoning death which reconciled us with our perfect heavenly Father. This is the peace the Holy Spirit imparts to us through the Word and Sacraments—the peace of sins forgiven, of eternal life secured, of a temporary rest in the grave before the resurrection of the body on the last day.
The Holy Spirit brings you what you cannot get anywhere else. He brings you the gifts of God. But He doesn’t send these gifts directly from heaven to your heart like a bolt of lightning, or through a feeling you have that He is near. He brings you the gifts of God through the Word of God. Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” That is why we come to church and have devotions at home, because it is through the Word that God comes to dwell with us.
And it is through the Word that God teaches us the truth and comforts us. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” Unless you have learned “all things” that God has to teach you, you still need to be a student in the school of the Holy Spirit. Unless you are perfectly holy, you still need the Holy Spirit to sanctify you through the Word.
And the Holy Spirit is glad to do this work. He is glad to take the forgiveness and life won for you by God the Son and apply it to you. He is glad to bring you comfort in your distress. He is glad to strengthen your faith in trials. He is glad to guide you on the path of righteousness. He is glad to prepare you for eternal life in heaven.
You can see how important the work of the Holy Spirit is. Without His work, we would have no faith. We would be without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). We would live for a short time and die and be dead forever. God the Father and God the Son sent out God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that everything Jesus accomplished according to the gracious will of His Father would be applied to sinners.
You and I are some of those sinners, sinners who deserve God’s wrath for our sins, who deserve eternal punishment in hell. But what we have received instead is the cleansing blood of Jesus that washed away all our sins. We have received His righteousness that makes us acceptable to the Father. We have received His mercy and peace and goodwill. By the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word, we have received all the fullness of Christ’s redemptive work, grace upon grace (Joh. 1:16).
This is why we rejoice today. This is why Pentecost is such a pivotal day for the church. This is the day that all the gifts Jesus won for sinners came pouring out of heaven like stores of grain for the hungry, like waterfalls for the thirsty, like rain on parched earth. “Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of Your faithful people, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from Saude Lutheran Church stained glass)