Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts. (Zech.4:6  )

Zechariah 4,6

Almighty and ever-living God, You fulfilled Your promise by sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to unite disciples of all nations in the cross and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the Gospel spread this gift to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Collect for Pentecost

Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord!
Be all Thy graces now out poured
On each believer’s mind and heart;
Thy fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Thy light,
Thou in the faith dost men unite
Of every land and every tongue;
This to Thy praise, O Lord, our God, be sung.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thou holy Light, Guide Divine,
Oh, cause the Word of Life to shine!
Teach us to know our God aright
And call Him Father with delight.
From every error keep us free;
Let none but Christ our Master be
That we in living faith abide,
In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thou holy Fire, Comfort true,
Grant us the will Thy work to do
And in Thy service to abide;
Let trials turn us not aside.
Lord, by Thy power prepare each heart
And to our weakness strength impart
That bravely here we may contend,
Through life and death to Thee, our Lord, ascend.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hymn 224  The Lutheran Hymnal Text: Acts 2: 4
Author: Martin Luther (1483-1546): “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott”

God´s Holy Word for this Sunday

The Introit teaches us to pray God´s holy Word:

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 118,24-28

Inspired by the triune God the holy prophet Moses proclaims in God´s name

The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. When the people[c] moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered[m] across the face of the entire earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Genesis 11,1-9

In Acts, we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit:

“Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”

But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days[ad] it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 2,1-21

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. “I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you. In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”)

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. “I have spoken these things while staying with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.”

John 14,15-27

Sermon text

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1. Corinthians 2,12-16

Sermon outline:

• The mind of Christ +  
• Get lost: Language, mind and life +
• God gives us all freely +   

Prayer of the Church on Pentecost

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Lord God, bless the preaching of Your Word throughout the world. May Your Spirit create faith in the hearts of the nations, that on the great and magnificent day of the Lord they may call on the name of Your Son and be saved. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord God, heavenly Father, when You filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit, 3,000 souls were called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified. Likewise, fill our congregation, our Synod and the whole Christian Church on earth with the Holy Spirit. Renew us, that the Sacraments may be administered faithfully and many more may be called by the Gospel, enlightened with Your gifts, sanctified and kept in the true faith. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of hosts, we give thanks for those who have served our nation through military service, and we remember with gratitude those who gave their lives for us and the cause of freedom. Help us to honor their sacrifice by using our liberty responsibly. Keep safe all who travel, bless our nation, and help us to protect and increase the privileges we have for those who follow us, looking always to You, from whom these gifts come. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Light of this dark world, You have sent the Holy Spirit to Your Church as the comforter. Soothe the wounds of Your people. According to Your will, bring restoration to broken families, heal the sick, uplift the depressed, provide for the poor, uphold the forgotten and answer the prayers of all who call out to You for aid [especially _____________]. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord, Giver of the Holy Spirit, clear away all distractions, that our hearts and minds may be focused on You. As Christ comes to us in the bread which is His body and the cup of His blood, help us to receive Your gifts with faith and to live from them. Receive our praise and thanksgiving together with the tithes and offerings we bring, as tokens of our trust in You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of love, give to those who weep the joy of Your presence, to those who grieve the hope of the resurrection, and to those who are alone or afraid the consolation of Your Spirit, that they may not despair but know the joy of Your presence and the love of Your Church. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty Father, with Your Son, Jesus Christ, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts through Your Word to rule and govern us according to Your will, comfort us in every temptation and misfortune, and defend us against every error, that we may continue steadfast in the faith, increase in love and good works, and — trusting firmly in Your grace for us by His death — obtain eternal salvation; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

LCMS Prayers for one-year-series.