A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our first reading, Acts 2:1-21. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pentecostal movement raised a question for biblical interpreters. They studied the events of the Day of Pentecost and concluded that every Christian’s life should imitate the early Christians' experience on that day. Most pointedly, they concluded that all Christians should speak in tongues or prophesy as described in Acts 2. In contrast, most commentators view these events as unique and miraculous—not something Christians must imitate. Like all epoch-making works of God, Pentecost was accompanied by a spectacular, miraculous occurrence which both authenticated this event as an act of the God of Israel and served as a meaningful symbol of the earth-shaking change taking place in world history. It is a symbol lifted straight from the prophetic word of the Old Testament pro...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Peter said, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Today, we gather to celebrate a pivotal moment in the history of our faith—the Day of Pentecost. Make no mistake about it; it had all been for this. To pour out the Spirit, Jesus—first conceived by that same Spirit—had taken flesh from the holy Virgin. To pour out the Spirit, the obedient Son of God had lived a perfect life of love to God and neighbor, had suffered and died, had descended to hell, and had risen in victory on the third day. To pour out the Spirit, He had ascended into Heaven and was seated at the Father’s right hand. It was this day, fifty days after Easter, that Jesus kept His promise to pour out His Holy Spirit, and the Spirit came with a startling suddenness that was impossible to miss. Imagine the scene: the disciples, filled with antic...

"The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones" by Gustave Dore Click here to listen to this sermon. “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O My people. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:13-14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Admittedly, I chose the title “A Holy Spirit Revival” to be provocative. It is not a term we Lutherans would generally use because of the negative associations with the charismatic movement, altar calls, decision theology, and speaking in tongues. Many Pentecostal, Baptist, and American Evangelical churches describe a Holy Spirit revival as  a powerful movement of God’s Spirit that brings spiritual awakening and renewal to individuals, communities, and the church . And while that definition can be tr...

"Pentecost" by El Greco Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our first reading, Acts 2:1-21. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pentecostal movement raised a question for biblical interpreters. Pentecostals studied the events of the Day of Pentecost and concluded that every Christian’s life should imitate the experience of the early Christians on that day. Most pointedly, they concluded that all Christians should speak in tongues or prophesy as described in Acts 2. In contrast, most commentators view these events as unique and miraculous—not something Christians must imitate. Like all epoch-making works of God, Pentecost was accompanied by a spectacular, miraculous occurrence which both authenticated this event as an act of the God of Israel and served as a meaningful symbol of the earth-shaking change taking place in world history. It is a symbol lifted straight from the p...

  Click here to listen to this sermon.

"Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles" by Mikhail Vrubel Click here to listen to this sermon. “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We are living in the last days and the end of the world is drawing near. I don’t say this because of anything in the news today. I don’t say this because I have some sort of inside source. I say this because of our reading from Acts 2, the account of the first Christian Pentecost. Pentecost was one of the three great festivals that God had established for Israel. Also known as the Feast of Harvest, it followed the completion of the barley harvest, and was a kind of firstfruits thanksgiving for the early wheat harvest. Every pious Jew tried to be in Jerusalem for this feast, which was observed each year 50 days after Passover. But God had special events in mind for this Pentecost in 33 A.D. About...