Day of Pentecost
Today's Focus: He Lives to Pour Out His Spirit When the disciples were distressed about Jesus ascending into heaven, he assured them, "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). That Advocate is the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had stayed in the grave, the Holy Spirit would have had no reason to enter the lives of disciples. But Jesus lives, and it makes a difference. The Spirit provides faith and purpose for life. Pentecost, the celebration of the special arrival of the Holy Spirit, is the third great festival of the church, along with the Nativity and the Resurrection. Pentecost clses the fifty-day period after Easter and ends the festival half of the church year. The Church dresses in red on this day to commemorate the tongues of fire that marked the Spirit's gift as well as the blood of the martyrs.
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First Sunday after Pentecost
Today's Focus: God Is Triune We believe in the triune God. He is the only true God. The festival of the Holy Trinity is a time to celebrate God revealing himself to us as one God in three persons. The triune God wants his people to teach this mystery in tis biblical truth and purity. This festival of the Holy Trinity begins the second half of the Church Year with a proclamation of people being baptized and ablessed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the only true God.
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Ascension of Our Lord
Today's Focus: He Lives to Rule All Things for the Church Without the resurrection of Jesus, we would have to wonder who oversees the world. At times the world seems so chaotic. People claim to be in charge but they have limited power and strange ideas. Many of the ideas are harmful for Christians. Leaders seem to lead without acknowledging Jesus. But Jesus lives, and it makes a difference. Jesus is head over everything for the Church. When Jesus ascended, he took his proper place in heaven. The Festival of the Ascension is one of the oldest and most joyful celebrations in the Christian Church. It will be abserved by Christians until Christ returns to take us to be with him.
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