Calendar

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 30:18–21\rPsalm: Psalm 36:5–12; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: Ephesians 2:19–22\rGospel: John 14:1–14\rIntroit: Psalm 89:1, 5, 15–16; antiphon: Psalm 119:46\rGradual: Romans 10:15b, 18b; Isaiah 52:7b, alt.\rVerse: John 14:6\r\rSt. Philip and St. James, Apostles\r \r“Lord, show us the Father.” Philip did not yet recognize that the Father is glorified in the Son. In His name we have access to the Father, for they are one. Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him],” and whoever believes in Him will do the works He does and greater (John 14:6–13). And so Philip and James did; the “household of God” is built on the apostles, with Christ as her chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:19–22). The beloved words of Jesus from today’s Gospel were the words of their “Teacher,” echoing in their ears as they walked in His way (Is. 30:20–21). And so their hearts were not troubled (John 14:1) as they ate “the bread of adversity and the water of affliction” (Is. 30:20). Philip, who in John’s Gospel brings Jews and Greeks to Jesus, is said to have journeyed to Phrygia where he was martyred. James “the Younger” (son of Alphaeus, whose mother Mary was at the crucifixion) is said to have died by being sawn in half. Where Christ is, they also are, and so shall we be (John 14:3).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 6:1–9; 7:2a, 51–60\rPsalm: Psalm 146; antiphon: v. 2\rEpistle: 1 Peter 2:2–10\rGospel: John 14:1–14\rIntroit: Psalm 30:1–5; antiphon: Psalm 149:1\rGradual: adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6\rVerse: Romans 6:9; John 14:23\r\rThe Lord Jesus Christ Is the Way, the Truth and the Life\r \rThe risen Lord Jesus alone is “the way, and the truth, and the life,” and we come “to the Father” only through Him (John 14:6). God is thus “glorified in the Son,” and those who believe in Him will do the works of Christ because He goes to the Father for us (John 14:12–14). Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5) and “doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8), did the works of Christ. When he was falsely accused and put to death, he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Fixing his hope there, he commended his spirit to the Lord Jesus and prayed for his murderers. In the same way, all the baptized are called to follow the example of Christ Jesus by faith. Though He was “rejected by men” in the sight of God, He is “chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). He is the chief cornerstone of the Father’s “spiritual house,” and we are built upon Him as “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 17:16–31\rPsalm: Psalm 66:8–20; antiphon: v. 8\rEpistle: 1 Peter 3:13–22\rGospel: John 14:15–21\rIntroit: Psalm 119:89–93; antiphon: v. 105\rGradual: adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6\rVerse: Romans 6:9; John 16:33b\r\rThe Lord Jesus Comforts Us with the Preaching of His Resurrection\r \r“The God who … gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24–25) wants all people to seek Him that they might “feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27). But in our sinful ignorance, we humans turn instead to idols “formed by the art and imagination of man” (Acts 17:29). Therefore, God appointed the Man of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, and “has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Because He lives, we also live (John 14:19) in His forgiveness, and thus we love Him and keep His commandments (John 14:15). While the risen Lord prepares us for His ascension, He will not leave us “as orphans” (John 14:18), but He gives “another Helper,” the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever (John 14:16) through the preaching of “Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18). Because He “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18), we “honor Christ the Lord as holy” and are always “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” for the reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Our Baptism “now saves” us “as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 1:1–11\rPsalm: Psalm 47; antiphon: v. 5\rEpistle: Ephesians 1:15–23\rGospel: Luke 24:44–53\rIntroit: Psalm 110:1, 4–5; antiphon: Psalm 47:5\rGradual: adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6\rVerse: Romans 6:9; Matthew 28:20b\r\rThe Ascended Lord Jesus Is with Us Always in His Church on Earth\r \rAfter He rose from the dead, the Lord Jesus presented Himself alive to the apostles, “appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). When He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He did not orphan His Church, but He fills all things in heaven and on earth and gives gifts to His disciples. Even now, through His Church, He continues “to do and teach” (Acts 1:1), preaching “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47) even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Though the cloud hid Jesus from the sight of His disciples then, and He remains hidden from sight even now, He remains with His people through His Gospel and Sacraments. He comes to us by the Word of His apostles, by the promise of His Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom He pours out upon “the church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22–23). In this holy Christian Church, we bless God and worship Christ with joy, for in His Church He blesses us with forgiveness, lifts us up in His hands and seats us with Himself “in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20). \r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Acts 1:12–26\rPsalm: Psalm 68:1–10; antiphon: v. 32\rEpistle: 1 Peter 4:12–19; 5:6–11\rGospel: John 17:1–11\rIntroit: Psalm 100; antiphon: Psalm 101:1\rGradual: adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6\rVerse: Romans 6:9; John 14:18\r\rOur Lord Jesus Is with Us in the Upper Room of His Church on Earth\r \rOn the night when He was betrayed, our Lord Jesus prayed for His apostles and His Church on earth. “The hour” had come when the Father would glorify His Son by the cross (John 17:1). Through the shedding of His blood, He would bring forgiveness for the sins of the world, and in His resurrection and ascension He would unite all Christians with the Father “that they may be one” with God (John 17:11). He manifested His name to the apostles and gave them the words of the Father to speak in His name. The apostolic witness of His cross and resurrection (Acts 1:21–22) gathers disciples together “with one accord” into the one Body of Christ (Acts 1:14). “Devoting themselves to prayer,” they wait upon the Lord in “the upper room” (Acts 1:13–14), the place of His Holy Supper. Strengthened by the Gospel, Christians bear the cross of Christ in patience and peace, rejoicing to share in His suffering, in order that they “may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Exodus 19:1–9\rPsalm: Psalm 113; antiphon: v. 3\rEpistle: Romans 8:12–17\rEpistle: Romans 8:12–17, 22–27\rGospel: John 14:8–21\rIntroit: Psalm 68:32–35; antiphon: v. 19\rGradual: Acts 2:17b; Romans 10:10\rVerse: Liturgical Text\r\rOur Lord Makes Us His Holy People and Seals Us with His Spirit\r \rAt Mount Sinai, “Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God” (Ex. 19:2–3). Through Moses, God gave the Law and sealed His covenant through sacrifice. The Lord made Israel His “treasured possession among all peoples” as well as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5–6), if they would listen to His voice and do what He had spoken. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, who has come down to us and gone up to God by way of His death and resurrection. He has fulfilled the Law and poured out His own blood as the new covenant. Therefore, “that the Father may be glorified in the Son,” He will do whatever we ask in His name (John 14:13–14). He gives “another Helper … even the Spirit of truth” to be with us forever (John 14:16–17). The Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us “with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). Now we pray with confidence as we eagerly await “the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Numbers 11:24–30\rPsalm: Psalm 25:1–15; antiphon: v. 4\rSecond Reading: Acts 2:1–21\rGospel: John 7:37–39\rIntroit: Psalm 104:24, 27–28, 30; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Acts 2:17b; Romans 10:10\rVerse: Liturgical Text\r\rThe Risen Lord Jesus Pours Out the Holy Spirit\r \rThe Lord took “some of the Spirit” that was on Moses “and put it on the seventy elders” of Israel (Num. 11:25), and they “prophesied in the camp” (Num. 11:26). In the same way, our risen Lord Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost — the 50th day and the “Eighth Sunday” of Easter. When “a sound like a mighty rushing wind” and “tongues as of fire appeared” and rested on each of the 12 apostles, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” and proclaimed “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:2–4, 11). The Lord Jesus grants this same Spirit to His Church on earth to proclaim Him glorified on the cross and risen victorious from the grave for us sinners. From His open heart, our crucified and risen Lord pours out His Holy Spirit in “rivers of living water” (John 7:38) and invites everyone who thirsts to come to Him and drink freely (John 7:37). Through this life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, we hear our pastors “telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11), and “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 57:15–21\rPsalm: Psalm 43; antiphon: v. 3\rSecond Reading: Acts 10:34a, 42–48\rGospel: John 3:16–21\rIntroit: Psalm 48:1–2, 9–10; antiphon: v. 8\rGradual: Acts 2:17b; Romans 10:10\rVerse: Liturgical Text

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 32:14–20\rPsalm: Psalm 27; antiphon: v. 1\rSecond Reading: Acts 8:14–17\rGospel: John 10:1–10\rIntroit: Psalm 78:69–72; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Acts 2:17b; Romans 10:10\rVerse: Liturgical Text

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Genesis 1:1—2:4a\rPsalm: Psalm 8; antiphon: v. 9\rSecond Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22–36\rGospel: Matthew 28:16–20\rIntroit: Psalm 16:8–11; antiphon: Liturgical Text\rGradual: Psalm 145:3, 5b, 6b\rVerse: Isaiah 6:3b\r\rThe Holy Triune God Recreates Us in the Image and Likeness of Christ Jesus\r \rThe holy Triune God “created the heavens and the earth,” and “behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:1, 31). However, after Adam and Eve fell into sin and plunged God’s good creation into decay and death, the Son of God would be “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” to be “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). As Jesus “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:33), He also raises up all the baptized and pours out the Spirit upon them through the preaching of His Gospel. He sends out His apostles to “make disciples of all nations” by “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “teaching them to observe all that [He has] commanded” (Matt. 28:19–20). Through such baptizing and teaching — Gospel and Sacraments — the holy Triune God recreates us in the image and likeness of His incarnate Son, Jesus, the Christ, and behold, it is “very good” (Gen. 1:31).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: White\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 11:1–5\rPsalm: Psalm 138; antiphon: v. 8a\rEpistle: Romans 12:9–16\rGospel: Luke 1:39–56\rGospel: Luke 1:39–45\rIntroit: 1 Samuel 2:1–2, 7–8; antiphon: Luke 1:46b–47\rGradual: Psalm 103:2; 105:5; 100:4\rVerse: Luke 1:45\r\rThe Visitation\r \rToday Zechariah’s house is prepared to sing: “The Lord God of Israel … has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). For the Scriptures are being fulfilled: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Is. 11:1). What could raise a king from a dead line? Only the Lord Himself! This is no son of man’s will, but the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). The Word of the Lord has done this, and so all are blessed in Him. The “greeting” of blessed Mary causes John to leap in Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:41). Both are delighted at what the Word has wrought: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Likewise we, too, “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:12–15), for our joyful hope is in the Lord who has visited us to redeem us — not just a town in Judah but our entire fallen world. The Holy Spirit discloses where salvation is to be found: in the most blessed fruit of Mary’s blessed womb. And the whole Church rejoices, saying, “My beloved! Behold, he comes” (Song of Songs 2:8).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship