Good morning and welcome to the broadcast of the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
To help you follow along, the Order of Worship for today's service is available under the radio tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org.
The Lord bless you today through the hearing of his word.
service today.
This is the Feast of the Day of Pentecost.
So that's our emphasis and our readings and our hymns.
We'll begin with hymn 500, Creator Spirit by Whose Aid.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Beloved in the Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.
O Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended you, and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishment.
But I am heartily sorry for them, and sincerely repent of them.
And I pray you of your boundless mercy, and for the sake of the Holy
innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved Son Jesus Christ.
Be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
Upon this, your confession, I by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you.
And in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.
In the name of the Father.
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
you
Glory be to God on high.
The Lord be with you
Let
us pray Oh
God on this day you once taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit Grant us in our day by the same spirit to have a right understanding in all things
and ever more to rejoice in his holy consolation through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Old Testament reading for the day of Pentecost is from Genesis chapter 11 Now the whole earth had one language in the same words and as people migrated from the east they found a plane in the land of Shinar and settled there and They said to one another come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly and they had brick for stone and by two men from order and they said come let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top to the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.
And the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower which the children of man had built.
And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.
And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
Come.
Let us go down there, and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Therefore, its name was called Babel.
Because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
This is the word of the Lord.
You say, O Lord, freeze my life in Your righteousness.
The second reading is from Acts chapter two.
When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews
devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, and they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans, and how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?
Parthians and Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia,
Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean?
But others mocking said they're filled with new wine.
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them.
Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words.
For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
And your young man shall see visions, and your old man shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants.
In those days, I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire, vapor and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes.
the great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This is the word of the Lord.
Please stand in honor of the gospel.
The Holy Gospel according to St.
John the 14th chapter.
Jesus answered him, 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.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
And the word that you hear is not mine, but the fathers who sent me.
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives, do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled.
Neither let them be afraid.
You heard me say to you, I'm going away, and I will come to you.
If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I'm going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.
He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.
Rise, let us go from here.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Together we confess our faith as written in the words of the Nicene Creed.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God, a very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and descended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
And I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
This is the festival, the day of Pentecost and in today's Gospel reading, Jesus is preparing the apostles for the work that he's come to do for them.
After his crucifixion, after his resurrection and ascension, he will depart.
So he's instructing them to keep his word and he's promising
them that the Father will send the Holy Spirit in His name to teach and to bring in remembrance all that He said to them.
And because they would be tempted to doubt and fear with all their opposition and hostility they would face, Jesus promised them, along with the Holy Spirit, they would receive His peace.
The lives and the teachings of the apostles.
Subsequence.
To that Pentecost bear witness that Jesus words were true The Holy Spirit worked powerfully through them to bring this gospel to the world even to us today These instructions and promises that Jesus gave them are also for us baptized believers Peace I leave with you My peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you?
Let not your heart be troubled
Neither let it be afraid.
Beautiful promise and encouragement from our Lord.
We crave peace.
It seems so elusive.
We have it for a moment and then it's gone.
Of course, there are different kinds of peace.
There's peace that the world gives.
There's peace, the peace of Christ that he gives.
The world can divine.
define peace in various ways.
A different version of peace, we'll say peace that's absent of conflict, that's a type of peace.
And so we try to get along and not cause offense.
And there's the peace of getting away from it all.
Life is hard, it's overwhelming, and we need a break from the day-to-day demands.
This is the kind of piece we find at the lake or in our alone time.
Peace may find when we tune out the world and try to escape.
Maybe a good book or a favorite program or online gaming.
And there's peace that comes from doing good things.
A job well done.
Overcoming challenges, obstacles, accomplishing important tasks.
And yet peace remains elusive.
It doesn't last or we don't fully experience the deep and abiding peace that we crave.
Avoiding conflict doesn't make problems go away.
We still must live with and work with difficults and different people.
We offend and they offend us.
We all are all sinners after all.
That's what we do.
So conflict is inevitable.
Or attempting to avoid it only makes matters worse.
We are called to forgive as we are forgiven.
So this means actually dealing with conflict in order to reconcile.
But the truth is we're afraid to confront the sin in ourselves and the sin in others.
And seeking peace by getting away from it all may help to relieve temporarily the stress.
The stress of the moment to provide a momentary reprieve.
Allow your body and mind time to rest and rejuvenate, but it is only temporary.
Life goes on even while you're away.
And the challenges and problems that you left, well, they tend to be there when you return.
They may even grow larger in your absence.
So even though you're momentarily away from the problems and stresses of life, your heart,
is troubled because you know the problems, the stressors remain.
And yet not ticking a break is not the answer either.
You might think, well, I can find peace by working hard and diligently attending to all these problems and demands of life.
So you could seek peace through your efforts, yet it's never enough.
The piece that comes from a job well done is fleeting.
There's always more good work to do.
Your best efforts always fall short of someone's expectations, someone's standard, or your hardest trouble.
This is especially true when we strive to satisfy the expectations of God with our own efforts.
God's commands reveal our failure, our failure to love.
The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
So to this predicament of our craving and inability to find peace, the Lord says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives, do I give to you?
Let not your heart be troubled.
Neither let it be afraid.
Jesus Christ Himself gives you His peace.
It's a different peace.
It's a holy peace.
It comes from outside of you.
It comes from outside of the world.
It comes from God Himself.
And it is deep and abiding.
It is a piece that passes all human understanding.
You can't comprehend it.
This means you can't bring it about on your own, try to create some scenario that brings peace through your own effort or process.
You don't have to.
It's given to you freely, regardless of circumstances.
It's given in the midst of conflict, in the midst of hardship, in the midst of suffering.
You simply receive it with thanks and guard it as a sacred gift, a sacred gift that it is.
It is a precious gift from your loving Lord.
Don't trade it or sacrifice it for a lesser fleeting peace.
And Jesus does not give as the world gives.
He gives freely.
He gives certainly.
He gives abundantly.
There are no strings attached.
There's no payment required.
There's no hidden agenda.
You have His Word.
You have His promise.
It is guaranteed.
So we receive it as a good gift from our loving Lord.
And the peace of Christ comes by faith in Him and His Word.
The Holy Spirit works by means of the Word.
This is why we don't despise preaching or his word or think we can obtain God's peace apart from his word.
Jesus said, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make her home with him.
He who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine but the fathers who sent me.
The Holy Spirit.
sent by the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, poured out on that day of Pentecost, was also poured into you in holy baptism, in your baptism.
And it's by his word that Christ gives you his peace.
Holy Spirit comes to you by the word and keeps you in the word.
As stated in the small catechism, I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.
In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
Jesus told his apostles, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
The Holy Spirit taught the apostles and brought to their remembrance all things that Jesus had said to them.
And we have these teachings recorded in the New Testament.
These are the inspired teachings and words of Christ for you.
And the Holy Spirit works through these very words, these holy scriptures to teach you.
These are the words that are kept by those who love Jesus.
These are the words that are not kept by those who do not love Jesus.
Those who love Jesus hold his word sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
We do that when we attend the divine service.
Participate in Bible study and spend time reading our Bible and daily devotion.
In these words, God's words are not easy to keep.
They are demanding, but the Spirit enables you to trust and obey them.
They're hard to understand at times, but the Spirit that helps you opens your mind to understand them.
These words are not neutral either.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul.
and of spirit, of joints at a marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
By means of the word, the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, killing that old sinful flesh and bringing you to new life in Christ and the promises you have in him.
The word contains Christ himself, the Christ who took your sins upon himself.
including those sins of avoiding him and the sins of seeking peace apart from him and the sins of not keeping his word.
He took those on himself, removed them from you so that you may have his righteousness, you may have forgiveness, you may have peace with him.
So we keep his word and God comes to us and makes his home in us.
He does this in...
Holy Communion comes to us.
The words of Christ are spoken.
This is my body given for you.
This is my blood shed for you.
The Holy Spirit works through these words to give us what they promised, Jesus Christ, body and blood, crucifed and risen, for forgiveness, life and salvation.
This is not just symbolic.
Jesus comes to us.
He enters us, along with all the treasures of heaven that He earned for you, including His peace.
And no matter what's going on in our lives, in the world, we have peace with God through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We're reckoned out with God by the blood of Christ.
The one who is atoned for our sins is with us and for us.
The spirit cleanses us by the blood of Christ to make us holy and right with God When we leave the altar I should say the rail after receiving Holy Communion we can face the world with all of its problems all of its stresses with peace a peace that passes all understanding You do not have to fear conflict having the peace of Christ enables you to pursue peace with others
You don't have to fear those who oppose Christ.
As John says in his epistle, little children, you are from God and have overcome them.
For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
This doesn't mean you'll be left alone as Christians.
Jesus said, behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.
So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
But you do not have to worry.
They went on to say, when they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say.
For what you are to say will be given you in that hour.
Where is not you who speak but the spirit of your Father speaking through you.
So rather than avoiding conflict and problems, we trust in the one who has overcome the world.
We hold his word sacred, gladly hear and learn it.
We call on him.
and every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks, and he responds by giving you his peace, no matter the circumstances.
As we read in holy scriptures, rejoice and the Lord always, again, I will say rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious about anything.
But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Please stand.
for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Gracious Lord, your spirit fills the world and gladdens your church with remembrance of all Christ Jesus has spoken.
Comfort us with divine peace and do not let our hearts be troubled or afraid.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
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 in the name of your Son and be saved.
Lord, in your mercy.
Loving Father, come with your Son and make your home among us.
Let your word bind families together, guide our life and conversation, and continue among us in each coming generation.
Lord, in your mercy.
Oh God, we thank you for the many blessings you have bestowed upon this nation.
Grant us a long memory to recall those who gave the full measure of devotion to our country's peace and security.
Bring to mind the sacrifices of those who served faithfully until death in the protection of our freedom and the defense of our land.
Lord, in your mercy.
Merciful Lord, by your Holy Spirit, convict us of sin, of righteousness in Christ.
and of the judgments of your holy word.
Sanctify our hearts by the forgiveness of sins and make us fit partakers of Christ's holy body and precious blood.
Lord, in your mercy.
Advocate and defender whose light never wanes.
We bless you that on the great and magnificent day you will raise all of the dead and give unto those who believe in Jesus eternal life.
We remember with thanksgiving those who have gone before us and are at rest.
Comfort those who mourn and bring us all with them into the light that knows no darkness.
Lord, in your mercy.
All mighty 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, obtain eternal salvation through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The Lord be with you.
Lift up your
hearts.
Let us give thanks unto the Lord.
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should, at all times and at all places, give thanks to you, Holy Lord, Almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who ascended above the heavens and sitting at your right hand poured out on this day the promised Holy Spirit on his chosen disciples.
For all this, the whole earth rejoices with exceeding joy, therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.
we laud and magnify your glorious name, ever more praising you and saying.
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me
In the same way also, he took the cup after supper.
And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it, all of you.
This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
This do as often as you drink it and remembrance of me.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Thank you for tuning in to the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
May the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
If you have any prayer requests, please let us know.
You may call us at 715-723-6380 or stop by and visit 110 East Grand Avenue in Chippewa Falls.
If you're looking for a church home, we'll gladly tell you more about Zion or help you find a congregation near you.
These broadcasts are paid for by generous gifts made to our radio fund.
If you'd like to contribute, click the Give tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org, or send a check to Zion Lutheran Church Radio Fund, 110 East Grand Avenue, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, 54729.
Zion is a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
