Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Tomorrow is Pentecost!! I can't wait to see what our God, through his Holy Spirit, will do! Tomorrow is also Confirmation and we rejoice with the Angela Knickelbein and her family, as well as Randall Schliebe and his family on this very special day!
Pentecost is the special festival, 50 days after the Resurrection, 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God. In the Hebrew history of Exodus 19, Pentecost, the festival of weeks, harvest or firstfruits is 50 days after the great Sabbath of Passover. The first Pentecost is 50 days after the Sabbath because it is 7 Sabbaths after the first day following Passover. This is the the giving of the Law! It is the time in Exodus 32:38 we see 3000 rebel against Moses and God and at Pentecost we see 3000 given the Holy Spirit.
This is a great day and I expect wonderful things. Confirmation is the affirming of the gifts given to us in Baptism. It is the public confession of what happened in our Baptism. Last Sunday our newest son: Bryan Emanuel Noah was given the gift of faith, eternal life and the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. When he was Baptized, as we were, he received the Holy Spirit like the Apostles received the Holy Spirit in John 20:20-23 "19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Even though they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Resurrection, the day of Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit has them! We pray over our Confirmands and ask that the Holy Spirit gets a hold of their whole life and that they live for him each day!!
Please join us to partake in this great and awesome celebration! We will be praying over Angela and Randall, as well as asking the Holy Spirit to manifest his presence and gifts among us, his family!
If you are away you will find the announcements @ www.crossandres.org
Also a note: We will have the 12:15 service again starting next Sunday! Many talked to me, following Matthew 18, sharing their concern that this is unique service and so we will continue it through the summer.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Bryan
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