St. James Lutheran - North Branch MI

06/07/2026

https://youtu.be/_fDhD_IGfW4

"Accept No Other Substitute," pericope texts and a sermon for the S...

06/05/2026

Dear friends, below you will find the content of our service bulletin for the Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 7th, 2026, along with the text of the day's sermon. God bless your worship at home!

The Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 7, 2026

Accept no Other Substitute!

ORDER OF SERVICE: Morning Praise (page 45 in Christian Worship.)

HYMNS: 581; 536; 382

PRAYER OF THE DAY: O God, you rule over all things in wisdom and kindness. Take away everything that may be harmful and give us whatever is good; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN

LESSONS:

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 11:18-21,26-28

Put these words of mine in your hearts and in your soul, and tie them on your wrists as signs and as symbols on your forehead. Teach them to your children by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many on the land that the LORD promises to your fathers with an oath, as many as the days that the heavens remain over the earth.
You see, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, or the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God and you turn away from the path that I am commanding you today by walking after other gods whom you did not know. (EHV)

PSALM OF THE DAY: Psalm 78 (Page 95 in Christian Worship)

Second Lesson: Romans 3:21-25a,27,28

But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe.
In fact, there is no difference, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in his blood.
What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. (EHV)

VERSE OF THE DAY: Alleluia. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Alleluia. (Psalm 119:105)

Gospel: Matthew 7:15-29

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. You do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do you? So then, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and drive out demons in your name and perform many miracles in your name?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on bedrock. The rain came down, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was founded on bedrock. Everyone who hears these words of mine but does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—it was completely destroyed.”
When Jesus finished speaking these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, and not like their experts in the law. (EHV)

SERMON on Matthew 7:15-29 for the Second Sunday after Pentecost, 7 June 2026

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.

The lesson for our consideration today is recorded in the gospel according to Matthew 7:15-29.

Dear friends, once there was a man walking along the edge of a cliff. Why doesn’t matter; but he slipped and fell over the edge. A short way down he managed to grab hold of a small tree, sticking out from the cliff face. Hanging there, he began calling for help. “Is there anyone up there?” “Help me!” Finally, he heard a voice from above: “this is the Lord, let go of the tree and I will catch you.” He considered that for a moment, and then called out: “is there anyone else up there?”
As Christians, we are fully aware of our sin and our need for salvation. We are aware that we have a holy God who demands absolute perfection from us, and that we frequently fail to measure up. We, and the whole human race, are hanging on the face of a cliff, with the long drop to hell looming below us. When you consider our precarious position, you might think that any of us would welcome whatever help is offered. But, unfortunately, when it comes to our salvation, many are, to some degree or another, like the man in our illustration – unwilling to trust in the help God has offered. Offered the perfect righteousness of Christ as a substitute for our imperfection, we look to something else, anything else.
You see, we’re “do-it-yourselfers.” “If you want to get something done, do it yourself.” How often have you heard that proverb? How often have you said it yourself? And when it comes to mundane tasks, it’s not a bad policy to have. But when eternity is on the line, what could possibly lead you to believe you can do it yourself? Throughout Scripture our God makes it clear that we cannot please him on our own – it is impossible! Our only hope for salvation lies in the blood of Christ, shed for our sins – my friends, accept no other substitute!

Back to that “do-it-yourself” attitude. The false prophets of whom Christ speaks in our lesson make use of that “do-it-yourself” attitude in their false teachings. Now, it would be incorrect, or at least uncharitable, to say that they do so maliciously. Yet they have convinced themselves that there is something that can be done by human beings to earn God’s favor, whatever that something is, and they have the info, the know-how, they’re “down with the 411,” and they can show you what you need to do. Perhaps they do it so they can be important or respected, or perhaps because they simply can’t accept that Christ is all they need.
Whatever their reason, Christ’s illustration is apt: “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Maybe you’ve seen the WB cartoon, or one like it, where the wolf, or coyote, dresses himself up like a sheep so he can tiptoe close enough to devour his prey. The Pharisees of Christ’s day looked good! They were teachers of God’s people, experts in Scripture willing to share their knowledge with others. Yet they had convinced themselves that they could please God on their own – that they could keep God’s commands perfectly. And so full of their own so-called righteousness, they substituted their own works, and refused the gift God had given them in Jesus Christ. What’s worse - the people who followed them did the same - so many were lead astray and devoured by these wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The false prophets of today set themselves up in much the same way, as “super saints” and teachers of righteousness, presenting themselves as examples of piety and righteous living. Or they use reasonable-sounding arguments to convince the people that their way makes more sense – surely this is the way to get to heaven!

Now - picture yourself on the Day of Judgment, walking behind some of these “super saints” as you approach the throne of God. You’re fully aware that you haven’t met the requirements of God’s laws, and those ahead of you seem to have gone so far beyond them. You were commanded to hear God’s Word – but you haven’t always done that. They not only heard it, they preached it. You were commanded to resist the devil - and haven’t always succeeded. They not only resisted him, but they drove his demons out. You were commanded to do very ordinary things and couldn’t even do that! They have gone beyond those simple things and have done the extraordinary.
And so they approach the throne, to present their life of work to God. But Christ says: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
See how those “super saints” are sternly condemned to hell. They are called “evil-doers.” They who have done so much really haven’t even begun to do God’s will, but have done only evil. If that’s how Christ treats them, where does that leave you?

But it’s not God’s purpose to terrorize us, and then leave us in fear and despair. This is a warning—a warning from a loving God who wants his children to know that even the greatest works humans can do will earn them nothing. In his letter to the Romans Paul tells us why this is so: Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. He’s not saying that works themselves are evil, but that by trusting in works for salvation, we reject the cleansing blood of Christ, the only thing by which our sins are removed and because of which we are declared holy in God’s eyes. And so those who teach otherwise, who do not look solely to Christ as their substitute, are rightly called “evil-doers,” whatever their works.

Forewarned, my friends, is forearmed - “you will know them by their fruits,” Christ says. “What fruits?” you might ask. “Don’t they perform the same good works we do?” “How do we tell the difference?” It’s not hard. You need only look at one work - their teachings - and then search the Scriptures. If what they teach is not God’s Word, then they are false. Whether it’s in a book you bought at a Christian bookstore, or on a program on Christian TV, or spoken from the pulpit of a Wisconsin Synod church, if they do not preach salvation by the blood of Christ alone, if the way to heaven is dependent on anything you must do, then they are false!

Accept no other substitute! Because there is no other substitute that will do for us! Only Christ met all the demands of God’s laws; only Christ heard and obeyed all of God’s Word; only Christ resisted all the temptations of the devil. And because he did all those things, only Christ could perform the greatest work of all, the only work that really matters – his innocent, bloody death on the Cross for all of your sinful failures – for your failure to keep God’s commands, your failure to listen to his Word, and for your failure to resist temptation. With Christ and his shed blood as our substitute, you need nothing else.
And just as nothing can substitute for the blood of our God, so nothing can substitute for the love of our God, who went to his death for your sake. There is a story I heard some time ago, about a young girl, about 8 years old, and her little brother, who was four. The girl developed leukemia, and the chemotherapy she received to treat it also made a bone marrow transplant necessary. Her little brother was found to be the best match. Their parents sat the boy down and simply and carefully explained the situation to him, asking him if he would give bone marrow to save his sister’s life. After a moment’s thought, he agreed. Lying in the hospital bed before the procedure, he quietly asked his parents: “will it hurt when I die?” This brave, loving little boy thought he had been asked to die for his sister – and was willing to do so.

Now if such is the love of one sinful little human boy for his big sister, how much greater must be the love of Christ, who was willing to set aside his heavenly glory, so he could become a little boy and die for you? For such love, there can be no other substitute.

Amen.

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

ST. JAMES NEWS:

Offering received for General Fund, Sunday, May 31: $735.40
(For Parking Lot Fundraiser: $25.00)
Overage/shortage: -$1760.08 (Parking Lot total: $2809.22)

THIS WEEK AT ST. JAMES:

June 9: Pastor’s work day at St. Paul, Mayville
June 11: (Thursday worship at St. Paul, Mayville, 7:00 pm)
June 14: Sunday Worship with Communion at 10:00 am

, North Branch

05/30/2026

Greetings, dear friends! This Sunday, May 31st, 2026, we celebrate Trinity Sunday! Below you will find the content of our service bulletin, along with the text of the day's sermon. Apologies, but because of a file corruption problem, we will not have a video version of the sermon available this week. God bless your worship at home!

The First Sunday after Pentecost--Trinity Sunday
May 31, 2026

The Trinity is Revealed in Power and in Love

ORDER OF SERVICE: The Common Service of the Word (page 15 in Christian Worship.)

HYMNS: 195; 241; 312; 256

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Almighty God and Father, dwelling in majesty and mystery, filling and renewing all creation by your eternal Spirit, and manifesting your saving grace through our Lord Jesus Christ: in mercy cleanse our hearts and lips that, free from doubt and fear, we may ever worship you, one true immortal God, with your Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

LESSONS:

First Lesson: Genesis 1:1-2:3

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was undeveloped and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning—the first day.
God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, and let it separate the water from the water.” God made the expanse, and he separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was above the expanse, and it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning—the second day.
God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear,” and it was so. The waters under the sky gathered to their own places, and the dry land appeared. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathering places of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth produce plants—vegetation that produces seed, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it—each according to its own kind on the earth,” and it was so. The earth brought forth plants, vegetation that produces seed according to its own kind, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it, each according to its own kind, and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning—the third day.
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night, and let them serve as markers to indicate seasons, days, and years. Let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,” and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in place in the expanse of the sky to provide light for the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning—the fourth day.
God said, “Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds and other winged creatures fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their own kind, and every winged bird according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. God blessed them when he said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning—the fifth day.
God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their own kind, livestock, creeping things, and wild animals according to their own kind,” and it was so. God made the wild animals according to their own kind, and the livestock according to their own kind, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its own kind. God saw that it was good.
God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crawls on the earth.” God created the man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “Look, I have given you every plant that produces seed on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that bears fruit that produces seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.
The heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them. On the seventh day God had finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on it he rested from all his work of creation that he had done. (EHV)

PSALM OF THE DAY: Psalm 150 (Page 122 in Christian Worship)

Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (EHV)

VERSE OF THE DAY: Alleluia. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. Alleluia. (Isaiah 6:3b)

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain. Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (EHV)

SERMON on Matthew 28:16-20 for the First Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, 31 May 2026

Grace, mercy and peace be your in abundance. Amen.

The lesson for our consideration this morning is recorded in the gospel of Matthew 28:16-20.

Dear brothers and sisters, disciples of the Lord Jesus. How do we describe the Holy Trinity? Do we picture three leaflets on a three-leaf clover? Do we speak of a cord of three strands wrapped together? Do we point to the sides of a triangle or the three letters in the name G-O-D?
Do we line up Judaism, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses as non-Christian denials of the Holy Trinity? Do we add Unitarians, secret societies, and Eastern cults to the enemies of the triune God?
We know the Holy Trinity is far more than mental visualizations of an embattled idea. He is God—real and powerful, wanting all people to be saved, expecting you and me to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins throughout the world—God, our constant companion and comfort.

And yet we sometimes have doubts. We live in a world full of sin, murder, vice, corruption and lies. We see wicked men get richer and more powerful on the backs of the poor and weak, and we see the poor stab back at them to take a piece of their treasure. We see all this evil and….do we wonder? Where is our powerful, good God while all this is happening? How can the God who is love let such hatred run amok?

Hopefully, we Christians will turn to Scripture when we have such thoughts. Because only there can we see clearly the power and love of our God.
There, the power of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is seen from Advent to Pentecost. From anticipation of the Father’s gift of a Messiah, to his coming by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son’s perfect life and death for our sins, his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven – the power of our Triune God is revealed in the carrying out of his plan to defeat the devil and his works. Then, enemies defeated, the Father and the Son present us with a gift, the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift and by his power we know the love of our God, who continues to work out his plan for our salvation. And the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is seen until the completion of the age. The Trinity is Revealed – In Power and in Love.

John the evangelist tells us that the disciples stayed in Jerusalem following the Passover for the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was during that feast that Jesus appeared to his disciples a second time. John goes on to report Jesus’ third appearance to the seven disciples fishing in the Sea of Galilee.
Our lesson today marks the fourth time, as far as has been recorded for us, that Jesus spoke with his disciples following his resurrection. This quiet time on the Galilean mountain may have extended nearly three weeks. It was a time for Jesus to open his disciples’ minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Call it a "gospel immersion course."
This is not the first time Jesus took his disciples aside. During his public ministry, Jesus had used strategic “retreats” to avoid hostile Pharisees and Herodians and to seek rest from the crowds of people. Withdrawing to lonely places to pray was common for Jesus and his disciples. The Galilean mountain would provide the isolated setting Jesus desired for these last days with them.
When the Eleven saw Jesus on the mountain, they fell face down to worship him. Jesus was no longer just their rabbi and friend. He was Christ the exalted Son of God, their risen Lord. He had conquered their supernatural enemies, and they were his humble subjects demonstrating what it means to confess, as Luther does in his explanation of the Creed: “All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom.” Though some were hesitant, this being the first time some had seen him alive, still each of his followers could now readily declare, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Now Jesus speaks to this mixed group of worshiping and hesitant disciples. He tells them of his authority. That word “authority” has the connotation of possessions: it is the right and ability to use the resources, human or not, that are at his disposal. Jesus was given the right and the ability to use all things in heaven and on earth—they are his possessions, after all.
And we've seen how such authority reduced demons to beggars and caused fearful humans to plead for Jesus’ departure, such is his power. The almighty power of God is real, and for the sinner it's terrifying! Yet on more than one occasion this power also demonstrated the Son’s authority on earth to forgive sins.
Here Jesus uses his authority to reassure his disciples, and us. As the Scriptures foretold, the Christ did suffer, but the prince of this world, Satan, had no hold on him. On the third day not even death itself could hold the One who is the resurrection and the life. And now that death, sin and the devil have all been defeated, the time has come to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to the nations, to all the nations.
Here Jesus gives his Church its Great Commission:

vv. 19, 20—Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Now we know why Jesus went aside with his disciples—so he could instruct them in the task that would last the rest of their—and our—lives. All nations are to become followers of Christ. It’s hard to describe in English the absolute sense of the commands "go" and “gather disciples” and the power that is wrapped up in those commands. It’s going to happen – no doubt about it. His disciples will go, and as they went, they would come into contact with all the ethnic groups of this world. The cure for sin was to be made known to each people, tribe and nation.
The means for accomplishing this mission of mercy is the gospel in Word and sacraments. Individuals baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit were also taught to obey the commands of Christ.
What does it mean to be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity? In baptism God adopts a person into his family. The name Christian or Trinitarian properly identifies us as adopted children of God. And as adopted sons and daughters, we are also heirs. Our inheritance—the Father’s love, the Son’s redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s gift of fruitful faith.
Why then is it necessary to include teaching as part of the disciple-making process? Because each time the new family member stumbles, teaching points him to the forgiveness which belongs to God’s children. Each time a family member doubts the power and love of his God in this sinful world, teaching reminds him that God is still in control, and his promises are sure. This teaching, in turn, motivates the called and redeemed sinner to live in a manner worthy of his calling. That is why we baptize and we teach.

Jesus expects his followers to obey all his commands, including teaching others how to love as Jesus commands. That means defending all the commands of Christ, despite the way “other-teaching” churches shred, re-interpret or outright ignore the Holy Scriptures. It means preserving all the commands of Christ. Do not tread just shy of the line of transgression, as if to see how close you can get without stepping over. Set up your camp at a distance. Finally, it means fulfilling all the commands of Christ. Faith is to bear its fruit, as we show love to others in everything we say and do.
And he doesn't ask the impossible: Jesus commands love, and then he empowers love by sending the Holy Spirit. It is He, the Holy Spirit, who shows us how to love; it is He who makes disciples through our baptizing and our teaching.

Jesus assures his followers that he will be with them every single day until the completion of time. How is that possible, if he went away? Because Jesus rose into heaven to fill the universe, and he sent his Holy Spirit so that we might always know the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our lives. We never travel alone. Until he comes again, with the full authority of Jesus—in fact with the full authority granted us by all three persons of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit—we will call out for repentance and proclaim the forgiveness of sins. It is the power of love, God’s love, that enables us to say to the world “I am his adopted child. You, too, come, and join his family.”

Amen.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace, at all times and in every way. Amen.

ST. JAMES NEWS:

Offering received for General Fund, Sunday, May 24: $1430.00
(For Parking Lot Fundraiser: $100.00)
Overage/shortage: -$782.48 (Parking Lot total: $2784.22)

THIS WEEK AT ST. JAMES:

June 1 to June 3: Pastor at Michigan District convention
June 6: Devotional worship, Aspire LTC, Marlette, 3 pm
June 7: Sunday Worship at 10:00 am; Council following

, North Branch

05/24/2026

https://youtu.be/oLrVYHMW_mo

05/23/2026

Dear friends, below you will find the content of our service bulletin for Pentecost Sunday, May 24th, 2026, along with the text of the day's sermon. Hopefully, a video sermon will be available tomorrow. God bless your worship at home!

The Day of Pentecost
Confirmation Day
May 24, 2026

Filled with the Holy Spirit

ORDER OF SERVICE: The Common Service of the Word (page 15 in Christian Worship.)

HYMNS: 294; 176; 310; 281

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Holy Spirit, God and Lord, come to us this joyful day with your sevenfold gift of grace. Rekindle in our hearts the holy fire of your love that in a true and living faith we may tell abroad the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, now and for ever. AMEN.

LESSONS:

First Lesson: Joel 2:28,29

After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams.
Your young men will see visions.
Even on the male servants and the female servants,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (EHV)

PSALM OF THE DAY: Psalm 51b (Page 87 in Christian Worship)

Second Lesson: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the rushing of a violent wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw divided tongues that were like fire resting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, since the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak fluently.
Now there were godly Jewish men from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. When this sound was heard, a crowd came together and was confused, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were completely baffled and said to each other, “Look, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, and of Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own languages the wonderful works of God.” They were all amazed and perplexed. They kept saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocked them and said, “They are full of new wine.”
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and spoke loudly and clearly to them: “Men of Judea, and all you residents of Jerusalem, understand this, and listen closely to my words. These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. On the contrary, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
This is what God says will happen in the last days:
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and a rising cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And this will happen: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (EHV)

VERSE OF THE DAY: Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia.

Gospel: John 16:5-11

“But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” (EHV)

SERMON on Joel 2:28,29 for Pentecost Sunday, 24 May 2026

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Amen.

The lesson for our meditation this morning is recorded in the OT prophecy of Joel 2:28-29, fulfilled in the events described in Acts 2, and every day that followed.

Dear friends, my brothers and sisters, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Did you know that there are over 14,000 NEOs, or Near Earth Objects, being tracked by NASA? These objects orbit the Sun close enough to the Earth that any of them could potentially collide with us…and about 10% of them are over one kilometer in diameter, large enough to cause catastrophe on a global scale should one hit us. And here’s the scary part: those are just the objects we know about. Does that make you feel helpless, powerless to prevent the inevitable? Maybe not. It really shouldn't, because we know that the end of the world will come when God has ordained it, not when some big rock hits the Earth. Anyway, there are threats closer to home that make us feel just as powerless: riots; severe weather; the threat of international terrorism; the whims of governments and CEOs of mega-corporations. Any number of things may make us feel that we have no control over our lives, no ability to effect any positive change in the world.
But you ((especially you who will be confirmed as an adult in God’s Church)) are not without power, because you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Moses certainly wasn't powerless. And, no, I’m not talking about the ten plagues or the many other miracles God performed through him. I'm talking about a wish he made. In Numbers 11 God had Moses gather 70 elders to help him in his duties. When they had gathered at the tabernacle, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to prophesy. When Moses heard that two he had selected had remained in the camp, and were prophesying there, he said "Would that all the Lord's people would prophecy, and that God would put his Spirit on them!" Perhaps we should not call that a wish, but a prayer, because God answered it.
In Joel, chapter 2, we see God's promise to answer that prayer: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." In Acts chapter 2 we see its fulfillment, something Peter noted, too. Though the Spirit has always been present in the world, working through his Word, on that first Pentecost we see a powerful display of the Spirit coming to help us: the gift of God the Holy Spirit, proceeding from God the Father and God the Son.

Now what is this gift of the Spirit? Was it the sound of a mighty wind that accompanied his coming? Was it the tongues like fire that settled on the disciples' heads? Not at all! Those were mere signs of his coming, just signs, for the Spirit comes upon us without such fanfare and his work is no less effective among us.
Was it the prophesying of the elders at the tabernacle and in the camp of the Israelites, or the tongues-speaking of the apostles? Not at all! Those were powerful results of the Spirit's gift, but they were not the gift.
My friends, the gift of the Spirit, the one thing that empowers, and makes all the rest possible, is faith. It is faith that receives all those other gifts of the Spirit. It is faith that casts aside guilt and doubt because it rests on the atonement for sins won for us by Christ on the Cross, and his perfect life given in exchange for ours. It is faith that clings with hope to the promise of eternal life made by Christ when he rose from the dead. This is the gift of the Spirit on Pentecost: that our God the Holy Spirit is at work in the world to change hearts and create faith that saves.
And that changing of hearts creates a united people. Despite all our differences in race, gender, age, background, social status, wealth, career and so on, all the faithful have one overwhelming thing in common: the Spirit that gives faith. There is no more Jew or Gentile, black or white, slave or free, man or woman, because we are all one people in the body of Christ, the Church.
Recall that humankind was one people once before – then at Babel mankind sought to make itself equal to God. God responded by dividing the people into many nations. Finally, at Pentecost, God demonstrated that the sin of Babel is atoned for, by making us one people again, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and his gift of faith, and the gifts that accompany faith.

And what are these gifts? The first, dear friends, is this: you are not alone! When the Spirit came upon you and created faith in your heart through the Word, he came to live in you. And because the Spirit lives in you, Jesus Christ lives in you, too. Your God lives inside you, and it is he that gives you the courage to stand firm despite the enemies that seek to tempt and mislead you. It is he that gives you a heart of love, that seeks opportunities to show that love to others, and the willingness to obey your Lord and Savior, to do the good works he puts in front of you, and to share the good news of salvation with those who do not know it.
Moreover, you are not alone because you are a part of a community, the united people of God we spoke of earlier. You are surrounded by fellow believers to encourage you when you are afraid, strengthen you when you are weak, even to rebuke you—and forgive you—when you have sinned. No man is an island, and no Christian must walk alone.

Furthermore, dear Christian, you have power! That power is the Word of prophecy that is Holy Scripture. Did you think that only those with the title "prophet" or "apostle" may prophesy? Prophecy is not about predicting the future, though you can do that, too; prophecy is speaking the Word of God. You have that Word, written on your hearts and flowing from your lips, because you learned it at the feet of your God, the Holy Spirit. With that Word you have power to change lives, as the instrument of the Holy Spirit, to build up a brother or sister who is weak or discouraged, to rebuke a sinner in danger of falling into hell, and to plant the seed of faith in the heart of an unbeliever.
You have the power to change not just hearts but the world, because faith really can move mountains. Now, can you really command a mountain to get up and throw itself into the sea? Yes, if God has promised it! But the point Jesus made when he said this is not that you can use faith to rearrange local or regional topography, but that because your faith is in the all-powerful God of heaven and earth who loves you, you can do anything he has promised you can do. You can resist temptation, because he says you can; you can do every one of the good works he places before you to do, because he says you can; you can obey his commands and love as he loves, because he says you can. What amazing power the Spirit has given you!

And beside the unity of believers with God and each other, and the power that accompanies faith, you have those things we call "spiritual gifts." There is a long list of such gifts, and each of us has one, some or several of them to varying degrees, and each of these gifts is useful in serving some earthly or spiritual need within the body of believers. Now, rather than trying to run down this list, I want to draw your attention to one of them, one that I would argue is among the most useful, because you use it every day.
That gift is discernment, the ability to divide what is true from what is false. You all have that gift, my friends, because of the guiding Spirit dwelling within you, and the Word he has taught you. No need to explain how it is used: if someone comes before you to teach you, even if that someone is me, test his teachings with the Word. In this age of instantaneous communication through internet and smart phones, where anyone with an electronic device can publish whatever he likes, the Spirit's gift of discernment is immeasurably useful.

So, are you powerless? I don't think so! Because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, wished for by Moses, promised through Joel, and given on Pentecost, you, dear Christian, are filled with the Holy Spirit. You have the ability to tell fact from fiction, and numerous other spiritual gifts; you have the power to change the heart and the world as the Spirit's instrument; and finally, you have unity with your God and your fellow believers. Use your power with wisdom, gentleness, respect, and courage—but most important of all: use it with love.

Amen.

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

ST. JAMES NEWS:

Offering received for General Fund, Sunday, May 17: $2143.00
(For Parking Lot Fundraiser: $20.00)
Overage/shortage of annual operational budget: -$399.48
(Parking Lot Fundraiser current total: $2684.22)

THIS WEEK AT ST. JAMES:

Today: Potluck to welcome Travis Opperman as a communicant member, following worship
May 26: Pastor’s work day at St. Paul, Mayville;
May 31: Sunday Worship at 10:00 am

, North Branch