The Promise of the Holy Spirit

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all thatJesus did and taught from the beginning until the daywhen he was taken up to heaven, after givinginstructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostleswhom he had chosen. After his suffering he presentedhimself alive to them by many convincing proofs,appearing to them over the course of forty days andspeaking about the kingdom of God. While stayingwith them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem,but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’,he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for Johnbaptized with water, but you will be baptized with theHoly Spirit not many days from now.’ (Acts 1:1-5,NRSV)

The Ascension of Jesus

So when they had come together, they asked him,‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore thekingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you toknow the times or periods that the Father has set byhis own authority. But you will receive power whenthe Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will bemy witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this,as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloudtook him out of their sight. While he was going andthey were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly twomen in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Menof Galilee, why do you stand looking up towardsheaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from youinto heaven, will come in the same way as you sawhim go into heaven.’ (Acts 1:6-11, NRSV)

Psalter: God’s Rule over the Nations

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us,and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the king of all the earth;sing praises with a psalm. God is king over the

nations;God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gatheras the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;he is highly exalted. (Psalm 47:2-9, NRSV)

A Reading

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, theFather of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom andrevelation as you come to know him, so that, with theeyes of your heart enlightened, you may know whatis the hope to which he has called you, what are theriches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,and what is the immeasurable greatness of his powerfor us who believe, according to the working of hisgreat power. God put this power to work in Christwhen he raised him from the dead and seated him athis right hand in the heavenly places, far above allrule and authority and power and dominion, and

above every name that is named, not only in this agebut also in the age to come. And he has put all thingsunder his feet and has made him the head over allthings for the church, which is his body, the fullnessof him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:17-23, NRSV)

The Commissioning of the Disciples

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to themountain to which Jesus had directed them. Whenthey saw him, they worshipped him; but somedoubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘Allauthority in heaven and on earth has been given tome. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of theSon and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obeyeverything that I have commanded you. Andremember, I am with you always, to the end of theage.’ (Matthew 28:16-20, NRSV)