“I believe; help my unbelief!” So said the father of a boy with an unclean spirit to Jesus, after Jesus told the man that all things are possible for one who believes. The father had brought his son to Jesus, but Jesus was not there right then, and his disciples were not able to cast it out; so, when Jesus returned, the father asked Jesus to do something if He was able. (Mark 9:14-29.) After Jesus’s disciples were not able to cast out the unclean spirit, the father perhaps was understandably somewhat doubtful when asking Jesus. We also sometimes might have our doubts about Jesus and what is going on in our lives. We may not want to doubt, but believers are at the same time both redeemed and sinful, and so, like the father of the boy with the unclean spirit, we at the same time can have both faith and unbelief. (So-called “Doubting Thomas” apparently only disbelieved in John 20:24-29 when his fellow apostles told him that Jesus was risen.) God forgives sins of doubts and all of the other sins of those who repent and believe by grace for Jesus’s sake. Jesus had compassion on the father and the boy with the unclean spirit and helped them not because they believed but because of Who Jesus is as a loving and compassionate God. Likewise God helps us not because we believe or because of anything else in us but because of Who He is. His timing and His answers to our prayers may not ever be as we might have liked, but He knows and does what is best for us, that we can believe and not disbelieve.

The account of Jesus and the father of the boy with an unclean spirit is just one of many accounts that we hear this year in the season of Sundays after Pentecost, the non-festival half of the Church Year, in contrast to the festival half of the Church Year that ended with the Easter Season. The fiftieth and last day of the Easter Season was the Day of Pentecost, a festival in its own right, which also serves as a transition of a sort between the two seasons. The Gospel Reading for the Day of Pentecost (John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15) is some of Jesus’s teaching about the work of the Holy Spirit, such as the Spirit’s testifying about Jesus and so convicting the unbelieving world and guiding believers into all truth.

The First Sunday after Pentecost, also called the Feast of the Holy Trinity, celebrates the richness of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three Persons of one divine substance. Within the Trinity, the Father begets the Son, the Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds at least from the Father. Outside the Trinity, God’s works generally can be ascribed to any of the three Persons, although only the Son was sent by the Father to take on human flesh and so die and rise in order to save us from our sins by grace through faith that the Holy Spirit creates. The Gospel Reading for the Feast of the Holy Trinity (John 3:1-17) speaks of the Father sending the Son to save and of the Holy Spirit giving birth from above in the water of Holy Baptism.

This year, two Sundays after Pentecost are in a sense “displaced” by other observances. September 29 is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, when the Gospel Reading will be Luke 11:17-20. And, November 3 we will observe All Saints’ Day, when the Gospel Reading will be Matthew 5:1-12.

For the rest of the Sundays after Pentecost in 2024, the dates and Gospel Readings (according to Lutheran Service Book Series B, largely using the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark) are listed below.

  • Second Sunday (06/02): Jesus shows the Holy Day is for restoration (Mark 2:23-3:6)
  • Third Sunday (06/09): Jesus’s true family consists of believers (Mark 3:20-35)
  • Fourth Sunday (06/16): Jesus’s Kingdom grows like a seed (Mark 4:26-34)
  • Fifth Sunday (06/23):Jesus stills a storm (Mark 4:35-41)
  • Sixth Sunday (06/30): Jesus heals and raises from the dead (Mark 5:21-43)
  • Seventh Sunday (07/07): Jesus is denied honor and sends others (Mark 6:1-13)
  • Eighth Sunday (07/14): Jesus’s fame reaches King Herod (Mark 6:14-29)
  • Ninth Sunday (07/21): Jesus shepherds and feeds His followers (Mark 6:30-44)
  • Tenth Sunday (07/28): Jesus shows His power by walking on water (Mark 6:45-56)
  • Eleventh Sunday (08/04): Jesus says God works people’s faith (John 6:22-35)
  • Twelfth Sunday (08/11): Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35-51)
  • Thirteenth Sunday (08/18): Jesus gives flesh and blood to eat and drink (John 6:51-69)
  • Fourteenth Sunday (08/25): Jesus speaks about “tradition” (Mark 7:1-13)
  • Fifteenth Sunday (09/01): Jesus tells what does and does not defile (Mark 7:14-23)
  • Sixteenth Sunday (09/08): Jesus does all things well (Mark 7:24-37)
  • Seventeenth Sunday (09/15): Jesus drives out demons others cannot (Mark 9:14-29)
  • Eighteenth Sunday (09/22): Jesus says the first must be last (Mark 9:30-37)
  • Twentieth Sunday (10/06): Jesus teaches about divorce and children (Mark 10:2-16)
  • Twenty-first Sunday (10/13): Jesus speaks of inheriting the Kingdom (Mark 10:17-22)
  • Twenty-second Sunday (10/20): Jesus says all things are possible (Mark 10:23-31)
  • Twenty-third Sunday (10/27): Jesus answers cries for mercy (Mark 10:46-52)
  • Twenty-fifth Sunday (11/10): Jesus teaches about supporting faithful ministry (Mark 12:38-44)
  • Twenty-sixth Sunday (11/17): Jesus speaks of the end times (Mark 13:1-13)
  • Last Sunday of the Church Year (11/24): Jesus tells of the Last Day (Mark 13:24-37)

The twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost or the Last Sunday of the Church Year has also been variously observed as the Sunday of the Fulfillment or as Christ the King Sunday. Regardless of its title, the last Sunday looks forward to when all things in heaven and earth will be together under one head, Jesus Christ, and it thereby also itself transitions to the beginning of the next Church Year with the season of Advent, which focuses on our Lord’s various comings to us.

Two special midweek observances are planned for this season, both of which relate to the continuation of the true Christian Church in the Lutheran Church. First on the calendar is a Divine Service for the Commemoration of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession on Tuesday, June 25, at 7:00 p.m., when Matthew 10:26-33 will be the Gospel Reading. Second is a Divine Service for Reformation Day on Thursday, October 31, at 7:00 p.m., when Matthew 11:12-19 will be the Gospel Reading. (The two events marked occurred in the reverse order historically, however: Reformation Day was in 1517, the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession was in 1530.)

Depending on what day you might come, you might find red, white, or green colored cloths on the pastor and furniture in the church. Red is the usual color for The Day of Pentecost and Reformation, bringing to mind the fire of the Holy Spirit and the blood of the martyrs who died bearing His message. White is the usual color for Trinity Sunday, the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, and All Saints’ Day, bringing to mind joy and glad celebrations, light and purity, and the innocence that is ours by Holy Baptism through which we receive Christ’s righteousness. Green is the usual color for all of the other days of the season, bringing to mind the life and growth evident in foliage and fruit.

Regardless of the season or day, everyone is always invited and welcome in person at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, and you usually can read and hear any of the sermons preached at Pilgrim here.

The banner graphic at the top of this page and the corresponding slider graphic on the front page were composed by Pilgrim member Katy Myer, whom we hereby thank, using an image that is free to use from Individual images can be used on web pages, blogs and social media with attribution to Sweet Publishing/FreeBibleimages.org.