THEOLOGICAL CLUE

From this point until late in the Pentecost season, on Sundays there is only the general theological framework of the church year to provide biblical/theological clues for worship and preaching themes. Pentecost, as "the time of the church," is eschatological; the church worships and waits, learns and grows, and witnesses and works for the coming of the fullness of the kingdom in Jesus' promised return. On the Sundays of Pentecost, the church is counting time, not marking time, until the Lord returns. Pentecost is the annual countdown of the church, not merely to the end of the church year, but in anticipation of the Parousia, which will occur at the end of the age as determined by God the Father. The final consummation of the Gospel of the Lord, with its promise of resur…