This

"This is that which was spoken through the prophet," Acts 2:16.

What prophet? Joel. When? 8 centuries earlier. Earlier than when? Than when the above speaker made the reference. What speaker? Peter. When did Peter speak these things? 2 millennia ago. On what occasion? 50 days after Jesus had been crucified to death and raised back to life to reign at God's right hand. When God overflowed his Spirit on those earliest believers in Jesus. When Peter said this outpouring Spirit happening to them was what Joel had been talking about all those centuries before them. Well, what did Joel say that Peter said was the happening thing? Joel said: In the last days God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh. Peter said of his day: This is it. God's doing it. To what end? So everyone calling on the Lord's name would be saved. What Lord? Jesus, raised from the dead, whom God made Lord and Christ.

When we call on a brother or sister today, we remember our common call on the Lord's name. And, together, we give deepest thanks for God's abiding faithfulness to his salvation word.