Worship at Home
Worship for the week beginning 5th June 2022
Pentecost & Platinum Jubilee
To listen to the sermon and a hymn dial
01604 266000.
Sunday 5th June
Rev David Speirs has prepared this week’s message.
This short act of worship is for use from home. Please use this service whenever you like during the week.
Pause to settle yourself in God’s presence, knowing that other people are sharing in worship with you.
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© ROOTS for Churches Ltd www.rootsontheweb.com. Reproduced with permission.
Opening Prayer:
Gracious God, you call us into your holy presence; gifting us your love in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Bless this time of worship so that we might be changed by you and be made more like your son Jesus, in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Prayer © Joanna Harader, https://spaciousfaith.com/
https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2017/05/call-to-worship-for-pentecost.html
StF 385 – Holy Spirit, we welcome you
Holy Spirit, we welcome you,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Move among us with holy fire
as we lay aside all earthly desire,
hands reach out and our hearts aspire.
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Holy Spirit, we welcome you,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Let the breeze of your presence blow
that your children here might truly know
how to move in the Spirit’s flow.
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Holy Spirit, we welcome you,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Please accomplish in us today
some new work of loving grace, we pray
unreservedly — have your way.
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
Christopher Alan Bowater (b.1947)
Words & Music ©1986 Soversign Lifestyle Music Ltd.
Bible Reading
Acts 2:1-21
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Time to Reflect
This weekend is a time of double celebration. Across the UK, and the Commonwealth, people will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubliee, recognising her 70 years of service as our reigning head of state. At the same time we are also celebrating Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Church when the disciples of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and sent out to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.
What connects the Queen’s Jubilee and Pentecost? Perhaps it is the sense of joyful celebration and the knowledge of what it means to be part of a ‘Kingdom’. In the story from the Book of Acts, it is the Holy Spirit who brings activity to the Kingdom of God amongst the disciples by empowering them as the newly covenanted people. Christ becomes present with them, through the Spirit, and helps them continue mission of Jesus to announce the reign of God by offering out God’s love and forgiveness.
This offering of love is part of God’s communication to the world. Firstly, God communicates his presence through the Holy Spirit. Then, in that communication of the Spirit, he enables the disciples to speak the many different languages found in Jeruslaem in order to spread the good news to people from all over the world.
As we begin the consider what it will mean for the new Northampton Methodist Church to come together as one body in, many places, it is helpful to remind ourselves the reasons for this change. Some may view it in terms of survival, to keep going as we are, and yet all the signs show that we cannot continue as we are. Jesus, however, tells and shows us that being a disciple of his is not about survival. It is about death and resurrection, leading to newness of life with the Spirit of God. The Spirit who brought all life to Earth and who now breathes life into the Church.
We are not here to survive as we are but to be transformed by God’s Spirit, so we might grow in grace and holiness with Jesus and that we might see the fruits of his Kingdom as it establishes itself amongst us and in our communities.
This Sunday is all about celebrating the joy of the Kingdom and power of God that is offered to us in the Spirit. So let us celebrate this day and pray for the transformation that is to come. Come Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Holy Spirit, Living breath of God.
Time to Pray…
Loving God,
We ask for the gift of your Holy Spirit
to help us pray as we ought.
Holy Spirit: Help Us.
We ask for the energy and vision of your Spirit
for those who are tiring in the battle against injustice and oppression: for those exhausted by the struggle with poverty and hunger.
Holy Spirit: Help Us.
We ask for the hope and comfort of your Spirit
for those whose lives are overshadowed by illness or pain; for those whose lives are darkened by sorrow or bereavement.
Holy Spirit: Help Us.
We ask for the peace and joy of your Spirit
for those living in the shadow of war and violence; for those eaten up by guilt and anxiety and whose Christian life has become hard and dry. Holy Spirit: Help Us.
We ask for the guidance and strength of your Spirit for those uncertain how to use their time, talents and gifts; for those tempted to do what is wrong. Holy Spirit: Help Us.
We ask for the love and courage of your Spirit
for those reaching out to comfort the distressed; for those reaching out to others with the Good News of Christ.
Holy Spirit: Help Us.
Loving God, We ask for the assurance of your Spirit to know your presence with us in our daily lives: in our relationships; in our work and service; in our worship; in our times of joy and pain. Holy Spirit: Help Us.
In Jesus’ name: Amen
Prayers of Intercession, Church of Scotland Weekly Starters (21st June 2011) https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/06/pentecost-prayers-of-intercession.html
The Lord's Prayer
Please use the version that you prefer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.
Amen.
New Hymn - Come down Holy Spirit
Come down, Holy Spirit, come in wind and flame. Shining in our darkness, blow away our shame. Lend us your strength and light us on our way, till our night of weeping turns into joyful day.
Come down, Holy Spirit with a gentle word.
In this world of conflict let your voice be heard.
Hope for the weak and warnings for the strong, till the noise of battle fades into prayer and song.
Come down, Holy Spirit, hover like a dove.
Seek the lost and lonely, fill them with your love.Fly to our souls where doubts and questions dwell, till by faith and hope we know that all shall be well.
By Jennifer Wakely. © 2020 Jennifer Wakely, Admin The Jubilate Group.
Final Prayer
Amazing God, fill us with your Holy Spirit and transform us by your presence. Remake us into the very likeness of your Son Jesus Christ, breath new life into us, and send us out into your world that we might spread the good news of Christ’s resurrection and kingship.
May the blessing of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore.
Amen.
Service prepared by Rev David Speirs
Webpage: Paul Deakin