Spiritual Communion for Pentecost

‘Whit’ Sunday – 31^st May, 2020

¶  Preparation: You may wish to find a space for prayer in front of a cross, a candle, or a special place.

      In the name of the Father,
      and of the Son,
      and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.      

      Grace, mercy and peace
      from God our Father
      and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All: And also with you.          

      Alleluia! Christ is risen.

All: He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Hymn

Angel voices, ever-singing

(click here for music)

Angel-voices ever singing
round thy throne of light,
angel harps for ever ringing,
rest not day nor night;
thousands only live to bless thee,
and confess thee Lord of might.

Thou who art beyond the farthest
mortal eye can see,
can it be that thou regardest
our poor hymnody?
Yes, we know that thou art near us
and wilt hear us
– constantly.

Yea, we know that thou rejoicest
o’er each work of thine;
thou didst ears and hands and voices
for thy praise design;
craftman’s art and music’s measure
for thy pleasure

all combine.

In thy house, great God, we offer
of thine own to thee;
and for thine acceptance proffer,
all unworthily,
hearts and minds and hands and voices
in our choicest
psalmody.

Honour, glory, might and merit
thine shall ever be,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
blessèd Trinity.
Of the best that thou hast given
earth and heaven
render thee.

Introduction

      Jesus Christ, whom we worship, is our crucified, risen and ascended Lord
      and we have walked with him through his journey of love.
      We have faced the agony of his suffering and death on a cross.
      We have rejoiced at his bursting free from the bonds of death.
      We have enjoyed his risen presence with us
      and his revelation of himself through the breaking of bread.
      We have seen his return to the throne before which every knee shall bow
      and every tongue confess that this Jesus is Lord.
      And now, with the followers of his own time,
      we await the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, his gift to his people,
      through whom we make Christ known to the world.

Silence is kept.

Gloria in Excelsis

All: Glory to God in the highest,      
       and peace to his people on earth.         

       Lord God, heavenly King,
       almighty God and Father,
       we worship you, we give you thanks,
       we praise you for your glory.

       Lord Jesus Christ,
       only Son of the Father,
       Lord God, Lamb of God,
       you take away the sin of the world:
       have mercy on us;
       you are seated at the right hand
       of the Father:
      ​​​​​​​ receive our prayer.

      ​​​​​​​ For you alone are the Holy One,
      ​​​​​​​ you alone are the Lord,
      ​​​​​​​ you alone are the Most High,
      ​​​​​​​ Jesus Christ,
      ​​​​​​​ with the Holy Spirit,
      ​​​​​​​ in the glory of God the Father.
      ​​​​​​​ Amen.

The Collect

      Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
      ​​​​​​​to bring Christ to the world.

      A period of silent prayer is kept.
 

      God, who as at this time
      taught the hearts of your faithful people
      by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
      grant us by the same Spirit
      to have a right judgement in all things
      and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
      through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,
      who is alive and reigns with you,
      in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
      one God, now and for ever.

      Amen.

¶  The Liturgy of the Word

New Testament Reading

Acts 2:1-13

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they [the disciples] were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

At the end:

      This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn

Come down, O love divine (music in copyright R.V.Williams - not on website)

Come down, O love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become mine inner clothing;
true lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
and o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
 

And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the pow’r of human telling;
nor can we guess its grace,
till we become the place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Gospel Reading

John 7:37-39

        Alleluia, alleluia.
        Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people
        and kindle in them the fire of your love.

All: Alleluia.

        Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

All: Glory to you, O Lord.

Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-39)

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

At the end:

      This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All: Praise to you, O Christ.

Reflection

Fr Michael

Jesus said “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20: v22)

For centuries human beings have harnessed the power of the wind. Long ago we learned that boats with sails move faster than boats without. Windmills caught the wind and ground wheat into flour. Even in our own time huge turbines rotate in the wind and provide some of the electricity on which we depend. And fire – this has enabled mankind to cook food and heat homes even at the most basic level.

It is interesting to see that in today's reading from Acts, the Holy Spirit, the energy of God, is described in such terms as wind and fire. Jesus breathes the Spirit on His disciples and the Spirit appears in Acts as tongues of fire and rushing wind.

Here is powerful imagery – fire that warms – wind that blows – here is the turning point for those first Christians. They are no-longer a frightened little group, they are made strong – a group of people who were passionate to take the love of God to the entire known world.

They took risks for God – and so it is for us today. If you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you, to prompt you, you are indeed taking a risk – you may be asked to do things you never thought you could – and there are many, many forms of ministry. But we must heed to Spirit’s promptings – God will always give you the strength you need. The Holy Spirit – the Comforter (that word derived from Latin meaning “strength”) will tell you what to say.

The Holy Spirit is at work here and now – if we truly open hearts and minds to the Spirit, we come to share the passions that Jesus had – and to spread his love. The way the Holy Spirit works in the world today is through YOU and ME. When we listen to the anxious and lonely – when we pray with them and for them, we are using the Spirit’s gift of generosity. When we speak out for a change in the way the world works so that men and women will not be ground down by poverty. When we pray for the Church, for the courage to reach out and share our faith in Jesus we may be sure that the Spirit will guide us if we really listen. The Church must look beyond the Church. Left to our own devices we might prefer, like those first disciples to lock ourselves away or stay only as a gathered community of believers. But Jesus calls us to share the Good News of the kingdom and for this we need God’s Spirit to give us energy and purpose and courage to speak. We do not pray to the Holy Spirit simply to have a warm glow of God in our hearts, rather, we pray for the energy of God, so that we might go out, speak up and draw others to know Christ.

Every Blessing,

Fr. Michael

Affirmation of Faith

All:    We believe and trust in God the Father,
           source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.

        We believe and trust in God the Son,
        who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.

        We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,
        who gives life to the people of God
        and makes Christ known in the world.

        This is the faith of the Church.

        This is our faith.

        We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayers of Intercession 

      Pray for the needs of the world, for our local communities,
     our loved-ones and our friends.

      We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.

      Generous God,
      we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
      We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.
      Lord, come to bless us

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
      We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
      We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
      We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
      where there is division, sickness and sorrow.

      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
      We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit,
      We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.

      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
      given us by the risen Lord.
      We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
      in the joy of eternal life.

      Lord, come to bless us.

All: and fill us with your Spirit.

      Generous God,
      you sent your Holy Spirit upon your Messiah at the river Jordan,
      and upon the disciples in the upper room:
      in your mercy fill us with your Spirit,

All: hear our prayer,
      and make us one in heart and mind
      to serve you with joy for ever.
      Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

     
Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us:

All: 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.

Hymn

Thine be the glory

(click here for music)

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son,
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death has won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay.

Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son,
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death has won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.
Let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for her Lord now liveth; death hast lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life;
life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife.
Make us more than conqu’rors through thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

Blessing of Light

     
We light our the Easter candle, as the Minister says:

      Blessed are you, sovereign God, overflowing in love.
      With Pentecost dawns the age of the Spirit.
      Now the flame of heaven rests on every believer.
      Strong and weak, women and men tell out your word;
      the young receive visions, the old receive dreams.
      With the new wine of the Spirit
      they proclaim your reign of love.
      Amid the birth pangs of the new creation
      the way of light is made known.
      Source of freedom, giver of life,
      blessed are you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

All: Blessed be God for ever.

Commission

For fifty days, we have celebrated the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over the powers of sin and death. We have proclaimed God’s mighty acts and we have prayed that the power that was at work when God raised Jesus from the dead might be at work in us.

As part of God’s Church, I call upon you to live out what you proclaim.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, will you dare to walk into God’s future, trusting him to be your guide?

All:        By the Spirit’s power, we will.

Will you dare to ‘embrace’ each other and grow together in love?

All:        We will.

Will you dare to share your riches in common and minister to each other in need?

All:        We will.

Will you dare to pray for each other until your hearts beat with the longings of God?

All:        We will.

Will you dare to carry the light of Christ into the world’s dark places?

All:        We will.

Conclusion

The Lord is here.

All:        His Spirit is with us.

Today, we have remembered the coming of God’s power on the disciples and we invite that same Spirit to drive us out into the wild places of the world, even virtually.

May the Spirit,
who hovered over the waters when the world was created,
breathe into you the life he gives.

All:        Amen.

May the Spirit,
who overshadowed the Virgin when the eternal Son came among us,
make you joyful in the service of the Lord.

All:        Amen.

May the Spirit,
who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost,
bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ.

All:   Amen.      

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you and those whom you love, today and always.

All: Amen.

 Voluntary

Director of Music: James Lilwall