Sunday Orders of Service
Spiritual Communion for Pentecost‘Whit’ Sunday – 31st 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, All: Amen.
Grace, mercy and peace All: And also with you.
Alleluia! Christ is risen. All: He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
HymnAngel voices, ever-singingAngel-voices ever singing
Thou who art beyond the farthest
Yea, we know that thou rejoicest all combine.
Honour, glory, might and merit
Introduction
Jesus Christ, whom we worship, is our crucified, risen and ascended Lord
Silence is kept.
Gloria in Excelsis
All: Glory to God in the highest,
The Collect
Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
A period of silent prayer is kept. God, who as at this time Amen.
¶ The Liturgy of the WordNew Testament ReadingActs 2:1-13The Coming of the Holy SpiritWhen 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 HymnCome down, O love divine (music in copyright R.V.Williams - not on website)
Come down, O love divine,
O let it freely burn,
Let holy charity And so the yearning strong,
Gospel ReadingJohn 7:37-39 Alleluia, alleluia. 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.
ReflectionFr 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,
We believe and trust in God the Son,
We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,
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,
We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.
Generous God, All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit. Lord, come to bless us. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit, Lord, come to bless us. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit, Lord, come to bless us. All: and fill us with your Spirit.
Generous God, All: hear our prayer,
The Lord’s Prayer
All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
HymnThine be the gloryThine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son,
Refrain:
Blessing of Light
Blessed are you, sovereign God, overflowing in love. 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. 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, All: Amen.
May the Spirit, All: Amen.
May the Spirit, All: Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty, All: Amen.
VoluntaryDirector of Music: James Lilwall |
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