Pentecost Sunday

INTRODUCTION

On the fiftieth day of Easter we celebrate the Spirit, through whom and in whom the people of God are created and recreated. In holy baptism, the Spirit rests on the heads of young and old alike. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the baptized have an old, old story to tell of Jesus and his love - and a new, new story of how God is birthing sudden, surprising, and unmerited new life all around us, every day. God is at work, here, now in the world through the lives of everyday Christians. Jesus' work continues through the lives of all the baptized. We discover meaning from this Pentecost story today, not only for our own sake but for the sake of the world that so hungers for this life.

CALL TO WORSHIP - PENTECOST PROCLAMATION

In the beginning, O God, there was only you, our ending and our beginning.

The Breath of our Life, our Guide and Inspiration, a conflagration of unknowable power,

the Fire that fills our soul consuming us, driving us and renewing us, calling us, commissioning us and empowering us,

leading us ever onward to paths we could never imagine, ways we never sought,

lives filled and lived in the joy of divine transcendence even in the face of evil:

suffering, pain and death.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, In the quiet times of peace.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, In the anguished eternities of grief.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, In welling fountains of joy.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, In cold vistas of disbelief.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, In burning certainties of faith.

Come to us, Holy Spirit, come!

GATHERING SONG “Gather Us In” #532

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

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

Amen.

As God's beloved children, let us call to mind our sin

and our need for reconciliation with God and one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Strong and faithful God,

we confess that we have not lived as your holy people in the world.

We have closed our hearts to your love.

We have resisted your light. We have failed to proclaim your mercy.

Forgive what we have done and what we have left undone,

heal us with your abundant grace, and help us walk as children of the light. Amen

Rejoice in this good news: In ☩ Christ Jesus, your sins are forgiven.

You are descendants of the Most High, adopted into the household of Christ,

and inheritors of eternal life. Live as freed and forgiven children of God.

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of earth. By your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our lives for service and our tongues for praise, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

FIRST LESSON: Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

PSALM 104

How manifold are your works, O LORD!

In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, with its swarms too many to number,

living things both small and great.

There go the ships to and fro, and Leviathan, which you made for the sport of it.

All of them look to you to give them their food in due season.

You give it to them; they gather it;

you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

When you hide your face, they are terrified;

when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever; O LORD, rejoice in all your works.

You look at the earth and it trembles; you touch the mountains and they smoke.

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will praise my God while I have my being.

May these words of mine please God.

I will rejoice in the LORD.

Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!

SECOND LESSON: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they 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.”

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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘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.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL: John 14:8-27

The holy gospel according to St. John. Glory to you, O Lord.

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON “Peace I Leave With You” Pastor Phil Wold

HYMN OF THE DAY “Spirit of Gentleness” #396

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

THE SIGN OF PEACE IS SHARED

The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.

THE OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER

Let us pray. Blessed are you, O God, ruler of heaven and earth. Day by day you shower us with blessings. As you have raised us to new life in Christ, give us glad and generous hearts, ready to praise you and to respond to those in need, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

BLESSING

SENDING SONG “Go, My Children, with My Blessing” #543

SENDING

Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia, alleluia!

Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia!

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.