Pentecost
The word ‘Pentecost’ comes from the Greek meaning simply ‘fiftieth.’ Pentecost Sunday ends the season of Easter and symbolizes a new beginning. It celebrates the unleashing of the Holy Spirit on the world and the empowering of the church to reach the world with the gospel. In remembering Pentecost and living in light of this powerful turning point the church expresses gratitude to Christ for sending “another counselor” (John 14:16), celebrates the work of the Spirit in the renewal of all creation, and professes its confidence and security in knowing the Spirit’s power is available for its mission.
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
Alleluia. The Spirit of the Lord has filled the world:
O come, let us adore him. Alleluia.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 37
Of David.
[1] Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
[2] For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
[3] Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
[4] Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
[5] Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
[6] He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
[7] Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
[8] Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
[9] For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
[10] In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
[11] But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
[12] The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
[13] but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
[14] The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
[15] their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
[16] Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
[17] For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
[18] The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
[19] they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.
[20] But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
[21] The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
[22] for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
[23] The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
[24] though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.
[25] I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
[26] He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.
[27] Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
[28] For the LORD loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
[29] The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.
[30] The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
[31] The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
[32] The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
[33] The LORD will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
[34] Wait for the LORD and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
[35] I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
[36] But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
[37] Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
[38] But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
[39] The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
[40] The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Psalm 38
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
[1] O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
[2] For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
[3] There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
[4] For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
[5] My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
[6] I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
[7] For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
[8] I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
[9] O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
[10] My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
[11] My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.
[12] Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
[13] But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
[14] I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
[15] But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
[16] For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
[17] For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
[18] I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
[19] But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
[20] Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.
[21] Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
[22] Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 40
[1] Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
[2] Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.
[3] A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[4] Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
[5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
[6] A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
[7] The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
[8] The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
[9] Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
[10] Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
[11] He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
[12] Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
[13] Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,
or what man shows him his counsel?
[14] Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
[15] Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
[16] Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
[17] All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
[18] To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
[19] An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
[20] He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
[21] Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
[22] It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
[23] who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
[24] Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
[25] To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
[26] Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
[27] Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
[28] Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
[29] He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
[30] Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
[31] but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
New Testament Reading
Revelation 10
[1] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. [2] He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, [3] and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [4] And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” [5] And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven [6] and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, [7] but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
[8] Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” [9] So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” [10] And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. [11] And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.