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!
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God:
O come, let us adore him.
- 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.
Isaiah 1
[1] The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
[2] Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
[3] The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
[4] Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
[5] Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
[6] From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.
[7] Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
[8] And the daughter of Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
[9] If the LORD of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.
[10] Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
[11] “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
[12] “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
[13] Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
[14] Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
[15] When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
[16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
[17] learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
[18] “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
[19] If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
[20] but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
[21] How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
[22] Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
[23] Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
[24] Therefore the Lord declares,
the LORD of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes.
[25] I will turn my hand against you
and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.
[26] And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”
[27] Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
[28] But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
[29] For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
that you desired;
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.
[30] For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.
[31] And the strong shall become tinder,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them.
Isaiah 2
[1] The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
[2] It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
[3] and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
[4] He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
[5] O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the LORD.
[6] For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
[7] Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
[8] Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
[9] So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them!
[10] Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
[11] The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
[12] For the LORD of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
[13] against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
[14] against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
[15] against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
[16] against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
[17] And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
[18] And the idols shall utterly pass away.
[19] And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
[20] In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
[21] to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
[22] Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?
Isaiah 3
[1] For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts
is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and supply,
all support of bread,
and all support of water;
[2] the mighty man and the soldier,
the judge and the prophet,
the diviner and the elder,
[3] the captain of fifty
and the man of rank,
the counselor and the skillful magician
and the expert in charms.
[4] And I will make boys their princes,
and infants shall rule over them.
[5] And the people will oppress one another,
every one his fellow
and every one his neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
and the despised to the honorable.
[6] For a man will take hold of his brother
in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
shall be under your rule”;
[7] in that day he will speak out, saying:
“I will not be a healer;
in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
leader of the people.”
[8] For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
defying his glorious presence.
[9] For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
For they have brought evil on themselves.
[10] Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
[11] Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
[12] My people—infants are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
O my people, your guides mislead you
and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
[13] The LORD has taken his place to contend;
he stands to judge peoples.
[14] The LORD will enter into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard,
the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
[15] What do you mean by crushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
[16] The LORD said:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling with their feet,
[17] therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
[18] In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; [19] the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; [20] the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; [21] the signet rings and nose rings; [22] the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; [23] the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
[24] Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a belt, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
and branding instead of beauty.
[25] Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
[26] And her gates shall lament and mourn;
empty, she shall sit on the ground.
Isaiah 4:1
[1] And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”
Proverbs 16
[1] The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
[2] All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
[3] Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
[4] The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
[5] Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
[6] By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
[7] When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
[8] Better is a little with righteousness
than great revenues with injustice.
[9] The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
[10] An oracle is on the lips of a king;
his mouth does not sin in judgment.
[11] A just balance and scales are the LORD’s;
all the weights in the bag are his work.
[12] It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
for the throne is established by righteousness.
[13] Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
and he loves him who speaks what is right.
[14] A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
and a wise man will appease it.
[15] In the light of a king’s face there is life,
and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.
[16] How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
[17] The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;
whoever guards his way preserves his life.
[18] Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
[19] It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor
than to divide the spoil with the proud.
[20] Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
[21] The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
[22] Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,
but the instruction of fools is folly.
[23] The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
[24] Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
[25] There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
[26] A worker’s appetite works for him;
his mouth urges him on.
[27] A worthless man plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.
[28] A dishonest man spreads strife,
and a whisperer separates close friends.
[29] A man of violence entices his neighbor
and leads him in a way that is not good.
[30] Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;
he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.
[31] Gray hair is a crown of glory;
it is gained in a righteous life.
[32] Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
[33] The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the LORD.
- 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 and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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.