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.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 60
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
[1] O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
[2] You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
[3] You have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
[4] You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
[5] That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
[6] God has spoken in his holiness:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
[7] Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
[8] Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
[9] Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
[10] Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
[11] Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
[12] With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
Psalm 61
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
[1] Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
[2] from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
[3] for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
[4] Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
[5] For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
[6] Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
[7] May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
[8] So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.
Psalm 62
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
[1] For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
[2] He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
[3] How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
[4] They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
[5] For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
[6] He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
[7] On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
[8] Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
[9] Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
[10] Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
[11] Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
[12] and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 48
[1] Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the LORD
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
[2] For they call themselves after the holy city,
and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the LORD of hosts is his name.
[3] “The former things I declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
[4] Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
[5] I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
[6] “You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
[7] They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
[8] You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
[9] “For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
[10] Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
[11] For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.
[12] “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
[13] My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I call to them,
they stand forth together.
[14] “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The LORD loves him;
he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
[15] I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
[16] Draw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
[17] Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
[18] Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
[19] your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”
[20] Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
[21] They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
[22] “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
New Testament Reading
Revelation 18
[1] After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. [2] And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
[3] For all nations have drunk
the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
[4] Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
[5] for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
[6] Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
[7] As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
[8] For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be burned up with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
[9] And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. [10] They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
[11] And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, [12] cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
[14] “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
[15] The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
[16] “Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
[17] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off [18] and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”
[19] And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
[20] Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her!”
[21] Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
[22] and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
[23] and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
[24] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.”
- 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 everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, 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.