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 89
A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
[1] I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
[2] For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
[3] You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
[4] ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
[5] Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
[6] For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
[7] a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
[8] O LORD God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
with your faithfulness all around you?
[9] You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
[10] You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
[11] The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
[12] The north and the south, you have created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
[13] You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
[14] Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
[15] Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
[16] who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.
[17] For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
[18] For our shield belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
[19] Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
“I have granted help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
[20] I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
[21] so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
[22] The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
[23] I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
[24] My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
[25] I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
[26] He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
[27] And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
[28] My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
[29] I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
[30] If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
[31] if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
[32] then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
[33] but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
[34] I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
[35] Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
[36] His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
[37] Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
[38] But now you have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
[39] You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
[40] You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
[41] All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
[42] You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
[43] You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
[44] You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
[45] You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah
[46] How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
[47] Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
[48] What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
[49] Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
[50] Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
[51] with which your enemies mock, O LORD,
with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
[52] Blessed be the LORD forever!
Amen and Amen.
Psalm 90
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
[1] Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
[2] Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
[3] You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
[4] For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
[5] You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
[6] in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
[7] For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
[8] You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
[9] For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
[10] The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
[11] Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
[12] So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
[13] Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
[14] Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
[15] Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
[16] Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
[17] Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 60
[1] Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
[2] For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
[3] And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
[4] Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
[5] Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
[6] A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.
[7] All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
and I will beautify my beautiful house.
[8] Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and like doves to their windows?
[9] For the coastlands shall hope for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the LORD your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has made you beautiful.
[10] Foreigners shall build up your walls,
and their kings shall minister to you;
for in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
[11] Your gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.
[12] For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
[13] The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
[14] The sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the LORD,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
[15] Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.
[16] You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
[17] Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
and your taskmasters righteousness.
[18] Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
[19] The sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;
but the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
[20] Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
[21] Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.
[22] The least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the LORD;
in its time I will hasten it.
New Testament Reading
Matthew 8
[1] When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. [2] And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” [3] And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. [4] And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
[5] When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, [6] “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” [7] And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” [8] But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. [9] For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” [10] When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. [11] I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, [12] while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [13] And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
[14] And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. [15] He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. [16] That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
[18] Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. [19] And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” [20] And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” [21] Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” [22] And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
[23] And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. [24] And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. [25] And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” [26] And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. [27] And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
[28] And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. [29] And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” [30] Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. [31] And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” [32] And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. [33] The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. [34] And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
- 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...
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and 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.