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!
The earth is the Lord's for he made it:
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 46
[1] Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
[2] They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.
[3] “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
[4] even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
[5] “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
[6] Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
[7] They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
[8] “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
[9] remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
[10] declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
[11] calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
[12] “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
[13] I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
Isaiah 47
[1] Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.
[2] Take the millstones and grind flour,
put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
[3] Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
[4] Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
[5] Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
[6] I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
[7] You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
[8] Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
[9] These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
[10] You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
[11] But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
[12] Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
[13] You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
those who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.
[14] Behold, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
[15] Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.
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.”
Psalm 135
[1] Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD,
give praise, O servants of the LORD,
[2] who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God!
[3] Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
[4] For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
[5] For I know that the LORD is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
[6] Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
[7] He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
[8] He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
[9] who in your midst, O Egypt,
sent signs and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
[10] who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
[11] Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
[12] and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.
[13] Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.
[14] For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
[15] The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
[16] They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
[17] they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
[18] Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
[19] O house of Israel, bless the LORD!
O house of Aaron, bless the LORD!
[20] O house of Levi, bless the LORD!
You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!
[21] Blessed be the LORD from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the LORD!
Proverbs 29
[1] He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
[2] When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
[3] He who loves wisdom makes his father glad,
but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
[4] By justice a king builds up the land,
but he who exacts gifts tears it down.
[5] A man who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet.
[6] An evil man is ensnared in his transgression,
but a righteous man sings and rejoices.
[7] A righteous man knows the rights of the poor;
a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
[8] Scoffers set a city aflame,
but the wise turn away wrath.
[9] If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.
[10] Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless
and seek the life of the upright.
[11] A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back.
[12] If a ruler listens to falsehood,
all his officials will be wicked.
[13] The poor man and the oppressor meet together;
the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.
[14] If a king faithfully judges the poor,
his throne will be established forever.
[15] The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
[16] When the wicked increase, transgression increases,
but the righteous will look upon their downfall.
[17] Discipline your son, and he will give you rest;
he will give delight to your heart.
[18] Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
[19] By mere words a servant is not disciplined,
for though he understands, he will not respond.
[20] Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
[21] Whoever pampers his servant from childhood
will in the end find him his heir.
[22] A man of wrath stirs up strife,
and one given to anger causes much transgression.
[23] One’s pride will bring him low,
but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
[24] The partner of a thief hates his own life;
he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.
[25] The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
[26] Many seek the face of a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.
[27] An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.
- 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 God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.