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.
Jeremiah 1
[1] The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, [2] to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. [3] It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
[4] Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
[5] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
[6] Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” [7] But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
[8] Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
[9] Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
[10] See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
[11] And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” [12] Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
[13] The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” [14] Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. [15] For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. [16] And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. [17] But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. [18] And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. [19] They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”
Jeremiah 2
[1] The word of the LORD came to me, saying, [2] “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,
“I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
[3] Israel was holy to the LORD,
the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the LORD.”
[4] Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. [5] Thus says the LORD:
“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
[6] They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
[7] And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.
[9] “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the LORD,
and with your children’s children I will contend.
[10] For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
[11] Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
[12] Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the LORD,
[13] for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
[14] “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
[15] The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
[16] Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved the crown of your head.
[17] Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God,
when he led you in the way?
[18] And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
[19] Your evil will chastise you,
and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
for you to forsake the LORD your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
[20] “For long ago I broke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down like a whore.
[21] Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
[22] Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord GOD.
[23] How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
[24] a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.
[25] Keep your feet from going unshod
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’
[26] “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
[27] who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
[28] But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
[29] “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the LORD.
[30] In vain have I struck your children;
they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
[31] And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
[32] Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
[33] “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
[34] Also on your skirts is found
the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
[35] you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
[36] How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
[37] From it too you will come away
with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
Jeremiah 3
[1] “If a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the LORD.
[2] Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
[3] Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
[4] Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
[5] will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”
[6] The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? [7] And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. [8] She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. [9] Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. [10] Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”
[11] And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. [12] Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
declares the LORD;
I will not be angry forever.
[13] Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the LORD.
[14] Return, O faithless children,
declares the LORD;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
[15] “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. [16] And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. [17] At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. [18] In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
[19] “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
[20] Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”
[21] A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
[22] “Return, O faithless sons;
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
[23] Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel.
[24] “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. [25] Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
Jeremiah 4:1–4
[1] “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
[2] and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
[3] For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
[4] Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
Psalm 69
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
[1] Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
[2] I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
[3] I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
[4] More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
[5] O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
[6] Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord GOD of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
[7] For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
[8] I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
[9] For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
[10] When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
[11] When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
[12] I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
[13] But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
[14] Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
[15] Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
[16] Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
[17] Hide not your face from your servant,
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
[18] Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
[19] You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
[20] Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
[21] They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
[22] Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
[23] Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
[24] Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
[25] May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
[26] For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
[27] Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
[28] Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
[29] But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
[30] I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
[31] This will please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
[32] When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
[33] For the LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
[34] Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
[35] For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
[36] the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
- 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...
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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.