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!
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
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 35
Of David.
[1] Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
[2] Take hold of shield and buckler
and rise for my help!
[3] Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”
[4] Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
[5] Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away!
[6] Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!
[7] For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.
[8] Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!
[9] Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,
exulting in his salvation.
[10] All my bones shall say,
“O LORD, who is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
[11] Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
[12] They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.
[13] But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
[14] I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.
[15] But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
wretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
[16] like profane mockers at a feast,
they gnash at me with their teeth.
[17] How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions!
[18] I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
[19] Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
[20] For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
[21] They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
[22] You have seen, O LORD; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!
[23] Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
[24] Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and let them not rejoice over me!
[25] Let them not say in their hearts,
“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
[26] Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me!
[27] Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
and say evermore,
“Great is the LORD,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
[28] Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
Psalm 36
To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD.
[1] Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
[2] For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
[3] The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
[4] He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil.
[5] Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
[6] Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
[7] How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
[8] They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
[9] For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
[10] Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
[11] Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
[12] There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.
Old Testament Reading
Jeremiah 42
[1] Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near [2] and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us—[3] that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” [4] Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” [5] Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. [6] Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
[7] At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. [8] Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, [9] and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: [10] If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. [11] Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. [12] I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. [13] But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God [14] and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ [15] then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, [16] then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. [17] All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.
[18] “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. [19] The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day [20] that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ [21] And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. [22] Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”
- 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...
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; 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)
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors.