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.
Hosea 4
[1] Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,
for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
[2] there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
[3] Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
[4] Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
[5] You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
[6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
[7] The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
[8] They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
[9] And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
[10] They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the LORD
to cherish [11] whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
[12] My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
[13] They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
[14] I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
[15] Though you play the whore, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the LORD lives.”
[16] Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the LORD now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
[17] Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
[18] When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulers dearly love shame.
[19] A wind has wrapped them in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Hosea 5
[1] Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon Tabor.
[2] And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,
but I will discipline all of them.
[3] I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
Israel is defiled.
[4] Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they know not the LORD.
[5] The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
Judah also shall stumble with them.
[6] With their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the LORD,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
[7] They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD;
for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
[8] Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you, O Benjamin!
[9] Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
[10] The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
[11] Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.
[12] But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
[13] When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
[14] For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
[15] I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.
Hosea 6:1–3
[1] “Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
[2] After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
[3] Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the 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 God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 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.