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 71
[1] In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
[2] In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
[3] Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
[4] Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
[5] For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
[6] Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
[7] I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
[8] My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
[9] Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
[10] For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
[11] and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
[12] O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
[13] May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.
[14] But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
[15] My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
[16] With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
[17] O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
[18] So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
[19] Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
[20] You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
[21] You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
[22] I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
[23] My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
[24] And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
Psalm 72
Of Solomon.
[1] Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
[2] May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
[3] Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
[4] May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
[5] May they fear you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
[6] May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
[7] In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
[8] May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
[9] May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
[10] May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
[11] May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
[12] For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
[13] He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
[14] From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.
[15] Long may he live;
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
[16] May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!
[17] May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!
[18] Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
[19] Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!
[20] The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
Old Testament Reading
Lamentations 3
[1] I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
[2] he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
[3] surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
[4] He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
[5] he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
[6] he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
[7] He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
[8] though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
[9] he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
[10] He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
[11] he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
[12] he bent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.
[13] He drove into my kidneys
the arrows of his quiver;
[14] I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunts all day long.
[15] He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
[16] He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
[17] my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
[18] so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the LORD.”
[19] Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
[20] My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
[21] But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
[22] The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
[23] they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
[24] “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
[25] The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
[26] It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
[27] It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
[28] Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
[29] let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
[30] let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
[31] For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
[32] for, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
[33] for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
[34] To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
[35] to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
[36] to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
[37] Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
[38] Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
[39] Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
[40] Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the LORD!
[41] Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
[42] “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
[43] “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
[44] you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
[45] You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
[46] “All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
[47] panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction;
[48] my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
[49] “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
[50] until the LORD from heaven
looks down and sees;
[51] my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
[52] “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies without cause;
[53] they flung me alive into the pit
and cast stones on me;
[54] water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
[55] “I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit;
[56] you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
[57] You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
[58] “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.
[59] You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;
judge my cause.
[60] You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
[61] “You have heard their taunts, O LORD,
all their plots against me.
[62] The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
[63] Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the object of their taunts.
[64] “You will repay them, O LORD,
according to the work of their hands.
[65] You will give them dullness of heart;
your curse will be on them.
[66] You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under your heavens, O LORD.”
- 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, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; 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.