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 mercy of the Lord is everlasting:
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 39
To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
[1] I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
[2] I was mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
[3] My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
[4] “O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
[5] Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
[6] Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
[7] “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
[8] Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
[9] I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
[10] Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
[11] When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
[12] “Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
[13] Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Psalm 40
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
[1] I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
[2] He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
[3] He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
[4] Blessed is the man who makes
the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
[5] You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
[6] In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
[7] Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
[8] I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
[9] I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
[10] I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
[11] As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
[12] For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.
[13] Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!
O LORD, make haste to help me!
[14] Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
[15] Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
[16] But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
[17] As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
Psalm 41
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
[1] Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
[2] the LORD protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
[3] The LORD sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.
[4] As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
[5] My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
[6] And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
[7] All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.
[8] They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
[9] Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
[10] But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
[11] By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
[12] But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
[13] Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Old Testament Reading
2 Samuel 22
[1] And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. [2] He said,
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
[3] my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
[4] I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
[5] “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
[6] the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
[7] “In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.
[8] “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
[9] Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
[10] He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
[11] He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on the wings of the wind.
[12] He made darkness around him his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
[13] Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
[14] The LORD thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
[15] And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
[16] Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the LORD,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
[17] “He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
[18] He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
[19] They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
[20] He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
[21] “The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
[22] For I have kept the ways of the LORD
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
[23] For all his rules were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
[24] I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
[25] And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
[26] “With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
[27] with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
[28] You save a humble people,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
[29] For you are my lamp, O LORD,
and my God lightens my darkness.
[30] For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
[31] This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
[32] “For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
[33] This God is my strong refuge
and has made my way blameless.
[34] He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
[35] He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
[36] You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your gentleness made me great.
[37] You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip;
[38] I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
[39] I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
[40] For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
[41] You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
[42] They looked, but there was none to save;
they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
[43] I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
[44] “You delivered me from strife with my people;
you kept me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
[45] Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
[46] Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.
[47] “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
[48] the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,
[49] who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from men of violence.
[50] “For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
[51] Great salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his offspring forever.”
New Testament Reading
Galatians 2
[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. [2] I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. [3] But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. [4] Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—[5] to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [6] And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. [7] On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised [8] (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), [9] and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. [10] Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
[11] But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. [13] And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. [14] But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
[15] We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; [16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
[17] But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! [18] For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. [19] For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
- 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...
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; 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.