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 43
[1] Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
[2] For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
[3] Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
[4] Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
[5] Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 44
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
[1] O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
[2] you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
[3] for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.
[4] You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
[5] Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
[6] For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
[7] But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
[8] In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
[9] But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
[10] You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
[11] You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
[12] You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
[13] You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
[14] You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
[15] All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
[16] at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
[17] All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
[18] Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
[19] yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
[20] If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
[21] would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
[22] Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
[23] Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
[24] Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
[25] For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
[26] Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
Old Testament Reading
2 Samuel 23
[1] Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man who was raised on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the sweet psalmist of Israel:
[2] “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue.
[3] The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
[4] he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
[5] “For does not my house stand so with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
[6] But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be taken with the hand;
[7] but the man who touches them
arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
and they are utterly consumed with fire.”
[8] These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
[9] And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. [10] He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.
[11] And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. [12] But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory.
[13] And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. [14] David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. [15] And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” [16] Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD [17] and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
[18] Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. [19] He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.
[20] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. [21] And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. [22] These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. [23] He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.
[24] Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, [25] Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, [26] Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, [27] Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, [28] Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, [29] Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, [30] Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, [31] Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, [32] Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, [33] Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, [34] Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, [35] Hezro of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, [36] Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, [37] Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, [38] Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, [39] Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
New Testament Reading
Galatians 3
[1] O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. [2] Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? [3] Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [4] Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? [5] Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—[6] just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
[7] Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
[10] For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” [11] Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” [12] But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” [13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
[15] To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. [16] Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. [17] This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. [18] For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
[19] Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. [20] Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
[21] Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. [22] But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
[23] Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. [24] So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. [25] But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, [26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
- 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.