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 129
A Song of Ascents.
[1] “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
[2] “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
[3] The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
[4] The LORD is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
[5] May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
[6] Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
[7] with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
[8] nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the LORD be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the LORD!”
Psalm 130
A Song of Ascents.
[1] Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
[2] O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
[3] If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
[4] But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
[5] I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
[6] my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
[7] O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
[8] And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Psalm 131
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
[1] O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
[2] But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
[3] O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore.
Old Testament Reading
Ezekiel 30
[1] The word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
[3] For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
[4] A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and her wealth is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down.
[5] Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
[6] “Thus says the LORD:
Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and her proud might shall come down;
from Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord GOD.
[7] And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
[8] Then they will know that I am the LORD,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all her helpers are broken.
[9] “On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; for, behold, it comes!
[10] “Thus says the Lord GOD:
“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
[11] He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
[12] And I will dry up the Nile
and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers;
I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of foreigners;
I am the LORD; I have spoken.
[13] “Thus says the Lord GOD:
“I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis;
there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
[14] I will make Pathros a desolation
and will set fire to Zoan
and will execute judgments on Thebes.
[15] And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
[16] And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and Memphis shall face enemies by day.
[17] The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
and the women shall go into captivity.
[18] At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and her proud might shall come to an end in her;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
[19] Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
[20] In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [21] “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. [22] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. [23] I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. [24] And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. [25] I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. [26] And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the 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 us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Commission -
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors.