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 57
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
[1] Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
[2] I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
[3] He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
[4] My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
[5] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
[6] They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
[7] My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
[8] Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
[9] I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
[10] For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
[11] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Psalm 58
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.
[1] Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
[2] No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
[3] The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
[4] They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
[5] so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
[6] O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
[7] Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
[8] Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
[9] Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
[10] The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
[11] Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalm 59
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
[1] Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
[2] deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
[3] For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
[4] for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
[5] You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
[6] Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
[7] There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
[8] But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
[9] O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
[10] My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
[11] Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
[12] For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
[13] consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
[14] Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
[15] They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
[16] But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
[17] O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
Old Testament Reading
1 Kings 4
[1] King Solomon was king over all Israel, [2] and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; [3] Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; [4] Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; [5] Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; [6] Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
[7] Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. [8] These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; [9] Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; [10] Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); [11] Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); [12] Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; [13] Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); [14] Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; [15] Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); [16] Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; [17] Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; [18] Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; [19] Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.
[20] Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. [21] Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
[22] Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, [23] ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. [24] For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. [25] And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. [26] Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. [27] And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. [28] Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.
[29] And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, [30] so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. [31] For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. [32] He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. [33] He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. [34] And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
1 Kings 5
[1] Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. [2] And Solomon sent word to Hiram, [3] “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. [4] But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. [5] And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ [6] Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
[7] As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” [8] And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. [9] My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” [10] So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, [11] while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. [12] And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
[13] King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. [14] And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. [15] Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, [16] besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. [17] At the king’s command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. [18] So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
New Testament Reading
Ephesians 2
[1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
[11] Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—[12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
- 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, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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.