Worship May 21, 2021
Let us worship!
I will sing to God as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to God
For I rejoice in God…
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord Psalm 104:33-34. 35b
The story of Pentecost from
Acts 2:1-21
Living Bible
2 Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the Day of Pentecost had now arrived.[a] As the believers met together that day, 2 suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they didn’t know,[b] for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5 Many godly Jews were in Jerusalem that day for the religious celebrations, having arrived from many nations. 6 And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, crowds came running to see what it was all about, and were stunned to hear their own languages being spoken by the disciples.
7 “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “For these men are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking all the native languages of the lands where we were born! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, men from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the Cyrene language areas of Libya, visitors from Rome—both Jews and Jewish converts— 11 Cretans, and Arabians. And we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”
12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.
13 But others in the crowd were mocking. “They’re drunk, that’s all!” they said.
14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen, all of you, visitors and residents of Jerusalem alike! 15 Some of you are saying these men are drunk! It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that! People don’t get drunk by 9:00 a.m.! 16 No! What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel— 17 ‘In the last days,’ God said, ‘I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. 18 Yes, the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and clouds of smoke; 20 the sun shall turn black and the moon blood-red before that awesome Day of the Lord arrives. 21 But anyone who asks for mercy from the Lord shall have it and shall be saved.
A prayer to center you
Moving, breathing God,
We know that your Spirit swirls all around us,
Open our hearts to your movement.
May we step into the winds of change that you call us to with joy, hope and excitement.
May we open our minds to your callings for us and step boldly wherever you need us to go and be.
Use us as your vessels that we may always share your peace, love and joy with those around us.
Your Spirit is great, help us living into it!
Move Holy Spirit, Move,
Amen.
Holy Words from Romans 8:22-28
(The Message translation)
22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Reflection:
Of the parts of the trinity, God, (the Father), Jesus (the son), and the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit with which I identify the most. It is the Holy Spirit that I relate to most closely. It is the part of the Holy Trinity that somehow makes the whole thing make sense to me. This may seem odd since the Holy Spirit is the most abstract of all the parts that Christian attribute to our one triune God. The trinity has no face, it has no story behind it, there is no good way to represent or explain it’s being. But the Spirit is the one part I understand and relate to the best.
While I cannot explain to you what the Holy Spirit is exactly or how it acts or works, I can tell you without a doubt that the Spirit moves on the Earth these days and moves in our lives while we await the return of Christ. I personally feel the Spirit within me and around me. I see the Spirit move others to take steps they would not feel comfortable taking if it were not for some other force moving us forward. I see actions and movements within others and myself that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit moving. Something unseen and unexplainable can move with such power and accomplish so much. God in action in and through us.
It is often interesting on Pentecost Sunday to watch pastors and youth ministers describe the Holy Spirit to the young children. From lighting a candle to using a fan, we try to make tangible the intangible. Often we use images of tongues of flames or a dove descending to put a face on the Holy Spirit. Both beautiful images. But for me, these are nor the ways I see the Spirit acting. I often think of the Spirit more of a wind or guiding force, air filling up a person to be brave. I see the Spirit in the words of others bringing courage and comfort, hope and peace. I see the Spirit in the still small voice in the back of my head or the gut feeling that makes me step boldly where I might not want to go on my own. Maybe it is because the Holy Spirit does not have a human (male) face that I associate the most with it or maybe it is that the Spirit is what we were given during this in between time.
Whatever it is about the Spirit that draws me in, I give thanks that God sent it to us as we wait. This world can grow tiresome. Our worries and troubles can mount. Our faith and hope can dwindle in the face of earthly struggles. But God sent us the Spirit so that when we grow tired the Spirit will uphold us. When our faith dwindles and the words of prayer do not come, the Spirit prays in us and for us. When we cannot do more than sigh, when the pains of life come out as only aching groans, the Spirit intercedes for us and holds us before God. I take comfort in knowing that whatever I face, God, through the Holy Spirit, is there with me working for something good.
Move Holy Spirit, move!
Thinking it through….
Close your eyes and picture the Holy Spirit.
What did it look like? What did it feel like? What did it sound like? What did it taste like? What did it smell like? How did it make you feel?
Where have you seen the Spirit in your life?
How do you see the Spirit working in the world around you?
Action Challenge.
Find an image that represents the Holy Spirit for you.
Draw the image, print the image, make the image that represent the Spirit to you.
Place the image somewhere were you will see it throughout the week.
When you see the image this week, be reminded that God is with you no matter what!
Prayer of Sending
Holy Spirit, living God,
descend upon us.
Move us.
Guide us.
lead us, we pray.
Surround us with your comfort and your peace.
Inspire us to be brave and to speak your truth.
When our burden are heavy, hear our sighs which are too deep for words and lift our burdens.
Walk with us into the unknown of these days and guide our steps that we may continue to do the work of your people in the world here, while we await your coming.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,
now and always.
Amen
Going out.
Feel the Spirit moving.
Feel the winds and flames and love of God moving around us.
Move into this wind.
Go out, moved and upheld by the Spirit of God that dwells among us
And may the blessing of the Eternal God, Creator and Sustainer, Risen Lord and Savior, Giver of holiness and love, be upon you now and evermore.
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
