Order of Service – Sunday 28 May 2023 – PENTECOST
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WELCOME Phil Tucker
OPENING PRAYER Krikor Youmshajekian
Come, Holy Spirit, renew our hearts; renew our faith; renew our love for You; renew our openness and compassion; renew our sense of justice.
Come Holy Spirit, renew Your Church; renew our love for the Gospel; renew the liveliness of our worship; renew our commitment for the care for the poor; renew the church in its understanding of calling.
Come, Holy Spirit, renew the Earth. Teach us to protect our environment; teach us to care for other people as our own brothers and sisters; teach us to imagine all living things as we are connected to each other; so, may the peoples and living things live in harmony with the earth. Amen!
THE PEACE OF CHRIST
As we gather this morning to worship God, I welcome you all and invite you to greet each other with the Peace of Christ saying:
The Peace of Christ be with you. Response – And also with you.
HYMN: Congregation
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
1. Come, Holy Spirit, come! Inflame our souls with love,
transforming every heart and home with wisdom from above.
O let us not despise the humble path Christ trod,
but choose, to shame the worldly-wise, the foolishness of God.
2. All-knowing Spirit, prove the poverty of pride,
by knowledge of the Father’s love in Jesus crucified.
And grant us faith to know the glory of that sign,
and in our very lives to show the marks of love divine.
3. Come with the gifts to heal the wounds of guilt and fear,
and to oppression’s face reveal the kingdom drawing near.
Where chaos longs to reign, descend, O holy dove,
and free us all to work again the miracles of love.
4. Give us the tongues to speak, in every time and place,
to rich and poor, to strong and weak, the word of love and grace.
Enable us to hear the words that others bring,
interpreting with open ear the special song they sing.
5. Come, Holy Spirit, dance, within our hearts today,
our earth-bound spirits to entrance, our mortal fears allay;
and teach us to desire all other things above,
that self-consuming holy fire, the perfect gift of love.
A LITANY FOR PENTECOST Krikor Youmshajekian
Let us pray to God the Holy Spirit, saying: Come, Holy Spirit, come. Come, Holy Spirit, creator, and renew the face of the earth,
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come, Holy Spirit, counsellor, and touch our lips that we may proclaim your word.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come, Holy Spirit, power from on high, make us agents of peace and ministers of wholeness.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come, Holy Spirit, breath of God, give life to the dry bones of this exiled age, and make us living people, holy and free.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come, Holy Spirit, wisdom and truth: strengthen us in the risk of faith.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
A PENTECOST PRAYER Krikor Youmshajekian
May the God of all things, who spoke by the Holy Spirit, through the prophets, and sent the Spirit forth upon the apostles here in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, send Him forth now upon you also, and through Him guard us, imparting His bounty in common to all of us, so as to exhibit always the fruits of the Holy Spirit, charity, joy, peace, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, chastity in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, and with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen! (Cyril of Jerusalem)
HYMN: Congregation
O Breath of Life, Come Sweeping Through Us
1. O breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive Your church with life and power;
O breath of life, come cleanse, renew us,
and fit Your church to meet this hour.
2. O wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in Your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore: for this we plead.
3. O breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive Your church in every part.
4. Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting,
equip Your church to spread the light.
PRAYER OF INTERCESSION Krikor Youmshajekian
Loving Father, who gives life to all, we trust to Your keeping those who have died in the service of this country. Lord, hear us.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all who suffer from the effects of war; grant them Your peace and healing strength; and for those who in sadness recall lives lost; grant them comfort in the hope of resurrection. Lord, hear us.
Lord, hear our prayer.
May we be inspired by the determination of those who have served in the fight for freedom, justice and peace. Lord, hear us.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Loving Father, have mercy on our broken and divided world. Give Your Spirit of peace to all people and remove from them the spirit that makes for war, that all may live as members of your family. Lord, hear us.
Lord, hear our prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS Krikor Youmshajekian
Hear this Good News: God is in the business of creation.
In the beginning, the Spirit hovered on the face of the waters, and God created all things.
Hear this Good News: God is in the business of re-creation. Even now, the winds of the Spirit blow turning our hearts towards God.
Hear the Good News; God is in the business of creation.
In Christ your sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Amen!
TIME TO PRAY – Please pray as the music plays.
HYMN: “Spirit of God, Unseen as the Wind ” Congregation
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind, gentle as is the dove:
teach us the truth and help us believe, show us the Saviour’s love!
1. You spoke to us – long, long ago – gave us the written word;
we read it still, needing its truth, through it God’s voice is heard.
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind, gentle as is the dove:
teach us the truth and help us believe, show us the Saviour’s love!
2. Without your help we fail our Lord, we cannot live his way;
we need your power, we need your strength, following Christ each day.
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind, gentle as is the dove:
teach us the truth and help us believe, show us the Saviour’s love!
PRAYER Congregation
We come before You, Lord, as a sinful people. We come here today knowing that we are less than You have made us to be. Forgive us we pray in this time of worship. Free us from all that would keep us from You and from Your will for our lives. Help us move beyond ourselves that we might be courageous in our witness to Your love as we seek to be Your heart, Your hands, and Your feet.
Empower us to trust Your most Holy Spirit as he seeks to lead us to do what we fear to do, and to places we fear to go. Thank You for this marvellous gift of life. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen!
BIBLE READINGS – David Shann
Acts 2:1-21 John 20:19-23
APOSTLES’ CREED Congregation
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
SERMON: “God’s Gift” Bob Minton
NOTICES & OFFERING:
HYMN: Congregation
Come Down, O Love Divine
1. Come down, O Love divine, seek now this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
2. There let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let your glorious light shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
3. Let holy charity, my outer garment be.
and lowliness become my inner clothing;
true lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,
and for its own shortcoming sweeps with loathing.
4. And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace till we become the place
in which the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
THE LORD’S PRAYER Congregation
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us in time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and forever. Amen.
BENEDICTION Krikor Youmshajekian
Let us remember –
that the Holy Spirit comes to us, lives in us and gives power to us.
May the Holy God guide us in the pathways of truth,
Christ Jesus gather us into a loving community as His Body
and the Spirit inspire us and call us on into joy. Amen!