Pentecost Sunday Order of Service
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
DAY OF PENTECOST Coronavirus 05-31-2020 10:00AM Worship
(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)
A TIME OF REFLECTION… AND A CALL TO WORSHIP:
L Here we are, gracious God.
We ought to be together in one place – but the pandemic panic on the face of this earth keeps us separate.
C So we are together in the name of Jesus, connected by technology and also by faith.
In a time of social distancing, we have spiritual connectedness.
L We are together and we are waiting.
We are together and we are praying.
C We are waiting for the fire of God’s love.
We are praying for the breath of God’s spirit.
L We are holding onto the promises of Jesus.
C We are looking for the power of the Spirit that Jesus spoke of.
L Without the promises of Jesus we are slaves to our fears and prisoners of our worldly desires.
C Without the power of the Spirit we are empty of meaningful lives and living without hope.
L We need the joy of salvation.
C We need the peace that passes understanding.
L We need the hope that brightens the future.
C We need the love that makes life worth (the) living.
L So, come, Lord Jesus! Come, Holy Spirit!
C Fill us with the fire of your love and the breath of your power! Hallelujah!
SONG SELECTION
A PENTECOST REPORT (for two voices):
A Oh, no!
B What happened?
A Come quickly!
B What is it?
A Oh, my God!
B What’s the problem?
A I just can’t believe it!
B Believe what?
A Those Jesus people…
B The ones who followed the dead guy?
I didn’t know they were still a group.
A Something happened!
B Did they get arrested?
A There’s been an explosion!
B Are they dead?
A No, but it’s like a hurricane wind and a raging fire inside their house…
B And you’re telling me they’re still alive?
A Not just alive… they’re like SUPER-ALIVE!
Look, they’re coming out of their secret hideout – all excited and brave!
They are praising God in every language!
And Peter is preaching loud and clear about Jesus!
(2)
B They look so foolish!
They sound so crazy!
They must be drunk!
They must be high on something!
A But they look so happy and free and courageous!
And, I tell you, I can feel their love!
B Like I said, they must be high on something!
SONG SELECTION
FIRST READING: ACTS 2:1-21 (FLAMES IN OUR HAIR AND FIRE IN OUR BLOOD!)
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his or her own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his or her own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I now say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘ In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see vision, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ” [NIV, New International Version]
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:3b-13 (SPIRIT GLUE + UNIFIED DIVERSITY!)
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
[NRSV, New Revised Standard Version]
GOSPEL VERSE: “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
THE HOLY GOSPEL: JOHN 20:19-23 (PEACE, POWER, AND PROMISE!)
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
THE SERMON: Rev. Clesha Staten
SONG SELECTION
THE APOSTLES’ CREED:
L We confess our faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen…
C I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He 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, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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.
MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION
THE BENEDICTION:
L The Spirit-fire is burning in your life – don’t let it go out!
The Spirit-wind blows where it will – don’t seek to divert it!
You have a message to share – don’t silence it!
Go out, sisters and brothers, into the world with courage and conviction, bearing the love of God, the good news of Jesus
Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit in every word you speak, and in everything you do.
C This is our day. This is our time. This is our mission.
We will be faithful in our living and fervent in our loving!
ALLELUIA AND AMEN!