Pentecost Sunday Worship Bulletin
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
DAY OF PENTECOST 05-28-2023 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ WE SEEK AND REJOICE IN THE SPIRIT +
A TIME OF REFLECTION… AND A CALL TO WORSHIP:
L Here we are, gracious God, gathered in a sanctuary and also gathered online.
C We are gathered together in the name of Jesus, connected by technology and our faith.
L Together we are waiting and praying. .
C Together we are waiting for the fire of God’s love and praying for the breath of God’s spirit.
L Together we are holding onto the promises of Jesus.
C Together 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!
OPENING SONG: “COME BY HERE, MY LORD”
(1) Come by here, my Lord, come by here.
Come by here, my Lord, come by here.
Come by here, my Lord, come by here.
O Lord, come by here!
(2) Someone needs you, Lord, come by here…
(3) Someone’s prayin’, Lord, come by here…
(4) Kum Ba Yah, my Lord, Kum Ba Yah…
(5) Send a blessing, Lord, come by here…
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!
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!
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY (together):
O Holy Spirit, come into our hearts,
come into our lives,
come into your churches,
and come into this world.
Give us new breath,
awaken our spirits,
lend fire to our words
and add strength to our witness! HALLELUJAH and AMEN!
+ WE REJOICE IN GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 2:1-21 [Introduction: FLAMES IN OUR HAIR AND FIRE IN OUR BLOOD! Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival that marked the fiftieth day after Passover. With images of wind and fire and “drunkenness”, Luke portrays the Holy Spirit being poured out upon a hidden community of 120 of the followers of Jesus ten days after the ascension of Jesus. Filled with the Spirit, the disciples were inspired and empowered to give witness to the power of Christ’s resurrection before the gathered and astonished people who had assembled in Jerusalem for the festival. The printed text ends too early – it doesn’t tell us that about 3,000 people joined up with Jesus that day!]
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: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:3b-13 [Introduction: SPIRIT GLUE + UNIFIED DIVERSITY! Paul is helping the Corinthian Christians understand the relationship between our God-given unity and Spirit-created diversity. The Spirit creates the unity of faith and gives all Christians diverse gifts for the common benefit of all. We need one another’s diverse spiritual gifts, because the same Spirit has given them to each person for the common good.]
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 parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For in the one Spirit we are all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we are all made to drink of one Spirit. [NRSV, New Revised Standard Version]
LITURGUCAL DANCE SELECTION: ST. PETER’S PRAISE DANCERS
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 [Introduction: THE PEACE, POWER, AND PROMISE OF JESUS! Soon after his resurrection, on that first Easter evening, the Risen Christ suddenly appears and breathes the peace and power of the Holy Spirit upon his “locked-in” disciples. In the midst of fear, uncertainty, and unbelieving, his continued incarnation presence in their lives is more reassuring than his words. And they are given marching orders to leave physical and mental and emotional rooms locked by fear, to go out with his peace and his power, and to continue his work of forgiving sins. As his disciples in this time and place, we have our work to do, being the Church. And, in Christ, we are able to dare to live faithfully and love fervently.]
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 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 anyone’s sin, they will be forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE SERMON: Rev. Clesha Staten
SONG RESPONSE: “SWEET, SWEET SPIRIT”
- There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord.
There are sweet expressions on each face, and I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
SWEET HOLY SPIRIT, SWEET HEAVENLY DOVE,
STAY RIGHT HERE WITH US, FILLING US WITH YOUR LOVE.
AND FOR THESE BLESSINGS WE LIFT OUR HEARTS IN PRAISE;
WITHOUT A DOUBT WE’LL KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN REVIVED
WHEN WE SHALL LEAVE THIS PLACE!
- There are blessings you cannot receive till you know God in his fullness and believe.
You’re the one to profit when you say, “I am going to walk with Jesus all the way!
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world!
+ WE REJOICE IN GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +
THE OFFERING… To continue the work of the Holy Spirit in our world, we offer ourselves, our gifts, and our love!
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
THIS IS MY STORY, THIS IS MY SONG,
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG! [sing the chorus 2 times]
We are God’s people, we are Christ’s Church, called by God’s Spirit into the world.
We have God’s power from heaven above, we’ll share God’s justice, mercy and love!”
OFFERING PRAYER led by the Communion Assistant:
O Lord our God, if your Spirit is alive within us, then stretch our time and abilities, our money and our mouths, all that we are and all that we have, to testify to your amazing grace in Jesus Christ.
Someone somewhere is in need of your Good News. Amen.
THE PREFACE AND THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS:
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
L Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful… C … and set us on fire with your love! Alleluia!
L Gracious God,
We thank you for the movement of your Spirit over the waters in the very beginning of creation, bringing order.
We thank you for the breath of your Spirit when we were formed from the dust of the earth, giving us life.
We thank you for the blessing of your Spirit, guiding and sustaining us through many generations.
We thank you for the voice of your Spirit in the prophets and the teachers when we resisted and turned from you.
We thank you for the grace of your Spirit which has kept us from completely destroying ourselves and this earth.
And we thank you – O how we thank you! – for the supreme, precious gift of your Son, Jesus Christ,
who lived among us, sharing joy and sorrow…
who told your story, healed the sick, and was a friend of sinners…
who took up his cross in obedience and accepted murder by those he loved…
who rose up beyond the boundaries of death and above the power of the devil…
and – on this day, as he had promised –
poured out your Spirit of new life on his chosen disciples,
until they were drunk with joy and crazy with love and courageous with showing and telling the story.
Therefore, with our own hearts lifted high, humbled to bear your Son’s name, Spirit, and mission, we join earth and sky and sea… all creatures and all of your creation… the angels and archangels that are above and around us… and all the saints before us and beside us – here, there, everywhere – in singing your praises…
C [singing…] “Holy, holy, holy, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
and we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love,
holy, holy, holy, holy.
Precious Jesus, precious Jesus,
We’re so glad that you redeemed us, precious Jesus…
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
come and fill our hearts anew, O Holy Spirit…
L On the night of his arrest, the night before his crucifixion, Jesus took bread,
and after giving thanks to God, broke it and said:
C “This is my body, broken for you, broken to heal a troubled world.
Take, eat, and remember Me.”
L After supper, Jesus took the cup,
and after giving thanks to God, passed it and said:
C “This is the cup of the new covenant, my blood poured out for you and for all.
Take, drink, and remember Me.”
L We remember his death, and let the people say Amen.
C Amen!
L We celebrate his resurrection, and let the people shout Amen.
C Amen!
L We beg him to come again and again, and let the people plead Amen.
C Amen!
L O God, be a rush of wind and a touch of flame among us as we share this Holy Meal!
C Send down your Spirit and bring new life to your people! ALLELUIA!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Jesus Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! The wine may be received from the pouring chalice; we also have grape juice on the tray. Praise the Lord for this community meal that renews our spirits, powers our faith, and reminds us of the future heavenly banquet that awaits us!
COMMUNION SONG: “LET US BREAK BREAD TOGETHER”
- Let us break bread together on our knees. Let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
- Let us drink wine together on our knees…
- Let us praise God together on our knees…
COMMUNION SONG: “REVIVE US AGAIN”
- We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love, for Jesus who died and has now gone above.
HALLELUJAH, thine the glory! HALLELUJAH, Amen!
HALLELUJAH, thine the glory! Revive us again!
- We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of Light, who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night.
- All glory and praise to the Lamb who was slain, who has borne all our sin and has cleansed ev’ry stain.
- Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love; may each soul be rekindled with fire from above.
COMMUNION SONG: “OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME”
- Oh, how He loves you and me… Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave his life, what more can He give?
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU; OH, HOW HE LOVES ME; OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME.
- Jesus to Calv’ry did go, His love for this world to show.
What He did there brought hope from despair…
COMMUNION SONG: “IN THE NAME OF JESUS”
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, we have the victory!
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, Satan will have to flee.
Oh-h-h, tell me: who can stand before us when we call on that great name?
JE-SUS! JE-SUS! Precious JE-SUS! We have the victory!
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.
+ WE REJOICE IN OUR MISSION +
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!
CLOSING SONG: “THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE”
- This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
- Ev’rywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine… (4) In my neighborhood, I’m gonna let it shine…
- All through my life, I’m gonna let it shine… (5) Jesus gave it to me, I’m gonna let it shine…
Please join us downstairs for cake and ice cream as we celebrate the birthday of the Christian faith!