pentecost morning

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1.8

a reading from the acts of the apostles

Acts 4.18-21, 23-33 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.

 After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:

“Why did the Gentiles rage,

   and the peoples imagine vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand,

   and the rulers have gathered together

     against the Lord and against his Messiah.”

For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

What words or phrases caught hold of you in your reading?

Enter into a space of silence and solitude with these words.

How can these words/scripture readings become a prayer for you and our community?

What implications do these words have for your life and our community today?

the prayers

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 from the time of trial,

   and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

   and the glory are yours,

   now and forever. Amen.

Almighty God, on the day of Pentecost you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.