INTRODUCTION
Good morning everyone and hope you have enjoyed the sunshine, it certainly uplifts the spirit which is quite fitting for Pentecost. We hear today of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the disciples receiving it as flames of fire and wind, giving them powers to heal and to speak in all languages. Rev Hannah has done our reflection today and the prayers are by Arthur Greaves, thank you to them.
Today is our APCM, this will take place at 11.15 after the morning service and Simon Cook, the Area Dean, will be attending so he can give us advice if needed.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your people, and kindle in us the fire of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Faithful God, who fulfilled the promises of Easter by sending us your Holy Spirit, and made known to every race and nation the way of eternal life; open our lips by your Spirit, that every tongue may tell of your glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER OF PENITENCE
What God has prepared for those who love him, he has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything. Therefore, let us in penitence open our hearts to the Lord, who has prepared good things for those who love him. Amen.
Almighty God, long-suffering and of great goodness; I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raised me to new life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE GLORIA
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
THE COLLECT
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, ignite in us your holy fire; strengthen your children with the gift of faith, revive your Church with the breath of love, and renew the face of the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE NEW TESTAMENT READING
ACTS 2. 1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
THE GOSPEL
Hear the word of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you O Lord.
JOHN 20. 19-23
It was evening on 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.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.
REFLECTION
Energy is taking up quite a lot of our national time at the moment.
We’re bothered about where our energy is coming from, we’re concerned about how much our energy is costing. As a nation we’re realizing that the cost of our energy consumption goes beyond the financial implications-it extends into our impact on our environment too.
When I was a science teacher I found the experiments around energy were always the most exciting. Adding a food with lots of energy into a flame produced the brightest light and burnt hottest. But I also find that encountering more sustainable ways to harness energy gives a feeling of peace. Windmills that use the wind to drive turbines and generate electricity fascinate me.
Energy is all around us, it sustains us, gives us life. Energy changes us.
In John’s Gospel today we hear how the risen Jesus breathed on his disciples. A sign of him sharing his energy with them, the breath of life. He says ‘receive the Holy Spirit’. The very energy and life force that moved over the waters in the beginning of creation and worked in unity to create the world that we now inhabit. It is this same energy that descended on the disciples in the form of flames on the first day of Pentecost. It gave them life, and they were changed. How could they not be? Finding themselves able to speak in foreign tongues and with the energy of God flowing through them, the disciples who were touched by the flames of the holy spirit on that Pentecost day couldn’t help but preach the good news to all who would hear them!
For the disciples who were at that point scared, confused and feeling abandoned following Jesus’ ascension the energy of the Holy Spirit gave them new life. Energy to grow into a new life of preaching the Gospel, sharing in communion together and spreading the word to the ends of the earth.
May we this Pentecost be enriched with the energy of new life that the spirit offers. May we become aware of the spirit working in our lives and may we use this energy to tell people the good news!
Rev Hannah
THE CREED
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;
he was buried; he was raised from to life on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; afterwards he appeared to his followers, and to all the apostles; this we have received and this we believe.
Amen.
INTERCESSIONS
Here we pray for the church, for the world, those in need and those who have died, you can follow your own prayers or these below on today’s theme.
Mighty God as we are gathered together here in hope and in faith, we ask you to minister to our needs. Send the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of your faithful people to kindle in them the fire of your love.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer.
Holy God we pray for our Church Leaders, that they will be guided in their ministry by the influence of the Holy Spirit and that the church, in the power of the Spirit may make the Gospel understandable to people of every race, language and culture. That the Holy Spirit of Peace may unite and reconcile the peoples and the nations of the earth, bringing an end to war, hatred and discrimination.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer.
Lord God, we rejoice that you have not left us alone without support, comfort or direction. Now that Jesus’ earthly work is complete your resources are not diminished and we praise you today for your holy Spirit, sign of your active presence in the world.
Open our lives to embrace your power so that we are living parts of Christ’s body. Make us witnesses to your Gospel so that by our example others are brought closer to the kingdom.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer.
Fill your Church with the best gifts of faith, hope and love so that her unity in the Spirit may come before rivalry and prejudice. Lead us into your truth as we seek the mind of Christ through the wisdom of your Spirit, and may our worship be enriched by the many gifts you provide for your people.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer.
Loving God we pray for all those who are sick, guide them and strengthen them through their illness. We pray also for those who care for the sick, those engaged in the caring professions, particularly remembering our N.H.S. staff and those family members who dedicate themselves to the care of loved ones. From our parish we remember – Rev. Peter Reiss, Thomas Causton, Stanley Schofield, Sue Roberts, Colin Roberts, Stephen Haslam and Joe Gande.
Merciful God we pray for all those who have died: give them a place in your banquet in heaven. May the Holy Spirit, who purifies us of sin and raises the dead, bring all our departed ones into the fulness of your presence. Here we remember Audrey Juliff and Julian Roscoe whose funeral’s took place over the last week. From our book of remembrance Rosetta Greenhalgh, David Crompton Lloynd, Janet Christine Fealy Harrison, Jeffrey Mills and Miriam Foster
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer.
A Persian Prayer:
All that we ought to have thought and have not thought.
All that we ought to have said and have not said.
All that we ought to have done and have not done – pray we, O God, for forgiveness.
All that we ought not to have thought and yet have thought.
All that we ought not have spoken and yet have spoken.
All that we ought not to have done and yet have done – pray we, O God for forgiveness this day.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
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. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the Kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
THE BLESSING
May the Spirit, who hovered over the waters when the world was created, breathe into you the life he gives. Amen.
May the Spirit, who overshadowed the Virgin when the eternal Son came among us, make you joyful in the service of the Lord. Amen.
May the Spirit, who set the church on fire upon the day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ. Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and those that you love this day and for ever more. Amen.