Pentecost Sunday is one of the high points in the Church year, and Easter is a season that lasts 50 days, spanning Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.
GATHERING PRAYER
God, at Pentecost, You spoke through flame and fire
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may we follow Your call.
God, at Pentecost, Your Advocate spoke truth in our world
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may we hear and obey.
God, at Pentecost, You celebrated the gifts of diversity in cultures
As we gather, through the power of your Spirit,
may You hear our heart languages of prayer and praise.
God, at Pentecost, Your Helper offered peace to every troubled heart
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may You calm every anxious heart.
Amen
Confession
This prayer brings the Spirit as helper and Spirit as truth, both in John 14:16, into conversation with the themes of Genesis 11:1-9. The words from John 14:27 are used as part of the assurance of forgiveness.
God, You are our truth-teller,
sifter of human hearts, strainer of human motives.
God, in Your truth, You reveal us as like Babel,
we build our towers,
to be known and recognised,
to gather to ourselves our human achievements.
God, In Your truth, You reveal our
love for the law of similar,
the comfort we find in the familiar,
the cultures and people we know.
God, You reveal
our struggles with difference,
our rigidity in the face of diversity.
We pause in confession, making space for the Spirit of truth,
sifter of human hearts, strainer of human motives.
And we hear Your words of forgiveness,
‘Peace I leave with you’, God’s peace given to us.
In You, God, our hearts are no longer troubled,
and for this, we gratefully say, Amen.
Thanksgiving
This prayer works with Acts 2, giving thanks for what a Spirit empowered church might look like. The refrain is drawn from Acts 2:19 in The Message, “I’ll set your wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below.” What if the signs on earth below include humans, empowered by Spirit?
Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your empowering
The graces You give to each of us, the graces You give to this church
The chatter of our young and the wisdom of our old
The texts of our teenagers and the words of our elders
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst
Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your diversity
The gifts and graces You give to the global church
Those who sing Your song in the high-rises of Manila
Those who serve Your mission in the slums of Brazil
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst
Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your liberation
The liberation You bring to all those enslaved
The freedom You offer the addicted
The justice You seek for the trafficked
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst
Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your gifts
The challenge of prophets, the hope of our dreamers
The insights of everyone one of us, men and women
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst
Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your scattering
Your work across the world
The partnerships we share with agencies and workers for justice
And churches in countries near and far
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst
Prayers for others
When we look at our world,
we see war and conflict,
hatred between people of different languages.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”
When we look at our country,
we see egos and deals,
building projects and business towers.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”
When we look at our church,
we see tribalisms and insecurity
denominations that seem fractured.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”
When we look at ourselves,
we see suspicion of others,
mistrust and indifference toward those not like us.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”
And so, empowered and renewed by Your Spirit,
we pray with God’s church around the world,
Our Father…
FOR THE QUEEN
God’s steadfast love endures for ever.
God’s mercies, they never cease; they are new every morning.
and great is God’s faithfulness.
We give thanks for these festive days,
and for the long and happy reign of our beloved Queen.
Grant to her joy and happiness throughout this Platinum Jubilee.
God bless this food to our use,
God bless our lives in service to others,
God bless all whom we hold dear.
God bless The Queen.
Amen.
Blessing
Go in the name of the God who scatters
May the wind of the Spirit enfold you into God’s mission
May the warmth of the Spirit rest on your work
May the words of the Spirit fill your mouth for witness
May the sounds of the Spirit guide your walk
AMEN
Bellshill Central Church 