Author: Bellshill Central

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

Gathering prayer

The light is spreading.
It started off one Easter
when tombstones rolled and graves were found empty,
Jesus was alive.
The news spread from disciple to apostle,
from followers to strangers.
It spread like a fire among us, this news of new life.
It spreads still today, among us
who dare believe that life and death is not all there is.
In this place new light is streaming,
the Good News still has power to unfold and renew.

We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community.
To re-connect once more with the larger human family.
To find once more that place of calm.
To remind ourselves that we belong.
And to remember what it is we belong to.
We are many, as the stars that fill the night,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine,
as a flock of birds in flight,
as the branches of a tree,
as the waves upon the ocean.
We are also one body, and the work of Christ is done
when we learn to live in true community.
We come –
To centre ourselves,
to open ourselves,
to remember ourselves.
And to celebrate the life we share together.

We enter into this time and this place to join our hearts and minds together.
To remember what is most important in life.
To be challenged to live more truly, more deeply,
to live with integrity and kindness and with hope and love,
to feel the company of those who seek a common path,
to be renewed in our faith in the promise of this life,
to be strengthened and to find the courage
to continue to do what we must do,
day after day,
world without end. Amen

Prayer of concern (i)

May we hang around for people,
may we linger with intent… to care,
may we breach the peace… with justice.
May we not just look for a new thing, but follow it through,
not just have an idea but make it happen,
not complain about this and that, but do something about it.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

May we turn our words into acts,
our thoughts into reality,
our intent into a way of life.
May we move beyond the word,
becoming the word
and move with the word,
becoming flesh.
May we walk the talk,
speak of good things,
and find ourselves living them as well.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

So may we dare to speak of setting people free
and find ourselves working towards a freedom
bound up in each other.
May we dare to speak of justice
and find ourselves proclaiming that justice here,
in everyday acts of compassion.
May we dare to speak of welcome towards the stranger
and find ourselves among strangers here,
and loving them into community.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

May we pay Christ more than lip-service
but serve Him with our whole lives. Amen

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad!
² Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side.
⁴ His lightnings light up the world;
   the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
   before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory.
⁷ All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him.
⁸ Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God.
⁹ For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ The Lord loves those who hate evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light dawns for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!

Psalm 97 confesses God as the sovereign who rescues the faithful. The Psalmist affirms that God’s throne, a symbol of power, is founded on justice. Such foundations will stand, in contrast to the unjust foundations of power shaken by the earthquake in Acts

Prayer of concern (ii)

Make in us a captive conscience, quick to hear, to act, to plead;
make us truly sisters, brothers of whatever race or creed –
Teach us to be fully human, open to each other’s need.

May God bless us with a restless discomfort about easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that we may seek truth boldly
and love deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom,
and peace among all people.

May God bless us with the gift of tears
to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation,
or the loss of all that they cherish,
so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world,
so that we are able, with God’s grace,
to do what others claim cannot be done. Amen

Blessing

We go now for the Spirit of God is alive in the land.
We go in the power of love,
with the blessing of God upon us. Amen