Trinity Year A
Pentecost 2A
Pentecost 3A
Pentecost 4A
Pentecost 5A
Pentecost 6A
Pentecost 7A
Pentecost 8A
Pentecost 9A
Pentecost 10A
Pentecost 11A
Pentecost 12A
Pentecost 13A
Pentecost 14A
Pentecost 15A
Pentecost 16A
Pentecost 17A
Pentecost 18A
Pentecost 19A
Pentecost 20A
Pentecost 21A
Pentecost 22A
Pentecost 23A
Pentecost 24A
Pentecost 25A
Pentecost 26A
Pentecost 27A
Reign of Christ Year A
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Pentecost Year A LECTIONARY GENERATED LITURGY Pentecost Year A Acts 2: 1-21; Ps. 104:24-34,35b; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13; John 20:19-23 Rec. text - NRSV. Hymns are from the Australian Hymn Book (AHB) or Together in Song (TIS) unless otherwise indicated. Worship Leader - normal type. Congregational responses - bold type Permission is granted to churches to use this material in services of worship. This liturgy remains the property of Moira B Laidlaw Resources required for Pentecost Year A: Table/s placed in or around church - see below; roll of aluminium foil ; red candle/s which will burn for more than an hour; enough ‘tea-light’ candles for whole congregation; All Together OK, Openbook Publishers, Adelaide, 1996; Scripture in Song . CMC Australasia, Unit 9/147 Marshalltown Road, Grovedale, Victoria 3216; Australian Prayers, Bruce D Prewer, Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide, 1983. CALL TO WORSHIP “Then afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” Joel 2:28 Jesus said: “ the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 TIS 398/AHB 310: “Come down, O Love divine” OPENING PRAYER As the wind fills the sails of windmills in paddocks and taps underground stores of life-giving water; so the wind of God’s Spirit fills us and refreshes us. As the fire renews the bush by bursting open the seeds of life; so the fire of God’s Spirit brings renewal to our lives. Wind and fire, symbols of energy and power; Holy Spirit, source of our energy and power, sweep into our lives this day, that we may experience your refreshment, your renewal, your life. Amen TIS 409/AHB 322: “O breath of life, come sweeping through us” Have tables arranged in visible places around the church - or one table in a central point Cut out large flame shapes from foil and lay on tables. Organise people -of all ages - to light a red candle from the Christ candle if you have one burning, and to place each red candle in the centre of tables. Everyone is invited to come forward and light their ‘tea-light’ candles from the red candle and lay on the foil. Then sing: ALL TOGETHER OK: “Christ be our light” or TIS 675/SCRIPTURE IN SONG: “Lord, the light of your love is shining” ACTS 2: 1-21 If you have people in the congregation from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, invite them to read Acts 2 verses 1-4 in their native tongue. These verses are read at the same time in as many languages as possible. Whoever is leading worship reads the verses at the same time from the Greek New Testament Greek (There’s a challenge!) A reader finishes the reading in English A time of silence to meditate on these words. A WORD TO THE CHILDREN/YOUNG PEOPLE Borrow a first reading ABC book from school or buy cheap one and borrow a book such as one of the ‘Harry Potter’ books. Hold up the ABC book and ask how many can remember learning to read from a book such as this. Ask some of the older adults if they can remember their first reading book. Why do they remember it? I remember a sense of excitement when I think back to my early reading books -probably because they opened up a whole new world. Hold up the ‘Harry Potter’ book and ask how they moved from the ABC book to one such as this. Hopefully they’ll mention the work of their teachers. Ask if they feel a sense of excitement or anticipation when beginning to read a new book. Our vocabulary and our knowledge expand every time we read a book. We can thank our teachers for that. The Holy Spirit is a teacher too. We learn a whole new language with the Holy Spirit as our teacher because we learn the language of love - the language that Jesus lived and spoke. The Holy Spirit lives in us and teaches us that language. We show that we have learned the language by how we live and how we speak. TIS 650: “Brother, sister let me serve you” TIS 655: “O let the Son of God enfold you” PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Merciful God, the gift of Jesus’ life in us is visible in the way we witness to the fruitfulness of that gift. We know that the fruit of the Spirit consists of love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Yet, so often we put conditions on our love - and joy and peace are difficult to discern when our words and actions deny their presence. Everyone either sings the first two lines of SCRIPTURE IN SONG 303: Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on me or says together Create in me a clean heart, O God, and and put a new and right spirit in me . Psalm 51 v. 10 By desiring instant results to most things these days, we confess that we forget what it’s like to be patient. We find ourselves neglecting the needs of others because we run out of time to be kind to other than ourselves. Spirit of the living God... or Create in me ... When we persistently make self-centred decisions rather than Christ-centred ones, our understanding of your goodness and faithfulness is weakened and our discipleship lacks credibility. Spirit of the living God ... or Create in me a ... In this aggressive world, it’s easy to believe one can’t get anywhere by exercising a spirit of gentleness or even self-control Spirit of the living God ... or Create in me ... Gracious and merciful God, grant us your forgiveness and your love so that we may truly care for one another. Refresh and renew us with the Holy Spirit so that we are fruitful and vital disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS Those who are in Christ are a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God with whom we have been reconciled through Christ. (based on 2 Corinthians 17.18) Thanks be to God! PSALM 104: 24-34, 35b 1 CORINTHIANS 12: 3b - 13 JOHN 20: 19-23 SERMON PRAYERS FOR OTHERS “Holy Spirit, Help Us” page 62 Australian Prayers Check out Bruce Prewer’s site http://www.alphalink.com.au/~nigel/ OFFERING OFFERTORY PRAYER Bless these gifts, O God, and bless us as we offer ourselves to serve you in different ways and to praise you in many voices. Send your Spirit upon us, that when we speak the word of your love, people may hear and understand as on that Pentecost day so long ago. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. TIS 511/AHB 433: “Let us break bread together with the Lord!” TIS 526/AHB 451: “Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us...” TIS 521/AHB 443: “Lord Christ, at your first eucharist you prayed” INVITATION Jesus cried out,”Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of flowing water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive...” John 7: 37b -39a THE GREAT THANKSGIVING The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give God thanks and praise. Thanks and praise, glory and honour are rightly yours, Creator God. In the beginning, your Spirit moved across the face of the waters, and when we were formed from the dust of the earth, you breathed into us the breath of life. Even when we resisted and grieved you, your Spirit came upon diverse people, empowering them to speak your word of life. Your steadfast love endures forever and ever. And so we praise you with the faithful of every time and place, gathered in word and spirit with choirs of angels and the whole creation in the eternal hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. In the fullness of time, you gave us your Son Jesus Christ, to be for us the way, the truth, and the life. At his baptism in the Jordan your Spirit came upon him declaring him to be your beloved Son. With your Spirit within him he resisted temptation; he proclaimed justice to all peoples, good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight for the blind, and liberty for those who are oppressed. He emptied himself of self -serving power, and filled with the empowering love of your Spirit, he loved people to the uttermost limits of love, giving himself over to death to defeat the power of evil. On that never-to-be-forgotten night, the night of his betrayal, as he sat at the table with his friends, he took bread, gave you thanks, broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.” When supper was over, he took the cup, gave you thanks, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this all of you; this is my blood, poured out for you and for all, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” On that never-to-be-forgotten day when you raised him from the dead, he was recognised by his disciples in the breaking of the bread, and in the power of your Holy Spirit your people have continued in the breaking of the bread and in prayer. When we eat this bread and drink from this cup we experience anew the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and look forward to his coming in final victory. Remembering his death and resurrection, his ascension and his promise to be with us always, we pray that you will send the power of your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts, blessing this sharing of bread and wine, Christ’s life in us. Send us as your witnesses into all the world, empowered by your Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name we are bold to pray ‘Our Father....’ THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. The cup we take is a sharing in the blood of Christ. The gifts of God for the people of God THE DISTRIBUTION TIS 707: Bread is blessed and broken” and/or TIS 714 : “Eat this bread” is sung quietly by choir/solo or group during the distribution of the bread and wine. THE PEACE The peace of the risen Lord be with you all. And also with you. Invite people to share a sign of peace with their neighbours. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Gracious God, we praise, worship and adore you for the food received at your table. You have sent your Holy Spirit among us to make our eating and drinking here a memorial of our Lord Jesus Christ. We go from here, strengthened, refreshed, and empowered by your Spirit to make our living and working, our loving and doing and thinking, a true and joyful memorial of him. We look to that day when, with the great company of witnesses that surround us, we may eat and drink and be glad with him in the glory of your kingdom. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. TIS 531: “Sent forth by God’s blessing” TIS 545 : “Shout for joy! The Lord has let us feast” TIS 422: “Come, Holy Spirit, come!” TIS 420: “Holy Spirit, go before us” If set tune unfamiliar, sing to Austria TIS 93 DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING Go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit! We go, giving thanks to God, Alleluia! The blessing of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, be with you this day and for ever. Amen! Alleluia! THREEFOLD AMEN |