Pentecost
This short act of worship has been prepared for you. I invite you to share in a few moments with God knowing that other people within Paulton, Trinity and Chew Stoke Methodist Churches are sharing this act of worship with you.
Revd Martin
Psalm 139: 7-12, 23
7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night’, 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
Pentecost is a time of great joy. The promises of Jesus are fulfilled, God is sent to be among us, and so today we welcome him and celebrate the birth of the Church.
Hymn – Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1LaArPzHyk
Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart, teach me to move in the power of your Spirit, teach me to walk in the light of your presence, teach me to dance to the beat of your heart. Teach me to love with your heart of compassion, teach me to trust in the word of your promise, teach me to hope in the day of your coming, teach me to dance to the beat of your heart.
1 You wrote the rhythm of life, created heaven and earth; in you is joy without measure. So, like a child in your sight, I dance to see your delight, for I was made for your pleasure, pleasure.
2 Let all my movements express a heart that loves to say ‘yes,’ a will that leaps to obey you. Let all my energy blaze to see the joy in your face, let my whole being praise you, praise you.
Graham Kendrick (b. 1950) and Steve Thompson
Prayer
Wind of the Spirit, blow through the dryness of our lives and stir them into new life.
Fire of the Spirit, blaze through your church and set it alight with a passion for God’s mission.
Breath of the Spirit, inspire our leaders with a deep desire for truth and for justice.
Guiding and enabling Spirit, show us the way into God’s future.
Holy Spirit of God, forgive us when we have failed to respond to your prompting. Forgive us when we have failed to bring your comfort to others. Forgive us when we have ignored the guidance you have given us. Forgive us when we have avoided the challenges you present to us.
Forgive us in the name of Jesus and in the love of the Father. Amen
Reading
Acts 2: 1-21
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 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. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 “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. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Hymn – Come down, O love divine www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQu6_Tjk9M
1 Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine, and visit it with thine own ardour glowing; O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear, and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
2 O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn to dust and ashes, in its heat consuming; and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight, and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
3 Let holy charity mine outward vesture be, and lowliness become mine inner clothing; true lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part, and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
4 And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long, shall far outpass the power of human telling; for none can guess its grace, till he become the place wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.
Bianco da Siena (d. 1434) translated by Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890)
Reflection –
A few years ago, when our children were much younger, we went on holiday to France. Having the remnants of “O” level French I was happy to have a go at communicating in the local language. One evening we went out to a restaurant for a meal, and not wanting the children to have to wait for their food, I asked if their food could be brought at the same time as our starters. And indeed they were, along with our main courses, vegetables, deserts and drinks, everything we had ordered, all together. In fact there were so many plates on our table that we had to place some on top of the wall next to us. Clearly what I thought I had said, and what the waiter had heard, were two very different things.
I am slightly in awe of people who are able to speak foreign languages fluently. I think you have to have an ear for it, which clearly, I do not have. Clear communication, however we do it, is an essential part of our lives. The current pandemic has forced many of us to learn to communicate in new ways, especially online. We have had varying degrees of success, and it remains a work in progress!
I think we have to be careful in reading this week’s scripture, and not get too wrapped up in how the apostles “spoke” in all the languages of the gathered crowd. The miracle is not one of multiple translation, but of comprehension. The important thing is that everyone gathered heard the message.
Have the communities around our churches heard our message?
One of the challenges for us at the moment is communicating with ourselves, let alone people outside our churches. Approximately a third of our members are not on email, and I send many of these weekly service sheets through the post to ensure everyone receives them, and as many as possible can share together in our service on Sunday morning. Talk of Zoom, Facebook, downloads, Skype, logins and passwords is a foreign language that many of our folk simply do not understand. Equally, much of the language we use in church is just as unfathomable to many in the community – salvation, communion, sanctification, worship mean nothing to those outside our churches (and may even baffle some within them!).
The message God has for the world is communicated to us through the work of the Holy Spirit, present in the lives of those who have heard and have responded to God’s calling on their lives. Represented throughout the Bible in many different forms, a mighty wind, a flame, a breath, a dove, the Holy Spirit is the reality of God, communicating, touching our lives and being present with us. At Pentecost we famously remember the wind blowing through the house where the apostles were gathered, and tongues of fire appearing on them. This is rather dramatic, and perhaps we don’t feel the presence of God in such ways. But the Spirit is also that “still small voice of calm” which speaks quietly to us and pricks our conscience.
Our challenge and responsibility is how to communicate God’s message of good news, that confirmation of the presence of God, to those among whom we live and work. That is a difficult thing for many people, who often feel that they do not have the right words to express their very personal experiences of God’s awesome presence in their lives, let alone share them with other people. However, “that is the Minister’s job” isn’t the correct answer. Communicating our experience of the constant love of God, and his message of love for everyone is not something you need to be trained for at Theological College. We can all do it.
The challenge is not about knowing the correct theological words to use, but how to speak about our faith in a way that people can understand. Just as some of us are baffled by the language of social media, so the words of many of our hymns and liturgies make no sense to many, and become a barrier rather than a help to greater understanding. But what people do understand is a conversation, the shared experiences of our lives, our struggles to understand the world around us. Most importantly, I think as Christians we need to communicate how God is working in our lives today, and how our faith calls us to respond to the events happening around us now. We all question where is God in the midst of a pandemic that has killed thousands, but we need to clearly communicate the message of love that is shared by a God who is suffering with us, who is not distant and unapproachable, but who is present in the Holy Spirit which lives and breathes within each one of us, sharing our joys and our sorrows. The same God who challenges thousands of people to give their money away because an unknown man aged 99 walks around his garden. The same God who blesses people helping neighbours they may never have spoken to before.
The challenge of Pentecost is how to communicate our faith to the outside world which, in many ways, speaks a different language to us, in ways that can be understood. As in our speaking on holiday, just shouting louder does not help in the understanding. We need to find new ways of speaking, of engaging with others, in language that people can understand, using the technology that is available, to enable our message to be heard.
We can all do this, as the Holy Spirit kindles a fire within each of us. May God bless us, and give us the words to speak, and our listeners, ears to hear, as we seek to respond wherever and whenever we can.
Intercessions & Lords Prayer
Holy Spirit of peace, we pray for places of violence and conflict. Pour out your breath of peace that people might listen to each other, respect each other, honour each other.
Holy Spirit of hope, we pray for those living in despair. For those who can see no purpose in their lives, who have no direction and nobody to follow. Pour out your flame to light their path.
Holy Spirit of unity, we pray for your church and for its mission in the world. May your Pentecost Spirit breathe life into us, that we might bring meaning and love to the lives of others. Make us one in your Spirit, one in you, one in each other.
We pray for our families and friends, and for all those in need at this present time.
We pray for the churches in our Circuit, this week for Bathampton, and their minister, Elizabeth; and Beechen Cliff, and their minister, Jan.
Come Holy Spirit, fill us with peace, love and power.
Amen
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn – O breath of life, come sweeping through us www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QHZB_v0ZaY
1 O breath of life, come sweeping through us, revive your Church with life and power; O breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your Church to meet this hour.
2 O wind of God, come, bend us, break us, till humbly we confess our need; then in your tenderness remake us, revive, restore; for this we plead.
3 O breath of love, come, breathe within us, renewing thought and will and heart; come, love of Christ, afresh to win us, revive your Church in every part.
Elizabeth Ann Head, (Bessie Porter Head) (1850–1936)
Blessing
May the power of the Spirit challenge you. May the peace of the Spirit comfort you. May the presence of the Spirit enable you to live in love and service in the name of Christ.
And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you, now and forever more. Amen
At the church where I grew up we sang Spirit of the Living God at the end of each service. It is particularly appropriate today that we should do the same, and make this our prayer for ourselves and for each other.
Benediction – Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK-O5nfL1Mo
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Daniel Iverson (1890–1977)
CCLI Licence 354889