May 31, 2020 - Pentacost Sunday

-   -    Pentecost Sunday   - 

This version of the Morning Prayer is adapted from the Episcopal Book of Prayer and the Ionia Prayerbook.

This is the same text, absent the lectionary reading, I use when I lead Morning Services at a Convention. 

There are references to "reader," "leader," and " people" within the text    this is for when the services are done "in person."   You are invited to read aloud those portions if you wish

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(OPENING RESPONSES)

leader: The world belongs to God

all:      The earth and all its people

leader: How good it is, how wonderful,

all:      To live together in unity

leader: Love and faith come together,

all:      Justice and peace join hands

leader: If Christ's disciples keep silent

all:      These stones would shout aloud

leader: Open our lips, O God,

all:      And our mouths shall proclaim your praise

Leader: Holy God, Maker of all

all:      Have mercy on us

Leader: Jesus Christ, Servant of the poor

all:      Have mercy on us

leader: Holy Spirit, Breath of life

all:      Have Mercy on us

leader: Let us in silence confess our faults and admit our frailty

(A BRIEF PERIOD OF SILENCE IS KEPT)

Leader: Before God, with the people of God,

          I confess to my brokenness:

          to the ways I wound my life,

          the lives of others,

          and the life of the world.

ALL:   May God forgive you, Christ renew you,

          and the Spirit enable you to grow in love

Leader: Amen.

All:     Before God, with the people of God,

          we confess to our brokenness:

          to the ways we wound our lives,

          the lives of others,

          and the life of the world

Leader: May God forgive us, Christ Renew us,

          and the Spirit enable us to grow in love.

All:     Amen

(PRAYER FOR GOD'S HELP)

Leader: Move among us, O God; give us life:

All:     Let your people rejoice in you

Leader: Make our hearts clean within us:

All:     Renew us in mind and spirit.

Leader: Give us again the joy of your help:

All:     With your spirit of freedom sustain us.

Leader: And now, as Jesus taught us, we say:

ALL:   Our Father in heaven,

          Hallowed by 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,

          Save us in the time of trial

          And deliver us from evil,

          For the kingdom, the power

          And the glory are yours,

          Now and for ever. Amen.

(AFFIRMATION)

Leader: With the whole church

All:     We affirm

          That we are made in God's image,

          befriended by Christ, empowered by the Spirit.

Leader: With people everywhere

All:     We affirm

          God's goodness at the heart of humanity,

          Planted more deeply than all that is wrong.

Leader: With all creation

All:     We celebrate

          The miracle and wonder of life;

          The unfolding purposes of God,

          Forever at work in ourselves and the world.

Prayer for Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As once you ransomed your people from Egypt
and led them to freedom in the promised land,
so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.
May we, the first fruits of your new creation,
rejoice in this new day you have made,
and praise you for your mighty acts.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

All:  Blessed be God for ever.

Christ has been raised from the dead: •
the first fruits of those who sleep.
For as by man came death: •
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead;
for as in Adam all die: •
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

(PSALM: said responsively - by one of the worshipers)

118 Confitemini Domino

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now proclaim, *
"His mercy endures for ever."
3 Let the house of Aaron now proclaim, *
"His mercy endures for ever."
4 Let those who fear the Lord now proclaim, *
"His mercy endures for ever."
5 I called to the Lord in my distress; *
the Lord answered by setting me free.
6 The Lord is at my side, therefore I will not fear; *
what can anyone do to me?
7 The Lord is at my side to help me; *
I will triumph over those who hate me.
8 It is better to rely on the Lord *
than to put any trust in flesh.

9 It is better to rely on the Lord *
than to put any trust in rulers.
10 All the ungodly encompass me; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
11 They hem me in, they hem me in on every side; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
12 They swarm about me like bees;
they blaze like a fire of thorns; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
13 I was pressed so hard that I almost fell, *
but the Lord came to my help.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:

16 "The right hand of the Lord has triumphed! *
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!"
17 I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20 "This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter."
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord's doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *
Lord, send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.

28 "You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you."
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.

(Old Testament: Read by one of the worshipers)

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Festival of Weeks Reviewed

⁹ “You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. ¹⁰ Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you; ¹¹ and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place which the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. ¹² You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Epistle 

---

Acts 4:18-21, 23-33
¹⁸ So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; ²⁰ for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for all men praised God for what had happened. ²³ When they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵ who by the mouth of our father David, thy servant,^[a] didst say by the Holy Spirit,
‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples imagine vain things?
²⁶ The kings of the earth set themselves in array,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant^[c] Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever thy hand and thy plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants^[d] to speak thy word with all boldness, ³⁰ while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant^[e] Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
³² Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

(READING FOR THE DAY)

Leader: This morning's reading comes from the Gospel of John

          Listen now for the Word of God.

John 4:19-26

¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” ²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

(a period of silence is kept)

Leader: For the Word of God in Scripture,

          for the Word of God among us,

          for the Word of God within us

ALL:   Thanks be to God.

(Homily by leader)

(PRAYERS OF GRATITUDE AND CONCERN)

Leader. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;

All:     Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Leader: Create in us clean hearts, O God;

All:     And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

Leader: For each of our prayers, please add, aloud or silently,

           your own concerns

Leader: Give guidance and care for the needs of the world at large,

          and for the life of Your church

          God, in your mercy,

All:     Hear our prayer

Leader: For the concerns of our cities, towns and nations,

          give guidance to our leaders and care for their people

          God, in Your mercy,

All:     Hear our prayer

Leader: For the concerns and comfort of those of us here, our families,

          for those absent or those who are ill,

          and in remembrance of those who are gone,

          God in your mercy,

All:     Hear our prayer.

Leader: Remember all those the world has forgotten,

          Those without family, or those on the streets,

          Those who are damaged by drugs, alcohol or their own minds.

          Remember the unemployed, the widow, the orphan,

          and the prisoner.

          God in your mercy,

All:     Hear our prayer.

Leader: Living God, may we not fail you,

All:     Nor we fail them

Leader: O God, set Your blessing on us

          as we begin this day together.

          Confirm us in the truth by which we rightly live;

          confront us with the truth from which we wrongly turn.

          We ask not for what we want,

          but for what You know we need,

          as we offer this day and ourselves for You and to You,

          Through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

ALL:   Amen

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

(CLOSING)

Leader: This is the day that God has made;

All:     We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader: We will not offer to God

All:     Offerings that cost us nothing.

Leader: Go in peace to love and to serve;

All:     We will seek peace and pursue it.

Leader: In the name of the Trinity of Love,

All:     God in community, holy and One.

          Amen