PENTECOST
Sunday, 08/06/2025

OPENING SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE –

Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104)

HYMN-

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

SILENCE

God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA sung by Dougie Byers

COLLECT

O God,
who on the day of Pentecost
enlightened the hearts of your people
by the fire of the Holy Spirit:
give us wisdom and understanding,
and lead us into all truth,
that your church may be kept in the unity of the Spirit
and the bond of peace;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the same Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING Acts 2.1–21, read by Simon Lidwell

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All 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. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in their native language. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’

13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ 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. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, 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.”’

SILENCE

SECOND READING Romans 8.14–17, read by Annabelle Guthrie

14 All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL John 14.8–17, 25–27, read by Rev Chris Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John, Chapter 14, beginning at verse 8

Glory to Christ our Saviour

8 Philip said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. 15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.

17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 25 I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But 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. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

The great day has arrived – the Day of Pentecost; the day that Jesus has told His disciples to await; the day that, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, will equip and enable them to reach out in to their world with the message of hope for all that is the good news of God’s gracious, wondrous transforming love, made real in His gift of Jesus, living, dying, rising and ascended to glory – now with His disciples, and with us, in the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

We have read the account in the Acts of Apostles of this day. And, however you choose to interpret that account, at its heart is, firstly, the ability now for a wondrously diverse body of people, from a wide variety of places, of different languages and cultures, both to hear and to understand the message that is offered to them; then, secondly, the transformation that we see in Peter, along with the disciples. Peter, we are told (Acts 2 v 14) “…standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them …. listen to what I say…” Compare this boldness, this audacity, this willingness to stand before the crowd in Jerusalem that day and declare, as he does, the truth of the resurrection of Jesus of which he and the disciples are witnesses, with the man who, just a few short weeks earlier, three times denied even knowing Jesus and who hid away behind locked doors with the rest for fear of the Jews. Empowered by the Spirit, they witness to the truth.

In that Acts account of a diverse group of people coming together, hearing and understanding, we are given a picture of our humanity as it can be – as it should be, as it is created by God to be and become. There are, of course, as there always will be, the voices of those who mock and scorn. And today, in our world and in our societies – so often polarised and divided – it might seem as though it is those mocking, scornful voices that dominate and draw us away from that picture of a world of true humanity in which we can respect and value diversity and difference, where each is truly valued for who they are, as they are; a world in which all can have a voice, be heard and understood. In short, it is easy to lose sight of God and the journey towards His Kingdom of love, justice, truth, peace and hope that we are all on.

From this Day of Pentecost those first Apostles, and all who have since followed on from them, reach out into their world with the truth that this is God’s world; that His love lies at the heart of all that is; that in His love for all people for all time – for you and for me – He is come to us in Jesus, who has lived, who has died, who has been raised and who is with us now in the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live now in hope and to offer that hope to our world. So we journey on into His future for us strengthened in the knowledge and experience of His loving, living presence with us every moment of every day. May God bless us in our journey with Him.

Amen.

THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS

We give you praise for all the things we have to thank you for. In each circumstance that I find myself, I will praise my God, says the Psalmist We thank you, particularly, for this day of Pentecost, a reminder of the sending of your Spirit: like Broadband, ‘always on’ but, unlike Broadband, available to all of us, everywhere, and reliable and with infinite capacity.