Partners in the Flame

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so, if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Holy God who is breath; without your power we are lost and in need of your renewing vision. By your purifying fire transform our lives; guide us into honesty and compassion so that filled with your peace, our dreams and vision may be one with yours; in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

With Joy for the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us pray for the well-being of the world and all in need.

We thank you for the wonder that erupted on the day of Pentecost, for the birth of the church, for the gifts of amazement and challenge, and for all the witnesses whose lives have been altered by your power alive in our world.

For the many creatures of the earth including humans whose visions differ, whose languages offer special insights, whose ways of service and compassion feed our own, we thank you.

For the earth itself, through whose majesty we see your love and in whose waters we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit, we thank you.

Make us grateful for the confounding experiences the Holy Spirit’s presence creates in our lives, for the marvel of new visions, for the wisdom in prophetic words, and for the prayers of your great high priest.

Make us hungry to protect the health and nurturance of all people; let your fire burn in the leaders of the nations, in governors and mayors, on city councils and school boards; guard the lives of peacemakers, soldiers, philosophers, and artists. Pool the skills and passion of all your people for the sake of our delight and the nourishment of others.

Give comfort to all people who are refugees from war and famine, those who are lonely and frightened, ill, imprisoned, without home or without resources, and those who face death today.

We pray especially for those we name now silently. Amen.

Holy Wisdom, you are the pillar of fire that leads us into each new moment of our lives. By the power of your Holy Spirit, settle now into our hearts and illumine your will. Amen. Amen.

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b ²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. ²⁵ There is the sea, great and wide; creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. ²⁶ There go the ships and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. ²⁷ These all look to you to give them their food in due season; ²⁸ when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. ²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. ³⁰ When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. ³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— ³² who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. ³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. ³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. ^35b Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord! Acts of the Apostles 2:1-21 The Coming of the Holy Spirit ¹ When 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. 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 people 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? 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.” Peter Addresses the Crowd ¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews^[a] 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.’

What gift of yours, of your family, and of your community has the Holy Spirit especially nurtured in recent times? How might that gift be expressed and used in a new way in the coming season?

Because God first loved us, we are made to love one another. For the sake of creation, offer yourselves, your time, and your possessions as signs of love. Amen.

Make us thankful every day, O God, for the gifts that alight upon us from your bounty. Guide us to use these offerings to your glory for the health of your people and creation. Amen.

Now may the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, guide you in the ways of God and fill you with the peace that only Christ can give. Amen.