Sunday, 31st May is ‘Pentecost’ in the Church’s calendar.We have relived the cycle of Jesus’ life in our Church calendar’s Bible readings during the last 5 months - his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. However, we are detached admirers of this amazing story without the gift of the Holy Spirit.Pentecost is the mightiest festival of them all because on this day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit sent by Jesus, the memory of Jesus’ example and sacrificial love.At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit entered the hearts of the disciples and surrounded them. The Holy Spirit can enter our hearts and surround us with love too. The Spirit can enliven us and powerfully activate and encourage our individual gifts in a way that gives us new life and helps us to transform our own lives and the lives of others with whom we live in community. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit, individually and collectively, into the people God wants us to be. That is, a people filled with sacrificial love for each other.Such sacrificial love has been very evident in our hospitals, care homes and throughout our communities during Lockdown. Ultimately, sacrificial love should be the foundation stone upon which our new post-lockdown society is built. Whether this happens, or doesn’t happen, is up to us...On the day of Pentecost one amazing way the Holy Spirit began to transform lives was through the power of effective communication. We read in our scriptures that at Pentecost people everywhere heard the ‘Good News’ of Jesus’ love in their own language. Jesus’ love was effectively communicated to all.Communication has been a great talking point during Lockdown. This last week we have all seen how mixed messaging and confused communication can drastically affect a nation’s understanding of what we can or cannot do in this time of crisis. Today, US cities burn because the message of racial equality has yet to be truly heard and understood by all.Pentecost celebrates the possibilities that transformation and effective communication can have on us all. It is the potential not yet realised, the life not yet embraced, the spiritual high not yet climbed, the God who is nearer than breathing, indeed in our breathing, whose Spirit is the source of love and power to change the world.Embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost and get ready to communicate how our world needs to be transformed for the better to all those who mistakenly think they have all the answers.Every blessing,Christian
The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us.Hymn: Come Holy Ghost our Souls Inspire...Acts 2:1-21The Spirit of the Lord fills the world and knows our every word and deed.Let us then open ourselves to the Lord and confess our sins in penitence and faith:Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, ignite in us your holy fire; strengthen your children with the gift of faith, revive your Church with the breath of love, and renew the face of the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Alleluia, Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in us the fire of your love. Alleluia.John 7: 37-39Hymn: The King of Love my Shepherd is...Please see the message from the vicar.Let us pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.Generous God, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness where there is division, sickness and sorrow. Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit, given us by the risen Lord.We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed, in the joy of eternal life.Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.Generous God, you sent your Holy Spirit upon your Messiah at the river Jordan, and upon the disciples in the upper room: in your mercy fill us with your Spirit, hear our prayer, and make us one in heart and mind to serve you with joy for ever. Amen.We pray together the prayer that Jesus 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: Come down, O Love Divine...May the Spirit, who set the Church on fire upon the day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ; and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and and be with us always. Amen.Filled with the Spirit’s power, let us live and serve in the light and love of Christ.Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Gospel reading is taken from John (Chapter 17 verses 1-17). Following our celebration of Jesus’ ascension to heaven last Thursday (Ascension Day), today in our scripture reading we are taken back to a significant prayer offered by Jesus to his Father. In our reading, we find ourselves included in an intimate conversation between Jesus and his Father.For the Gospel writer, this prayer is Jesus’ final word, although we find it before Jesus’ death. In many ways, it seems that in this prayer Jesus has already begun his journey back to his Father.Jesus glorified God by making God known and challenging the world. Jesus was confident the disciples would continue this mission when he had left them. In doing so, Jesus could say to the Father that the disciples were keeping his word. Jesus asks God to protect them.It’s a prayer that the followers of Jesus should be included in the unity that exists between Jesus and God. Just as the Father gives life to the Son, so Christians are one with one another and with the Father and the Son because they have received this life. Jesus is not merely telling his disciples about life in union with him and how to attain it. He is actually imparting it to them. Through this prayer, the disciples and all Christians are being incorporated with Christ into the life of God. All of this is based on Jesus’ relationship with his Father. That should be the model of our own relationship with God. We learn that as we embark upon such a relationship we are drawn into the sphere of eternal life which begins not after death, but in the here and now.The prayer of Jesus is one we must hear over and over again to fully understand the commission he gives to us and the fact he is continually praying for our protection and strengthening.During lockdown we have been given direct instructions on how to act and what to do to avoid the possible spread of the Coronavirus. Despite the fact some Senior Government Advisors seem to believe they are exempt from these instructions, the vast majority of people have heard and understood them, and done a superb job in protecting one another whilst strengthening the health of our nation. Through our solidarity and commitment to one another we have become incorporated into a unique shared experience. We can be proud of what we have achieved and I call upon you all to continue to think about your neighbours health as much as your own as we move forward together in these difficult times.As we give thanks for Jesus’ prayer, his imparted teaching and his faith in us, let us through our faith in him and in one another continue to do the right thing. Protect your loved ones and neighbours and in turn our common and eternal life.Every blessing,Christian
We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. We come boldly to the throne of grace.Acts 1: 6-14Let us pray:Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day:Risen, ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph, fill your Church on earth with power and compassion, that all who are estranged by sin may find forgiveness and know your peace, to the glory of God the Father.Amen.John 17: 1-11Jesus said “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” We cannot be together physically at this time, but we are one, united in the love of Christ.Let us pray:We say prayers for the Church, for the world, for our community, families and friends, and for all who are sick, suffering or bereaved.We remember in our prayers those who have died recently, and all who mourn: Richard Bevis, Marjorie Hadley, Dorothy Wright, Peter Sinclair, Sheila Picken, Brenda Dalgleish, Maureen Boast, and Joyce Scarff. May they rest in peace.We pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us.Hymn: Jesus shall reign, where’er the sun does his successive journeys run...May the Spirit, who set the Church on fire upon the day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ; and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and and be with us always. Amen.Waiting expectantly for the promised Holy Spirit, let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
