Pentecost Sunday – St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

Announcements:
Happy Birthday Church! Today we celebrate our beginnings as the Spirit-filled people of God called to declared God’s mighty acts to the world and give witness to our faith in Jesus Christ.

Question: How do you normally celebrate your Birthday?

Call to Worship (John 7, Acts 2)
A new era has dawned:
an era ushered in by God’s Holy Spirit,
an era heralded by rushing wind and flames of fire.
Unfamiliar voices startle our expectations.
God has sent the Holy Spirit to lead us onward.
The Spirit comes and we are transformed.
A new age has begun.
Praise God for new life!
Praise God for the birth of the church,
born of the power of the Holy Spirit!

Prayers of Adoration and Confession
O Lord, our God,
pour out your Holy Spirit once again,
that the world may know
the gifts and blessing of your power.
Take away our confusion
and grant us clarity of vision.
Open our senses
to the mystery and wonder of faith.
Open our minds
to the signs of hope you seek to share with us.
We are indeed your church,
called together to be your faithful, Spirit-filled people in this time and place. Gracious and

Almighty God,
we have often failed to be receptive to the power of your Holy Spirit.
Fearful of true unity, our words have often confused rather than clarified,
hurt rather than healed,
and divided rather than united your people.
In your never failing grace, bestow the wondrous gift of your Spirit among us.

Forgive us when we turn away from oneness and wholeness,
and save us from the terrible toll of apathy and neglect.
May we constantly sing your praises,
honoring Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and always. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
There is no fear, confusion, hurt, or division
that cannot be bridged by God’s Holy Spirit
or that cannot be transformed
in the name of Jesus Christ.
The generous outpouring of the Spirit
moves through the people of God
like an ever-flowing river,
washing away sin, and bringing forth unity.
Thanks be to God for this amazing gift of God to us.

This song was requested by one of you for this Pentecost Sunday

Hymn: “I am the church! You are the church” Words/Music: Richard Avery & Donald Marsh

Prayer for Understanding
Spirit of God, at Pentecost you moved among the gathered disciples to create new understanding. Move among us this day to fill us with a fresh understanding of the Scriptures. Energize us to act on this holy wisdom faithfully, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Amen.

Scripture Readings

Numbers 11:24-30 A snapshot of the Spirit descending on 70 elders on a single occasion.

Acts 2:1-21 The story of the birth of the church on the Day of Pentecost.

1 Corinthians 12:3–13 Gifted by and unified through the Holy Spirit.

John 20:19-23 Jesus sends and empowers the disciples with the Holy Spirit.

Sermon: “Happy Birthday to us!”

Happy Birthday to all of us! Today on this Pentecost Sunday we celebrate our beginnings as the church of Jesus Christ. We celebrate church and its ongoing mission of Blessing, Serving, Loving, and Witnessing to the people of our neighborhoods.

We participate in the same Mission God gave to Abraham that though him all the nations of the world would be blessed. That Mission was expanded through the creation of Israel as a people and nation that would witness to God’s power, glory, and mercy. When Israel abandoned or forgot God’s Mission, called the people of God back to it through the prophets like Isaiah who reminded them that they were to be “a light to the nations.” Further God’s mission was most revealed in the person and work of Jesus as all of the Gospels point out. And with the descent of the Holy Spirit, the God’s mission has been passed on to the church to fulfill.

We remember the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Holy Spirit on all those who gathered together and waited the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to the disciples before his ascension back to the right of hand of God.

Luke at the end of his Gospel, Jesus tells the anxious disciples “You are witnesses of these things (what Jesus said and did). And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Lk 24:48–49).

The church of Jesus Christ had its beginning not in a building, but in the purposes and plans of God to be carried out and fulfilled through the power and presence of God, the Holy Spirit filling and dwelling in all who dared to call on the name of Lord.

Albert Outler, an American Methodist Theologian said of the Holy Spirit…

“The Holy Spirit is the personal presence, the power of God, building and making selves, building and making the church, and building and making human community.”

It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that makes us the church of Jesus Christ, and not that we have buildings called churches. The church of Jesus Christ had its beginnings in the fulfillment of the promise Jesus gave his disciples.

Jesus said that he would fill them with the Holy Spirit. It would be the Holy Spirit, who would enable and empower them to proclaim the Good News that through Jesus Christ, God forgives sins and offers new life in Him. Therefore, our identify as the people of God, must always include the understanding that we are a people called by Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit to proclaim that Good News of Jesus. God gifts and empowers each believer through the Holy Spirit to participate in this Mission God has given to the church. Paul compares the church to a body in 1 Corinthians 12, where all parts of church are needed for the church to fulfill its God given mission in the world. It is unthinkable from Paul’s perspective of anyone not wanting to participate in this great Mission of making Christ known and loving people in God’s name. Paul uses humour to show that opting out of participating in the mission would be like a foot or an ear declaring that don’t want to be a part of the body. The body thrives, grows, and carries out God’s Mission when we are all engaged in it using their gifts.

On the day of Pentecost, as Luke records it was a day of proclaiming the Good News of Christ to the nations. God choose the Jewish festival celebrating the first wheat harvest to pour out his Holy Spirit on the first disciples. Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire, came together, who were dispersed over hundreds of years through many exiles, and famines, that had made Jews leave Palestine.

The Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem were a microcosm of Jews and some gentiles converts (proselytes) to Judaism of the Roman Empire. Luke tells us that the Disciples, which includes more than the just the twelve, being filled with the Holy Spirit began to praise and to proclaim the mighty deeds of God in the various languages of the Jewish pilgrims.

This is the fulfillment of Moses’ desire that “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29). This statement is spoken to Joshua who is offended that God poured out his Holy Spirit on 70 elders of Israel and enabled them to prophesy or speak God’s words instead of Moses alone.

On Pentecost, God blesses or shows his favor to his people by letting everyone, hear the good news of Jesus Christ life, death, resurrection, and ascension in their own language. This is the great opening up and broadening of who is blessed and enabled to participate in God’s Mission. The few that once were included is replaced with the great many who are in involved as a result of Spirit’s work in each Christian’s life.

It is a great honor and privilege that God gives to us to participate in His Mission as revealed throughout the Scriptures as made up of . . .

A Great Goal: To bring Honor and Praise to God in all we do,

A Great Commission: To introduce others to Christ (make disciples), baptize (include people in the church family), and teach and mature people in the faith.

A Great Commandment: To love God and love others on God’s behalf.

This is my understanding of God’s Mission that guides and directs what I do in my role as Teaching Elder or Minister or Word and Sacrament. I pray that it guides and directs your role or participation in the Mission of the Church as well.

The Holy Spirit is in the business of enabling us to know, to speak, and to act what we need to say and do on God’s behalf at any given moment to the person God puts in front of us.

The early church as it is recorded in the other chapters of the Book of Acts was a church on the move. It was a missionary church adapting itself to the times and conditions they faced it with the spiritual gifts and individual God provided. It was a church that never stopped proclaiming the Good News of Christ in word and action.

It was a church where people knew what their God given mission was and took joy at the privilege of participating in it. And this you have to realize took place at time when the church was being persecuted for their faith. At the same time, they took advantage of every opportunity to reach out. Think about how many people came to know Christ by being imprisoned, or under house arrest with the disciples and Paul.

I knew an elderly gentleman in one of my former congregations. This gentleman reached out to others frequently even when he became housebound due to illness.

When he was able to be at church, his ministry was to the children as well as the adults. He knew every child by name, interest, and by what candy was their favorite. A visit with him resulted in the gift of a candy. My daughter remembers that in order to receive the candy, you needed to tell him how you were and what you had done that week. I always got my pre-worship candy mint from him after I had first shared with him how I was and what I had done that week. ? The children first talked to the gentleman for the gift of the candy, but later those conversations blossomed into friendship and mutual caring. The children and the adults of the church came to know and experience God’s love for them in each encounter.

Later in his life, this gentleman would not leave his house and was not able to come to worship on Sundays the way he carried out his ministry changed and adapted to his new situation. Despite the challenges of being housebound, like we all have been lately, he continued to participate in the church’s ministry and mission by phoning people in the congregation and the people he knew. Doesn’t this also sound familiar to us these days. He had no candies to give you unless you visited him in his home, which was always a “treat,” but what he offered you by phone was same kind of interest in you and encouragement that he had always given when you talked to him in person. You never walked away from a conversation without feeling loved and appreciated by him. I don’t think he ever knew what a huge and positive impact on others he made through his faithful participation in Christ’s mission.

Today on this Pentecost Sunday we give thanks for our beginnings as a local and a global faith community. We give thanks for the Mission that God has given us the honor, privilege, and gifts to participate in this ministry with other Christians. And as we give thanks together, I trust that you will reflect upon how you are participating in the God’s Mission of God. How are we using our daily encounters in person or over the phone or through various kinds of social media to witness and love people in Christ’s name? I trust my friend’ s example of participating in God’s Mission encourages you as it continues to do for me.

Happy Birthday to us! Don’t forget to light a birthday candle, sing happy birthday to us, and blow out the candle offering your prayers for the church on this Pentecost Sunday.

Now to the One, who by the power at work within us
is able to accomplish abundantly
far more than all we can ask or imagine,
to God be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus,
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, 21)

Hymn: “Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness” Words/Music: James K. Manley. Translation: Andrew Donaldson

Prayers of the People

Wind of the Spirit, blow through us on this day of Pentecost and renew our faith.
Re-awaken our love for God, let your flames warm our hearts with trust in Jesus Christ and dare us to do great things in his name. Spirit of Power and Promise, blow through us and renew our faith.

Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and give us energy to serve you in Christ’s church.
Open our eyes to recognize needs for ministry and mission, and to learn from this time when we have had to do things differently in worship and pastoral care.
Open our hearts to connect with those for whom the time of social distancing has been very difficult. Open our hands to share in the tasks that need doing and open our lips in prayer and praise. Spirit of Power and Promise, blow through us and renew our faith.

Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and give us understanding:
For those whose lives seem so different from ours
and those facing situations because of the pandemic that we didn’t encounter;
Understanding for those with whom we’ve disagreed;
and for problems and challenges we will now face at home, at work, and in your world as we try to recover from the effects of corona virus.
Spirit of Power and Promise, blow through us and renew our faith.

Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and bring healing
for all who face pain or illness, discouragement or disappointment,
made so much keener because of isolation;
healing for all who know sorrow, sadness or grief,
and for those who face stress and pressure as they try to rebuild their lives.
Bring healing to the earth, to places of upheaval and to ecosystems at risk.
Spirit of Power and Promise, blow through us and renew our faith.
Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and bring us the compassion we see in Christ Jesus.
Blow through us and refresh us as your faithful followers,
equipped to serve the world you love in his name,
as together we say the words he taught us.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be 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 from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Offering of our Time, Talent, Treasure to God

This Sunday brings the season of Easter to a close. Yet we will continue to receive the blessings God pours out for us in Christ and in creation, for God is so good to us. We offer to God our thanks for such goodness in our tithes and offering. We thank all who contributed financially to the ongoing mission of St. Paul’s during this time.

Donations for St. Paul’s can be sent by mail to St. Paul’s, Box 1264, Banff, AB T1L 1B3.

Hymn: “We are one in the Spirit” Words and Music: Peter Scholtes

Pastoral Charge and Blessing (John 20:21, Romans 15:13)

Jesus declares to us
“Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
We go into this new week as
Spirit filled, Spirit gifted, and Spirit empowered participants
in Christ’s mission.

And may the God of all hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We bless each other using the words of the Spirit Song,

Prayer Partnership

Sunday, May 31 (Day of Pentecost) We thank God for the hope brought to people receiving education, skills training, and small business opportunities through Presbyterian World Service & Development’s livelihoods programs.

Monday, June 1 Let us pray for an abundance of grace and kindness at this difficult time for communities and people.

Tuesday, June 2 We thank God for worship and music leaders who give their time and gifts to support the worship of God.

Wednesday, June 3 We pray for graduating students of our theological colleges, asking for guidance as they seek to serve in the ministries to which God has called them.

Thursday, June 4 We thank God for the faithfulness of congregations as they continue to support Presbyterians Sharing with their financial gifts and their prayers.

Friday, June 5 We pray for Ecumenical Shared Ministries in which a variety of denominations share buildings, worship and serve together in Christian unity.

Saturday, June 6 We pray for the Rev. Jonathan Baird and the ministry at Living Waters. May this new ministry touch the lives of many in the Peterborough, Ont., region.

Service Type: Pentecost Sunday

Wind, Fire, and Mission

Happy Birthday to us! (click here)