Service for the Lord's Day- Pentecost Sunday

Praise with music
Enjoy this opening music, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” by the Cosmo Warriors. 
(If this sounds a little out of control to you, maybe Pentecost is supposed to be that way!)


Welcome


Call to Worship                            
Bless the Lord, our God!
    Who sends us the Spirit:
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
    Bless the Lord, our God!


Prayer
O Lord,
You send your Spirit to disciples of all times and places. May our ears be tuned to discern your voice and act on the gifts you have given us, for the sake of Jesus Christ, amen.



First Reading                                                                               Acts 2: 1-4    
2When 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.


                                    .
Second Reading                                                       1 Corinthians 12: 1-13                                           
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.


Message


Music and Offering
During this time, or after our prayers, you may make an offering to John Knox by going to our homepage and scrolling to the bottom where you will see a link to online giving.  When you give this way, consider giving a little extra to defray the cost of this service.  If you prefer, you may mail you offerings to the church directly.  Even though we are far apart, the church's expenses remain the same.  We give out of pure gratitude for what God has done.
Consider the great love and power of God as you listen to “Spirit of the Living God,” played by Olive Huisman on piano. 
                                  Spirit of the living God,
                                  fall afresh on me. (x2)
                          Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
                                 Spirit of the living God,
                                    fall afresh on me.

Prayers of the People*
Ever living and ever loving God,
We praise you for your loving presence with us.

Come, Holy Spirit,
take and transform our societies--
that broken people find healing;
that lonely people find love;
that bitter people find peace;
that fearful people find hope.

Come, Holy Spirit,
take our world’s leaders and governments and bring renewal--
that communication can be open;
that relationships between hostile people and hostile nations will evaporate;
that a hunger for justice addresses the hunger for food felt by so many.

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill your church--
that our worship will be ever more pleasing to you;
that prayers will change our minds
    instead of trying to get you to change yours;
that our lives will make a real difference to real people in the real world.

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill our lives with your presence--
so that more and more every day,
all that we do and say and hope
will be an act of worship to you and an expression of love to others,
to the glory of your name.  Amen.


The Lord’s Prayer
And now with confidence as the children of God, let us pray as Jesus taught his disciples:  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 debts as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever.  Amen.


Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and bring you peace.  Amen.


Today’s prayers are from
—Clergy Stuff Worship Resources, Bloomington, Minnesota, 2016-2019.
—Baptist Union of Great Britain website; www.baptist.org.uk/