pentecost

Call to Worship
All Creation is laboring
God is even now creating
The first fruits of the Spirit are Here
We are freed into Jesus Christ
Come let us rejoice with creation
Come let us worship God

Call to Confession: Let all who long to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit confess themselves to God

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I do not always see all of creation laboring for Good. I confess that it is hard to find God. And it is easy to think that God does not want me. That I am orphaned instead of adopted by God. Forgive me. Teach me that God longs for an ecosystem of love and understanding. Continue to send your Holy Spirit to intercede and encourage I pray. (Silent Confession)

Assurance of Pardon: The Holy Spirit is with us, loving us and reconciling us, know the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication: Let us go into the world remembering that God is creating and birthing the world towards good, and participate in that as much as we can. Amen.

Messy Hope, a Prayer

God

I wonder if everything

In heaven will be well loved

Like a comfortable sweater

And a couch that hugs your butt just the wife way.

Holy Spirit you know how I am longing for comfort.

For the things of childhood that were so soothing:

Playing in the grass, coloring so hard you could smell the crayons, saying hi ready to make friends with the world.

Sometimes when people long for the good old days. I think they are wishing for their inner child

—even if they don’t remember who that was.

Ans yet Jesus, you know

And say that a child shall lead us.

God you know that nothing is gently used in my house—my kids are busting with energy and ready to fully embrace everything life has to offer.

Couches are to jump on.

Juice boxes spilling out with sweet goodness.

Mud and dirt brimming with life.

God, in this time of turmoil, help me to taste heaven.

Because surely this chaos is what Pentecost was like!

Come Holy Spirit! Fill us with some messy hope today we pray.

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stent

Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

Philippians 4:4-7

John 14:16-17

Call to Worship

Do not worry about anything the Lord is near.

Come, Let us approach God with prayer and supplication.

Rejoice in the Lord, again, I say rejoice

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

Prayer of Confession: Jesus, we confess that we are full of anxiety and worry about the lack of peace in the world. You promise peace that is beyond understanding, and we confess that yes! we do not yet understand your peace. How can we grasp some of it. Help us to not just pray for peace but to walk the way of it, and speak the words of it. We want to know God. Send your Holy Spirit to guide us we pray. (Silent Confession). Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: God will guard your hearts and minds, go forth knowing the truth. In Jesus Christ you are forgiven

Hymns: Spirit, Breathe On Me Breath of God, Be Thou My Vision, Spirit Of the Living God, Open My Eyes That I May See

Prayer of Dedication: Let us go into the world full of the Holy Spirit, encouraged and full of the gentleness that God ordains for us. Amen.

With Children: Discuss the word “Advocate”

Easter through Pentecost Narrative Lectionary

Teaching the Good News and Praying the Gospel

May 1st

May 8th

Consider John 3:16-17

May 15th

Paul’s Sermon at Athens

Acts 17:16-31

John 1:16-18

May 22

Partnership in the Gospel

May 29

June 5th

Pentecost: Rejoice in the Lord

Acts 2:1-21

Philippians 4:4-7

John 14:16-17

Pentecost Prayers

Call to Worship
Spirit of the living God, visit us on this day of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit.
With rushing wind that sweeps away all barriers,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With love that overlaps the boundaries of race and nation,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With power from above to make our weakness strong,
Come, Holy Spirit.

Call to Worship
What are your dreams people of God?
To be filled with laughter, To cry with joy, not sorrow.
What are your hopes, people of God?
To be free of the chains that bind us
Rejoice, God makes our hopes and dreams come true.
Let us rejoice in God!

Based on: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/11/contemporary-call-to-worship-psalm-126.html

Prayer of Confession: Almighty God, you poured your Spirit upon gathered disciples creating tongues, open ears, and a new community of faith. We confess that we hold back the force of your Spirit among us. We do not listen to your word of grace, speak the good news of your love, or live as a people made one in Christ. Have mercy on us, O God. Transform our timid lives by the power of your Spirit, and fill us with a flaming desire to be your faithful people, doing your will for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. (Silent Confession) Amen

From the Book of Common Worship (1993), of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Prayer of Confession: God we confess we have been too tired to prophesy or have visions or dream dreams. Instead we are in survival mode. Please breathe on us some of you energy and inspiration as we go into the world. Help us to see the future through your Holy Spirit we pray

Assurance of Pardon: Friends the Good News of the Gospel: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication: God, we pray that we might rededicate our lives to you. Send your Holy Spirit among us to inspire and sustain us. Holy Spirit Come, we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication: God send your Holy Spirit upon us to love us and sustain us. Refresh us in the Holy Spirit we pray in Your Son’s most Holy Name Jesus Christ. Amen.

Holy Week/Easter Prayers

Ashes: A Holy Week Prayer

Holy Week: Praying Our Way Through (Also good for Palm Sunday)

Palm Sunday: Waiting for the Stones

Maundy Thursday: Washing the Dust, Existential Crises: Love One Another?, Broken for You

At the Table: Not I, Lord

In the Garden of Gethsemane: A Socially Distanced Prayer

Good Friday: Friday is not “Good,” Essential Workers at the Cross, Denial and Grace in Crises,

Holy Saturday: Pausing for Grief (Slides Version here) , Living in the In Between, Holy Saturday: A Confession (I didn’t really want more time to do nothing)

Easter: Masks a Prayer, Can You Hear Easter (the Good News), Say Nothing Easter, My God is the God of Emptiness (Empty Tombs)

Masks (are Holy): Ending with Easter

Pentecost: Stuck in a Room

Narrative Lectionary: Luke Lent Cycle Prayers and Resources

Please feel free to use/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Pandemic Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Lord God Almighty, I am on my knees, with my arms outstretched to you, because I am in need of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit

I need encouragement as a parent of a child who has been faking their online schooling for the last two weeks.

Patience as I wait for more information, so that my job can make the next decision about how we are running things this week.

Courage as I realize that every single person has their own idea about what is and isn’t safe and we have to navigate relationships together.

Inspiration as I try to figure out how to connect with the people in my lives in new and not discouraging/draining ways.

Hope as death after death, sick after sick case comes in and the solution seems no closer than it was two months ago.

Breath as I am working too many hours of too many days and don’t know when it’s all going to end.

Love as all of my imperfections have been laid bare in this time where self-examination is unavoidable and all the things I’m carrying have been stuck in quarantine with me.

Lord remind me that I am more than my job or my role in my family or my material worth.

Lord, remind me that I am God-breathed, gifted by the Holy Spirit, and sibling of Jesus Christ.

In this time of crises–when every way I function is under a microscope and every emotion I am having is magnified–allow me to full discern and differentiate myself as a child of God.

And even if these aren’t exactly the things I need, and I am too mired to know what it is I really need.

Please grant me the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I pray.

And if I can’t pray to the Holy Spirit, help me to breathe:

out

and in

and out again

until the Holy Spirit prays me, instead.

In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

Meme found here by KC Green

More Mundane Prayers Here, Here is the Link for Pandemic Prayers and Resources

Please Share/Adapt with Credit to Katy Stenta and Please contribute to my Doctorate of Ministry with a Donation I have PayPal https://paypal.me/KatyStenta?locale.x=en_US Venmo www.venmo.com/Katy-Stenta or Google Pay to Katyandtheword at gmail

Stuck in a Room: Contemplating Pentecost

Lord,

I am imagining the disciples, stuck in a room together.

Staying safe.

Lonely.

Yet sick of each other at the same time.

Stuck.

So stuck, they had nothing to do. And didn’t know what to say.

Can you imagine, followers of Jesus not knowing what to say?

But Jesus was gone, peacing out to heaven, to work from home, Jesus ascended back to his Father.

Telecommuting was just not the same.

So here were the disciples, stuck.

And, somehow, they were given gifts–arriving like packages in the mail.

The disciples unwrapped:

the words they couldn’t find,

the wisdom to take the time they needed

the knowledge to think on their feet

the healing to pass on to others

the miracles to see God at work in the toughest times

the prophecies to tell the truth to power

the discernment to see how spirits work

the interpretation necessary to understand tongues,

and the learning needed to speak in tongues.

All of these gifts were given, according to the disciples’ abilities, one body, one spirit, one baptism;

many gifts.

As we are stuck, remind us that we too are disciples, we too are gifted according to our abilities.

Empower us to be the body of Christ we pray.

Remind us of our gifts….

Point us to the need…..

And invite us into ministry and discipleship as you do every Pentecost we pray.

Amen.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit Plea/Prayer

Meditation on the Body of Christ

Pentecost Resources

All Resources can be used with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Pentecost, Gifts of the Spirit Seeds of Faith narrative Lectionary

Gifts of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-4; 1 Cor 12:1-13

(Mark 1:4-8)

Body of Christ

Stuck in a Room: Contemplating Pentecost

Gifts of the Holy Spirit Plea/Prayer

Bulletin and other Resources by Rev Dr Barb Hedges-Goettl

Another Resource for NL http://sacredise.com/lectionary-resources/pentecost-a/

Call to Worship

Lord we come here to celebrate our baptism

One Body, One Spirit, One Baptism, One Body of God

Bathe us once again, in the Holy Spirit

Come let us gather and greet the Lord

Call to Worship

Lord remind us that we are one in the Spirit

Help us to recognize your gifts, we pray

Let us use our gifts today and everyday

Let us use them to glorify the Lord

Confession: Lord, God we are feeling trapped and uninspired. We are weary. What do we say in times like this? How can we help those in need? How do we heal from this mass trauma? We feel alone. Breathe on us once again–give us live and inspiration and strength. Encourage us. Ennerve us. Energize us. Advocate for us, we pray.

Assurance of Pardon: God’s grace breathes upon us like a soothing breeze in the scorching heat. Know that God always loves us. Live into the refreshing forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Communion: Lord, before we even existed, your Spirit danced upon the water, blowing it’s presence across the earth. Then you formed us out of clay and breathed us into being. Then your Holy Spirit accompanied Christ: sometimes encouraging him, sometimes becoming the driving force behind him. Then when Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to the disciples, as an advocate. So we ask for you to breathe once again here, upon these common elements. Transform them through the power of the Holy Spirit to carry the body and blood of Christ. Commune us together Holy Spirit: with all those who have celebrated communion, all those who are celebrating and all those who will celebrate communion. Create with us the invisible, present and virtual Church made real in Christ. We pray this is the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/the Day: Lord, bless us so that we can be a blessing we pray. Remind us of our gifts. And when our gifts feel like a burden or a curse, remind us to rest and eat and to breathe, so that we might once again do our work in joy, we pray.

All resources can be used with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

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Eastertide Preaching Narrative Lectionary

Virtual Communion Resources

Pandemic Resources

Narrative Lectionary: Prayers, Liturgy, Collects

Acts 2:1-21

Phil: 4:4-7

Call to Worship
The Lord is near
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice
And here we are, all gathered in the name of Jesus, to hear the Word of Jesus Christ
Let us speak to God, each in our own way and tongue, so that God might hear our praise.

Prayer of Confession: (unison) Holy Spirit, we confess that new things share us. We confess that although we want to be welcoming, sometimes w have trouble putting it into practice. We confess that sometimes we feel awkward. Forgive us for the times we forget to listen closely to one another. Aide us, when we forget to accept help from each other. For we know that relationship is holy, so we pray that you teach us to truly work through the Holy Spirit to come together as church, today and everyday so we might truly be a Pentecost People. Amen

Assurance of Pardon: (Phil 4:6-7) Know this, when we worry, we can take everything to God in prayer, and supplication, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will be with you. Let us proclaim the truth to one another: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen

Hymn Suggestions:

They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

Thy Word

Sweet, Sweet Spirit