Preacher: Revd George Mwaura
Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Father of the poor,
come, generous spirit,
come, light of our hearts.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

God of Pentecost, come to us today and fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Teach us to see the new things you are doing in us.
Help us to embrace the changes and challenges you ask of us,
as we look for the coming of your kingdom.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit,
from heaven shine forth
with your glorious light.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

As we wait together in one place,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us.

As the roaring wind announces its coming,
Holy One,
pour out your Spirit upon us.

As the tongues of fire manifest its arrival,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us..

As we feel its overflowing presence deep in our inner beings,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come from the four winds, O Spirit,
come, breath of God;
disperse the shadows over us,
renew and strengthen your people.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

As we wait together in one place,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us.

As the roaring wind announces its coming,
Holy One,
pour out your Spirit upon us.

As the tongues of fire manifest its arrival,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us..

As we feel its overflowing presence deep in our inner beings,
Holy One, pour out your Spirit upon us.

Welcome

Today is the feast of Pentecost.
The fulfilment of God’s promises, a celebration of unity-in-diversity.
Today we mark the beginning of the Church,
a community of people called by God from all corners of the world,
from all tongues ever spoken, from all colours of the human race.
Male and female, young and old called at the beginning of time,
at the beginning of life at the beginning of history. Called by God to be one.

Amen

Hymn: Breathe on me, Breath of God

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
until this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, Breath of God;
so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life
of thine eternity.

Edwin Hatch (1835–1889)
CCL31580

Confession

Lord God, sometimes we try to limit the work of the Spirit in our lives.
We hold back from going with the flow.
We ban astonishment from our lives.
We have our own agenda and our own concerns.
We limit you to our own poor understanding.

Forgive, us Lord; open our hearts and minds to you.

[Silence]

On Pentecost the Holy Spirit enabled people to hear in their own language,
so today we can feel and hear and know your forgiveness, Lord, deep in our hearts and souls.
We thank you, Lord God.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Living God, you sent the Holy Spirit to breathe life into your church.
Let us no longer be captives to fear, but messengers of your saving love,
so that all may be reconciled to you.
Let your Spirit of truth abide with us so that we may live in hope,
grow in faith, and keep your commandments of love;
in the name of the Risen Christ who promised and sent the empowering Spirit.

Amen

Gloria

Ministry of the Word

Acts 2: 1–21

Read by Martin Petchey

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’

¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.,

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘”In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹ And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.”’

NIV®

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hymn: Spirit of the living God

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mould be, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Daniel Iverson (1890–1977)
CCL31580

John 15: 26–27 & 16: 4b–15

Read by Katherine Wheldon

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

… ‘I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, ⁵ but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. ⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹² ‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’

NIV®

This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.

Reflection

Revd George Mwaura

[Silence]

Choral Response

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in the Creator:
the maker of all things

We believe in the Son:
the redeemer of our broken world

We believe in the Spirit:
The sacred wind that binds all things together in the family of God.

Creator Father, beloved Son and living Spirit.

Amen

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by Adrian Boynton

The Peace

Peace to you from God, who is our Father.
Peace from Jesus Christ, who is our peace.
Peace from the Holy Spirit, who gives us life.

The peace of God be always with you.
and also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: For I’m building a people of power

For I’m building a people of power
and I’m making a people of praise,
that will move through this land by My Spirit,
and will glorify My precious Name.
Build Your Church, Lord,
make us strong, Lord,
join our hearts, Lord, through Your Son.
Make us one, Lord,
in Your Body,
in the Kingdom of Your Son.

Dave Richards
CCL31580

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all, your face is turned towards your world.
In love you gave us Jesus your Son to rescue us from sin and death.
Your Word goes out to call us home to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

We bless the name of Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
whose brokenness and suffering makes love real,
who on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup saying,

Drink from this, all of you, this is my blood given for you.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

This is the mystery of our faith.

Christ has died:
Christ is risen:
Christ will come again.

Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we acknowledge brokenness as a path to truth.
We long for the bread of tomorrow: eternally broken and so able to nourish.
We long for the new wine of the kingdom: continuously poured out that thirst may be quenched.

Send your Spirit on us now,
that by these gifts we may feed on Christ with opened eyes and hearts on fire.
May we and all who share this food offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven, where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours forever and ever.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer [Said]

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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

The Communion

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

After Communion

Holy One, in your grace you brought us to your table to share this meal of hospitality.

May the love we find at this table
be reflected in our lives.

May the power we received at this table
make us peacemakers and healers.

May the Spirit who fills us again at this table
be the compass of our journey, our stories and our lives.

Amen

Notices

Voter Registration Pilot

The work we did on voter registration last Sunday (12 May 2024) was very useful. The results of our informal ‘voter registration ballot’ were:

56 people already registered to vote;
5 people were not eligible to vote;
11 people were not currently registered to vote but promised to do so.

If you are not registered to vote, we can help you with the registration process. We shall try to have a lap-top available after the Sunday morning service to help you to register on line. You will need to bring your national insurance number with you to be able to register on line. Please speak to Robin or Pat Kyd, or any of the stewards, if you would like help with registering. We should like to have everyone who is eligible to vote registered well before the up-coming general election.

Robin Kyd

Heartwarming Day Service at MK Rose, Campbell Park

6.00 pm Sunday, 26 May 2024

You are invited to a special service at the Heartwarming Day Pillar at the Milton Keynes Rose in Campbell Park for a service to celebrate Aldersgate Sunday, 26 May, when John Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed!

The service will begin at 6.00 pm and a choir will sing for 15 minutes beforehand. The Salvation Army Band will accompany the singing.

The preacher will be Revd Barry Lotz.

If you need a chair please bring one! We look forward to seeing you there.

Ann Harris – Methodist Circuit Administrator

Food donations for Milton Keynes Foodbank

Cornerstone is a collection point for food donations for the Milton Keynes Foodbank. There is a cupboard in Reception where you can leave your donations at any time when the building is open. The cupboard is now easier to fins, as it is where the printer used to be against the wall below the window into the church office.

Demand for the Foodbank continues to be very high, and consequently stocks of food are low. To see what is most needed, go the Food Donations page on the Milton Keynes Foodbank web page: https://mkfoodbank.org.uk/food-donations/.

Palestinian Embroidery Workshop

2.00–5.00 pm Sunday, 26 May 2024 in the Guildhall

Nawal Slemiah, founder and director of the Women in Hebron cooperative, is visiting Milton Keynes and will be holding this tatreez embroidery workshop.

Everyone is welcome to come to learn some simple stitches, and to maybe make a bookmark or something similar. There will also be the handicrafts from the cooperative available for sale.

Women in Hebron is a cooperative that seeks to economically empower Palestinian women and their families, as well as encouraging the passing down of Palestinian culture and traditional handicraft products to younger generations. See https://womeninhebron.com/.

Offering

Final Prayer

The Lord says:

‘In the last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.’

Today is that day, the word of God has been fulfilled.

‘And your sons and daughters shall prophesy…’

Holy One, give us your insight.

‘Your old people shall dream dreams…

Holy One, give us your dream.

‘Your young people shall see visions,’

Holy One, give us your vision.

Amen

Hymn: Forth in the peace of Christ we go

Forth in the peace of Christ we go,
Christ to the world with joy we bring;
Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips,
Christ in our hearts, the world’s true king.

King of our hearts, Christ makes us kings;
kingship with him mis servants gain;
with Christ, the Servant-Lord of all,
Christ’s world we serve to share Christ’s reign.

Priests of the world, Christ sends us forth
the world of time to consecrate,
the world of sin by grace to heal,
Christ’s world in Christ to recreate.

Prophets of Christ, we hear his word:
he claims our minds, to search his ways,
he claims our lips, to speak his truth,
he claims our hearts, to sing his praise.

We are the Church; he makes us one:
here is one hearth, for all to find,
here is one flock, one Shepherd-King,
here is one faith, one heart, one mind.

James Quinn (1919–2010)
CCL31580

 

Blessing

Breathe in us, O Holy Spirit –
that our thoughts may all be holy.
Act in us, O Holy Spirit –
that our works, too, may be holy.
Draw our heart, O Holy Spirit –
that we love but what is holy.
Strengthen us, O Holy Spirit –
to defend that is holy.
Guard us, then, O Holy Spirit –
that we always may be holy.

And the blessing of God almighty
the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit
be with you and remain with you always.

Amen

Dismissal

Go in the light and peace of Christ.
Thanks be to God.