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

Gathering Music

Welcome

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.

[Silence]

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: Love divine, all loves excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
There we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above;
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation:
pure and sinless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Confession

Let us confess in silence our own struggles to love others,
to love ourselves, and to love God with all our being.

[Silence]

Holy One, we recognise the ways we have brought pain to you, to others and to ourselves.
Forgive us and send your living Spirit to renew us, inspire us, sustain us,
and encourage us in our journey.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

God of resurrection and Ascension,
on Pentecost day you taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit.
Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation.
Pour out this same gift anew to us, we pray, that by the preaching of the Gospel
your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who promised this gift.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Acts 2: 1–21

Read by Robin Kyd

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.

John 20: 19–23

Read by Rosemary Kearsey

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

NIV®

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

Reflection

Revd George Mwaura

[Silence]

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 Glynne Gordon-Carter

Presentation of the new CIO Trustees

[The trustees are invited to come forward.]

Let us pray together:

Heavenly Father, we come to you today
asking for wisdom and strength for our new CIO trustees as they begin their term.
We commit ourselves to pray and support them in all their work.
May everything they do begin with your inspiration and continue with your help.
We ask for your guidance throughout their service,
that all their thoughts and actions would reflect your Holy will.

Amen

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: 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

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

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.

[During the communion we sing:]

Hymn: We come as guests invited

We come as guests invited
when Jesus bids us dine,
his friends on earth united
to share the bread and wine;
the bread of life is broken,
the wine is freely poured
for us in solemn token
of Christ our dying Lord.

We eat and drink, receiving
from Christ the grace we need,
and in our hearts believing
on him by faith we feed;
with wonder and thanksgiving
for love that knows no end,
we find in Jesus living
our ever-present friend.

One bread is ours for sharing,
one single fruitful vine,
our fellowship declaring
renewed in bread and wine:
renewed, sustained and given
by token, sign and word,
the pledge and seal of heaven,
the love of Christ our Lord.

Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926)
CCL31580

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

Flowers in the Worship Area

Sandra and Brian Todd celebrate their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary (Golden Wedding) on Friday (26 May 2023) and have kindly donated towards the flowers in Church this weekend. We wish Sandra and Brian every best wish for many more joyful years together.

Christian Aid envelopes

A reminder, please, to bring your Christian Aid donation envelopes to the service this Sunday or next Sunday and put them in the collection plate. If you prefer to donate on line please go to https://www.christianaid.org.uk. Many thanks.

Bring and Share Lunch on Sunday

Please stay after the Pentecost Service on Sunday for a ‘Bring and Share’ Lunch in the Guildhall. There will also be cake! If you are bringing a plate of food, it would be really helpful if you could write a label to go with it giving the ingredients. Many thanks.

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: You shall go out with joy

You shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace.
The mountains and the hills will
break forth before you;
there’ll be shouts of joy,
and all the trees of the field
will clap, will clap their hands.

And all the trees of the field
will clap their hands,
the trees of the field
will clap their hands
The trees of the field
will clap their hands
while you go out with joy.

[Repeat]

Stuart Dauermann (1975)
CCL31580

 

Blessing

May God who multiplied loaves and fishes and changed water into wine,
lead us, feed us, multiply us, and change us to reflect the glory of our Creator
now and through all eternity;
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.

Amen