Sunday 5 June 2022
Welcome
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will bear witness for me. Acts 1: 8
Choir Introit
Hymn 584 Like fireworks in the night
Opening Prayer
Lord
We use many images to speak of the Spirit
to try to grasp your amazing, awesome presence and power with us
It is like a dove
gentle, comforting, bringer of peace, builder of peace, anointer, enabler
It is like a rushing wind
full of power and energy, seen by what it does
its impact on the world round about
it ruffles feathers, it sweeps away staleness and lethargy
it brings newness and freshness, it creates movement
It is like fire
it burns up the dross, the things in our lives that do not have worth
of which we are not proud, of which we are ashamed
it purifies, it refines, and like a flame it blazes in our lives
filling us with new life, new hope, new energy
it lets your love and goodness be seen at work in our lives
it shines into all the dark places of the world
and lets others see your goodness and truth
Whatever the image, you have sent your Spirit upon us
to change us, renew us, make us different, make us Christ-like
to empower us to be your instruments for change in the world
Send down your Spirit upon us now, on this time of worship
that our praise and thanks may rise up to you
that we may hear and respond to your word
that we may find healing and renewal
that we may be inspired and empowered
to go out and bear witness to our Risen Lord
through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen
Reading
Acts 2: 1-13 Gavin Davie
All age time Pentecost – the Church’s birthday
Jesus came to teach and heal, to suffer and die, and rise again, showing people how God expects them to live, and enabling them to break free from basic human instincts, to enable the world to be the kind of place God wants it to be.
But Jesus wasn’t going to do all the work for everyone for the next thousand centuries and millennia. People have to do their bit – turn to God, accept his way, and live by the teaching and example of Jesus. It’s really hard, so as well us sending out his followers to live his way, and work to change the world, God gave them his Spirit, to help, guide, and inspire them.
The author of the Book of Acts wanted to express this in a clear schematic way:
- on the day that Jews celebrated the giving of the Law (and trying to follow its rules), the followers of Jesus celebrated the gift of the Spirit, which helps people instinctively know what is right, and be changed people
- Acts is about the fulfilment of Jesus’ command to be his witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, it tells about some of the places where church groups started, as the Good News travelled to Rome, and the places that aren’t covered are the ones we heard about in our reading.
So in many places, today is celebrated as the birthday of the world-wide church.
Hymn 63 All people that on earth do dwell
Bible readings
1 Kings 3: 4-9
Colossians 1: 15-20
All age time Platinum Jubilee
My parents were married in the month of the Coronation, and someone (I think it may have been my mother’s colleagues) gave them this handsome teapot in the shape of the Coronation Coach. It has never been used for a single cup of tea, partly because of its additional adornment….. My parents used to joke that they would take it out of the display cabinet and play it if they wanted a visitor to buzz off home.
There was no Coronation when we were married, and the Queen couldn’t make the wedding, but she did join us for part of our honeymoon. See the tree on the left: minutes before she arrived a senior policeman realised that a bicycle was chained to the railing round it. So he jumped over the fencing, nipped into the hardware shop, borrowed a saw, cut out the necessary bit of railing, removed the bike, and made the railing look as if it was as it had always been – and was no doubt panicking!
One of my great uncles was in the Navy in the 1940s and in 1947 was in Durban when the Royal Family visited (it maybe he served on the ship on which they travelled). Here is a photo of the family, and one of the princesses. It was shortly after this that Princess Elizabeth made her speech to the Empire and Commonwealth on her 21st birthday promising that whether her life was long or short she would dedicate it to their service. She obviously inherited her mother’s genes, and has had a long life, but through it all has striven to remain faithful to her promise. Yes, she has the gilt and glamour, but there must be times when it is tedious, frustrating or annoying. But she continues working long after most of us have sought retirement, and as we look round the world at Heads of State and Heads of Government, she is an example from which many could learn – and she finds her faith in Christ a great blessing and support to her in her work.
Hymn 703 God save the Queen
Prayer
Gracious God
in whom all true authority is found
and in whose love is the ultimate power
you have blessed us as individuals, and as a nation
with a heritage founded on your word
and on the lives of those who through the years
have offered commitment and service to nation and to people
in this Jubilee Year, we give thanks for the seventy years
that the Queen has given dedicated service
to this country and to the Commonwealth
through times of peace and war, prosperity and adversity
we give thanks that through her life
the Queen has found strength in the Christian faith
in prayer and in worship
and has sought to draw on your wisdom
in giving counsel to those who meet her
we recommit ourselves to you now
and for your guidance and wisdom in all that we do
Hymn 220 The day thou gavest
Prayers for others
Gracious God
You are a God who cares.
You are a God who strives for truth, for justice and for peace
And so we bring you our prayers for those in need
those who are ill, those who worry about them,
those who care for them
those waiting for or receiving treatment
and those for whom there is no treatment
those who are feeling lonely, down
or grieving a friend or loved one
those who don’t have enough to eat
don’t have somewhere to call home
those who are worried about family, friends, work, home,
money
those who long to live in peace and safety
we pray for the Queen and her family
for the Government
all in positions of leadership in this and every land
we pray for your church
the worldwide church, the wider church in Dumbarton
our own congregation
We bring to you our prayers for people and situations of special concern to us
Hymn 159 Lord for the years
Communion
1. Invitation
In the Upper Room, before setting out for the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus promised his friends,
“I will ask the Father, and he will send you another helper, who will stay with you for ever. He is the Spirit who reveals the truth about God.”
Today, the day of Pentecost, we remember and celebrate that Jesus kept his promise. He gave us his Spirit to guide and empower us to go out and share his love and Good News from our doorstep to the ends of the earth.
We remember too his promise that he feeds us with the true heavenly bread, his own life.
And so we gather now around the Lord’s Table to remind ourselves of all that happened so long ago:
- the Last Supper in the Upper Room
- the betrayal, arrest, trial and execution of Jesus
- his being raised to new life on Easter Day
- his gift of the Spirit to his people.
As we gather, we meet with Our Risen Lord, and he himself nourishes us. He is the host at this feast, and he invites us all to share it with him – remembering his death, celebrating his resurrection, and rejoicing in his living presence.
2. Narrative of the institution
Let’s remind ourselves of Paul’s account of the last Supper
The tradition which I handed on to you
came from the Lord himself:
that on the night of his arrest
the Lord Jesus took bread,
and after giving thanks to God
he broke it and said:
“This is my body, which is for you;
do this in memory of me”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said:
“This cup is the new covenant
sealed in my blood.
Whenever you drink it, do this in memory of me.”
For every time you eat this bread
and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
3. Taking the bread and wine
As Jesus took bread and wine, we take this bread and wine, and set it apart for this holy use and mystery.
And as he gave thanks to God, so now let us bring our prayers of thanks and praise to him.
4. Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him our thanks and praise.
It is right, it is our duty and it is our joy,
at all times and in all places,
to give you thanks and praise,
holy Father, heavenly King,
almighty and eternal God.
Gracious God,
we recall the death of your Son, Jesus,
we proclaim that he has been raised to new life
and is enthroned with you in glory
and we look forward with hope
to the fulfilment of all things
when he is recognised fully as Lord
We who have been redeemed by him,
and made a new people by water and the Spirit,
now bring you these gifts.
Send down your Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and wine
that we who eat and drink at his Table
may share the life of Christ our Lord.
Pour out your Spirit upon the whole earth
and bring in your new creation.
Gather your church together
from the ends of the earth into your kingdom,
where peace and justice are revealed,
that we, with all your people,
of every language, nation and background,
may share the banquet you have promised.
5. Lord’s Prayer
6. Breaking of Bread
Jesus took bread
and after giving thanks to God, broke it and said:
“This is my body which is for you;
do this in memory of me”
In the same way he took the cup and said:
“This cup is the new covenant
sealed by my blood.
Whenever you drink it,
do this in memory of me.”
7. Communion
Take, eat.
This is the body of Christ which is for you.
Do this remembering him.
This cup is the new covenant
sealed by Christ’s blood
which was shed that the sins of many
might be forgiven.
Do this, remembering him.
8. Peace
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
9. Prayer
Gracious God
we thank you for the love
which brings us food from heaven,
the life of your dear Son,
and assures us that we belong
to the company of all his faithful people
in heaven and on earth.
Grant that, strengthened by this fellowship
and by the power of his Holy Spirit,
we may continue his work in the world,
until we come
to the glory of your eternal kingdom.
Hymn
St A – There’s a Church on Bellsmyre hill
WK – 594 Come Holy Spirit come
Blessing (3-fold Amen)
With unflagging zeal, aglow with the Spirit,
serve the Lord,
And the blessing of God Almighty
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
rest and remain with you
today, and every day, and for ever