As you light your candle and prepare to join in worship with me, Nerys, celebrating the Eucharist in the church on the morning of Pentecost, let us take a moment to invite God’s Spirit into our hearts. I invite you to listen to Hazel Faunce Smith singing the hymn of the Holy Spirit and make it your prayer.
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire
and lighten with celestial fire;
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
Thy blessed unction from above
is comfort , life and fire of love;
enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our mortal sight.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but one;
that through the ages all along
this may be our endless song:
Praise to thine eternal merit,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
In our reading from the Book of Acts (2.1-21), we join a group of dispirited and fearful followers of Jesus locked down in an upper room. As you read, try to place yourself in the scene.
God’s Spirit empowers the disciples to leave their isolation and venture into the streets of Jerusalem. The Spirit also gives them a gift —the gift of communication. The language of the Spirit is love and forgiveness, a language that everyone understands and needs to hear.
The Spirit that transformed that group of men and women is the same spirit that inspires and encourages us. Listen to Jesus inviting us in John’s Gospel (7.37-39) to receive the Living Water which offered to us, not for our own enjoyment but so that we may become rivers of life and quench the thirst of others.
On that first Day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God overcame division and created unity. We may be physically isolated from one another but God’s Spirit has enabled us as a church to continue to worship together and to pray for and serve our community.
O God, who on the day of Pentecost enlightened the hearts of your people by the fire of the Holy Spirit; give us wisdom and understanding, and lead us into all truth, that your Church may be kept in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Take time to look at the image of St Mary’s below and give thanks. The doors may be closed, but the church is open and full of God’s Spirit!
Our intercessions this Sunday have been prepared by Martin Wisher as a response to contemplating verses from Psalm 33.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright …
For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
Lord we praise you that the earth is full of your steadfast love.
We stand in awe that you created and sustain the earth.
We cry out to you for our world, that the world may experience your faithfulness, righteousness, justice and steadfast love when we see so much suffering, fear and evil caused by the pandemic.
We ask you to send your Spirit upon the leaders of Governments that they may lead us with wisdom, with righteousness and justice. We pray that they may look to care for the poor and those who are vulnerable, without shelter and in need of food. Give them your wisdom as they seek to lead us out of our lockdown, balancing the need for safety and the need to return to the new normality.
We ask you to send your healing Spirit upon those doctors, nurses and carers as they minister under great stress to those suffering because of the pandemic. Empower them with wisdom, great skill and compassion.
The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind.
From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—
He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
Father we bless you that your Spirit who was powerfully active in the creation of the world still fashions the hearts of all people.
Father we plead with you that by your Spirit you will anoint your Church and in particular us in St Mary’s so that we can bring the good news of the Gospel to Dunblane and see your steadfast love evident in the lives of our neighbours, friends and family.
Send your Spirit to bless our Bishop Ian and our Rector Nerys and make them fruitful in their ministry.
We pray for our brother and sisters in the dioceses of Calcutta and Amazonia. May they know the peace and joy of your salvation as they deal with the effects of the cyclone and the pandemic. Open our hearts to help them.
Truly the eye of the Lord is on those that fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
Father we thank you for all your promises towards us and that we can trust in your steadfast love. The steadfast love of the Lord never fails us, it is new every morning.
We pray for those known to us who are sick; for those who are mourning the loss of a loved one; for those who are afflicted by depressions and anxiety. We pray for those who are alone and unable to see their family and friends. We name them before you …
We remember that Jesus said that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.
Lord we pray you to send your Spirit on those we name now.
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
