Worship Service at Church of the Dawntreader Thursday May 16, 2013 10:00 a.m. SLT
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
    Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™
    Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989,
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved." Designated by the initials, (NRSV).

Invocation:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
Confession and Absolution
We come before you, our Loving Father, Mother God, confessing most of all our need of you.
We confess that we have not always acknowledged just how much we depend on you.
We confess that we have not always loved you with all our heart, soul and mind.
We have not always loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We ask that you will forgive us and grant us your strength to conform more fully to your loving will for us.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is my privilege to declare to you and to myself, the entire
forgiveness of all our sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
God our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of earth.
By your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our lives for service and our tongues for praise,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen

First Lesson: Acts 2: 1 - 21 (NRSV)
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
9 Par'thians, Medes, E'lamites, and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pon'tus and Asia,
10 Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Lib'ya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cre'tans and A'rabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Jo'el:
17 "In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Here ends the First Lesson

Psalm 104 (NRSV)
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and Levi'athan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you
to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works--
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Bless the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD!
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 12:3-13 (NIV)
3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,”
and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,
to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy,
to another distinguishing between spirits,
to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,
and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,
and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts,
but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body —
whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Here ends the Second Lesson.

Gospel Lesson: John 14: 8 - 17, 23 - 27 (NRSV)
8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, "Show us the Father'?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.
12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these,
because I am going to the Father.
13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
23 Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them,
and we will come to them and make our home with them.
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
25 "I have said these things to you while I am still with you.
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Here end the Readings from Holy Scripture.

 - Sermon -

This week marks the birthday of the Christian church.
Next Sunday is Pentecost,
the 50th day after Easter,
and the anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
that marked the beginning of the explosion of faith
in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah,
the Son of God,
the Incarnate Word of God
and the Savior of the world.
Our faith in Him is made possible
purely and simply by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit,
there would be no faith in Jesus our Lord.
The words of our Second Lesson are patently obvious:
No one speaking by the Spirit of God can pronounce a curse on Jesus.
Less obvious, but equally true,
no one can say, "Jesus is Lord,"
apart from the agency of the Holy Spirit.
Of course, the Holy Spirit did not come to our world for the first time
on the day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit was present and a Participant
in the act of Creation.
In Genesis 1:2, we read, "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (NIV)
What wonderfully poetic words!
I sometimes find myself arguing with people that the account of Creation is a poem,
but soon I'm going to give up on that.
If one cannot see the poetry in Genesis 1,
nothing I can say can reveal it to him or her.
Hovering over the water is a wonderfully descriptive phrase,
evoking the tender care of a Mother Who has given birth to the offspring that She loves.
Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote one of the greatest poems of the English language,

"God's Grandeur:"
"The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
        It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
        It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
        And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
        And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
        There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
        Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
        World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings."

Here, Hopkins echoes that first chapter of Genesis,
reminding us of the Divine Mother of us all,
the Holy Spirit of God,
Whose tender care enables our every breath
until She receives our human spirits back to her loving Breast,
where we will be loved and perfectly tended through all eternity.
We know this by Her own inspiration,
and we are able to trust it
because She calls for our trust
by the power of her love.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was unique
because the Spirit was poured out on all humanity
in a new way
for the first time ever.
Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God,
She is our Creator.
Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and of His Resurrection,
She is also our Redeemer.
Again, we know this by faith,
by the witness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts,
and this is the new thing for all humanity.
In the context of the very early Christian sermon,
preached by St. Peter himself,
recorded in our First Lesson,
the words of the Prophet Joel are given a whole new meaning:
"I will pour out my Spirit on all people."
In other words, the words of Joel were fulfilled
by the events of Pentecost
and the birth of the Christian church.
The church, created by word and sacrament,
is the means by which the Spirit of God chooses to work in the world,
but it is certainly not the only means.
Every word spoken by any person
reflecting even the tiniest mustard seed of faith
is made possible by the Holy Spirit's work.
Every opportunity that God can find
to show love for any person who needs God's loving care
is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit's work.
For you and me right now,
the Holy Spirit is at work,
comforting our hearts with loving care
and deepening and strengthening our faith and trust in God.
As we breathe,
the Holy Spirit is at work,
giving us life,
and that free gift of grace will never come to an end.
From ancient times, a sequence hymn was sung for Pentecost
as part of the liturgy of the church.
That hymn in its ancient form has survived many liturgical reforms,
and I want to share it with you today.
It is in plainsong,
but it is not too hard to sing,
so please feel free to sing or hum along with me,
and pay special attention to the words,
which are themselves a powerful teaching
about the presence and work of the Holy Spirit
in the life of all people.
The hymn is known as Veni Creator, or Come Creator,
usually translated, "Come, Holy Spirit"

1. Creator Spirit, heav'nly dove, descend upon us from above;
with graces manifold restore your creatures as they were before.

2. To you, the Comforter, we cry; to you, the gift of God most high.
true fount of life, the fire of love, the soul's anointing from above.

3. In you, with graces sevenfold, we God's almighty hand behold;
while you with tongues of fire proclaim to all the world God's holy name.

4. Your light to every sense impart, and shed your love in every heart;
your own unfailing might supply to strengthen our infirmity.

5. Keep far from us our cruel foe, and peace from your own hand bestow;
upheld by you, our strength and guide, no evil can our steps betide.

6. Teach us to know the Father, Son, and you, of both, to be but one;
that through the ages all along your praise may be our endless song.

7. Praise to your eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Amen.

Prayer of the People
Please type your spontaneous petitions in chat.
Each prepared petition is intended to remind us of the things we need to pray about,
so a brief pause will be provided for us to pray our own petitions,
either sharing them in the chat window
or praying them in our own hearts.

Loving God, we pray for each other, for those who depend upon us for prayer, and for all people according to their needs.
We ask that your healing power may prevail in our lives.
We pray that those in positions of public trust may be worthy of that trust as they act as stewards of power and wealth
for the benefit of all.
We pray that conflicts may be resolved in the context of relationships,
so that violence of thought word and deed may be diminished all through our world.
We ask your blessing for all who bear witness to the Gospel, so that relationships with you may be deepened for all people.
All these things, and whatever else you see that we need, we ask that you will grant for the sake of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name we pray.
Amen.
Our Lord's Prayer
Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever,
Amen.
Benediction
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen +