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Pentecost
- Date: Sunday, May 28, 2023
- Time: 10:30am–11:30am
- Location: Sanctuary
May 28, 2023 | Pentecost
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Prelude
Komm Heiliger Geist, Herr Gott, Franz Tunder
Franz Tunder’s setting of Komm Heiliger Gesit, Herr Gott is wonderfully grand and expressive and has inspired many composers to write chorale preludes on this tune. The tune was first published in 1524 and has been especially utilized in the German Luterhan tradition for Pentecost. The composer, Franz Tunder, was the father-in-law to Dietrich Buxtehude. In those days, it was traditional for a young organist seeking a post to marry the incumbent organist’s daughter.
Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God,
fill with the goodness of your grace
the heart, spirit, and mind of your believers,
kindle in them your ardent love!
Call to Worship
(The congregation responds aloud with the bold text)
Remember the promise of the Lord:
God will pour out the Spirit on all flesh.
The Spirit helps us in our weakness,
interceding with sighs too deep for words.
The Spirit of God renews the earth.
Bless the name of the Lord!
Come, let us worship God!
Hymn #280, “Come, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us”
1. Come, O Spirit, dwell among us;
come with Pentecostal power;
give the church a stronger vision;
help us face each crucial hour.
Built upon a firm foundation,
Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone,
still the church is called to mission
that God’s love shall be made known.
2. We would raise our alleluias
for the grace of yesteryears;
for tomorrow’s unknown pathway,
hear, O Lord, our humble prayers.
In the church’s pilgrim journey
you have led us all the way;
still in presence move before us,
fire by night and cloud by day.
3. Come, O Spirit, dwell among us;
give us words of fire and flame.
Help our feeble lips to praise you,
glorify your holy name.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Three in One: what mystery!
We would sing our loud hosannas
now and through eternity.
Prayer of Adoration
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, you poured your Spirit upon gathered disciples creating bold tongues, open ears, and a new community of faith. We confess that we hold back the force of your Spirit among us. We do not listen for your word of grace, speak the good news of your love, or live as a people made one in Christ. Have mercy on us, O God. Transform our timid lives by the power of your Spirit, and fill us with a deep desire to be your faithful people, doing your will for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silent prayer of confession
Silent Prayer
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news!
Through Christ, God has poured out the Holy Spirit upon us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God!
Response of Praise: Hymn #582, “Glory To God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me”
1. Glory to God, whose goodness shines on me,
and to the Son, whose grace has pardoned me,
and to the Spirit, whose love has set me free.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.
2. World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.
Passing of the Peace
Life in Community
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Children’s Message
Prayer for Illumination
God of power and grace, fill us with the wisdom of your Word and the understanding of your Spirit so that we may be your church: a people with dreams and visions at work in all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are being destroyed. But we speak God’s wisdom, a hidden mystery, which God decreed before the ages for our glory and which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Hymn #282: “Come Down, O Love Divine”
1. Come down, O Love Divine;
seek out this soul of mine,
and visit it with your own ardor glowing.
O Comforter, draw near;
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, your holy flame bestowing.
2. O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming.
And let your glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
3. And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling.
For none can guess God’s grace,
till Love creates a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
Sermon: “Searched by the Spirit”
Call to Offering
Offertory: “God’s Gonna Set this World on Fire” (Arr. Moses Hogan)
God’s gonna set dis worl on fiyer one of these days, Hallelujah. I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days, Hallelujah. I’m gonna eat and never get hungry one of these days, Hallelujah. I’m gonna drink and never get thirsty one of these days, Hallelujah. God’s gonna set dis worl on fiyer, Hallelujah, one of these days.
Doxology #607, “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication
Almighty God,
we have opened our hands to you,
and our hands have been filled with good things.
Receive the gifts we bring in gratitude for your care for us,
and help us to bless you with dedication of our lives;
through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers of the People and the 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory, forever. Amen.
Hymn: “Spirit, Come”
1. By ourselves we hide in silence and do not heed your word.
When the prophets call for justice, their pleas remain unheard.
Spirit come in tongues of fire, Spirit fly on ah! bright wings.
Spirit, lead us out to share the vision creation sings.
Inspire us to teach God’s love to people everywhere,
sharing in each person’s language our good news and our prayer.
2. You breathe life into each child of earth and speak your love for all.
Give us minds and hearts impassioned to answer your great call.
Spirit, come in tongues of fire, Spirit, fly on ah! bright wings.
Spirit, lead us out to share the vision creation sings.
Lead your church to act for justice, lead on to live your love.
Help us do your will on earth as it is done above.
3. Before the world was called to life you swept o’er endless seas.
We know you in our very breath and in the rising breeze.
You have called us in the windstorm, you have called us in the flame.
You have called us in the still small voice, each one by name.
Spirit come, in tongues of fire, Spirit fly on ah! bright wings.
Spirit lead us out to share the vision creation sings.
Benediction
Postlude
Veni Creator Spiritus from Livre d’orgue, I. Plein Jeu. Nicolas de Grigny
Nicolas de Grigny (1671-1703) died young at the age of 32. But in his short life, he influenced his contemporaries as well as those to come. Bach admired his work so much that he copied it in its entirety. A Plein Jeu is simply the opening movement of a French Baroque mass setting and as was traditional among composers of that period, also designates the organist’s registration or choice of sounds. A plein jeu denotes a full plenum, or full foundational organ sound up through mixtures. As with much music of this period, it was written to please the royal tastes of the French court.
Participants
- Dorothy Boulton, Associate Pastor
- Keith and Kathy Glennan, Ruling elders, Video Production
- Wendy Johnston, Organist and Assistant Director of Music
- Greg Knauf, Director of Music
- Kenneth E. Kovacs, Pastor
- Vickie Lord, Social media support
- Dottie Marshall, Sanctuary set up
- Stephanie Stevens, Ruling elder, liturgist
Sources
- Book of Common Worship (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
- Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
- Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-734388; CCLI Copyright License B 20481088 + Streaming License B 481071