St Clement Church Community Pentecost & Platinum Jubilee Service

 

 

Good morning to you all on this Pentecost Sunday when we remember the Holy Spirit coming to support and help the disciples. It wasn’t a one off – he came for all time to be with them, to be with all other followers of Jesus Christ and to be with us and those who come after us.

On her twenty first birthday, Princess Elizabeth said, ‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service … But, I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone … … God help me to make good my vow … …’

God the Holy Spirit has been with her, as he is with us, through thick and thin, through good and bad, at all times.

May we put our trust in his guidance and support as Her Majesty has.

My love to you all

Liz

 

Let us pray;

 

For the Spirit of Peace that calms our mind and stills our life, we give you thanks.

For the Spirit of Love that touches hearts and reaches out, we give you thanks.

For the Spirit of Joy that lifts our soul and gives us faith we give you thanks.

For the Spirit of Power, that gift of grace for this your church, we give you thanks.

Amen

 

Hymn: 476 Ye servants of God

 

Love has its source in you, Creator God.

It flows from you like an ocean into a world as unyielding as any shoreline cliff; and like the ocean which batters, erodes, and wears away even the hardest stone, your love persists, finds cracks and inlets, in hardened hearts, flows inside and works a miracle.

Who would think that water was more powerful than granite, love mightier than the hardest heart?

Thank you, Creator God, for the power of your love.

Amen

 

Prayer of Penitence

 

We ask for your forgiveness, Lord, when we forget the power that lies within, and trust instead upon our human strength.

Remind us of that glorious day when your Spirit transformed the lives of those who hid in fear, into men of power.

Renew these hearts which have grown cold with flames of fire, as on that Pentecost, that this might be the church that you desire.

 

Amen.

 

Let us pray our Collect for Pentecost

 

God, who as at this time taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

Readings:

 

Acts 2. 1 - 21

Romans 8. 14 - 17

 

Hymn: 342 Breathe on me breath of God

 

Gospel: John 14. 8 – 17, 25 - 27

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. 

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

 

Philip said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.

’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”?

Do you not believe that I am 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.

Believe me that I am the in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

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.

 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

 

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.

 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.

 

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 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.

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.’

 

(This is the Gospel of the Lord.    Praise to you, O Christ.)

 

Reflection

 

At my very first Theology lecture as a student, the lecturer said that he hoped none of us still thought of God the Father as an ‘old man with a long white beard’ because that was a very childish image.

As the lecture progressed, everything that I thought I believed in was torn to shreds and I can remember sitting there wondering why I was there and sincerely wishing that I could be anywhere else.

For me, it was a nightmare. I needed (and still do) an image or a picture to clarify ideas and beliefs because without, it’s way beyond my comprehension.

For some months I struggled, I no longer had any idea what I did believe – did I really believe anything? I kept thinking that I was doing the wrong subject and that I was the only one not able to grasp the complexity of it all.

It was only when I became ‘angry’ with these lecturers and tutors who, in my mind, ‘ridiculed and belittled’ my beliefs that I realised that their aim was to take away all that we’d been brought up to believe and to make us think for ourselves and decide for ourselves what exactly we did believe.

So, what did I believe? God, the Father … yes, I had an image for him.

God, the Son, yes, I had an image for Him … both of them were people to me … but the Holy Spirit … I couldn’t really equate that with a person and yet an ethereal ghostly spectre didn’t, and doesn’t, seem right.

 

The words ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ are used every day in our world to describe close, intimate relationships with actual persons we know. But, the word ‘Spirit’ doesn’t immediately suggest a personal being with whom we might enter a relationship.

But … if we go through the New Testament, we find that we are told that the Holy Spirit performs all the functions of a person.

He talks, he testifies, he can be sinned against, he can be lied to, he can be tested and tempted, he can be insulted, he can enter into relationships with other persons, he encourages, he strengthens, he teaches. (I can give you all the references if you want them!)

 

In today’s Gospel reading we can see clear evidence that the Holy Spirit is a person. In verse 16, Jesus says that the Father will give us ‘another Helper’ or ‘another Comforter’ or ‘Counsellor.’ Someone who helps, comforts and counsels is, by definition, a person, not merely a power or impersonal force. But, Jesus refers to the Spirit as ‘another’ Helper. In other words, Jesus is saying that the Helper the Father is sending is ‘just like me.’ He’s ‘another’ Helper. He will help and comfort and counsel just like I have while I’ve been with you physically on earth.

The Holy Spirit is more than a person. He is a divine person. That is to say, the Holy Spirit is God. We all affirm that the Father is God and that the Son is God but so too is the Holy Spirit God.

The divine person of the Holy Spirit has a clear and distinct purpose in our lives – whatever we understand in God’s Word, whatever positive moral change we’ve experienced in life, whatever strength we’ve received when our weakness threatens to overwhelm, whatever encouragement we feel at times of despair and doubt, whatever peace we sense in our souls, we owe it to the third person of the Godhead - the Holy Spirit.

 

The Queen, before her coronation said, ‘I asked you all, whatever religion, to pray that God would give me wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that I should be making … …’

 

The Holy Spirit comes not just to the disciples at Pentecost. He will be with ‘with’ us, says Jesus, ‘for ever.’ He will never leave us. That means that God the Spirit is with us, each one of us and will never abandon us. He is with us to comfort, help, guide and sustain us, no matter what.

I am sure the Queen would say that He has done all those things for her, over her seventy year reign.

 

A little boy was flying a kite. It was a windy day and the kite kept going higher and higher. Finally, it got so high that it was out of sight. A man passed by and saw the little boy holding on to the string. The man could not see the kite, so he asked the boy, ‘How do you even know you have a kite up there?’

The boy replied, ‘Because I can feel it.’

 

Although we can’t see the Holy Spirit, if we believe, and indeed at times when perhaps we don’t believe, we will feel his presence with us, always. Amen

Affirmation of our faith

 

Let us declare our faith in God.

 

We believe in God the Father,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named.

 

We believe in God the Son,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

 

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

 

We believe in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

Amen.

 

Hymn: 137 Come down, O Love Divine

 

Our Intercessions this week are written by Helen Dunbar

 

Let us pray to the Father through the Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Loving Father we bring before you the needs of the Church, and its weakness and its potential; revive and refresh us, teach and direct us, inspire all who preach, teach and gossip the good news, and uphold all who suffer for their faith in any way.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for our church family whether they are here in Church or at home this morning.  We ask for your blessing on all those in need in our community, the elderly, the housebound and those in care homes, and hospices and for those who with skill and compassion, look after them. For all those who spend their lives trying to make ours better – for those in public service, for all people who commit themselves to charitable works, and for all those who help others to find you.

 

We ask God’s blessing on our clergy, on Archbishop Justin, and Bishops Philip and Hugh. We also ask your blessing on our own much loved Revd Diane and her family.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, we pray for the leaders of nations, and for those in authority, under them; may they work towards international unity to stop the threat of war and terrorism. We remember all who suffer as a result of political unrest and those who live under the threat of terrorism and oppressive regimes. We think of the countries where there is ethnic cleansing, especially the Uyghur ethnic community in China, and we ask your help for all the ongoing suffering of all who live in war torn Ukraine.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, we thank you for the dedicated service of Elizabeth our Queen, as she celebrates her platinum jubilee with the rest of the royal family and the country this bank holiday weekend.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Dear Lord, we bring before you all those who are suffering in any way and who need your special affection; and we also pray for those who feel discarded and marginalized, the weak and the vulnerable, for all those who find life an exhausting struggle, or who long for some respite from pain or depression. Please Lord, support them in their troubles, bring healing and reassurance, and touch them with the gentleness of your peace. We pray for all those known to us to us and we pray for: Barrie and Sandra, David and Daphne, Ken and Di, Rupert and Linda, Jenny, Ollie, Gill, Rupert, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Sally, Maureen, Brian, Gavin, Paul and Jan, and Jenny.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, teach us to understand death in the context of your eternity, so that our fears are calmed as we approach it. Welcome with merciful love those who have recently died and shelter their loved ones, too, in the shadow of your wings.

 

Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement and St Andrew

 

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Gathering our prayers and praises into one,

Let us pray with confidence as our risen Lord taught us;

 

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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.   And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Pentecost by Malcolm Guite

 

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings

Today the hidden fountain flows and plays

Today the Church draws breath at last and sings

As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.

This is the feast of fire, air and water

Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.

The earth herself awakens to her maker

And is translated out of death to birth.

The right words come today in the right order

And every word spells freedom and release

Today the Gospel crosses every border

All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace

Today the lost are found in His translation.

 

Whose mother tongue is Love in every nation.

 

Notices

 

Hymn: 484 The Church’s one foundation

 

Dear God, we abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Fill us with all joy and peace as we believe in You.

Holy Spirit, empower our lives to produce Your fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Only through Your power can we live in holiness and in victory over sin.

Convict us, fill us and empower us.

Amen

 

 

The Peace

 

God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.

 

We are all one in Christ Jesus,

We belong to Him through faith,

Heirs of the promise of the Spirit of peace.

 

Let us greet one another as a sign of God’s peace.

 

 

Blessing

 

May the strength of God sustain us; may the power of God preserve us; may the hands of God protect us; may the way of God direct us; may the love of God go with us this day and forever.

Amen