Worship and Devotions

Pentecost Sunday

May 24, 2026

Welcome visitors and old friends. Welcome regardless of belief, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, age, abilities, or life situation. Welcome believers and doubters as well as doubting believers. Welcome to share the fullness of Christ's love for the world!(Adapted from The welcome message from the Thomas Community in Finland. "Celebrating milestone moments" by Rev. Jukka Joensuu. Canada Lutheran January/February 2024 Vol. 39 No. 1; chorus of ELW 523)

Pentecost derives its name from the Jewish festival celebrating the harvest and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai fifty days after Passover. Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the Holy Spirit as God’s presence within and among us. In Acts the Spirit arrives in rushing wind and flame, bringing God’s presence to all people. Paul reminds us that though we each have different capacities, we are unified in the Spirit that equips us with these gifts. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on his disciples, empowering them to forgive sin. We celebrate that we too are given the breath of the Holy Spirit and sent out to proclaim God’s redeeming love to all the world.

Music

Come Down, O Love Divine

Come Down O Love Divine (Tune: Down Ampney - 4vv) [with lyrics for congregations]

Prayer

O God, on this day you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us your Holy Spirit. Direct us by the light of that Spirit, that we may have a right judgment in all things and rejoice at all times in your peace, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings

Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

Gospel -John 20:19-23

Acts 2:1-21

Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival that marked the fiftieth day after Passover. Luke portrays the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the disciples before the gathered and astonished people assembled in Jerusalem for the festival. Filled with the Spirit, the disciples were able to witness to the power of Christ’s resurrection.

¹ When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] 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 people 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 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ² 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, “Fellow Jews 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 Joel: 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.’ ”

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

Paul is helping the Corinthians understand the relationship between our God-given unity and Spirit-created diversity. The Spirit creates the unity of faith and gives all Christians diverse gifts for the common benefit of all. We need one another’s diverse spiritual gifts because the same Spirit has given them to each person for the common good.

^3b No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, ⁵ and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. ¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel - John 20:19-23

Glory to you, O Lord.

The risen Jesus appears to his disciples, offering them a benediction, a commission, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

The Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel Reading and Sermon

Music

Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading

Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading (Njoo kwetu, Roho mwema) - ELW 401

Prayers of Intercession

Trusting in the power of Christ's resurrection to heal and redeem our broken world, let us pray for the needs of all creation.

A brief silence.

O God you send the Holy Spirit to gather your church into one. Inspire all of us and our leaders, both lay and ordained, to speak prophetic and hope-filled words to all whom they encounter. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

You send the Holy Spirit to break down the barriers of communication among nations. Bestow peace in war-torn areas, guide all in government and society to work for justice, and guard those serving in the armed forces, especially this weekend as we remember those who died in service to their country. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

You send the Holy Spirit to accompany those who feel abandoned. Provide food for those who hunger and drink for those who thirst, comfort those who are anxious or bereaved, heal those who are sick or suffering and answer all who call upon your name. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

You send the Holy Spirit through the gift of baptism. Bless both those preparing for or affirming their baptism. May they be encouraged by this community of faith as they live out their baptismal promises. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

You send the Holy Spirit to console us in our grief. We give you thanks for our ancestors in the faith whose witness to your mighty works continues to inspire our lives. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

God of resurrection power, use us and these prayers to proclaim the good news of new life to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour.

Amen.

Music

As The Wind Song

As the Wind Song (with Lyrics) All Creation Sings 943

God Of Tempest, God Of Whirlwind

God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind - ELW 400