Prayer of the Day
God our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of earth. By you 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.
Readings for the Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
Peter Addresses the Crowd. 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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“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.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba!* Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness* with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
John 14:8-17 [25-27]
Philip said to him, “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 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. 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.
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 forever. 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.]
Reflection
"Ministry,and mission beyond ministry, is to manage that inescapable ambivalence that is the human predicament in faithful, generative ways--management not as manipulation toward preferred ends, but management for truth-telling, waiting, and receiving newness. The work is the slow, steady work of ministry among liberals and conservatives so that we, personally and communally, are in the process of renouncing old scripts of death and entering new scripts of life. The hall mark of the church is not certitude; it is openness to the spirit. In the book of Acts, after the apostles preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with all the certitude they could muster, there was still a waiting and a big leap beyond themselves. Moving beyond ourselves is only made possible by the spirit...The cruciality of this ministry is not that the church may prosper. It is that the world may live (and not die) and rejoice (and not cower)" (Walter Brueggemann, Mandate to Difference p.203).
This week at Incarnate Word
Thursday, May 20
6:00 pm SPIRIT Banquet - food by Dinosaur Barbeque
6:30 pm Crossways Bible study - Romans & Philippians
6:30 pm Youth Choir
Friday, May 21
10:00 am Wellness Center for older adults
Saturday, May 22
11:30 am Third Presbyterian Dining Room Ministry
Sunday, May 23
9:30 am Worship "Confirmation Sunday"
10:45 am Sunday School picnic
11:00 am Adult Forum - Dominican Healthcare by BJ Gottorff
11:15 am Third Presbyterian worship
3:30 pm Nile Lutheran worship
7:00 pm Service of Choral Vespers for Pentecost
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