Prayers
for Pentecost Sunday on May 19, 2103
Responsive Litany of Call to Worship
(This prayer is written for our church, much inspired by the Katherine Willis Pershey's reflection, Breath of Life, in Christian Century.)
God of
Gushing Winds.
Hear our prayer that you send your Spirit to dwell among us.
Give
us, the church,
the
body of Christ, life and purpose.
You exhaled your breath into the muddy lungs of Adam and
Eve
when you created your world of wonders, the whole cosmos.
Now, breathe
that same breath of life into us,
so
that it permeates every cell of our being,
Nose to toes.
Nose
to head.
Free us to life!
Invigorate
our bodies, minds and souls with your breath,
until
it is ready to be released, silently, from the same nostrils,
through
which it came.
As ordinary as oxygen and carbon dioxide,
it is
extraordinary as spirit and miracle.
Breathe in, O God, your Holy Spirit!
Let
our hearts and our chests
be
rising and falling with Pentecost Hope!
Call
to Prayer of Confession
(Again, this prayer is also much inspired by the Katherine Willis Pershey's reflection, Breath of Life, in Christian Century.)
As a new mother tiptoes into the nursery to peer over the edge
of the crib,
and waits until her eyes adjusts to the darkness
to see the telltale signs of life:
her
daughter’s tiny chest, rising and falling,…
God too checks in on us, God’s beloveds,
like a nervous mother.
Are we still praying?
Are we faithfully sharing the good news with our actions
and our words with our neighbours?
Are we infilling us with the breath of life, the Spirit of
God,
the tender breath, the gushing wind?
Pentecost is not an event to be wished for lightly.
It lands on us, sometimes gently and sometimes
overwhelmingly,
when we seek it as we pray together. Let us pray.
Prayer
of Confession
O God, our Caring Mother and Protective Father,
We search for a sign of vitality in our life,
with the desire to speak the name of Jesus Christ,
witnessed in our words and actions.
Let tongues of flames dance over our heads and hearts.
Let us be filled by Pentecost Hope
to enliven our body and soul
and enrich the lives of our family and neighbours.
We give thanks and praise for this involuntary
and essential process:
and essential process:
this breathing and loving,
this, a little excessiveness in Pentecost. Amen.
Offering
Prayer
May Christ be made known in the act of giving,
in compassionate sharing
when the Gospel of love becomes alive to us.
Let us live our thanksgiving.
Let us join together in our morning offering. Amen.
Benediction
T.S. Eliot said, “Pentecostal fire is in the dark time of
the year.” It is the pillar of fire at spiritual night. The Spirit comes when
the need is greatest. May the Pentecostal hope and fire, the breath and wind guide you through
the path of your life pilgrimage, and keep you through your life’s challenges and blessings.
Go with the light and the gushing wind. Amen.
Go with the light and the gushing wind. Amen.
Prayers of the People
Loving and Empowering God,
We are moving forward.
It is May.
It is Pentecost.
We are facing forward
to see what you have in store for us,
to imagine how we can continue your mission, God's mission,
in our midst and beyond,
as the body of Christ.
Thank you for claiming and reclaiming us as
a living body,
a breathing body,
a living entity, called your Holy church.
Remember us, Chemainus United Church,
and empower us with your Holy Spirit, so that we may actively and vigorously continue to exercise the 'ordinary and extraordinary' miracle - breathing - which is doing your work, for your people.
Now, we bring up those names in our hearts and prayers;
Especially we thank you for what you have done for us in the past week.
Loving God, thank you for ....
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