Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ at Hope Lutheran Church,
A Blessed and holy Pentecost to you all! Today is the Feast of Pentecost, the 50th day, when we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit among the disciples. The disciples were afraid and they were weary.. They were hiding out, fearing that they could be arrested like Jesus, fearing that what happened to him could happen to them, fearing all of the turmoil they saw around them in their country occupied by the Roman armies and so much more. But then, Jesus arrived in the midst of them and offered his loving presence and his peace. And then, he promised that when he ascended to the right hand of God the Father, he would send his life-giving Holy Spirit to be with them always. They had Jesus and they had his Holy Spirit. And my friends, so do we. While our world seems more chaotic than ever and we still see the ravages of illness and pandemic, the dislocation and separations in society from political chaos, and the hatred of racism continuing to persecute and torture so many, we might be weary and afraid, too. The cares of this broken and hurting world can seem too much and,
like so many before us, we might long to ask; “How long, O Lord, how long?” But my friends-like the disciples, we too have Jesus and his Holy Spirit. Jesus has claimed us in Baptism into his death and resurrection. Jesus has gifted us with that same Holy Spirit to be with us, in us, and work through us for the sake of the world. The same Spirit that urged the disciples to get up and go out into the world to proclaim that Jesus is Lord is the same Spirit urging us to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, that all humanity is created in the image of God and loved and precious in his sight, and that even while things are so chaotic and hurting and broken, this is not the end of the story. God has that final word, and his word is GOOD. So my friends, rejoice! It is Pentecost! Don’t be weary or afraid-but instead, allow Jesus and his Holy Spirit to energize you for the work to which we are called. Let’s get up and go out to proclaim Jesus is Lord, and work together as we are led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ’s love with all. Rejoice! It’s Pentecost-the 50th day-and God is in control!!! Thanks be to God!
With love in Christ, Pr. Jen+
Day of Pentecost May 30-31, 2020
PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. 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.
First Reading: Acts 2:1-21 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they 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 nation 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 Jewish-born and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 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, “You
Judeans 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 youth shall see visions, and your elders 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.’ ” This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel: John 20:19-23
The holy gospel according to John. Glory to you, O Lord. 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the
house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Judeans, 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 the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
HOMILY The disciples were afraid! Their world had come to an abrupt end on Good Friday afternoon as their teacher, leader, and friend had died in shame outside the city walls. There was no good news as they hid out in Jerusalem in search of safety, security, and something that resembled sanity. The preaching and teaching, traveling and telling seemed for nothing. The miraculous healings and even the
raising of Lazarus were distant memories. The peaceful kingdom Jesus preached now lay in ruin, like his body on the cross. The blessing of the poor, the meek, the persecuted, the mournful felt like empty words. The disciples were heartbroken.
~~~But some of their number, following the lead of Mary of Magdala, had gone to the tomb when others couldn’t muster the courage to even venture into the garden. The pain of loss was too new. The longing for the past, the good times, offered little comfort. But Mary had brought strange news: Jesus is alive! That cannot be. We saw the soldiers, the slow agonizing march through the city, the nails, and the cries. The news couldn’t possibly be true. The disciples were confused. They gathered together behind locked doors to comfort each other, to protect themselves from the dangers outside their doors, to connect with the familiar, to feel safe. Safety in numbers behind locked doors. The world, the pain, the fear all safely kept at bay on the other side of a lock.
~~~~The locks, no matter how carefully crafted, cannot keep resurrection out. Even in this room flooded with memory and saturated with grief, resurrection seeps in. “Peace be with you.” Jesus stands in their midst. Flesh and blood and body. Resurrected. Their fear turned to excitement, the locks forgotten because the one lost is alive with the scars to prove it. Look. Touch. It is really Jesus. Hope lives.
~~~No matter how carefully barred, not even locked doors can keep the risen Jesus, the Anointed One, out. “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The voice is familiar but it resounds with urgency and love. In that moment their lives are transformed. They can no longer hide behind doors frozen by fear, seeking to keep the world out. Jesus is alive, out there, out in the world, hidden in the guise of those in need. Come Holy
Spirit.
~~~~The, just ten days ago, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. Jesus is ascended. After the walk to Emmaus and breakfast on the shore, his work is now done. Once more, in a house behind closed doors, they gather. A violent wind engulfs the house, filling every corner and crevice. Tongues of flame hover above their heads and unstop their tongues. Out into the world, out from the house, out from behind the doors, out to tell Good News to every nation, tribe, language, and people. Full of new wine? No, filled with God’s renewing Spirit. As Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit had come.
~~~On this Pentecost, we gather like the disciples with lots of chaos in our world. We come with hopes and fears, with doubts and uncertainties, with pain and joy looking to be transformed, to be resurrected, to be made new. We offer a simple prayer. A prayer that the followers of Jesus have whispered and sung, have shouted and signed: Come Holy Spirit. It is a plea, a prayer to be once more filled with the
breath of God that called creation into being, to be replenished to enter the wilderness of doubt and uncertainty. We whisper, we sing, we pray, we proclaim, “Come Holy Spirit.”
~~~~But do we really want the Holy Spirit to come among us? Jesus, after his Baptism, found himself driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. The wilderness, where things happen, where we are forced to face ourselves laid bare. Do we really want to be filled with that Spirit? The Holy Spirit makes things happen, compels us out into the world to find Jesus present in our sisters and brothers. Spirit opens our eyes to more clearly see Jesus in those we would rather keep at arm’s length, the ones we are more comfortable serving from a distance,
from behind the security of locked doors and the safety of a checkbook. Spirit who calls us to see everyone as a brother or sister-without regard for race or color or belief. Spirit who calls us into unity for the good of the whole. Do we really want to be so filled with the Holy Spirit?
~~~Like the disciples, we the church can sometimes crave the safety of locked doors, locked hearts, and locked minds. Behind locked doors, we can find comfort in the familiar, but if we truly seek to follow Jesus, we know that no locked doors will keep him from appearing in our midst and compelling us out in the world. “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these,” are words of promise if we are open the moving of the Spirit in our lives, in our church, in our world. “Come Holy Spirit.”
~~~Our prayer on this day is a dangerous prayer because it means that we must be open and vulnerable, willing to be challenged and changed so that we can seek and find Jesus in the ones we serve-in everyone. “Come Holy Spirit” means that we must become open to the transforming power of God in our lives. It means that we will find ourselves standing with those on the margins, on the edges, on the outs.
Our simple prayer, “Come Holy Spirit,” is the first step towards saying “yes” to God’s desire in our life of faith. We are called, with the Spirit’s help, to say yes to God!
~~~The question for us is ~~can we say yes to God at work? Can we say yes to stepping out from behind our closed doors and into the deep waters of loving our neighbors? Can we say yes to building each other up and working in unity for the good of the whole to make a difference in Jesus’ name? Can we say yes to overcoming individual opinions to focus on Jesus and our common Baptismal call to love him by loving others? Can we say yes to allowing the locked doors of our hearts and minds to be opened again and again and again? Edwina Gateley sums
up our longing to say yes to God in her poem Called to say yes. We are called to say yes So that rich and poor embrace and become equal in their poverty Through the silent tears that fall. We are called to say yes That the whisper of our God Might be heard through our sirens And the screams of our bombs. We are called to say yes To a God who still holds fast To the vision of the Kingdom For a trembling world of pain. We are called to say yes To this God who reaches out And asks us to share His crazy dream of love. God’s crazy dream of love is our crazy dream of love. We are called to say “yes” to allow the Spirit of the Living God to fall afresh on us and unlock the doors that keep us from loving our neighbors. God’s crazy dream of love calls us to stand with and work for the homeless, the working poor, the outcast, the refugee, the persecuted, the put-down and the putout. Our sisters and brothers, Jesus in disguise, can no longer be simply petitions in our prayers but persons deserving of dignity, justice, and love. Come Holy Spirit. Yes! Come Holy Spirit. Yes! Come Holy
Spirit. Yes! Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
On this day of Pentecost we unite in prayer, asking God to send the Holy Spirit on the church, the world, and all who are in need. A brief silence. We pray for the church around the globe: For the Eastern Orthodox churches, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! For the Roman Catholic church, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! For Protestant and Anglican churches, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! For Pentecostal churches, we pray, Come, Holy Spirit! For evangelicals and independents, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! For our own congregation, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit!
And for everyone who searches for you, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Restore with your breath the whole creation, especially the lands and waters laden with pollution and the animals whose habitats are threatened. For your earth, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Send your Spirit on the leaders of nations, on legislators, and on judges, that the
people of the world will benefit from your justice and your peace. For the nations of the world, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Visit all who are suffering, all who feel hopeless, and all who face death. Uphold health-care workers, grant jobs to those who are unemployed, and assist researchers in discovering a vaccine. Send healing to those we name here before you
(especially)…
For all who are in need, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Receive our praise for all who for centuries have gone before us in the faith, from the first Pentecost, throughout Christian history, and up to this week. That at the end we and all the saints will rejoice in your presence, we pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. With bold confidence in your love, almighty God, we place all for whom we pray into your eternal care; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
Let us pray. A brief silence is kept before the prayer. Mighty God, you breathe life into our bones, and your Spirit brings truth to the world. Send us this Spirit, transform us by your truth, and give us language to proclaim your gospel, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OUR FATHER…
BLESSING
The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The God of all grace ☩ bless us now and forever. Amen.
DISMISSAL
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Send forth your Spirit, O God, and renew the face of the earth as together we are led by that same Spirit to serve you and share your love with all people. Thanks be to God!!! Please call the church office or email Pr. Jen with any prayer requests you may have so they may be shared with the congregation.
Please continue to hold in prayer:
Laura Everill, daughter of Phyllis and Tom Agness, residing in a healthcare facility
Walter Crowley, husband of Kathryn and father of Ginger Toomire recovering at home from Covid-19
Pr Cheryll, Karl, and Nick Kaukis who mourn the death of Chris, beloved son and brother
Barbara Musgraves who mourns the death of her brother Wayne Boyd
Joyce, sister in law of Elaine Dougan, facing brain cancer surgery
Arthur St. Amand, husband of Joanne, in need of God’s healing touch
John Greene, Millie’s husband, recovering from surgery
Fred Schaible, Eileen’s husband and Pr. Jen’s dad, in hospice care
Al D’Agostino, brother in law of Alan Beicht who is diagnosed with cancer
Suzette, Katie McClay’s friend who is recovering after colon cancer surgery,
Annette Dardis and family, who mourn the untimely death of her nephew
Florence, Bob Kostrowsky’s aunt who is hospitalized in New Jersey
Lois, Lorraine Maass’ friend, in need of God’s healing presence
Martha Birtwhistle, and Alan for healing and comfort
Kaye Miller, friend of Elaine Dougan, needing God’s comfort and healing
Those who are in need or ill in any way, those who are lonely, those who are frightened, those who grieve, those caring for those who are ill
HOPE LUNCH BUNCH: Wednesdays, please join us from 11-12:30 for the Hope Lunch Bunch. Bring your own lunch and share some time with your Hope family for conversation and sharing, prayer, and maybe a game or two all the while practicing physical distancing. All are welcome in the Fellowship Hall. Bring your lunch, your mask, and a desire to spend time among friends.
BIBLES AND BAGELS (or muffins or ….???) Please join us Mondays beginning June 1 from 10-11am for Bible Study and sharing in the Fellowship Hall. Physical Distancing and sharing in Scripture and discussion are blessings we can share together!! All are welcome!!
Hope Lutheran Church-Gulf Cove
14200 Hopewell Ave, Port Charlotte, FL 33981
Church phone: 941-697-2345
Email: hopeluthern@comcast.net
Pr. Jen Schaefer-cell-813-391-2027
Pr. Jen’s email: hopeluthern1@comcast.net
Beginning this weekend, Easter 7, May 23-24, we will have three worship opportunities for all.
***Saturday 5:30pm will be worship in the Sanctuary, practicing physical distancing with gloves, masks, and space.
***Sunday 8:30am will be spoken worship in the parking lot.
***Sunday 10am will be worship in the Sanctuary, practicing physical distancing with gloves, masks, and space.
Emails with worship and homily will continue to be shared for those who are worshiping with us at home.
Until further notice, Holy Communion will be shared in one kind for safety and health reasons.
All of the gifts and benefits of Holy Communion are found in the Body of Christ.
There will be no water in the Baptismal Font for your protection.
Offering plates will NOT be passed. There is an offering plate stationed at the Baptismal Font
and you may share your offerings either before or after worship as you enter the Sanctuary. We thank you for your on-going generosity.
Ushers will direct seating in the Sanctuary. Masks and gloves will be worn by all. If you don’t have a mask, you will be provided with one to keep and reuse whenever you come to Hope.
Gloves will be shared and then discarded when you leave to prevent spread of germs.
In the Sanctuary, please leave at least three chairs between you and someone else who is not of your household. Rows are sectioned off to provide space for all.
Sincere thanks for your cooperation. An over-abundance of caution is necessary to keep everyone
safe and healthy while at the same time providing worship to our God with integrity, faith, and joy!
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