"When the Lord returned the captives of Zion we were like those who dream" Psalm 126:1
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// Sundays @10 am
Day of Pentecost
Ten days after the ascension of Christ and fifty days after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit
descended on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was an established Jewish festival
also known as the Feast of Weeks, which drew people from many nations back to Jerusalem
(Lev. 23:15-21; Deut. 16:16).
Opening of Worship
Good morning!
This is Pentecost Sunday. A day for the church, like Israel, to tell the story which God is the main character.
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas points out that the church cannot tell that story without becoming part of the tale.
Here the teller and the tale are one for this is not just another possible story about the way the world is.
It is the story of the world as created and redeemed by God.
Hauerwas reminds us that this story, the story of the world, cannot be told rightly unless it includes the story of the church as God’s creation to heal our separateness.
Let us believe and proclaim that what God did at Pentecost he continues to do to renew and to sustain the presence of the church so that the world might know there is an alternative to Babel.
God will pour out the Spirit on all flesh,
and our daughters and sons shall prophesy.
Our old ones shall dream dreams,
and our young ones shall see visions;
and all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.
Come, let us call upon the name of the Lord.
—based on Acts 2:17-21
By sending down a confusion of languages,
the Most High scattered the nations.
By distributing the tongues of fire,
God calls all peoples into unity.
In harmony we glorify the Holy Spirit.
In the sound of a mighty wind rushing from the heavens,
the Most High trumpets good news over the earth.
And those who once cast nets to fish in the sea
now cast your Word to fish among people.
We worship and glorify the Holy Spirit.
May the Savior who opens the gates of paradise
open our hearts to wisdom and truth.
Prayer of Invocation
Come, Creator Spirit, and move over this chaotic world.
Come, Creator Spirit, and bring life to this world.
Come, Creator Spirit, and move over the chaos of our lives.
Come, Creator Spirit, and bring us new life.
Spirit of the living God, visit us again on this day of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Like a rushing wind that sweeps away all barriers,
come, Holy Spirit.
Like tongues of fire that set our hearts aflame,
come, Holy Spirit.
With speech that unites the Babel of our tongues,
come, Holy Spirit.
With love that overlaps the boundaries of race and nation,
come, Holy Spirit.
With power from above to make our weakness strong,
come, Holy Spirit. Amen.
Song | congregation
His Kingdom Now Is Come (Behold, Behold)
The First Testament // The Law & the Prophets
Numbers 11:24-30 (NRSV)
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
The Psalms // A Sacred Song
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (NIV)
How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.
Songs | congregation
// He Is Faithful
// Father, Son, Spirit
// Your Pour Out Mercy (Time and Time Again)
Generosity & Giving
The tithes and donations you make to DreamHouse Church make a difference to our church, our community, the people of Newport News, and world missions. There are various ways you can donate. We pass a collection plate during services and electronic giving is available for 24/7 donations. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” (Proverbs 3:9).
The Second Testament // The Epistles
Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV)
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.”
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.’
“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
The Second Testament // The Gospel
John 7:37-39; John 20:19-23 (NRSV)
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
---
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 Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The Lord's Supper // Communion
Jesus said,
“I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
(from John 6:35, NRSV)
Hear the words of the institution of the Holy
Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took
bread, and after giving thanks to God, he
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do
this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
When ever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
Every time you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen
Lord until he comes.
With thanksgiving, let us offer God our grateful praise.
(based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Therefore we proclaim our faith
as signed and sealed in this sacrament:
[sung or spoken]
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Doxology and Benediction // The Sending & the Blessing
May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing
so that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
—from Romans 15:13, NRSV