Psalm 118

This is the day that God has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it!

It is good to give thanks to God;

God’s goodness will last forever.

Open the gates of righteousness

that I may praise my Maker.

I thank you, for you answered me;

you have become my salvation.

This is the work of God;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

-

- Psalm 118 selection adaptation from Iona Abbey Worship Book.

Psalm 103, selected text

(Adapted from The Iona Abbey Worship Book)

God brings justice to those who are oppressed,

as shown to Moses and his people.

God is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, constant in love.

God will not always be the accuser

or keep anger hot forever.

God does not deal with us as we deserve,

nor punish according to our sins.

God’s love for all faithful people

is as high and vast as the heavens.

As far as the east lies from the west,

God removes the wrong we have done.

Bless the Lord, my soul,

and all that is within me bless God’s holy name.

Psalm 116

(adaptation from the Iona Abbey Worship Book)

I love the Lord who listens to me;

my prayers are heard in heaven.

Death and hell laid hold of me;

I was desperate, distressed, and in anguish.

Then I called on the name of God:

Save me! Save my life!

God is gracious and merciful;

I was rescued from all that oppressed me.

My life was delivered from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling.

What shall I offer to God in return

for all the grace I received?

I will lift the cup of salvation

and call on God by name.

I will offer my gift of gratitude

in the place beloved by God.

I will make my vows to my Maker

in the presence of all God’s people.

Holy Spirit,

You’re present all the time.

Awaken us to that reality,

so that we may

see you,

feel you,

know you,

follow you.

Amen.

You lift up the soul, O God, and make the eyes sparkle. 

-- Ecclesiasticus 34:20

“We seem to think that God speaks by seconding the ideas we've already adopted, but God nearly always catches us by surprise. If it's God's Spirit blowing, someone ends up having feathers ruffled in an unforeseen way. God tends to confound, astonish, and flabbergast.”

– Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits

“I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and

God of our journeying,

inviting us to travel with you,

forgive us when we cling to outworn security,

afraid to let go of what is safe and familiar.

Give us courage

to take the risk

of answering your call

into joyous adventure.

- from Bare Feet and Buttercups, Ruth Burgess, Wild Goose Publications

God of all creation, you loved us into being,

yet we often flee our rightful place in your creation.

We confess that we exploit the gifts you place around us

and dominate the richness of the natural order.

Forgive our greedy grasping.

We confess our part in the devastation of our planet home,

mirrored in the violence of cities, and the brokenness of hearts.

Forgive and restore us, O God.

Nurturing God, remind us of other ways to live

and of a place called home, where creation reflects your goodness

and each thing lives in balance with all others.

Come and find us, set us right again,

and take us home.

Amen.

- from Bare Feet and Buttercups: Resources for Ordinary Time

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your children will prophesy.

Your young will see visions.

Your elders will dream dreams.

Even upon my servants, men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

-- Acts 2:1-4, 17-18, Common English Bible