NEWCASTLE UNITED CHURCHMay 31, 2020 10:30 a.m.

Pentecost Sunday“As followers of Christ, we are called to be a worshipping and learning, receiving and giving community of

faith, hope and love.” – Newcastle United Church Mission Statement

Surely God is in this place. Help me notice.We Approach God

Lighting The Christ Candle

A Time of Centring – “Spirit, Open My Heart” (chorus) MV # 79(Words Copyright 1996 The Pilgrim Press)

Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living. As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving, Spirit, open my heart. (sung through twice)

Call to Worship (John 7:37-39) “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.”

Come and worship, alive in the Spirit!

Hymn of Praise “Spirit, Spirit Of Gentleness” # 375(Words and music copyright 1978 James K. Manley)

Spirit, Spirit of gentleness, blow thro’ the wilderness calling and free, Spirit, Spirit of restlessness, stir me from placidness, Wind, Wind on the sea

You moved on the waters, you called to the deep, then you coaxed up the mountains from the valleys of sleep; and over the eons you called to each thing: wake from your slumbers and rise on your wings. RYou call from tomorrow, you break ancient schemes, from the bondage of sorrow the captives dream dreams, our women see visions, our men clear their eyes, with bold new decisions your people arise. R

Prayer of Approach (Unison)

Below is the service I have created for this Sunday. I hope this is something you can use for personal/family worship. We are all worshiping together, no matter where we are. If you are joining us online this week then please have this resource with you so you have the words

to the responses and hymns at your fingertips in case you can’t see the screen.Rev. Mary-Jane

The words provided for the hymns are done with permission under One License # A-727596.

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Send your Spirit upon us this day, O God. Touch us with the flames of your love. Stir us with the power of your word. Keep us strong in faith and grounded in truth. Then, send us out in the power of your Spirit to share the love of Jesus with everyone. Amen.(written by Jean Leckie, Gathering, Pentecost 1 2020, p. 28. Used with permission.)

We Hear God’s WordHymn “She Comes Sailing On The Wind” # 380(Words & Music copyright 1987 Common Cup Company)

She comes sailing on the wind, her wings flashing in the sun; on a journey just begun, she flies on. And in the passage of her flight, her song rings out through the night, full of laughter, full of light, she flies on.

Many were the dreamers whose eyes were given sight when the Spirit filled their dreams with life and form. Deserts turned to gardens, broken hearts found new delight, and then down the ages still she flew on. RLong after the deep darkness that fell upon the world, after dawn returned in flame of rising sun, the Spirit touched the earth again, again her wings unfurled, bringing life in wind and fire as she flew on. R

A Time To Be Children

Today is a very important birthday. Do you know whose birthday it is? Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Christian church. Before Jesus was born, were there any Christin churches? No. There were Jewish synagogues where God’s people, the Israelites, went to worship. Jesus taught in the synagogues while he was here on earth.

After Jesus died and rose from the dead, he told his disciples that although he would be returning to God, they would not be left all alone. Jesus promised that that the Holy Spirit would be sent to remain with them and in them. God would always be with them. They just had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come.

And what God has promised, God delivers! On the day of Pentecost, all the disciples were gathered together and there was the sound of a rushing wind and over every disciple’s head, a flame appeared. The Holy Spirit filled every person in the room, and they began preaching the Gospel in many different languages. The Holy Spirit came, just as Jesus had promised. That was the birthday of the Christian church.

The first birthday of the church sounds like it was a very exciting day. Do you think there was cake with candles on it? Probably not, although this Sunday we have food to celebrate at communion. They didn’t have cake, but there were flames. Over the disciples’ heads, there were flames to show that the Holy Spirit was there. I put flames in the story today.

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At a birthday, we often have candles lit on the cake. What else do you have at a birthday? Yep, gifts! We give gifts, don’t we? Were there gifts on that first birthday of the church? Yes! The Holy Spirit gave gifts to the disciples then and the Holy Spirit gives gifts to us today. Under each of the flames you will notice a word. It describes a gift or a talent that God might give to someone so they can help others and serve the Lord. There are lots more than I could put here.

It's important to remember that one gift is not better than another. All of the gifts and talents are important in God’s family. Treasure the gifts that God has given to you!

Numbers 11:24-30 Moses shares the spirit given to him.

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b God’s spirit brings life and renewal. VU #827Sung Response: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

O God, how manifold are your works!With Wisdom at your side you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. R

There lies the great and mighty Sea, teeming with living things both great and small.

Upon it sail the ships, and there is Leviathan, the monster you made to play in it.

All these look to you, to give them their food in due season.What you give them they gather up.When you open your hand, you fill them with good things.

But when you hide your face they despair.When you take away their breath, they die, and return to dust.

But when you send out your spirit, they live again, and you renew the face of the earth. R

May your glory, O God, endure forever. May you rejoice, O God, in your works.

When you look at the earth it trembles, when you touch the mountains they smoke.

I will sing to God as long as I live.I will praise my God while I have being. R

Acts 2:1-21 The Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrives in wind and flame.This is the Word of the Lord.

Organizer Teacher Healer Artist Speaker

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Thanks be to God.

Hymn “Breathe On Me, Breath Of God” # 382

Breathe on me, breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of meglows with thy fire divine.

Message

Today is a celebration, the celebration of the festival of Pentecost. Some know it as the birth of the Christian church, others as a festival dating back to our Jewish roots. For Luke, who wrote both the gospel which bears his name and the book of Acts, Pentecost is the “founding day” of the Christian church because it was then that God empowered apostles and disciples with the Spirit so that they might bear witness to Jesus Christ and the salvation God accomplished in him.

Originally, Israel celebrated Pentecost as the festival of weeks. It occurred fifty days afterPassover and marked the conclusion of the grain harvest. Following the destruction of the temple in 70AD, however, the Jews used Pentecost to commemorate the covenant that God had made with Israel at Mt. Sinai. It is, therefore, an appropriate time to celebrate the fulfillment of the new covenant God gave us in Jesus Christ.As faithful Jews, the disciples had gathered to celebrate this feast. Probably the disciples were

not in the same celebrative mood as other Jews gathered for the Feast from all over the known world. The last time the disciples had been together for a festival like this – for the Passover – things had seemed to go all wrong.But at Pentecost, this mood changes; things seem to go right as Jesus’ promise to his followers

to give them the gift of the Spirit is fulfilled. The disciples now have the power to take the message of Jesus to the whole world. The word power is derived from an Old French word meaning “to be able.” When we return to this definition, the real question becomes, “What do you want to be able to do or be, to feel or enjoy?” The power of Pentecost is an enabling force. The Holy Spirit empowers one to lead by example rather than by dominance, to share rather than hoard, to flow with the present rather than scheme for the future.Today we celebrate the giving of this power. It is God who enables us to do, or to be, to feel or

enjoy. It has always been God who provided the power. From the beginning of creation, it is the power of God that brings life and Pentecost is a reminder of this gift through the Spirit of God. In the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, it is the same word which is used for both wind and spirit. It is God’s “breath” or Spirit which is creating in the world and it is God’s breath which sustains life. When God breathed upon that company of first disciples assembled in Jerusalem, they felt it as wind, but it was really a breath of hope and life, the like of which no one had ever known. No wonder there was a contingent on the street who thought they smelled liquor.When the Spirit is poured out it is experienced in different ways, through different abilities and

expressions. But there is one Spirit, the Spirit of God. Filled with the Spirit, the disciples are commissioned to go out into the world teaching and healing as Jesus had done.God breathes life into the church through a mighty rush of wind because nothing less will work.

The surge of the Spirit pushes the church out of the upper room in Jerusalem and into the boardroom, the courtroom, and the surgery waiting room.

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The task entrusted to the disciples is one with the task God entrusted to Jesus. Through encounter with the disciples, the world is summoned to decide whether or not to accept the forgiveness, light, and life that God offers in Jesus, the Son. As God sent Jesus into the world, so the church is sent into the world. To equip the church for its ministry, the Holy Spirit is bestowed on it, as in the Sacrament of Baptism.

When Thomas Alva Edison died in 1931, a committee met to plan a proper tribute to his genius. The members thought one dramatic way to demonstrate the importance of Edison’s contribution would be for President Hoover to order the power companies of America to shut off all electricity for one minute. But it didn’t take them long to realize that so tightly had electricity interwoven itself in the day-to-day fabric of modern life that even one minute without power would have brought incalculable disruption, danger and economic loss. The idea was quickly abandoned.

We have all discovered how important power is in our lives for the practical everyday comforts we have come to enjoy, in many cases, depend upon. It is true that today’s young people, and most of us older people too, could never go back to the way it used to be and survive the way many did. We need the power we have been given and come to rely upon. The human spirit, likewise, cannot survive without the constant input of the power of the Spirit of God. And so, we must find a way to get this power into our lives. Maybe that is what we were supposed to be thinking about for the last couple of months.

So where does that leave us in the twenty-first century? Where does that leave us in a pandemic world? It leaves us in the continuing community called the church. Each Sunday we join together to worship God. We gathered in a particular place with a particular group of people, just as the disciples did at Pentecost so long ago. Now we may gather on a particular social media platform with a particular group of people, or in our mind’s eye we are in a particular place with that group of people, even as we are reading this at home, alone, but we do so in the spirit of those original disciples.

It is significant that the Holy Spirit was bestowed upon the disciples while in community, not during individual encounters. It is as if community is the natural setting for Christian growth and practice. That is one of the reasons we lament this new, separate way of having to be. There is a hint here that at least part of the immense power of the first Pentecost derives from the early Christians being in community, gathered in a particular place. Each week we repeat this situation, however we can, and it is in this community that we feel the presence of the Spirit and the power to enable us to follow the commission Jesus gave to all disciples. In baptism, we all received the one Spirit, and the Spirit caused us all to die and rise with Christ and thus to become new creatures incorporated into his body.

Christians are well aware that the Holy Spirit can enter into individual experiences in a life changing way. We also know that there is an instinctive urge to share such an experience with others, to become part of some Christian worshipping community. More and more in the last few decades we have discovered that good and great things happen in congregations which have begun to see themselves not as a number of separate individuals who happen to use a building in

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common at regular intervals, but as a community whose lives are at least to some degree interwoven and mutually caring. This is an even more significant thought now.

We Christians are the ones upon whom God has poured out the Spirit and we are a diverse lot. We Christians face a whole world waiting to hear from us. That first festival of Pentecost, what a revolutionary experience! They knew it was coming, but could they possibly imagine what it would be like? What a shake-up of their perceptions of reality! And what demands it placed on them!

The rush of wind broke down the barriers. The Spirit of God permitted different people to being together. A beautiful conspiracy was under way. The Spirit of God had begun to reconfigure lives.

In today’s world we have seen the revolutionary Pentecost faith of Christians in places around the world. And now we experience it here at home, as we look to live out this revolutionary call in a new way. A Christian, to be a Christian, is one engaged in witness. To speak of a Christian as not engaged in witness is a contradiction in terms.

At its birth, the church, filled with God’s Spirit, proclaims a marvellous, inclusive vision; the barriers of languages, race, nationality, gender, age, and class come crashing down. We must remember and celebrate this vision each Pentecost so that it will not be lost. On Pentecost, Christians are summoned to raise their heads, to look beyond their corner of town, and recognize anew that God has, in their baptisms, empowered them with the Spirit so that they might assume their places in the long train of all Jesus’ disciples, a train which continued in those who began our church, and which you all have joined in turn, so that we attest to those both near and far that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

When the wind blows things happen. One sixth grader has defined the wind this way: “The wind is like air, only pushier!” God is like this. God’s breath is pushier than just air. God’s breath brings creation. It created a new church in Jerusalem that day, it created a new church in Newcastle years ago, it will create a new way of being church in the face of a new world reality. God’s wind is one of strength, hope, gifts, and spirit. Let God’s spirit blow in you this Pentecost season. Amen.

We Respond To God’s WordOffering InvitationAs the Spirit blows through our lives and our world, we are moved to share the good news. Part of that good news is that we have life, the abundant life Christ offered us. It is from that abundance that we offer our time, talent and treasure, each and every day…

The Offertory (As we are not together, take a moment to think of all you can offer to God this week, even cooped up in your own home. Dedicate those things to God now.)

Your work, O God, needs many hands to help you everywhere, and some there are who cannot serve unless our gifts we share.

(VU #537 v.1)

Dedication Prayer (Unison)We are reminded today, O God, that the church is not a physical place, but a people, your people. You fill your people with your Spirit and send us into the world. Send all we have to offer into the world that our church, our community and our world may know the power of your Spirit. Amen.

Communion Hymn “One Bread, One Body” # 467

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One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless; and we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.

Gentile or Jew, servant of free, woman or man, no more. RMany the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all. R

Invitation to the TableToday as we gather, we do so in a very different way than when we usually have communion. I cannot preside over all the elements as when they sit on one table at the front of the church. But what we do when we celebrate Communion is remember the very part of the story of Jesus’ passion that we just heard/read from the scriptures. Jesus says we are to remember him when we come to the table. Today the table is many tables and I trust that my blessing may reach each one in the spirit that Jesus intended. For we do gather to remember, to celebrate his love for all humanity and to be united in a meal as family. Communion brings us together in a special way, even today in our isolation. So come, all who wish to remember and to celebrate that because of the love shown by Jesus, today we are a family united in God’s love.

Prayer of Great Thanksgiving (Responsive)

The Holy One is here. God’s Spirit is with us. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to God. It is right to offer thanks and praise.

Holy God of wind and fire, your Spirit renews the face of the earth and warms the hearts of your people. We give you thanks for your gifts of Pentecostal power: tongues that utter prophetic words of truth and justice; flames that kindle new visions of compassion and peace; fresh breezes that blow down the walls which separate us from you and one another. And so, it is that we join with every voice and tongue on earth and in the heavens to give you praise:Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts!Heaven and earth are full of your glory!Heaven and earth praise you, O God most high!As we gather at this table, we remember that on the night before he died, Jesus had supper with his friends. He took a

loaf of bread, thanked you as we have thanked you, broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying: “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Each time you do this, remember me.” Then, he took a cup, and after giving thanks, passed it to his friends, saying: “Drink. This cup is the promise of God, made in my blood. Each time you drink from this cup, remember me.” Loving God, we rejoice in the gift of your grace, remembering Christ’s life and death, proclaiming his resurrection, waiting in hope for his coming again. Grant that in praise and thanksgiving, we may so offer ourselves to you that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith:

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We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory. Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon this offering of your church, that we who eat and drink at Christ’s table may share in his life. Pour out your Spirit upon the whole earth,and make it your new creation. Gather your church together from the ends of the earth into your realm where peace and justice are revealed—that we, with all your people, of every language, race, and nation,may share the banquet you have promised. We praise you, eternal God, through Christ your Word made flesh, and in the power of your life-giving Spirit, now and forever. These and all our prayers we gather into the prayer Jesus taught…Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sharing the Bread and Cup

(Online I will use the words of institution as we prepare to take the bread and cup together. If you are using the written service please read Matthew 26:26-28 as this is the cornerstone of what we do.)

Prayer after Communion (Unison)

Life-giving God, may we, who share Christ’s body, live his risen life; we, who drink his cup, bring new life to others; we, whom the Spirit lights, give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so that we and all your children shall be free, and all creation will live to praise your name. Amen.

Closing Hymn “O Worship The King” # 235

O worship the King, all glorious above, O gratefully sing God’s power and God’s love; our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise.Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in you do we trust, nor find you to fail; your mercies how tender, how firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

Commissioning and Benediction  

The Spirit has blown through us with a creating and energizing power.Our hearts are warmed with the presence of the Spirit.The Spirit dwells within us and goes with us beyond this time of worship.The Spirit is always near and always at work, in you and others.And may the grace of Christ attend you, the love of God surround you,

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and the Holy Spirit keep each one of you, now and always. Amen.

Sung Blessing “Dance With The Spirit” MV # 156(Words & Music copyright 1995 Desert Flower Music)

Dance with the Spirit early in the mornin’, walk with the Spirit throughout the long day. Work and hope for the new life abornin’, listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

And online we end together (wait for me to get your mics unmuted) And the people say:Hallelujah and Amen!

Weekly Happenings:

Official Board Meeting – Tuesday, June 2 at 7 pm via Zoom. Board Members if you do not already have your information for the meeting please email the church office.

Father’s Day pictures – Since we are still meeting virtually, we will do a Father’s day tribute similar to what we did for Mother’s day. If you would like to contribute a picture to the video of your father, or someone who was a father figure to you, please send to the church office, or drop off a hard copy at the church. If you drop a picture at the church please send an email to let us know

it is there. At least one mother picture went astray and we don’t want that to happen again. (Not to worry, we found her and we will include her in our new video.) Please submit pictures by Friday, June 19th.

The Session is looking for people who would be willing to help lead online during the summer. Rev. Mary-Jane will be away on July 5 & 12, and August 2 & 9.  If you are interested in this possibility and willing to explore it further please contact Rev. Mary-Jane by phone, text (905-244-8453) or email (newcastleunitedchurch@bellnet.ca) by June 15th. Thank you for considering this opportunity.

Car Wash Time! – Ken Crichton is at it again! • $25 car & van detailing service for the church building fund• This is a car wash, trunk vacuum, cabin clean & carpet vacuum, inside

& outside glass, plastic and rubber engine clean & wheels/rims.  Wax an extra $5.

• Call Ken at 905-987-4162 for appointment

While we are apart, we are still gathering together at various times, for different activities on Zoom. If you haven’t thought about joining any of the gatherings, please know you are welcome to

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join at any time. The link for each activity is sent out during the week so you can join with relative ease.

Tuesday Tea & Talk on Tuesdays at 2 pm is a relaxed gathering where we start with a topic, but generally just wander wherever the conversation takes us. It is a great way to just gather with others from the church community and get to know one another and chat.

Bible Study is Wednesdays at 10 am. We have specific scriptures we look at each week, usually the ones we will encounter in worship that Sunday (these are listed with the link each week). This is not a group where you need a depth of biblical knowledge, it is where you can come to share what the scripture is staying to you, hear what it says to others, and learn a bit about the context in which things were written. It is a time of sharing what the Spirit, through the scriptures, is bringing into our lives.

Music to Wash Dishes By is recorded by Joanne (with a little help from Rev. Mary-Jane with the technical stuff, certainly not with the piano playing!) each Thursday afternoon and then posted to the website by supper time so you can enjoy at your leisure, with or without dishes.

Please note: During this time, and if you are able, please continue giving your church donations regularly. You can contact Lorna McSwan, our treasurer, at le.mcswan@bell.net or 905-987-3940.

You can arrange for drop off or pick up of offering envelopes or to register for Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR) which can be cancelled at any time. You can mail your donations to the church at: 84 Mill St. South, Newcastle, ON L1B 1K2. You can donate via CanadaHelps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/newcastle-unted-church/ through this link or the link on our website: www.newcastleunitedchurch.org “Donate” page.Thank you for considering these options. While we may not be gathering together, work is still being done and bills still have to be paid.

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Newcastle United Church