Day of Pentecost Main Service

Collect:
Almighty God, who on this day didst open the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of thy Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Ezekiel 11:17-20
"Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'

"They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 12:4-13
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Psalm: 104:25-37

  1. O Lord, how maniforld are your works *
          in wisdom you have made them all;
          the earth is full of your creatures.
  2. Yonder is the great and wide sea
          with its living things too many to number, *
          creatures both small and great.
  3. There move the ships,
          and there is that Leviathan, *
          which you have made for the sport of it.
  4. All of them look to you *
          to give them their food in due season.
  5. You give it to them; they gather it; *
          you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
  6. You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
          you take away their breath,
          and they die and return to their dust.
  7. You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
          and so you renew the face of the earth.
  8. May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; *
          may the LORD rejoice in all his works.
  9. He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
          he touches the mountains and they smoke.
  10. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; *
          I will praise my God while I have my being.
  11. May these words of mine please him; *
          I will rejoice in the LORD.
  12. Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, *
          and the wicked be no more.
  13. Bless the LORD, O my soul. *
          Hallelujah!

Gospel: John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors 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 side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore