On this, the birthday of the Christian Church, let us welcome God's Holy Spirit into our hearts and into the heart of our Church.
Invitation to Confession:
Holy Spirit, sometimes our hearts are cold or luke-warm.
Lord, have mercy.Holy Spirit, sometimes we fail to believe that you still have power in human lives.
Christ, have mercy.Holy Spirit, sometimes we are afraid to allow you fully into our lives.
Lord, have mercy.
Reading:
John 15:26-27, 16:4-15
"When the Advocate comes, whom
I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the
Father, he will testify on my behalf. [27] You also are to testify because you
have been with me from the beginning. I have said these things to you so that
when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. "I did not
say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. [5] But now
I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
[6] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
[7] Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away,
for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will
send him to you. [8] And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin
and righteousness and judgment: [9] about sin, because they do not believe in
me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see
me no longer; [11] about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been
condemned. [12] "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the
truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and
he will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He will glorify me,
because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. [15] All that the
Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and
declare it to you.
Acts 2:1-21
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 Jews 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, "Men of Judea 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 young men shall see visions, and your old
men 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.'
Story:
There is a huge interest in the supernatural in children's literature, which often talks about God without using the word, "God". In this story about the sudden work of the Holy Spirit, I've borrowed from Star Wars and called the Holy Spirit, the "Force".
May The Force Go With You
Martin longed to be a super-hero. He never missed watching Batman or Superman or Spiderman on the television, and he loved all the martial arts films and martial arts cartoons. When he wasn't watching them on television, he read comics about them.
Martin knew it took years of training to become proficient in martial arts, although all the super-heroes had a spark of something special which had helped them along the way. Martin spent hours in his room practising what he hoped were the right martial arts moves and he was often to be seen pretend kick-boxing and uttering strange martial arts cries. He had even tried creeping up the wall like Spiderman, but that hadn't worked.
Martin kept very quiet about his inner desires. Once upon a time he had boasted at school about his favourite heroes but his classmates had turned him into a laughing stock, so now he never said a word. Martin didn't have many friends, but was happy with his own company. Besides, his super-heroes were so real to him that they were better than having friends. They never laughed at Martin and were always a source of inspiration to him.
One day when he was all alone at home and practising his martial arts moves, Martin fell and crashed out through the glass of the patio doors. As he lay stunned in a pile of broken glass, Martin became aware that his wrist was bleeding. Blood was pumping out and staining the ground all around him. Then Martin became aware of intense pain in his leg, which was doubled underneath him.
Martin began to scream for help, but nobody was at home and nobody came. He felt terror creep up on him, filling his mind and he wondered whether he would bleed to death. Then he remembered his heroes and made himself calm down enough to think what they would do.
A voice inside himself said, "May the Force go with you," and to his amazement Martin found he could move. Gritting his teeth and trying to block out the pain, Martin began to crawl back over the broken glass inside the house. Gathering more cuts as he inched his way through the shards of glass, Martin eventually reached the phone. He dialled 999 and asked in a firm voice for an ambulance.
The telephone operator kept talking to him and told him to press a pad of cloth firmly onto the wound in his arm. Martin managed to pull off his shirt and bundle it into a pad. He pressed firmly on his arm despite the pain and the flow of blood began to diminish. Martin kept reminding himself that the Force was with him, and although he was beginning to feel very woozy, he managed to keep alert until the ambulance arrived.
Martin was in hospital for several days because he had severed an artery in his wrist and broken his leg. The doctors were amazed that he had been able to move at all and kept telling him how fortunate he had been.
But Martin knew it wasn't good fortune. The Force really had been with him and had helped him. He knew then that the Force would always be with him and he thanked God for it.
Activity:
One of the most effective ways of displaying the power of the Spirit is to blow up a balloon. The harder it is to blow up the better, for many people find it difficult to fill their lives with the Spirit. When the balloon is full you could tie a knot in the neck and invite the children to pat the balloon between each other. It's difficult to pat a balloon very far, and if you were to pat it around out of doors it would soon fly away on the breeze. You can keep it contained, but only if you shut the doors. You can't push the Spirit around too much, and if you want to control the Spirit you must keep the doors of your heart firmly shut.
Then, holding the neck very tightly so that no air escapes, untie the knot in the neck. Let the balloon go. It will fly around the room very fast and in a very unpredictable fashion. When the Spirit is allowed to go free, the Spirit has tremendous power and is unpredictable.
Diary Time: For details, click here.
Talk about things that are unpredictable and ask the children what that feels like. To most of us, it's scary because we have no control. Talk about the Holy Spirit, and how at times the Spirit can be so powerful that we feel afraid. Ask the children whether they have ever felt afraid of doing something new (such as taking their feet off the ground for the first time when learning to swim) and ask what happened to the fear as soon as they had mastered the new skill. Invite them to draw this experience or write about it. Then point out that for much of the time, the Spirit is gentle and quiet, like the air in the balloon, but that sometimes the Spirit is full of power. Point out too, that God never asks anything of us which is too difficult for us, but that he will always equip us for the tasks he has in mind for us, just as God equipped the children with new skills even when they were afraid.
Intercession:
Holy Spirit of God, fill our Church with such power that our Church flings its doors wide open. Give our Church the courage to cope with the unpredictability of the power of your Spirit and the faith to trust your Spirit wherever your Spirit leads us.
Holy Spirit of God, we need miracles in our world, for people continue to hurt each other, and to exploit each other and the world's natural resources. Fill our world with your power and help us to make things new in our world.
Holy Spirit of God, as we grow older, may your Spirit grow in our hearts so that your fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control grow within us.
Holy Spirit of God, through your power people and situations can be healed. We bring into your presence those people and situations which need our prayers, asking you to heal them ...
Blessing:
May the Holy Spirit of God
fill your life with power
and may the fruits of the Spirit
grow within you.
And the blessing of God almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you now,
be in your homes and in your families
and with all those whom you love
and for whom you pray,
now and always.
Amen.
