Pentecost Sunday, May 20, 2018
Offered by Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor

Holy Spirit, Creator, in the beginning you moved over the waters.
From your breath, all creation drew life. Without you, life turns to dust.
Holy Spirit, Power, you came as fire to Jesus’ disciples;
you gave us voice before the rulers of this world.
Without you, we can do nothing.
Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, you created us children of God;
you make us the living temple of your presence.
Without you, we are not fully alive or fully known.

O God, we trust all this about who you are—
that you are the revolutionary power of love,
that you are the world-changing power of mercy.

And O God, our Pentecost God, how we need you—
we need your love and your mercy in these days.
These can feel like anxious days, fear-filled days:
more violence in another school; the Middle East on edge;
people not feeling seen or known or loved;
our own ever-sharpening ability to be quick to dismiss or disparage or ignore.

O God, these feel like anxious days, fear-filled days, and we need you.
We need you to move over us like you moved over those waters,
bringing life and goodness and beauty out of our chaos and disorder.
We need you to come to us as fire as you did for those first disciples—
the fire of your Pentecostal passion for justice.
Set us aflame with it and keep the heat stoked within our hearts.

We need you to come to us and once again mold us into your temples of presence.
Make us living and breathing proclaimers of your claim on this world,
Make us a people who refuse to turn our backs on each other
or on any of your children, a people committed to seeing
your beautiful divine image in every single face,
a people who, like Bishop Curry preached yesterday,
are ready to live as the family that we actually are.

O God, our Pentecost God, we need you.
We need you to keep moving, keep surprising us,
keep coming at us from new directions.
With your warmth, your revolutionary love and world-changing mercy,
help us to keep moving and living in the ways you would have us go.

We pray all this in your name, O God,
our Creator, our Savior, and our Sustainer,
and we also pray the way you once taught us to pray saying, Our Father . . .

Prayer adapted from Prayers of the People in the new Book of Common Worship (2018)