Service for Pentecost Sunday 20th June 2021 at St Paul’s Church and on Zoom

Fr. Leonard will lead the worship and preach.

 

Priest:                In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All:                     Amen.  Alleluia!

 

1 Come down, O Love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing. 

 

2 O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming. 

 

3 And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace,
till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.

 

 

Assistant:         Jesus Christ, whom we worship, is our crucified, risen and ascended Lord and we have walked

with him through this journey of love. We have faced the agony of his suffering and death

on a cross. We have rejoiced at hiss bursting free from the bonds of death. We have enjoyed

his risen presence with us and his revelation of himself through the breaking of bread. We

have seen his return to the throne before which every knee shall bow and every tongue

confess that this Jesus is Lord. And now, with the followers of his own time, we await the

coming of the Holy Spirit, his gift to his people, through whom we make Christ known to the

the world.

 

There follows a short period of silence and stillness

 

Assistant:         Your raise the dead to life in the spirit.

Kyrie eleison

     All:                     Kyrie eleison

     Assistant:          You bring pardon and peace to the broken in spirit.

                                Christe eleison

     All:                     Christe eleison

Assistant:          You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided .

                                Kyrie eleison

    All:                      Kyrie eleison

 

Priest:   May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and bring you to new life.   Amen.

 

Gloria                                         (tune: Skye Boat Song)             

Glory to God in the heaven above, peace to his friends on earth.

Lord God of hosts, and our heavenly King, Father and mighty God.

We worship you, we give you thanks, praise to your holy name.

‘Glory to God’ heaven declares ‘Glory’ creation sings.

Refrain:  Glory to God in the heaven above, peace to his friends on earth.

                God, ever three, yet eternally one, glorious Trinity.

 

Son of the Father, and Lord of us all, holy eternal Lamb,

Christ, who has carried the sin of the world, mercy on us, we pray.

Jesus our God, Saviour and Judge, answer us when we cry;

Seated on high, reigning with God, hear and receive our prayer.  Refrain.

 

You, Jesus Christ, are the Lord, the Most High, you are the Holy One.

You, only you, with the Spirit divine, reign in the Father’s love.

Blessed are you, Father and Son, Spirit of grace and truth;

Myst’ry profound, veiled yet revealed, hidden in depths of light.  Refrain

 

Collect:  Let us pray     (Collect of the Day) 

Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, ignite in us your holy fire; strengthen your children with the gift of faith, revive your Church with the breath of love, and renew the face of the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:  Amen.

 

First Reading    (please sit)                                                                 Acts 2, 1-21      (Nelly Paraskevopoulou)

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘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.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

 

Reader:                  This is the word of the Lord.

All:                           Thanks be to God.

 

Sung Alleluia

 

Assistant:               Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in them

the fire of your love .

All:                          Alleluia

Assistant:               The Lord be with you

All:                           and also with you

Assistant:               Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John     (John 15, 26-27; 16, 4-15)

All:                          Glory to you, O Lord

“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. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. But 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. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 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. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

 

Assistant:               This is the gospel of Christ

All:                           Praise to you, O Christ.

 

Sermon                  Fr. Leonard

 

Creed  (led by the Assistant)

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

Intercessions:  (kneel or sit) Lord in your mercy;      All:  hear our prayer               

 

Peace:     The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit . Alleluia.

                  The peace of the Lord be always with you.

All:           And also with you. Alleluia.

 

1 Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire
and lighten with celestial fire;
thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

 

2 Thy blessed unction from above
is comfort, life, and fire of love;
enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our mortal sight.

 

3 Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but one;
that through the ages all along
this may be our endless song:

 

4 Praise to thine eternal merit,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer:  (to be prayed in whichever language you chose)

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 who 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.

 

All:  Faithful God, who fulfilled the promises of Easter by sending us your Holy Spirit and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal: open our lips by your Spirit, that every tongue may tell of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

1 Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

 

2 O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

 

3 All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore. 

 

Blessing and sending out

Priest:        May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the blessing ….

Assistant:  Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia.

All:              In the name of Christ. Amen.    Alleluia, Alleluia.     

 

NOTICES

In the Autumn there will be a new book study – Rowan Williams’ Meeting God in Mark. Details to come.

 

Sunday Noon Zoom link – this now stops for the summer season. The Liturgy is at 10.00am on Wednesdays and Sundays. Please register with Fr. Leonard as we can only have 15 inside the church. Others can sit outside and take advantage of our new outside speakers!

 

Fr. Leonard’s usual Day Off – Monday  (in emergencies contact Deacon Christine)

Home tel :  210 72 14 906;  email anglican@otenet.gr

Deacon Chris: 22950 53164: Day off – Friday

Swedish Church: contact Fr. Bjorn on 694 607 2428  (Swedish Sunday Mass at St. Paul’s at 12 Noon)

 

The Anglican Church in Greece (including St. Paul’s) is self-financing, and receives no income other than from the generosity of those who worship here. We are a legal body and we pay tax. Our tax number is 997073090. If you wish to donate direct to our bank (IBAN) the account with Piraeus Bank is:  The Anglican Church in Greece, St. Paul’s Athens  GR 820172 0500 0050 5008 6327 479  Swift code is  PIRB GRAA