WELCOME TO EMMANUEL

May 11, 2008

Seasoned disciples were waiting in Jerusalem, praying, planning when suddenly, it seems, a window of heaven was opened, and a mighty draft of wind rushed out. Jesus had promised the Spirit's arrival. Now it was time to hoist the Church's sails.

TODAY’S READINGS

First Reading: Acts 2:1–21
Jerusalem was full of religious visitors for the harvest festival 50 days after Passover ((Pentecost means "50"). It was then that God saw fit to introduce God’s own Spirit to the mix, emboldening the disciples to speak out about Jesus, his meaning and his promise.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

⁵Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" ¹³But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

¹⁴But 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. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, 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.
¹⁸Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
The Word of the Lord / Thanks be to God

3bAnd no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
The Word of the Lord / Thanks be to God

Gospel: John 20:19–23
It was no small task to keep the church unified in Christ in those earliest years. Here Paul does some explaining and encouraging to the famously diverse church in Corinth

The Gospel is written.../ Glory to you, O Lord.
¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
The Good News of the Lord / Praise to you, O Christ

Prelude: " Priere au Notre Dame " by Boëllmann
Postlude: " Come Holy Spirit" by Bach

Special music "Exultation" by Bill Ingram, Junior Bells

Welcome to all. Emmanuel is a home for all who seek God’s care, guiding, nurture and call. We’re pleased to be worshiping together this morning. The pastors and other members are happy to answer any questions you might have about Emmanuel’s life and mission. There are also information cards in the pew racks for notes, needs and prayer concerns. Thank you for your presence here.

CLASS TODAY
9:15 A.M. CLASSES (consider one for yourself!)
Youth classes – meet in their regular classrooms.

The Children of Abraham, as you know, wound up as religious cousins, Muslim, Jew and Christian, living out three strands of faith traditions. Beginning this Sunday the class will kick off. Today we welcome Guadalupe Pérez-Anzaldo in the library with Pr. Dawna downstairs.

TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Wear Red. Today marks the end of the Easter Season, and we begin the Pentecost Season in a blaze of fire and the Holy Spirit. Red is the color of the day – wear it lavishly.

Mens’ Breakfast The next one is on Wednesday, May 14 at 6:15 a.m. Kurt Queller is cooking and Pr. Dean Stewart is devoting. See you there!

Don’t forget Piecemakers at 9am Wednesday, May 14 with a potluck lunch afterwards. The ladies work on quilts for Lutheran World Relief and welcome all helpers.

The members of First Presbyterian Church are honoring the memory of the sad, heroic and faithful events of last May 19 and 20, with series of commemorations around the anniversary this year including:
* Visual art displayed in the upper chapel room the week of the 19th .
* Gather with the Moscow Community in the Sanctuary on May 20th at 6:30 p.m. for readings, responses, and remembrances