UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST in SIMI VALLEY
Pentecost Sunday - June 8, 2003
Anne G. Cohen
Acts 2:1-21
For Our Reflection:
The wind of the Spirit is blowing,
lift me and
let me soar with the speed of time,
content to see
the dust of yesterday bury the past.
Chase the wind with me,
Dream with me,
Yesterday is gone and can't be held by wishes.
Now is the time for vision and for prayer,
This is a day for new adventures.
I do
rejoice, and I am glad.
- Marilee Zdenek, God
is a Verb
A Mighty Wind
Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty
wind...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 tongue of each.
(excerpts - Acts 2)
How Can I Keep from Singing (NCH # 476 vv.1 & 3)
Key: C
Blowin' in the Wind (v.1) Key: C
There is a recent movie entitled "A Mighty Wind." I've seen it
four
times. It is a "mockumentary" about the reunion of some folk
music
groups. The music is good; the people are eccentric; the stories are
straight out of my life. It is a movie presented in my life language -
and apparently the language of a few others - as it now has what they
are calling "a cult following."
I suppose that's the same thing that happened to Jesus... the "cult
following" thing. He told stories, he probably sang some songs; he
was
definitely an eccentric. Jesus spoke a language that struck chords in
any number of hearts and minds. He talked about economic justice and
human kindness. He mentioned the possiblity of loving enemies instead
of killing them.
Jesus was a mighty wind filling the hopeful sails of people longing for
a New World where God was present and accounted for - and humans were
truly made in that compassionate image.....
F / D/ G
Last Night I had the Strangest Dream (vv.1-2) Key: G
Last night I had the strangest dream
I'd ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
to put an end to war
I dreamed there was a mighty room
the room was filled with men (and women)
and the papers they were signing said
they'd never fight again
Peace Is (refrain and v.1) Key: G
Peace is the bread we break
Love is the river rolling
Life is the chance we take
when we call/make this earth our home
when we call/make this earth our home
In the cool breeze blowing
through the smoke and the heat
hear the gentle voices and the marching feet
singing call back the fire, draw the missiles down
and we'll call this earth our home...
**********************
If Occam had a razor, then Korzybski had a cleaver... William of
Occam... insisted that verbiage should be shaved away until the simplest
truth stands free. He recognized that language is a metaphor for truth,
not a chemical process by which truth is extracted...
Alfred Korzybski... founder of modern semantics... said, "The map is not
the territory." Meaning that the abstractions (words, graphs,
charts)
about reality are only symbols of the real world and are not to be
confused with the world itself. There is no rain or traffic delay or
pothole on road maps. Words are not the things for which they stand:
that is, the word dog is not a dog, it is a word.
And there is no universally correct word for a dog, as you will discover
if you try to buy one in a non English-speaking country. Likewise, God
is not the correct name of the ultimate mystery of the universe - it is
a word, one of many metaphors for that which is beyond names.
We speak poetry, not substance.
Not to understand this is to risk great evil. To this day, for example,
people war with each other over the correctness of creedal
forumulations, condemn each other over which words are obscene, and
alienate each other over the labeling of one another. Korzybski's
cleaver is a tool used to sharply divide words from reality.
(Robert Fulghum, Words I Wish I Wrote pp.61-62)
**********************
We speak poetry, not substance. We always have.
Every word, every note, every breath tells a story.
And the mighty wind transforms the stories into our own language,
transforms the world, piece by piece.
CAPO 3
The Times They Are A'Changin' (vv.1 & 2) Key: G
G
Em
C G
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
Am
C
D
And admit that the waters around you have grown
G
Em
C G
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
Am
D
If your time to you is worth savin'
D
1
2 D
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
G C - D - G
For the times they are a'changin'
Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled.
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a'changin'
A
A Mighty Wind (refrain) Key: C
A
C G
[Oh] A mighty wind is blowin
C
walk Am
It's kicking' up the sand
F
It's sending out a message
D
G
to ev'ry woman, child and man...
F G
A mighty wind is blowin'
C
walk Am
'Cross the land and 'cross the sea.
F
C
It's blowing peace and freedom
F
G C
It's blowin' equality!
Well May the World Go (chorus
vv.1+) Key: C
Well may the world go
the world go
the world go
Well may the world go
When I'm far away
Well may the skiers turn
the swimmers learn
the lovers burn
Peace may the generals learn
When I'm far away
Well may you organize
analyze
politicize
Build a movement to the skies
When I'm far away.
No more nukes, stop the draft
the hunger connection
and the corporate shaft
Bombs won't save a leaky raft
It's time for a new way
**********************
Music makes pictures
And often tells stories
All of it magic
And all of it true
All of the music
And all of the stories
All of the magic
The music is you
(John Denver, The Music Is You)
**********************
Capo OFF - F
Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom (refrain) Key: C
Don't ever take away our freedom
Don't ever take it away
Let us treasure and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days
One of these days
We Shall Not Be Moved (v.1) Key: C
We shall, we shall, we shall not be moved
We shall, we shall, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's standing by the water
We shall not be moved
If I had a Hammer (v.1) Key:C (- Em - F - G)
If I had a hammer - I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening - all over this land
I'd hammer out danger - I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All - over this land
The Patriot Game (v.1) Key: G.
Come all you young rebels and lis't while I sing
For the love of one's country is a terrible thing
It banishes fear with the speed of a flame
And it makes us all part of the patriot game
My name is O'Hannon and I've just gone sixteen
My home is in Ireland, and where I was weaned
I've learned all my life cruel England's to blame
And so I'm a part of the patriot game
De Colores (v.1) Key: G
De colores - de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores - de colores son los pajarillos que vienen de afuera
De colores - de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
Israel Wait for the Morning Key: G ( - Em - C - D)
Israel wait for the morning
Israel hope for the day
Though the night's dark as our hearts can remember
Israel search for the day
**********************
We are living dramas of faith: stories of love, fear and passion; bodies
as temples of esteem or storehouses of panic; acts of kindness, beauty,
generosity, or control. And each week, or each day, or perhaps just
once a year, we gather up our dramatic selves and find our way to a
service of prayer or worship. There we find ourselves confronted by all
those things that remind us we are truly incarnate creatures.
(Karen Lee Turner, Weavings May/June 2003, p.38)
**********************
Sekai No Tomo NCH #72
Christ Takes Form Key:
Em (B7)
Christ takes form in a band of persons
Christ takes form in the midst of the world
Christ takes form in a band of persons
Alleluia
Capo
3
Stand By Me Key: G
**********************
Fleta and Ossie March were beacons of hope for me throughout these
tumultuous years. Fleta was my mother's younger sister. When my
parents tried to effect some reconciliation after a brawl, Aunt Fleta
and Uncle Ossie gave them some space by taking Gene and me first to
their apartment in St. Louis and later to their farm at Cuba,
Missouri...
When my parents' marriage fell apart completely, they took [my brother]
Gene and reared him. A short time later, they also took two of our
cousins and cared for them for four years when their mother entered a
tuberculosis sanitarium. Each time they visited my mother and me on the
farm, they brought food and clothes and never left without slipping a
little money into my hand.
When I went to Washington University in St. Louis, they furnished me a
room in the basement of their small home at the rear of Uncle Ossie's
barbershop. As my mother fought a losing battle with cancer in 1965,
Aunt Fleta took her into their home and gave her tender care in her last
hours. The Marshes did not talk much about faith. They lived it.
(E. Glenn Hinson, Weavings May/June 2003, p.33)
**********************
Capo OFF
A
Forever / Thanksgiving Eve Key: D
**********************
He scrawled out the one-line poem and left it tucked under her coffee
cup. It was a new love, tender and tentative.
"You gather beauty in me."
That one line, that one lovely act would sustain their hard-working love
for years to come.
(Karen Lee Turner, Weavings May/June 2003, p.36)
**********************
Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty
wind... All of the [disciples] were filled with the Holy Spirit ... And
at this sound .. each [person] heard them speaking in [their own] native
tongue.
**********************
...Send me your spirit and activate within me
to accommodate all that is given me in knowledge and wisdom
so that I may better reflect the eternal that is you
the wonder and majesty that is in all living things
especially those that pronounce love in all that they do and are.
Help me unite from every part of my being
to those that are life-giving.
Open me up to all that is offered
so I will be sustained enough to do likewise.
to dream dreams that become possibility
to pray and know all is answered and given
to trust that power is granted to those humbly seeking.
...enflame our minds with the fire
of your...pentecostal spirit as consoler and uplifter
when the human condition becomes heavy or unbearable.
To those you entrust us to
assist our minds to the full reciprocity of the love
and compassion they offer
so our own capacity to love and be in com-passion with
may emerge, full and abundant
thereby expressing ineffable gratitude
(Roz Mullan, new member, in her own language)
************
BULLETIN
WE GATHER FOR PRAYER AND CELEBRATION
Music for Gathering
Welcome and Perspective on the Day
Musical Preparation for Worship - A Time for Centering
+ Call to Worship
Spirit of truth
whom the world can never grasp,
touch our hearts
with the shock of your coming;
fill us with desire
for your disturbing peace;
and fire us with longing
to speak your uncontainable word. Amen
+ Hymn of Joy
Hail, O Festal Day
Hymnal # 262 (Pentecost vv.1-2 & 3-6)
+ Pentecost Prayer
(unison)
God, send the gift of your Spirit
to fill this
place
and myself
and the world.
Touch me with truth
that burns
like fire
with beauty
that moves me like the wind;
and set me free, God,
free to try
new ways of living;
free to forgive myself and others;
free to love and laugh and sing;
free to lay aside my burden of security;
free to join the struggle for justice and peace;
free to see and listen and wonder again
at the
gracious mystery of things and persons;
free to be, to give, to receive,
to rejoice
as a child of your Spirit.
And God, teach me how to dance,
to turn
around
and come down where I want to be,
in the arms and heart of your people
and in you,
that I may praise and enjoy you forever.
Time for Silent Reflection
One: My soul waits in silence.
All: God is my rock and my fortress.
I will be at peace.
Silent Reflection
The
Assurance of Good News (unison)
We are, as always, in the arms and heart of God.
Sung
Response
CSB # 5 (Refrain)
Hallelujah. God be praised!"
Reception of Carol and Joe Mack, Roz Mullin and Cheral Stewart
into Church Membership
Invitation
Affirmation of Covenant
Right Hand of Fellowship
Response of the Congregation (unison)
We welcome you with joy into the common life of this church.
We promise you our continuing friendship and prayers
as we share the hopes and labors of the Church.
By the power of the Holy Spirit may we continue to grow together in
God's knowledge and love and truly be witnesses
to the power of God in the healing of our world.
Amen! Hallelujah! Hooray!
WE TEACH, REFLECT AND PROCLAIM
Conversation with Our Children "How the Stories Were
Saved"
Reading from the Christian Texts Acts
2:1-21
Elina - English
Matt/Cathy - Spanish
Marilyn - German
Joan - French
Louise Latin
John P. Italian
Peg - American Sign
Sermon A Mighty
Wind
WE RESPOND TO GOD'S INVITATION
Intercessions, Celebrations and Encouragements
Call to
Prayer Be still and know that I am God
Hymnal # 743
Time for
Silence
Our Joys and
Concerns and an Offering of Prayer
Sung Response In
Solitude Hymnal #521 vv. 1 & 2
We Offer Our Gifts So That Our Lives May Be Our Prayer
Offertory
Prayer of
Dedication (unison)
You took my extravagance,
and asked for passion;
you took my self-absorption,
and created insight;
you saw my need to give,
and called forth charity;
you accepted charity,
and made me long for justice. Amen.
Celebration of Holy Communion
+ Communion
Hymn Come Gather in this Special Place
Hymnal #335
Invitation
Sharing the
Bread and the Cup
Communion will be served to you as you remain seated.
Please wait until all have been served before eating the bread
(to signify our unity). Drink the cup as it comes to you (to signify
your uniqueness in God's eyes). You may place the empty cup
back into the tray.
Prayer of
Thanksgiving (unison)
We affirm the goodness of life and the openness of the future
because our God is a God of life and love. As God comes to us
in this act of communion, so let us go out to others in acts which
bring healing, reconciliation and hope to our world. Amen.
+ Hymn of the Spirit Like the Murmur of the
Dove's Song
Hymnal # 270
+ Commissioning (unison)
May the
great Ruler of all high places,
God of many
names,
touch you
with a wind that keeps you strong,
for all the
days to come. Amen.
+ Sung Response (we gather in some semblance of a
circle)
Hymnal # 286
Spirit, spirit of gentleness, blow through the wilderness, calling and
free.
Spirit, spirit of restlessness, stir me from placidness, wind, wind on
the sea.
+ Postlude
WORSHIP NOTES
Call to Worship is by Janet Morley, All Desires Known, c.1988, p.17
Pentecost Prayer is by Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace, c. 1984,
pp.124-25 (adapted)
Response of the Congregation is from the Book of Worship: United Church
of Christ (adapted)
Conversation with Our Children comes from The Whole People of God
(5/31/98) a Sunday School curriculum from the United Church of Christ
Prayer of Dedication is by Janet Morley, All Desires Known, c.1988, p.78
Commissioning is from The New Century Hymnal #877