Can you say in the comments section when it starts eg 14 minutes in. Thanks

Good Day

Great sermon, Jenn. This one stands out for me. Blessings

Script part 2 They were together in a house when the noise started. It sounded like a violent wine, but it was inside the house, not outside. And then the fire. And then the languages. A crowd was gathering outside, attracted by the noise and drama. Because of the feast, there were Jewish men from all over the world there, many languages and cultures, a multi cultural, multi racial group gathering in the street. And each and every one heard their own language being spoken. God was reversing the curse of babel and making his gospel known to the whole world in their own languages. Look at the change in the disciples. They have gone from afraid to confident, from hiding indoors to proclaiming in the public square, from sadness to joy. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, he gave them the power to do the things that Jesus had told them to do, to proclaim the gospel to all people, to help others come to know the love and life of God. And this is what the Holy Spirit has done for the people of God ever since, transforming us and empowering us to make Jesus known in the world through our words and actions. When I watch the news, I see more and more that the world needs to know Jesus. I see the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, and I realise that the world has not yet understood what the scriptures teach about the worth and dignity of every person, regardless of their skin colour. I see the demand, in myself and others, for more and more stuff to fill the gap left by lockdown, and wonder if we have really understood where true value is found. I see people left without hope as they face the death of themselves or their loved ones, and want them to know the hope of eternal life in Jesus. I wonder if you have been praying for 5 people for the last 10 days? I have. I have many family and friends who don’t know Jesus right now. I believe that the hope and purpose that Jesus gives would make a real difference to their lives. I want them to know him, and I will continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their lives that they might come to know him. I will also pray for courage and wisdom as to how and when to speak about God with them. But it isn’t just about speaking, it is also about living in such a way that Jesus is revealed through our actions. That is another thing the Holy Spirit enables us to do. We often know the things we should do, but we struggle to do them. We can ask the Spirit to come and equip us and enable us to follow him. I wonder what that means for you? What is the thing that you know God wants from you, that you are struggling with? Could you ask the Holy Spirit to come and empower you to follow his way? There is an old hymn that I love that has really been speaking to me as I have been praying in the last couple of days. It is called Breathe on me, breath of God. Breathe on me, breath of God, Fill me with life anew That I might love as thou dost love, And do what thou wouldst do. That is my prayer for each of us today, that we would love as God loves, and speak and act as he would in our situation. Let’s pray: Breathe on us, breath of God Fill us with life anew That we might love the way you love, And do what you would do. Amen We are going to continue in prayer now, for those who need to know Jesus. When I say Jesus, light of the world, would you respond with Send your Spirit To those who are grieving Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To those facing death and those who are caring for them Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit For those who lead us Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit For those working on the frontline Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To those who are fearful Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To our mission partners, especially this week Hope International School in Cambodia. Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To your church throughout the world Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To us, your people gathered here, Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit Our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name Your Kingdom come Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread Forgive us our sins As we forgive those who sin against us Lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, Now and forever Amen Today we have remembered the coming of God’s power on the disciples and we invite that same Spirit to send us out and empower us in his service. As we go, I want to let you know that Andy will be leading us in sung worship in a few minutes on our facebook page, and that we will be gathering on Zoom for coffee and cake at 11 - message us if you need a link. At 4.30 we will have an all Age Pentecost service. We are really looking forward to exploring Pentecost in a different way, particularly appropriate for the younger members of the church and those who are young at heart. Tonight at 7.30, I will be hosting night prayer here., and morning and evening prayer will continue at 7.30 each morning and evening this week. It isn’t too late to join the Alpha course on Monday evenings if you would like to explore the things Jesus said and did, and the person of the Spirit more thoroughly - just send us a message on here or by email. But for now, let me pray God’s blessing over you. May the Spirit who hovered over the waters when the world was created, breathe into you the life he gives. Amen May the Spirit, who overshadowed the Virgin when the eternal Son came among us, make you joyful in the service of the Lord. Amen May the Spirit, who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ. Amen And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always Amen Filled with the Spirit’s power, go in the light and peace of Christ. Alleluia Alleluia Thanks be to God Alleluia Alleluia

Script part 1 Welcome to our online worship today, Sunday 31st May. Whether you are watching on facebook or listening on dial a service, or even watching later on youtube, a regular St Stephen’s church attender or just dropping in to see what we are like, we are very glad you are with us. This morning we celebrate Pentecost: the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower God’s people for life as the body of Christ, the culmination of the season of Easter, and what is widely considered to be the birthday of the church. Jesus Christ, whom we worship, is our crucified, risen and ascended Lord and we have walked with him through his journey of love. We have faced the agony of his suffering and death on a cross. We have rejoiced at his bursting free from the bonds of death. We have enjoyed his risen presence with us. We have seen his return to the throne before which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. And now, with the followers of his own time, we await the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, his gift to his people through whom we make Christ known to the world. Let us pray: 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, Amen. As we gather, we know that our attempts to walk with Christ throughout the week have not been perfect. There may be things we are very aware of having done wrong, or of omitting to do. There may be other things that are more subtle that are nagging at us. Christ came that we might be set free from the power of those things to live a new life with him. And so we come to our time of confession. Let’s take a moment to call to mind those things which have separated us from God and his will for us. The Spirit of the Lord fills the world and knows our every word and deed. Let us then open ourselves to the lord and confess our sins in penitence and faith: We confess to you our selfishness and lack of love: Fill us with your Spirit: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. We confess to your our fear and failure in sharing our faith; Fill us with your Spirit Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. We confess to your our stubbornness and lack of trust: Fill us with your spirit; Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen. Acts 2:1-13 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” Sermon What a journey it had been over those last 8 weeks. Jesus had entered Jerusalem in triumph, but things had quickly gone sour and Jesus had been handed over to the authorities and had somehow ended up being crucified. The disciples had fled, terrified that they would be arrested and tried as associates and die in the same way. And then the rumours had begun. It was the women that had said it first - the tomb was empty and the body gone. But they said that Jesus had appeared to them somehow. It was all confusing and strange, but then it got more and more real. Jesus appeared to them again and again, eating with them, explaining the scriptures to them, breaking bread with them. Jesus really was alive again! And then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t there anymore. He told them, just before he went up into the clouds, that they were to go to Jerusalem and wait, wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that was what they did - still confused I’d guess. What would it look like when the Spirit come? How would they know? Would it be obvious? What would happen? Together with Jesus mother and brothers, the apostles prayed, they studied the scriptures, and they waited. And then the day arrived, although of course they didn’t know that today was the day.

Transcript pt 2 The last few weeks have been hard for all of us, things are different. And in this disturbing time we can’t even gather together to worship God and support each other in the way that we are used to and did before. While our buildings are closed congregations have been learning new ways to connect. More people than ever before have discovered the rhythms of morning and evening prayer. Where is God in this and when can we return to normal, to how things were before? Should we return to how things were before? Maybe God is doing a new thing… This pandemic is forcing the church to think about new ways of being church and of doing ministry, We are all being challenged and stretched and changed by what is happening, We may have to allow some things to be transformed into something new What if that allowed space for God to bring about a transformation in each one of us, in the church, in the country, in the world. Many people are reassessing priorities, what we value most. God is doing a new thing… Some people are doing things they never got around to before, working with what they have at hand, as other options have been taken away. It is like a huge global decluttering. Now Dave and I are not good at decluttering in our house, but Dave has spent some time in the last couple of weeks sorting out his workshop, otherwise known as the garage. It was full of pieces of wood. The trouble is that it was so full of all this assorted wood that there was no space to do any woodworking! And so Dave sorted it all through and set to work using it to build a workbench. He also gave some to a neighbour to repair his fence. All those years that the wood sat there, it had potential, but it was not until now that it got used. None of it actually got thrown away, but it did get transformed and built into something useful. And the amazing thing is, what it has been built into, is again a starting point, a place where other things may be built…. I wonder if this is a time that we all need to be open to new things being built, asking God for eyes to see what we have available, maybe even dismantling things we had a plan for so that the resources can be used to build something else. I wonder if we need to let go of some hopes for the future we may have had, to allow God to give us a vision for what he wants to do now. God is doing a new thing… How can we be a part of it.? This time between Jesus ascending to the Father and Pentecost which we will celebrate next Sunday was a time of waiting and prayer for the disciples, it is a time of prayer for us too. Prayer that we too might be ready for what God wants to do next through us. that we too may be equipped to be his witnesses that as individuals and as a church, we might receive afresh the Holy Spirit and be open to all that God wants to do within us and through us. And no, it won’t be like before…..you know what I am going to say …God is doing a new thing…God is constantly doing a new thing…Are we willing to follow where he leads! Our challenge right now is to wait and pray… with an open mind to what God will do, not limited by our own understanding, not limited by what has happened before, not limited by who we are…Trusting that God looks at all the odd bits of wood being stored and knows exactly what to build and when to build it. God is doing a new thing. Do we want to be a part of it? Let’s pray: Loving God, your ways are not our ways and your vision is far beyond what we can ask or imagine. Equip us by your Spirit and give us fresh vision and passion for your kingdom, Transform us, transform your church and transform your world, by your spirit. Amen. Intercessions We are going to continue in prayer now, for those who need to know the love of Jesus. When I say Jesus, light of the world, would you respond with Send your Spirit 1. To those areas of the world where disasters have added to the Covid challenge Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit 2. For school leaders and others making difficult decisions Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit 3. For those working on the frontline Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit 4. It is mental health awareness week this week so for all who are struggling at the moment and for the work of Crossways Counselling Service, one of our mission partners. Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit 5. To your people Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit Our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name Your kingdom come Your will be done On earth as in heaven Give us today our daily bread Forgive us our sins As we forgive those who sin against us Lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For the kingdom, the power And the glory are yours Now and forever. Amen. Alleluia, Christ is Risen He is risen indeed Alleluia Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us new life and hope. He has raised Jesus from the dead. God has claimed us as his own. He has brought us out of darkness. He has made us light to the world. Alleluia. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. In a moment Andy will lead us in some sung worship and we will then have our Zoom coffee and chat at 11, hopefully zoom will co-operate this week. We have alpha tomorrow evening with James and Louisa - if you haven’t signed up yet drop us an email or a message and we will get you the details. And finally, do go and take a look at the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ resources online and the app which provides daily reflections during this time of prayerful anticipation of Pentecost. But first a blessing: May the Spirit, Who set the church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost, Bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you Always. Amen. Waiting expectantly for the promised Holy Spirit Go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia Alleluia Thanks be to God Alleluia Alleluia.

22nd May Sunday Service 10am - Ascension Welcome - Good morning. Welcome to St Stephens Shottermill Sunday morning service. My name is Helen and it is great to be able to worship together through the wonders of technology, whether you regularly worship with St Stephen’s or not. Whether you are joining us live on facebook, watching later on facebook or youtube or listening in by phone. You are all most welcome. Please do interact in the comments if you are able to, it helps us all to know we are worshipping with others. It is so wonderful that we can join together not only across space, all in our different houses, but also across time, United as we worship God together. For the past 6 weeks we have been celebrating the Easter season and the resurrection of Jesus. We have heard the stories of the many appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples as he has been teaching them about the kingdom of God. Today we remember the Ascension, when Jesus left this earth and returned to His Father, ascending into heaven to take His throne, and we anticipate the sending of the Holy Spirit to his people and the birth of the church. May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. (light the candle.) Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Let us pray that our risen and ascended Lord will lead us to eternal life….. Risen, ascended Lord, As we rejoice at your triumph, Fill your church on earth with power and compassion That all who are estranged by sin May find forgiveness and know your peace To the glory of God the Father.Amen. ……….we come to a time of confession, recognizing that we have not always thought or said or acted in the way that we would like…… ………….. The Spirit of the Lord fills the world And knows our every word and deed. Let us then open ourselves to the Lord And confess our sins in penitence and faith. ……….. You raise the dead to life in the Spirit: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen. Our reading today from the book of Acts - Chapter 1 starting at verse 6 Reading: Acts 1.6-14 New International Version - UK (NIVUK) 1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptised with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptised with[b] the Holy Spirit.’ 6 Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ Matthias chosen to replace Judas 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.   Talk God is doing a new thing! But I don’t imagine it felt like that to the disciples. They had been through a rollercoaster over the past few weeks. They had longed for and expected Jesus to restore the kingdom of Israel. But he had allowed himself to be crucified, why would he do that? Then they heard rumours that he was alive and they found an empty tomb And then he appears among them, different, but the same Jesus and they recognise Him He spends time explaining everything to them, how amazing that must have been! And now he says he is going away again! Surely not! He has not finished what he started. Israel is not restored, everything is just the same. But it isn’t. Jesus has finished his work and he leaves them. God is doing a new thing…. He doesn’t just leave them, he leaves them with instructions…And amazingly they obey him. So something has changed. That time spent with Jesus had prepared them for this moment even if they didn’t know it. So what are they told to do? To wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who will give them power to be witnesses in Jerusalem and to the end of the earth. And so they go back to the upper room where they were staying and wait. But they didn’t just wait, they stayed together, the disciples and the women and we are told they were constantly devoting themselves to prayer. God was going to do a new thing. I wonder how they prayed…. Expectantly, together, waiting on God’s timing…

Jesus says that the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit, just as it has not accepted Jesus. Jesus says that although the world does not know the Holy Spirit, and does not accept who Jesus is, you will know the Spirit for he lives with you and will be in you, just as you recognise who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is the person sent by Jesus and the father to continue to work of Jesus on earth, to be our advocate and comforter, to teach us how to live and to guide us. The Spirit is not something unknown, spooky or scary, but God himself, living in us, guiding us to light and life. Unlike Jesus, the Holy Spirit is not confined to one place, one small group of believers. At Pentecost the Spirit comes in power and reveals himself to the nations through the disciples, and the gospel, and the Spirit spread across the world in a way that would have been impossible for Jesus to do during his time on earth. Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, of God himself, to be with us, teach us, guide us, comfort us, help us, bless us, confront us, correct us and celebrate with us. Sent because he loves us, and because we love him and want to be like him. We may not be able to see the Spirit, but we can see his effects, as we become more the people he would have us be as we trust him and obey him. He will not teach us to do things that are contrary to those that Jesus taught - how could he? - but teach us how to obey all that Jesus has taught us to do. I wonder if you have ever invited the Holy Spirit to be part of your life, to live in you to guide and teach you, to remind you of God’s love for you and to help you love him more and more. I am going to pray now, and ask the Holy Spirit to come again into our lives. I’m going to do that by singing a song - it is called Spirit of the Living God and is by Paul Armstrong. You might know it. It asks the Spirit to fall on us again, to break us, melt us, mould us, and fill us. It gives permission for God to change us to make us more like him, sometimes in ways that are unexpected and even difficult, but which are always done with love and blessing. If you want to ask the Holy Spirit to come into your lives, you can join in the song, I’ll sing it twice, or just sit quietly in prayer. Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on me Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on me Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me Spirit of the living God Fall afresh on me Be with us Lord through your Spirit, that we might know your presence with us day by day, and lead us to fullness of life in your name. Amen We are going to continue in prayer now, for those who need to know the love of Jesus. When I say Jesus, light of the world, would you respond with Send your Spirit To those who are grieving Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To those facing death and those who are caring for them Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit For school leaders and others making difficult decisions Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit For those working on the frontline Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To those who are fearful Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To our mission partners, especially this week Colleen Redit working in India. Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit To your people Jesus, light of the world, Send your Spirit Our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name Your Kingdom come Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread Forgive us our sins As we forgive those who sin against us Lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, Now and forever Amen Alleluia, Christ is Risen He is risen indeed Alleluia Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ He has given us new life and hope by raising Jesus from the dead God has claimed us as his own He has brought us out of darkness. He has made us a light to the world. Alleluia Christ is Risen He is risen indeed Alleluia Unfortunately, Andy, who normally leads our sung worship, is unwell this morning, which means we are unable to have that time today. Get well soon Andy! We will still have our Zoom coffee and chat at 11, but until then, I suggest you grab a worship CD, or have a look for some worship tracks on youtube or Spotify. Type in the name of your favourite song or hymn and see what comes up. I take no responsibility for search engine results though! We have alpha starting tomorrow evening with James and Louisa - if you haven’t signed up yet drop us an email or a message and we will get you the details. And this evening we will be having the first online Dwell Lite service, thinking about what it means to find God in our everyday life. We will have some sung worship included in that too. But until then… Go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia Alleluia Thanks be to God Alleluia Alleluia