Prayers of the people For Pentecost/Church Union Sunday

God of Pentecost, Spirit blowing in our midst, fanning the flames of our lives,

push through the closed doors and windows of our lives,

kindle the fire of hope,

transform us from a people who fear for the future

into a people who proclaim your love and hope in a world of pain and uncertainty,

people who live as though the Kingdom is alive and thriving in our midst.

God who calls us to be the church,

to celebrate your presence, to proclaim your hope, to join in the life of the Kingdom,

sometimes it is hard to be the church,

sometimes it is hard to see a hopeful future.

We look back at the vision of our forebears in the faith and wonder:

has the vision failed?

how are we to be the church moving forward?

what is the vision You have for us now?

On this Pentecost day:

stir the embers of fires that are burning down, (silence)

waken new fires from the ashes of dead ones, that the church would rise like the phoenix (silence)

kindle new fires where there is the need for hope, for light, for community (silence)

share with us a vision of how to be a faithful community

and lead us forward as the Church renewed, ready to hear your call in a changed world.

God of many languages.

You sing the language of joy with us, you join us in the dance of life.

Hear all of your children who sing and dance and praise this morning,

those who celebrate new life with all the possibilities of the future,

those who celebrate relationships, both the new and exciting and the long-term yet still exciting,

those for whom the wonder of life fills their being to the limit,

may they hear your voice joining in the singing and the shouting...

...time of silence...

And yet, God of life,

you also speak the languages of pain, of sorrow, of fear, of despair.

Hear all your children who speak, who wail, who whisper in these languages this day:

those who find themselves in hospital beds, or waiting anxiously beside those beds,

those who gather to say farewell to one who is travelling, or one who is moving,

those who gather at graveside to say that longer farewell,

those who worry about where the next meal, or the next rent cheque, will come from,

those who live in places where peace is just a word, a faint hope, a distant dream,

May all those whose language is rent by pain hear you lamenting with them,

...time of silence...

God of Pentecost, Spirit blowing in our midst, fanning the flames of our lives,

fill us with Spirit this morning,

fill our hearts and souls with the fires of hope,

hear the prayers we offer:

for ourselves, our neighbours, our communities.

And lead us forward as people of the Spirit,

ready to be the face of your love, light, hope, and life in the world.

we pray in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the one we call Christ, whose life,

death and resurrection show us the path to the Kingdom.

We pray as people of the Spirit,

who lights our fires, who fills our lungs with air,

who blows us out into the world to live and serve.

Amen.