05/24/2026
ST. ANDREW’S HUNTINGDON
The Day of Pentecost
Healing and Reconciliation Sunday
May 24, 2026
Video: Chuck Knows Church – Pentecost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ScAr1UHl9I
Opening Hymn: I am the church! You are the church!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ughMVTMhCuc
Call to Worship:
Breathe upon us, Holy Spirit,
and transform our thoughts and actions.
Stir in our hearts, Holy Spirit,
and fill us with your wisdom.
Breathe upon us, Holy Spirit,
and refresh our commitment to serve in repentance, love and renewal.
Stir in our hearts, Holy Spirit,
as we worship and witness to God’s love.
Walking the Path of Reconciliation:
Today, we gather with humility as we observe Reconciliation Sunday. It is a day that calls us not only to remember, but also to listen, to learn, and to respond with courage and compassion.
In Canada, reconciliation invites us to acknowledge the painful truths experienced by Indigenous Peoples through colonisation, residential schools, the loss of language and culture, and generations of injustice. These truths are difficult, but faith calls us not to turn away from difficult things. Jesus consistently moved toward those who were hurting, excluded, and silenced. As followers of Christ, we are called to do the same. Jesus Christ
Reconciliation is not a single moment. It is a journey.
It begins with listening. Truly listening. Listening to stories that may challenge us. Listening to the voices of survivors, Elders, families, and communities whose experiences have too often been ignored or dismissed.
It also requires honesty. We acknowledge that churches, including our own traditions, were part of systems that caused deep harm. We cannot change the past, but we can choose what we do with the truth now that it has been placed before us.
The good news of the Gospel is that God is always working toward healing and restoration. Scripture reminds us that we are called to be ministers of reconciliation, people who build bridges instead of walls, people who seek justice, mercy, and peace. Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Reconciliation is not about guilt alone. It is about relationship.
It is about learning whose land we gather upon.
It is about honouring Indigenous wisdom and traditions.
It is about standing alongside communities seeking justice and equity.
It is about ensuring that future generations inherit a country shaped more by respect than by prejudice.
Most importantly, reconciliation is about hope.
Hope that healing is possible.
Hope that relationships can be renewed.
Hope that when we walk together with humility and love, God can create something better than what has been.
May we be people willing to listen deeply, speak truthfully, and act faithfully.
May we walk gently with one another.
And may the Spirit guide us along the ongoing path of reconciliation.
Amen.
PRAYER OF ADORATION AND CONFESSION
Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit, your energy moves in us and through us to face each new day.
You are as close to us as our breath, giving us life.
You refresh us like the breeze on a warm afternoon, lending us strength.
You challenge us like a strong wind, rousing our attention.
Shift our awareness to the wonder of your mystery, wisdom, grace and creation direct our hearts to the warmth of Christ’s love.
To you, O God our Creator, Christ our Redeemer, and Holy Spiritwe offer our prayers and praise in love and faith.
Bring us together, united in worship and witness by your grace and power.
In recalling all that you are and have done, we recall who we are and what we have done; and so, we are moved to confess to you our sins:
God of wind and flame, at Pentecost your Spirit inspired Jesus’ followers to speak, in his name, what was needed in ways that all who heard could understand.
But we confess that we have ignored your guidance and kept to our own words and understandings
rather than letting your Spirit speak through us.
We have not always attended to the lessons of that first Pentecost when the Spirit demonstrated that all cultures, all languages can speak your love.
We ask your forgiveness for when our witness has been false; when what we have said and done in your name came not from your Spirit or from love for you,
but from love of ourselves or of power and control.
Forgive us for the sins we have committed by our actions and the sins we have committed by failing to act.
Send your Spirit to inspire our faith and energize us in repentance and transformation for just mission and loving ministry.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
The mercy of our God is from everlasting to everlasting. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and set free to live in the renewing power of the Spirit. Thanks be to God for this most generous gift.
Hymn: How Great Thou Art (Home Free)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXQpDDcrN-w&list=PL1V9dbviSbgbon_7eISFQfDhkWnVUG1BK
Prayer for Understanding:
Spirit of God, at Pentecost you created new understanding among Jesus’ gathered disciples, filling them with your Spirit to witness to your love in ways all those who were gathered could hear and understand. On Healing and Reconciliation Sunday, this Pentecost Day, we ask to be filled with your Spirit again, that we may be transformed by new understanding of your love and of what is required of us, through the breath of your Word. Breathe your energy and understanding into the work of healing and reconciliation to which we are called and enliven us to act faithfully in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1–21 (The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost)
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.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Musical Interlude: Welcome Holy Spirit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-b1VkttqQ&list=PLt7yfuLIHjC0hTCpc3y_7s3FCP2ff0zfk&index=2
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3b–13
Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Unity and Diversity in the Body
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Reflection: When the Spirit Shows Up
Pentecost Sunday always feels a little chaotic to me.
There is wind. Noise. Fire. Confusion. People speaking and somehow understanding one another across barriers that should have divided them. The story from the Book of Acts is not calm and orderly. It is loud, surprising, and alive. Acts of the Apostles
And honestly, that feels pretty true to life.
Most of us are not living calm, perfectly organised lives. We carry worry, exhaustion, grief, uncertainty, and questions about what comes next. Communities feel divided. People struggle to listen to one another. Sometimes even the Church can feel tired.
Then Pentecost arrives with this reminder: God does not wait for perfect conditions before showing up.
The Holy Spirit comes right into the middle of ordinary people who are frightened and unsure of themselves. Fishermen. Workers. Followers who did not have all the answers. And suddenly they discover that God can work through them exactly as they are.
That may be the most important message of Pentecost.
You do not need to be extraordinary before God can use your life for something beautiful.
In Paul’s words from First Epistle to the Corinthians, “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Some teach. Some encourage. Some lead quietly. Some care for others when no one notices. Some create music, art, kindness, laughter, or healing. No gift is insignificant.
The Spirit does not make us all the same.
The Spirit connects us.
Pentecost reminds us that the Church is strongest when every voice matters and every person belongs.
And maybe that is the challenge for us this week.
Can we become people who carry the Spirit into the world?
Can we speak words that heal instead of divide?
Can we listen with compassion?
Can we notice the lonely person, the discouraged person, the person who feels forgotten?
Because the miracle of Pentecost was not simply that people spoke in different languages.
The miracle was that, for once, people truly understood one another.
May the Spirit still move through our homes, our communities, and our hearts today.
May God give us courage when we feel uncertain.
And may we remember that even small acts of love can set the world on fire with hope.
Amen.
Musical Interlude: What A Beautiful Name (Hillsong Worship)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5L6QlAH3L4&list=PLcHqC9YNzSaB621igMmxfeMUvroQqYr3L&index=10
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession:
Wind of the Spirit, blow through us on this day of Pentecost and renew our faith.
Re-awaken our love for you and give us energy to serve you in Christ’s Church.
Help us recognize needs for ministry and mission,
and equip us to meet new challenges in ways we haven’t dared before.
Help us discern and enact the transformation needed to heal the harms your church has caused, working for truth, healing and right relations with Indigenous peoples.
Give us strength for the tasks to which we are called,
both collectively and individually,
and breathe through us in prayer and praise.
Spirit of Power and Promise,
Move within us and renew our faith.
Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and give us understanding
for the challenges facing our communities and your creation
in these complex times.
We pray too for renewed commitment and your guidance
to work for the truth, healing, reconciliation and repentance that we are called to do
for the church’s role in colonization and residential schools.
Transform us as disciples who give faithful witness to you and your love.
Spirit of Power and Promise,
Move within us and renew our faith.
Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and bring healing
for all who face pain or illness, discouragement or disappointment,
for all who know sorrow, sadness or grief,
and for those who face pressures coping with the cost of living.
We ask you to bring healing to the earth, to places of upheaval and to ecosystems at risk.
Spirit of Power and Promise,
Move within us and renew our faith.
Wind of the Spirit, blow through us and bring us the compassion we see in Christ Jesus.
Blow through us and refresh us as your faithful followers,
equipped to serve the world you love in his name,
warm our hearts with trust in Jesus Christ
and dare us to live lives of loving service in his name
as together we say the words he taught us:
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 debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
Forever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn: Count Your Blessings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb4JBNDWhOA&pbjreload=101
Prayer:
Lord God, through Christ you have given us peace that the world cannot give. Let your Spirit of truth abide with us so that we may live in hope, grow in faith, and keep your commandments of love; in the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Hymn: She Comes Sailing on the Wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UriEtHGVrLw
Benediction:
May the God who shakes heaven and earth,
Whose Spirit blows through the valleys and the hills;
Whom death could not contain and
Who lives to bring us life;
Bless us with the power to endure,
To hope and to love.
Amen.
Exit Song: You Shall Go Out With Joy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0XbpNY2g8
May God bless you in the week ahead!
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MISSION MOMENT: Sunday, May 24
Yemen has been devastated by over a decade of conflict, disrupting food systems and causing hunger. Yahya, a father of four with a disability that makes walking difficult, worries about his malnourished daughter. “We strive to obtain food, but the situation remains tough,” he shares. “When you entered our village with the food basket distribution, it changed my life significantly. Thanks to your support, my situation began to improve. I was able to save some money through the food basket and decided to buy a water tank. This step was important for my family, as we finally have clean water.” PWS&D works together with Canadian Foodgrains Bank and local partners to deliver vital food assistance to families like Yahya’s who are facing worsening food insecurity.
PRAYER PARTNERSHIP: DAILY PRAYERS
Sunday, May 24 (Day of Pentecost; Healing & Reconciliation Sunday)
We pray for the healing and wellbeing of all people harmed by residential schools. We pray for Indigenous organizations and nations supporting healing work for Survivors, intergenerational Survivors, their families and communities.
Monday, May 25 We pray for the healing and wellbeing of people served by each of the eight ministries of the National Indigenous Ministries Council.
Tuesday, May 26 We pray for authors and writers within The Presbyterian Church in Canada who work to help us understand our past and imagine our future in light of the inexhaustible gifts of God.
Wednesday, May 27 We pray for those facing famine in war-ravaged Yemen and for the PWS&D partners providing aid to those vulnerable to malnutrition and disease.
Thursday, May 28 We thank God for generous gifts of time, talent and treasure—freely given with grateful hearts to serve God and bless others.
Friday, May 29 We pray for the youth, young adults, and youth leaders who have registered for the Collective 2026 gathering. May they experience travelling blessings and renewed faith while gathered from August 12-15, 2026.
Saturday, May 30 Loving God, we pray for all who are searching for work and ask that you will grant them hope, strength, and open doors to meaningful
opportunities.
