Pentecost B (May 27)

 
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Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14, Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, Romans 8:22-27, John 15:26-27

About the images:
Left: A free Corel background with my text so please feel free to use it for worship and realted activities.
Right: This is a photo of the inside of my kitchen stove so you are free to use it for worship and related activities.

Have a birthday cake 
big enough for everybody to share - after all, it is the church's birthday.

Listening Song: Burning Like Fire
By Iona on their album, Beyond These Shores, 1993 (pictured at left).

Kids Story: Unknown
By Colin Thompson and Anna Pignataro, published by Hodder Headline in Australia and Walker Books in the U.S.A, 2002. ISBN 0733613551 (Aust) or ISBN 0802787304 (U.S.A.) The left picture is the Australian cover and the right picture is the American cover - both found at Colin Thompson's site. (Thanks to Rev Andrew Donnelly for this book suggestion).

Kids Story: Popcorn Disciples
Retell the Acts story using pop corn and a popcorn maker by comparing the unpopped corn in the container with the disciples in the room beforehand – all small and shriveled and hard and contained in a small space. Then turn on the popcorn maker and compare the heat and the hot air in the maker with the Holy Spirit. When the corn pops compare the corn with the disciples afterwards – all big and soft, open and fluffy - and popping up everywhere!!
 
Film clip: Pentecost Acts 2 The message


Film Clip : The Dripping Tap

On Leunig Animated, Fruitcup Films, 2001 (pictured at left) This clip is a great introduction to the first part of the Ezekiel reading as is the Keith Green song/poem (below) and the discussion questions (below).

Poem or Listening Song: My Eyes Are Dry
by Keith Green, Ears to Hear Music.

 Discussion Questions based on the Ezekiel reading:
When can there be dryness in our lives?
When can our lives be disconnected and scattered? 

Story: Holy Spirit Holes in Medieval Churches
Google "Holy Spirit Holes" and you will find heaps of descriptions of these - a great illustration for encouraging people to open up their lives to God's power.

Response activity:
Give everyone a birthday cake candle. Project the words "Holy Spirit come into my life and.....". Ask people to mentally fill in the rest of the sentence and then come forward and light their candle as they pray the whole sentence.

Response Activity: Balloons
As a symbol of the gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to us, give everybody a balloon and ask them to write their particular gift on it. They can talk about it and help each other as they go. Then blow up the balloons and decorate the church with them (or have them blown up and decorating the church when people arrive and take them down to write on and take home). Please do not let balloons go outside - balloons are a choking hazard for wild life in rural and marine areas and make a mess in cities.

Also:
Story: The Sea Breeze Hotel
Great for kids and adults alike, the details of this book and heaps of ideas for a Pentecost service based on the Acts reading are found in Worship is For Everyone by Julie Pinazza, Openbook Publishers, Adelaide, 2000, ISBN 0859109259, page 13ff (pictured at right). 

Church Decor and Prayer Idea: Rushing Wind
Found in Worship Feast: 100 Awesome Ideas for Postmodern Youth, Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2003, ISBN 139780687063574, page 73 (pictured at left).  This idea is based on the Acts reading, and I cannot for the life of me, work out why this book is aimed at postmodern youth when the majority of the ideas apply to postmodern anybody.