40 Days with The Holy Spirit – Day 1

Click here to watch Matt’s video blog for Monday 1st June, as we begin our journey after Pentecost, based on the book 40 Days with The Holy Spirit by Jack Levison.

To accompany today’s video blog – Psalm 8

Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.

1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

NEW Video section each Week- “A week in the life…”

As a way of bearing witness to what God is doing in our lives during this time, look out for a new item each week on the Video Blog on Facebook.  Over the coming weeks we will hopefully gather a number of videos from a wide variety of members of the life of our churches as a witness to the Life of the Spirit amongst us as we emerge out of Lockdown.  Look out for these.

Matt

Live Service for Pentecost

Click here to watch the service streamed live on Sunday 31st May, the feast of Pentecost, live streamed from the Prayer Garden in Congresbury.

Click here to watch the Pentecost service for Thy Kingdom Come, featuring both Archbishops and a special message from Pope Francis.

Hymns, Songs, Readings and other links for Pentecost Sunday –

“A Day of Celebration: Come Holy Spirit our souls inspire”

Pentecost – Diocese of Jamaica & The Cayman Islands

Hymns and Songs for Pentecost Sunday:

Today, is a great day of celebration. So, we have chosen a numerous variety of songs.  Hopefully, something for everyone to sing along to…

Ancient:

  1. “Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire” – a call for the Holy Spirit to come among God’s people.  Otherwise known by its Latin name, the Veni Creator Spiritus – it dates from the high days of monasteries in the 9th Century and is sung every year in the form of Gregorian chant
  2. here is a version performed this year as a ‘virtual’ Choir from Croydon Minister – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YD6a77INAk
  3. Here is a more traditional version with images to accompany – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPVuLOXh8vE&list=RDSPVuLOXh8vE&start_radio=1

Traditional:

  • “O Thou who camest from above” – Charles Wesley – one of the most wonderful traditional hymns about God and faith in general and the Holy Spirit in particular – here sung by Rochester Cathedral Choir –
  • Also became the subject of a great little book about life and faith by Br Ramon SSF “The Flame of Sacred Love: The Divine Fire in Human Experience” Pub in 1999, a year before he died.  A bargain at Amazon in Paperback at £2.55.

Meditation:

  • “As the deer” (Psalm 42) WORLD EDITION – I found this very moving, when you consider that Pentecost enabled the Gospel to go out to ALL nations – here a well known devotional hymn sung in many different tongues but with one voice – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIYWKfW74E

Children’s Songs:

Recommendations from Youth Club:

  1. “Holy Spirit, you are welcome here” – Jesus Culture – Kim Walker-Smith – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFByOX8Fb0M
  1. “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” – Hillsong –
  1. “Build your Kingdom here” – Rend Collective – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcSWpVKKMcs&feature=youtu.be
  1. “Sing it from the Shackles” – Rend Collective – speaks of overcoming things from the point of view of Lockdown – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF2wV9AREVM&feature=youtu.be

Modern Music:

This week really having a “binge” on Rend Collective – so many of their songs are about the Holy Spirit or about living in the Spirit:

  1. “Revival Anthem” – Rend Collective – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egw65U99qjU&feature=youtu.be
  1. “Burn like a Star” – Rend Collective – classic (with lyrics) –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX8IuCQV5xk&feature=youtu.be
  1. “You will never run away” – Rend Collective – the Panda song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONYUM3v35S4&feature=youtu.be
  1. “Joy of the Lord” – Rend Collective – with lyrics – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3gLeCiMJqI&feature=youtu.be

But we couldn’t miss out the classic from Hillsong:

  1. “Oceans” – by Hillsong – one of the most evocative and most watched Christian videos – in all its forms something like forty to fifty million views – https://youtu.be/o6qNtPiBnvk

Videos:

  1. “Shavout and Pentecost” – Aaron Eime (Deacon, Christ Church in Jerusalem) – For those who have been to Israel, and those interested in Jewish roots of our faith, here is a wonderful video sent out a few days ago by someone you will hopefully recognise. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cS8Q-EYik0

2. “The Holy Spirit” – by the Bible project – gives a really good overview of the life and scope of the work of the Holy Spirit, all in about four and a bit minutes! Amazing!  Well worth a watch! – https://youtu.be/oNNZO9i1Gjc