Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

​The disciples will be empowered by ‘another Advocate’, the Holy Spirit whom Jesus
promises will be sent by God after Jesus has left them.

Opening Prayers
​
Loving God,
This day, I give you thanks for the life you breath into me, the world you create with care and love,
the gifts you’ve bestowed on me, and the solid foundations you have laid for me to build my life upon.
Merciful Father, I confess that I get distracted and forget to rely on you when I face difficulties.
I confess that I sometimes forget to look for you in the strangers I meet,
I forget to use words to build up and spread love,
I sometimes struggle to reflect you when I am burdened by worries and fears.
Thank you that you do not keep a record of any of our wrongs and that I can start each new day in
the full assurance of your forgiveness and never-ending love.
Lord, our refuge and our strength, fill me afresh with your spirit,
replenish my low reserves, energise me to seek you,t o listen to you, to love you,
and to love my fellow human beings, this planet, and all creation, as you desire.
Amen.

94 STF – To God be the glory, great things he has done!

The Lords Prayer
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 for ever.
Amen

Reading: John 14:15-21
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to
help you and be with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you
as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
 Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and
I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me
will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Response to the reading
These verses in John 14 are a small part of the very lengthy discourse given by Jesus
which John records taking place on the eve of Jesus’ death, at the Last Supper. Here
Jesus is both reassuring and challenging his disciples – if they want to prove their love
for Jesus they must keep his commandments.
​The disciples will be empowered by ‘another Advocate’, the Holy Spirit whom Jesus
promises will be sent by God after Jesus has left them. In this final week of the Easter
season, before the celebration of Pentecost next Sunday, we too are reassured by
these words of Jesus; we too can receive once again the power of the Spirit who will
live within us and through whom we will know that we are closely bound up with God,
with Christ, in love, for ever.
- What do you think of when people talk about the ‘Holy Spirit’? How do you
picture this crucial, perhaps most mysterious part of the Trinity?
- Have you had an experience of encountering the Holy Spirit in your own life?
Or heard stories of other people’s encounters? How do they make you feel?
- There is much we don’t understand about faith – as the next suggested hymn
explores. As you listen to the recording of the hymn, you might like to write
down the ‘things you don’t know’. Keeping a ‘things I don’t know the answer to’
journal is a great way to stay humble and reflect on something of the mystery of
God.
Find someone you trust this week with whom you can talk about these questions.

350 STF – I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship

Blessing
And so, I shall go out with joy, and be sent forth with peace,
May the God of joy and love and hope and peace go with me,
Lifting my hearts in times of pain, and dancing with me in times of laughter.
May I go in peace, and serve the Lord,
Amen.

​2 // Easter 6A - 14th May 2023
The Vine at Home is compiled and produced by twelvebaskets