Spirit Unbound

Worship Planning Notes

Focus text: Numbers 11:24-30, Acts 2:1-21    

Poured out. What image or feeling does that phrase evoke for you? Does it remind you of seasons of overwhelming exhaustion from pouring out of an empty cup of energy? Does it call to mind the abundance of water poured out at the baptismal font as a baby is presented for initiation into the family of God? Do you recall evenings with family and friends around a table, sipping on never-ending glasses of tea or mugs of coffee as stories and memories flow from person to person? Do you remember moments when you worked with others to serve your neighborhood, receiving as much as you poured out in service with others?  

This idea of “God poured out,” which we’re circling around in this two-week series, can bring up many images and feelings from our own lives. Yet, God pours out differently than we do. God is infinite; we are finite. God operates in abundance; we struggle with a fear of scarcity. God’s love is unlimited; too often, our love is limited by our biases and preconceived notions about who does and doesn’t belong.  

So, on this Pentecost Sunday, find ways to emphasize the abundance of God, the unbounded Spirit being poured out among us. Fill the space with red, gold, orange, and yellow. Sing your hearts out. Share the goodness of God’s work among you. Dream God’s dream of abundant life together. Pray for the flourishing of your neighbors. Send  one another out encouraged and empowered to follow the unbounded Spirit wherever God may lead. Pentecost is both a celebration and an invitation. We celebrate and remember God’s mighty and continuing act of sending the Holy Spirit to dwell among us, to guide us and nurture us on the journey of faith. We also receive and remember the invitation to follow the Spirit, to cooperate with God’s work in the world. Just as God pours out abundantly, God invites us continually. The unbounded Spirit is here among us, always working for the flourishing of God’s creation and always inviting us to participate. Will we join in?  

Author bio:  
Dr. Lisa Hancock, Director of Worship Arts Ministries, served as an organist and music minister in United Methodist congregations in the legacy Northwest Texas and North Texas Annual Conferences. After receiving her Master of Sacred Music and Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology, she earned her PhD in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University, where she researched and wrote on the doctrine of Christ, disability, and atonement. Lisa is also the co-lead of Growing in Grace: Accessible Worship for All God’s Children.