One:  Divine Creator, source of all being,
                  our lives are in your hands.
         We wilt and perish apart from you.

  All:  We look to you, O God, to feed us.

One:  By your Spirit, dear God, truth is shown.
         By your Spirit, knowledge is known.

  All:  With open hand you fill our hearts, O God.

One:  God as Spirit, we open ourselves to you.
         Speak for us, speak to us,
                  declare now what you see.

  All:  Move through us, Mighty Spirit.
         Create, renew, and share your truth.

One:  The Spirit sings from the teachings of Jesus.
         The Spirit glorifies the reign of the Christ.

  All:  The Spirit comes in truth;
                  let us join in song to the Lord of our lives.
         Let us sing praise to God with all of our being.

CHILDREN: Sunday? My aunt’s birthday! Pentecost?

L: It’s all those things, evidently, but it is especially Pentecost, a day that is a kind of birthday for the church. All Christian churches, everywhere, were born on a day fifty days after Easter when God’s Spirit blew on the disciples like the sound of wind. What sound does the wind make?

C: Whooosh.

L: That’s really good! Can you say the word "wind" in a windy way? (You may need to demonstrate.)

C: Whhhhhhiiiinnnd.

L: That works! OK, now try saying "breath" in a windy way.

C: Breeaaaathhhhh.

L: Good! How about "life"?

C: Llllliiiiifffffe.

L: It’s getting a little harder, isn’t it? This one may be the hardest of all, how about the word "spirit"?

C: Sssssppiiiirrrrriiitttt.

L: (Pause.) That didn’t sound too windy, I’m afraid. But there’s hope! Did you know that there’s a word in another language, a language called Hebrew, that not only sounds windy, but means all the things we’ve been saying with all these other words? The word is ruach, and it means wind and breath and life and spirit. Can we say "ruach" in a windy way? (Ruach is pronounced roo-ach, with the "ch" as in the Scottish word loch.)

C: Rooooooooooaaaaaaaaawwwk.

L: That was really good! And what does ruach mean?

C: Wind. Spirit. Life.

L: And breath.

C: Breath!

L: So when it says in the book of Acts that there was a sound like a rushing wind that came around the disciples, it is saying that there was a sound like what?

C: Whooosh.

L: (Laughing) All right, but also a sound like this: roooooaaaaccchhh!

C: Rooooooaaaawwwk!

L: And when it says that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, the book of Acts is telling us that they were filled with what?

C: Rooooooaaaawwwk!

L: Good! And what else were the disciples filled with? What does the word ruach mean?

C: Breath. Wind. Spirit. Life.

L: Right. And when the disciples were filled with God’s Holy Spirit - with breath and life - they began to tell everyone else about where this wonderful life came from. They talked about God and about what Jesus had done and how much God loves everyone. And many people believed in Jesus and became his followers. Let’s have a prayer to thank God for life and breath and wind and Spirit (Prayer.)