It works well if those gathered are divided into groups and given the name of a prophet and asked to read the passage of Scripture assigned to them. Use pictures or other visuals to enhance the text.

Reader 1      

At the first Pentecost/ In the beginning, the Spirit came upon the people of God

and opened their minds to great truths.

The Spirit set their souls on fire and they understood the greatness of the story

of which they had become a part.

Reader 2      

They weren't simply a group of people living 2000 years ago -

but people at a turning-point in history -

looking back over thousands of years

and into a future they could not imagine....

they were touched in a eternal moment of truth -

by the Holy Spirit of God.

The Spirit opens the Word of God to us;

The Spirit transforms the matter of bread and wine

into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful

and kindle in us the fire of Your love.

Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created

and You will renew the face of the earth.

In the mists of time, at the dawning of human history,

God appeared to Abram and said,
 

 I am God Almighty; walk with Me and be holy.

And I will make My covenant between Me and you,

and I will make you fruitful

and your children shall be as numerous as are the stars.

No longer shall your name be Abram but Abraham,

or I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.

I will establish My everlasting covenant between Me and you and your offspring

to be God to you and to them for ages unending. 

Ages passed and God appeared to Moses

and brought the People of God out of slavery.

On Mount Sinai, God spoke to Moses:

You have seen what I have done for you

how I have borne you up on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.

Know, therefore, that if you obey My voice and keep My covenant,

you shall be My treasured possession.

The whole earth is mine,

 but you shall be for Me a priestly people and a holy nation.

Yet, despite the great things that God had done for them,

people forgot the covenant with God;

but the prophets did not forget:

The days are surely coming, says the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand out of Egypt -

a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make:

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts;

and I will be their God and they shall be my people.   

Praise and thanksgiving to God

who has written His words of love on our hearts.

The Lord says, "I will make a covenant of peace with them

and I will bless them and multiply them,

and I will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.

My dwelling-place shall be with them;

and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

In those days, says the Lord

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh;

your sons and daughters shall prophesy,

your old folk shall dream dreams

and your young folk shall see visions.

In those days, I will pour out My spirit.

Praise and thanksgiving to our God, that we should live in the days of the Spirit.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary

and she conceived through the power of  the Spirit.

Mary became the Ark of the new Covenant:

mother of the Word made flesh:

highly favoured

full of grace

bearing the greatness of God

into the life of the world.

Rejoicing in her covenant with God, she proclaimed:
 

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for He has looked on the lowliness of His servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is His name.

His mercy is great for those who fear Him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

in remembrance of His mercy,

according to the promise He made to Abraham

and to His descendants forever.
 

© 2007 Wellspring