All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (August 16, 2020)
Evening Prayer
The Service of Light
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
1 O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the
everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
pure brightness of the
everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
2 Now as we come to the setting of the
sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3 Thou art worthy at all times
to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and
praise.
God our Father, we give you thanks
for all your gifts freely bestowed upon
us;
for the beauty and wonder of your
creation,
in earth and sky and sea; for all that
is gracious
in the lives of men and women,
revealing the light of Christ;
for minds to muse and hearts to love
and hands to serve;
for health and strength to work,
for leisure to rest and play;
for communion with your saints,
in all times and places,
and above all for the great promises
and mercies
given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To him be praise and glory,
with you and the Holy Spirit, now and
forever. Amen.
Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be
burned.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my rise to you.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my prayer rise to you.
1 I call out to you,
Come quickly to my aid.
My song cries out to you,
O listen to me now.
I raise my hands in off’ring to you.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
2 Let me speak your truth;
watch over all I say.
Keep my thoughts on you;
let goodness rule my heart.
Keep me far from those who do harm.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
3 Never let me dine
with those who seek to harm.
Keep your holy ones
always at my side.
Plant your wisdom deep in my soul.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
4 I look to you for help;
I seek your loving eyes.
Guard my life for you;
Spare me from all wrong.
Keep all evil far from my heart.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
5 Glory be to God
and to God’s only Son,
glory to the Spirit,
three in one,
now and for ever. Amen.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Silence is kept.
Let the incense of our repentant prayer
ascend before you, O Lord, and let your loving kindness descend upon us, that
with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the
whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever. Amen.
The Psalms
O God, you search me, and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down, you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down, you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.
You know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting, you besiege me
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting, you besiege me
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.
Before a word is on my tongue, Lord
You have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future, too.
You have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future, too.
Although your Spirit is upon me
Still I search for shelter from your light
There is nowhere on Earth I can escape you
Still I search for shelter from your light
There is nowhere on Earth I can escape you
Even the darkness is radiant in your
sight.
For you created me and shaped me
Gave me life within my mother’s womb
For the wonder of who I am, I praise
you.
Safe in your hands, all creation is
made new
Silence is kept.
Creator God,
may every breath we take be for your
glory,
may every footstep show you as our way,
that, trusting in your presence in this
world,
we may, beyond this life, still be with
you
where you are alive and reign
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Proclamation
of the Word
The Reading
A reading from Paul’s first
letter to the Corinthians.
Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when
you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by
the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but
the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who
activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the
Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of
wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts
of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of
tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All
these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one
individually just as the Spirit chooses.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
The Homily
The
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are the
ways that God shows his presence and power in our lives. They are not abilities
or talents by which we come naturally. They are explainable only by God’s
presence and power.
How do we know that they are God’s
manifestation of himself? As Paul draws
to the attention of the church at Corinth, no one can say “Jesus is Lord”
except by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is very self-effacing. He always
points past himself to Jesus. The Holy Spirit will prompt us to recognize and
accept the lordship of Jesus and to live in accordance with the teaching and
example of Jesus as his disciples. He also enables us to do so.
The Holy Spirit will not draw undue
attention to the individual in which he is manifesting himself. Most of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit are not very “showy” at all. This may come as a
disappointment to those looking for “signs and wonders”—modern-day repetitions
of the New Testament miracles.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts
not to us but to the local church, to the Body of Christ in a particular
locality. They are also gifts to the larger Church. They build up the local
church. They may also build up the larger Church.
Like the sacraments of Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper the gifts of the Holy Spirit invigorate, strengthen, and confirm
our faith, not just as individuals but as the local church.
The Holy Spirit will not reveal
something that he has not already revealed. He will not contradict himself or
add to or take away from what he has revealed. If someone comes to us and says
God revealed to me so and so and what that person says is not found in Scripture
or supported by Scripture, then what the person is saying is not from God.
How then do we discern the gifts of the
Holy Spirit? If you go online, you will find all kinds of questionnaires and
other assessment tools intended to help you discern what your spiritual gifts
are. However, the most reliable method of discerning your spiritual gifts is
the observations of your fellow Christians. In what ways do they see God
working through you? In what ways are you pointing people to Jesus? In what
ways are you building up the local church? In what ways are you encouraging or
promoting the growth and development of the faith of others as well as your own
faith?
Do we need to have some kind of special
experience in order to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Do we need to
receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Do we need to have a bishop lay hands on us and pray over us?
While some Christians believe that we
must have such an experience, what Paul is telling the Corinthians is that they
cannot confess Jesus as Lord unless they have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.
As he tells the church at Philippi, God works in us to will and do what pleases
him. Confessing Jesus’ lordship over our lives and living our lives in ways in which
Jesus is indeed the lord of our life pleases God. We cannot do that in our own
strength.
Why then do we not experience the
presence and power of God in our lives like some Christians do? In a little
book titled Baptism the late Michael Green wrote that unrepented sin may
be keeping us from fully experiencing the presence and power of God in our
lives. We also may be inadvertently keeping ourselves from fully experiencing
God’s presence and power because we are not open to God manifesting himself in
our lives in that way. Michael Green’s advice to his readers was to ask God to
show them what was hindering them from fully experiencing his presence and his
power and to ask him to help them remove these hindrances.
What is keeping you from experiencing the
fullness of God’s presence and power in your life? What are you going to do
about it?
The Gospel Canticle
My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lowly throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored,
on God, by all adored.
Intercessions
In peace let us pray to the Lord,
Lord, have mercy.
For God’s holy Church, that it may be
filled with truth and love,
and be found without fault at the day
of his coming, let us pray
to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the ministers of. the Church
(especially …………), that they
may be faithful to the Gospel and
worthy servants of the people
of God, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For all who fear God and believe in the
Lord Jesus, that our
divisions may cease, and that all may
be one, as he wills, let us
pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the mission of the Church, that in
faithful witness it may preach
the Gospel to the ends of the earth,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who do not yet believe, and
for those who have lost
their faith, that they may receive the
light of the Gospel, let us
pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the world, that
respect and understanding may
grow among nations and peoples, let us
pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those in positions of public trust
(especially ………...), that
they may serve justice and truth, and
promote the dignity and
freedom of every person, let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For our families and all those who are
dear to us; for the aged and
for the young that they may have a
future to hope in, let us pray
to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the poor, the persecuted, the sick,
and all who suffer; for
refugees, prisoners, and all who are in
danger, that they may be
relieved and protected, let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For our enemies, and those who wish us
harm; and for all whom
we have injured or offended, let us
pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Free Prayer
In silent or
spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers
of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The
Lord’s Prayer is said
And now, as our Savior
has taught us,
we are bold to say,
Our Father, who
art in heaven,
hallowed be thy
name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is
in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our
trespasses,
as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us not
into temptation;
but deliver us
from evil.
For thine is the
kingdom,
the power, and the
glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Dismissal
Oh let the Son of God enfold you
With His Spirit and His love
Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul
Oh let Him have those things that hold you
And His Spirit like a dove
Will descend upon your life and make you whole
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Oh come and sing the song of gladness
As your hearts are filled with joy
Lift your hands in sweet surrender to His name
Oh give Him all your tears and sadness
Give Him all your years of pain
And you'll enter into life in Jesus' name
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
With His Spirit and His love
Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul
Oh let Him have those things that hold you
And His Spirit like a dove
Will descend upon your life and make you whole
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Oh come and sing the song of gladness
As your hearts are filled with joy
Lift your hands in sweet surrender to His name
Oh give Him all your tears and sadness
Give Him all your years of pain
And you'll enter into life in Jesus' name
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Jesus oh Jesus
Come and fill Your lambs
Let us bless the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The God of all
grace bless us now and forever. Amen
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