All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (April 2, 2022)
One or more candles may be lit.
Bless be God who forgives all our sins
God’s mercy endures forever
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear Joyous Light of Glorious God from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
the shepherd of Israel,
their pillar of cloud by day,
their pillar of fire by night.
In these forty days you lead us
into the desert of repentance
that in this pilgrimage of prayer
we might learn to be your people once more.
In fasting and service
you bring us back to your heart.
You open our eyes to your presence in the world
and you free our hands to lead others
to the radiant splendour of your mercy.
Be with us in these journey days
for without you we are lost and will perish.
To you alone be dominion and glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Psalm 141 from Kent Gustavson's Mountain Vespers.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O God, I call you; come to me quickly;
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth,
and guard the doors of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;
Never occupied in wickedness.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
in you I take refuge.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
Strip me not of my life.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Silence is kept.
May our prayers come before you, O God, as incense, and may your presence surround and fill us, so that in union with all creation, we might sing your praise and your love in our lives. Amen.
SCRIPTURE
Philippians 3: 3-14 Paul acknowledges knowing Jesus has changed his whole life
For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
What Matters Most
In today’s reading from his letter to the Philippians (Philippians 3: 3-14), Paul, having given his credentials as a devote Jew, dismisses his former beliefs and practices as of no consequence in comparison to faith in Jesus, by which he is put right with God. They are rubbish, things that he no longer wants or needs. Paul goes on to express his strong desire to suffer as Jesus suffered and to experience the resurrection from the dead as Jesus did. He voices his determination to press on to his goal and his reward—the honor of being called by God in Jesus.
Paul makes this powerful affirmation of faith in response to the claims of the Judaizers. The Judaizers were early Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile converts would have become Jews, in order to become disciples of Jesus.. They would have to be circumcised if they were males. They would have to keep all the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Code, observe the feasts of the Jewish religion, and otherwise live their lives as devote Jews.
Paul’s response to their claims was that we are reconciled to God not by strict observance of the Law but by faith in Jesus. Our faith saves us, not keeping a particular set of rules. We do not have to adopt a particular way of life in order to be put right with God. The new way of life that we adopt is a response to being put right with God through faith in Jesus.
While nowadays we may not hear the claim that we must first become Jews to become disciples of Jesus, we do hear the claim that we must adopt a particular way of life. We may be presented with a set of rules that have little to do with what Jesus taught or practiced. We must do this. We must not do that. We must become like the members of a particular church if we hope to be put right with God.
God, however, meets us where we are. God does not expect us to make changes in our lives before we come to faith in Jesus. When by the power of his grace God has brought us to a living faith in his Son, then he will transform our lives, sanctifying and perfecting us.
As Paul wrote the church at Philippi, what he thought before he believed, what he did before he believes, had no value. It was worthless. It was believing in Jesus that put him right with God, trusting in Jesus and what he had done for us on the cross.
God meets us when we are struggling with addiction. God meets us when we are in the middle of a messy divorce. God meets us when we have been a churchgoer since we were a small child. It does not matter what is going on our life when God leads us to believe in Jesus. What matters most is that we believe.
What happens next will by far more important than what we were thinking and doing before we believed in Jesus, before we put our trust in him. We will be beginning a new life in which God will give us a complete makeover and transform us into the likeness of his Son.
No, we won’t start wearing a seamless robe and sandals. But God will enable us to become more compassionate, more loving, gentler, more caring, more generous, kinder, more forgiving, more patient—just like Jesus.
As Paul wrote the church at Philippi earlier in his letter, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2: 13, NLT). Believing in Jesus, trusting in him, pleases God. Seeing us becoming a better person—someone just like his Son, pleases God too.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Magnificat from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
1 You O God have done great things
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you
n ev’ry generation.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
2 You have shown the strength of your arm,
you have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast the might down from thrones
and have lifted up the lowly.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 You have filled the hungry with good things,
the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel
you’ve remembered your promise of mercy.
The promise you made
to Sarah and Abraham.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Amen
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
With confidence and trust let us pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, have mercy.”
For the one holy catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world, we pray to you, 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, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those preparing for baptism and for their teachers and sponsors, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For peace in the world, that a spirit of respect and reconciliation may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all in danger; that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy
For all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For grace to amend our lives and to further the reign of God, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ came into the world to free us all from sin and death. Grant that by the help of your grace we may be raised to new life in him and serve you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this link to a new tab to hear Joseph Hart’s Come, You Sinners, Sick and Sore.
1 Come, you sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus, Son of God, will save you,
Full of pity, love, and pow'r.
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
2 Come, you thirsty, come, and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify:
True belief and true repentance,
Ev'ry grace that brings you nigh.
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
3 Come, you weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you're better,
You will never come at all.
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
And now, as our Saviour 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.
SOLEMN PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Look with compassion, O Lord,
upon this your people;
that rightly observing this holy season
they may learn to know you more fully,
and to serve you with a more perfect will;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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