All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (May 29, 2022)
PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT
One or more candles may be lit. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
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.
Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
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.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We praise and thank you, O God our Father,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him you have enlightened us
by revealing the light that never fades,
for dark death has been destroyed
and radiant life is everywhere restored.
What was promised is fulfilled:
we have been joined to God,
through renewed life in the Spirit of the risen Lord.
Glory and praise to you, our Father,
through Jesus your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Spirit,
in the kingdom of light eternal,
for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Open this link to hear Margaret Old’s “Spirit of God, Unseen as the Wind.”
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind,
gentle as is the dove;
teach us the truth and help us believe,
show us the Saviour's love!
You spoke to us long, long ago,
gave us the written word;
we read it still, needing its truth
through it God's voice is heard.
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind,
gentle as is the dove;
teach us the truth and help us believe,
show us the Saviour's love!
Without your help we fail our Lord,
we cannot live His way;
we need Your power, we need Your strength,
following Christ each day.
Spirit of God, unseen as the wind,
gentle as is the dove;
teach us the truth and help us believe,
show us the Saviour's love!
SCRIPTURE
John 17:20-26 A Prayer for Unity
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one: I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.
“Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made. Righteous Father! The world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you sent me. I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them.”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
A Church on Mission
Today’s reading, John 17: 20-26, forms a part of what is called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. It is a prayer not only for Jesus’ original disciples, the exception being Judas Iscariot, but also for his Church down through the ages and in the future, those who believe in Jesus because of their’ message.
It is a prayer in which Jesus as the Son addresses two requests to the Father. He asks that they may be one, his original disciple and his Church, and that they enjoy the same kind of relationship with the Father and himself that he and the Father enjoy with each other.
The reason for these requests Jesus explains is so that the world may believe that the Father sent him and that the Father love them as the Father loves Jesus.
Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus instructed the disciples to love each other as he has loved them. The kind of unity that Jesus appears to be visualizing in his prayer is a unity in which his followers are united in faith, love, and obedience.
By faith, they are united in their belief in Jesus. They believe that he was who he said he was.
By love, they exhibit the same kind of love for others as Jesus exhibited. This includes loving their enemies and one another.
By obedience, they show their love of Jesus in obeying his teaching. They view discipleship in terms of faithfully carrying out his commandments and following his example.
As followers of Jesus, we can experience this kind of unity regardless of whether we are members of the same denomination, embrace the same doctrine, shares the same practices, or have the same political opinions. Jesus is at the center of our lives, and it is our devotion to Jesus, expressed not just in words but also in actions, which matters most.
It is the kind of unity that is critical to the health and wellbeing of the congregation of a local church. Without it a local church is like an old-fashioned covered wagon with the horses, mules, or oxen hitched to different part of the wagon and pulling against each other instead of hitched to the wagon’s tongue and pulling in the same direction. As a result, the wagon goes nowhere and may be pulled apart.
The congregation may form silos, barriers between the different groups within the congregation, which cause people who are supposed to be on the same team to work at cross purposes. Each group has its goals, which may be unspoken, and pursues them independently of the other groups. There is competition for the resources of the congregation. There is no agreement on a common vision.
The kind of unity for which Jesus is praying occurs when a local church genuinely makes fulfilling the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and the Great Compassion its chief priority and subordinates everything else to this priority. It actively seeks to love God and to love others; to share the good news and to make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them and instructing them in what Jesus taught; and to serve Jesus in the underprivileged and others in need or difficulty. The fulfillment of this priority is always kept before the congregation and nothing else is permitted to take its place.
It is a local church that does not look backward to past successes. It is a church that is not preoccupied with maintaining decaying buildings. It is a church that is on mission.
When God calls us to follow Jesus, God calls us to join him in his mission in the world. We can easily lose sight of that in the busyness, the flurry of activities, that characterizes so many churches. The focus of these activities is too often us and not God’s mission in the world.
God calls us to be salt, light, and yeast in the world, and not to share the latest gossip over coffee and donuts and to warm a pew on Sunday morning. His promised rest is yet to come. Right now God wants us to labor in his vineyard. As we obediently labor there, living lives of love in imitation of our Lord, God will transforms us into his likeness.
Silence is kept.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Open this link to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of our Lord’s Summary of the Law, “Jesus Creed.”
Jesus said
The first commandment is this:
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Magnificat, “Song of Mary.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
In the power of the resurrection
we offer our prayers to God.
Let us pray.
Remember, O Lord, in your love
the Church throughout the world . . .
those recently baptized and confirmed . . .
those who minister to others . . .
Silence
May your whole Church know your power
and be a sign that Christ is risen.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love the world you have made . . .
those who seek a fair and proper use of the
world’s resources . . .
those who strive for justice and peace
among the nations . . .
Silence
May the whole earth be transformed by mercy and rejoice in hope.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love those who suffer . . .
the victims of violence and injustice . . .
those who mourn . . .
Silence
May all in need find comfort, strength and freedom in the living Christ.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love those who have died:
those who have confessed the faith
and those whose faith is known to you
alone.
Silence
May all your children receive grace and light according to their needs and come at last to share with all the saints in life eternal.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Gracious God, we ask these prayers through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Saviour. Amen.
The Collect
Holy God, you feed us
with earthly and spiritual food.
Deathless, unalterable, you have chosen us,
sinful as we are,
to hear your word and to proclaim your truth.
Alleluia! Make us salt of the earth;
make us yeast in the loaf.
Praise to you our God; you answer prayer.
Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this tab in a new link to hear Keith Getty and Stuart Townend’s “Hear the Call of the Kingdom.”
Hear the call of the Kingdom
Lift your eyes to the King
Let His song rise within you
As a fragrant offering
Of how God rich in mercy
Came in Christ to redeem
All who trust in His unfailing grace
Hear the call of the Kingdom
To be children of light
With the mercy of heaven
The humility of Christ
Walking justly before Him
Loving all that is right
That the life of Christ may shine through us
King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name
Hear the call of the Kingdom
To reach out to the lost
With the Father's compassion
In the wonder of the cross
Bringing peace and forgiveness
And a hope yet to come
Let the nations put their trust in Him
Silence is kept.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Open this link to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of our Lord’s Summary of the Law, “Jesus Creed.”
Jesus said
The first commandment is this:
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Magnificat, “Song of Mary.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
In the power of the resurrection
we offer our prayers to God.
Let us pray.
Remember, O Lord, in your love
the Church throughout the world . . .
those recently baptized and confirmed . . .
those who minister to others . . .
Silence
May your whole Church know your power
and be a sign that Christ is risen.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love the world you have made . . .
those who seek a fair and proper use of the
world’s resources . . .
those who strive for justice and peace
among the nations . . .
Silence
May the whole earth be transformed by mercy and rejoice in hope.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love those who suffer . . .
the victims of violence and injustice . . .
those who mourn . . .
Silence
May all in need find comfort, strength and freedom in the living Christ.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Remember in your love those who have died:
those who have confessed the faith
and those whose faith is known to you
alone.
Silence
May all your children receive grace and light according to their needs and come at last to share with all the saints in life eternal.
Lord of life,
hear us in your love.
Gracious God, we ask these prayers through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Saviour. Amen.
The Collect
Holy God, you feed us
with earthly and spiritual food.
Deathless, unalterable, you have chosen us,
sinful as we are,
to hear your word and to proclaim your truth.
Alleluia! Make us salt of the earth;
make us yeast in the loaf.
Praise to you our God; you answer prayer.
Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this tab in a new link to hear Keith Getty and Stuart Townend’s “Hear the Call of the Kingdom.”
Hear the call of the Kingdom
Lift your eyes to the King
Let His song rise within you
As a fragrant offering
Of how God rich in mercy
Came in Christ to redeem
All who trust in His unfailing grace
Hear the call of the Kingdom
To be children of light
With the mercy of heaven
The humility of Christ
Walking justly before Him
Loving all that is right
That the life of Christ may shine through us
King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name
Hear the call of the Kingdom
To reach out to the lost
With the Father's compassion
In the wonder of the cross
Bringing peace and forgiveness
And a hope yet to come
Let the nations put their trust in Him
King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Saviour taught his disciples,
we pray:
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.
BLESSING
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from
the dead,
strengthen us
to walk with him in his risen life;
and may almighty God bless us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Saviour taught his disciples,
we pray:
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.
BLESSING
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from
the dead,
strengthen us
to walk with him in his risen life;
and may almighty God bless us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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