All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (June 5, 2022)

 

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

One or more candles may be lit.

God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5

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 in a new tab to hear Brian Wren’s “There’s a Spirit in the Air.”

There's a spirit in the air,
telling Christians everywhere:
"Praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world!"

Lose your shyness, find your tongue,
tell the world what God has done:
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow's life today!

When believers break the bread,
when a hungry child is fed,
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.

Still the Spirit leads the fight,
seeing wrong and setting right:
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow's life today!

When a stranger's not alone,
where the homeless find a home,
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.

May the Spirit fill our praise,
guide our thoughts and change our ways.
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow's life today!

There's a Spirit in the air,
telling Christians everywhere:
“Praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.”

SCRIPTURE

John 14: 15-27 The Promise of the Holy Spirit

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.

“When I go, you will not be left all alone; I will come back to you. In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me; and because I live, you also will live. When that day comes, you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me, just as I am in you.

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “Lord, how can it be that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them. Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. And the teaching you have heard is not mine, but comes from the Father, who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am still with you. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.

“Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.

Silence is kept.

May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory

HOMILY

A Seasoned Guide

On occasion we hear or read about a hiker who wandered off the trail, got lost, and died. They were usually hiking a trail with which they were unfamiliar. They may have left the trail to relieve themselves and were unable to find the way back to the trail. Or they took what they thought was a shortcut, only discover that it did not lead them to where they wanted to go. We know that this sort of thing happens from the accounts of those who managed to survive. While it may be not as adventuresome to hike with someone else who knows the trail very well, it is safer. In very rugged terrain a seasoned guide, someone who is an old hand at hiking a particular trail, is a must.

For the believer the Holy Spirit is like a seasoned guide for a hiker on an unfamiliar trail. The Holy Spirit will enable us to take the right path and to stay on it. When we wander off that path, the Holy Spirit will nudge us back onto it.

The Holy Spirit will remind us of Jesus and the apostles’ teaching as recorded in the Bible. The Holy Spirit will not give us any special personal revelations that differ from what the Bible tells us, revelations which add to what the Bible teaches or take away from what it teaches. The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus, not away from him to someone or something else. The Holy Spirit will not elevate a pastor, philosopher, or politician in Jesus’ place.

Guiding the believer is not the only role of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life but it is an important one. The Holy Spirit helps us to avoid the perils and dangers that we face along life’s way.

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

Gracious God,
whose Spirit helps us in our weakness
and guides us in our prayers,
we pray for the Church and for the world
in the name of Jesus Christ.

Renew the life and faith of the Church; strengthen our witness;
and make us one in Christ . . .
Grant that we and all who confess that Christ is Lord
may be faithful in your service
and filled with the Spirit,
that the world may be turned to you.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Guide the nations
in the ways of justice, liberty and peace;
and help them to seek
the unity and welfare of all people . . .
Give to all in authority
wisdom to know and strength to do what is right.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Comfort those in sorrow;
heal the sick in body or in mind
and deliver the oppressed . . .
Grant us compassion for all who suffer,
and help us so to carry one another’s burdens
that we may fulfil the law of Christ.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Receive our thanks and praise
for all who have served you faithfully here on earth,
and especially those who have revealed to us your grace in Christ . . .
May we and all your people
share the life and joy of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect

Living God,
eternal Holy Spirit,
let your bright intoxicating energy
which fired those first disciples
fall on us
to turn the world again.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Jim and Jean Strathdee’s “Dance with the Spirit.”

Dance with the Spirit early in the morning
Walk with the Spirit throughout the long day
Work and hope for the new life abornin’
Listen to the Spirit to show you the way

Dance with the Spirit early in the morning
Walk with the Spirit throughout the long day
Work and hope for the new life abornin’
Listen to the Spirit to show you the way

Dance with the Spirit early in the morning
Walk with the Spirit throughout the long day
Work and hope for the new life abornin’
Listen to the Spirit to show you the way….

Repeat verse 4 more times.

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

The Spirit of truth lead us into all truth,
give us grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and to proclaim the word and works of God;
and the blessing of God,
Spirit, Son and Father,
remain with us always. Amen.