All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (June 1, 2022)

 

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

One or more candles may be lit.

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 1 John 3: 23

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 Keity Getty and Stuart Townend’s “Speak O Lord.”

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of your holy word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfil in us
All Your purposes, for Your glory.

Teach us Lord full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise
Cause our eyes to see,
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail;
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time,
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ’til your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

SCRIPTURE

1 John 3: 16-24 Love One Another

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

Silence is kept.

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

HOMILY

Watch over Each Other in Love

When I read the opening verses of today’s reading, 1 John 3: 16-24, I found myself thinking about this passage from the James’ General Epistle.

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” (James 2:14-17 NLT)

Likewise, it means nothing at all if we say that we love our fellow Christians, but do not exhibit any love toward them in our actions. As the old saw goes, “actions speak louder than words.” Our words carry no weight if our actions do not support them.

We cannot say, “I’m following Jesus in my own way,” as tempting as that may be in this day and age. Jesus taught his disciples a number of things with the clear expectation that they would obey his teaching.

When we our love for our fellow Christians by our actions, when we treat them with grace, kindness, and respect, we do not need to say that we love them. Our actions speak for us.

One of the ways that we can encourage and support each other’s spiritual growth is a covenant discipleship group. A covenant discipleship group is a small group of no more than seven people who meet weekly to share with each other what they are doing to live their lives according to Jesus’ teaching and example and to make use of the means of grace.

The purpose of a covenant discipleship group is mutual accountability as well as mutual encouragement and support. Its members watch over each other in love.

The covenant discipleship group is modeled on the “classes,” the small groups into which John Wesley organized the early Methodists and which were a major factor in the success of the Methodist movement. Its objective is to help its members to grow to mature as followers of Jesus through a disciplined and intentional approach to discipleship.

In too many churches Christians are left to muddle along the best they can. As a consequence, very little spiritual progress can be seen in the lives of individual Christians. Except for going to church, they may be indistinguishable from their non-believing neighbor who sleeps in on Sunday morning or plays a round of golf.

Our faith journey only begins with our profession of faith in Jesus Christ in baptism or the rite of confirmation. Being put right with God by faith is just the first step along the path. Having brought us to repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ, God continues to work in our lives, sanctifying and perfecting us and transforming us into the likeness of his Son. It is a process in which we have a part to play.

As well as providing us with an infinite supply of grace and hearts and minds open to that grace, God also provides with companions on the journey, other Christians like ourselves, not only to accompany us but also to help us on the way.

Covenant discipleship groups are one of the ways that we can help each other to mature as Christians. It is one of the ways that we can encourage and support each other and provide spiritual care to each other. It is one of the ways that we can ensure that we are showing our love for each other by our actions. If your church does not have such groups, you may want to look into how to form them.

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 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 gives us light,
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,
calling people everywhere:
Praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working in our world.

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.