All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (September 24, 2022)
PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT
One or more candles may be lit.Light and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light that no darkness can extinguish.
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear William George Storey’s translation of the Phos hilaron, “O Radiant Light, O Sun Divine.”
1 O radiant light, O sun divine,
Of God the Father's deathless face,
O image of the light sublime
That fills the heav'nly dwelling place.
2 O Son of God, the source of life,
Praise is your due by night and day.
Our happy lips must raise the strain
of your esteem'd and splendid name.
3 Lord Jesus Christ, as daylight fades,
As shine the lights of eventide,
We praise the Father with the Son,
The Spirit blest and with them one.
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, ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God, rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord, whose word makes evening fall. Amen.
PSALMS
Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
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.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Joncas’ setting of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place.”
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord God of Hosts!
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord God of Hosts!
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord,
My heart and my flesh cry out;
Even the sparrow may find a home,
The swallow a nest for her young;
Your altars, my king and my God.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord God of Hosts!
How happy are they who may dwell in your courts,
How happy when you are their strength;
Though they might go through the valley of death,
They make it a place of springs.
Your first rain will bring it to life.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord God of Hosts!
O Lord of Hosts hear my cry,
And harken, O God of Jacob;
One day in your house is worth much more to me
Than ten thousand anywhere else.
The Lord is my sun and my shield.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord God of Hosts!
Silence is kept.
Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Naomi Campbell-Bennett’s “O Blessèd Hope (Ephesians 1).”
1 O blessèd hope to which we’re called,
O praise the glories of His grace,
Proclaim the working of His pow’r
To all the saints who have believed.
2 O word of truth on which we stand,
Inheritance by Christ obtained.
Come, know the mystery of His will:
Through Christ all things to God unite.
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
3 With greater sight O let us see,
By wisdom of Your Spirit know,
And revelation to believe
What is the glory of our hope.
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
4 How can it be that we so blessed,
In Christ were chosen by Your love,
According to Your gracious will
And lavish measure of Your grace?
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Timothy 6: 6-19 False Teaching and True Riches; Final Instructions
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. For,
At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Naomi Campbell-Bennett’s “O Blessèd Hope (Ephesians 1).”
1 O blessèd hope to which we’re called,
O praise the glories of His grace,
Proclaim the working of His pow’r
To all the saints who have believed.
2 O word of truth on which we stand,
Inheritance by Christ obtained.
Come, know the mystery of His will:
Through Christ all things to God unite.
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
3 With greater sight O let us see,
By wisdom of Your Spirit know,
And revelation to believe
What is the glory of our hope.
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
4 How can it be that we so blessed,
In Christ were chosen by Your love,
According to Your gracious will
And lavish measure of Your grace?
O blessèd hope of Christ for us,
Here full redemption through His blood,
O sing the riches of God’s grace
Set forth in Christ to bring Him praise!
This is the pow’r of God to us:
The resurrection of His Son,
Now seated high above all rule and pow’r,
The fullness of all things to come.
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Timothy 6: 6-19 False Teaching and True Riches; Final Instructions
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. For,
At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Owen Alstott’s “Luke 1: My Soul Rejoices.”
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
1 My soul proclaims your mighty deeds.
My spirit sings the greatness of your name.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
2 Your mercy flows throughout the land
and ev’ry generation knows your love.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
3 You cast the mighty from their thrones
and raise the poor and lowly to new life.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
4 You fill the hungry with good things.
With empty hands you send the rich away.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
5 Just as you promised Abraham,
You come to free your people, Israel.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
PRAYERS AND CONCERNS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your favor and goodwill to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in any kind of trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Almighty God,
you alone are our true judge,
for you know what we are,
you know what we should be,
and with you there is mercy.
Give us feeling for what is right;
set us on fire to see that right is done.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CHOIR ANTHEM
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Gardner’s arrangement of John S. B. Monsell’s “Fight the Good Fight.”
1 Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
lay hold on life, and it shall be
thy joy and crown eternally.
2 Run the straight race through God's good grace,
lift up thine eyes, and seek his face;
life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.
3 Cast care aside, lean on thy guide;
his boundless mercy will provide;
trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
4 Faint not nor fear, his arms are near;
he changeth not, and thou art dear;
only believe, and thou shalt see
that Christ is all in all to thee.
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Owen Alstott’s “Luke 1: My Soul Rejoices.”
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
1 My soul proclaims your mighty deeds.
My spirit sings the greatness of your name.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
2 Your mercy flows throughout the land
and ev’ry generation knows your love.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
3 You cast the mighty from their thrones
and raise the poor and lowly to new life.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
4 You fill the hungry with good things.
With empty hands you send the rich away.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
5 Just as you promised Abraham,
You come to free your people, Israel.
My soul rejoices in God, my Saviour.
My spirit finds joy in God, the living God.
PRAYERS AND CONCERNS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your favor and goodwill to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in any kind of trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Almighty God,
you alone are our true judge,
for you know what we are,
you know what we should be,
and with you there is mercy.
Give us feeling for what is right;
set us on fire to see that right is done.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CHOIR ANTHEM
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Gardner’s arrangement of John S. B. Monsell’s “Fight the Good Fight.”
1 Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
lay hold on life, and it shall be
thy joy and crown eternally.
2 Run the straight race through God's good grace,
lift up thine eyes, and seek his face;
life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.
3 Cast care aside, lean on thy guide;
his boundless mercy will provide;
trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
4 Faint not nor fear, his arms are near;
he changeth not, and thou art dear;
only believe, and thou shalt see
that Christ is all in all to thee.
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen!
Silence is kept.
Heavenly Father,
give us faith to receive your word,
understanding to know what it means,
and the will to put it into practice,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HOMILY
HOMILY
What's This about Fighting?!
In an article about the unorthodox beliefs of contemporary evangelical Christians in the United States, published in Christianity Today, Russell Moore, Christianity Today’s editor-in-chief, made this observation—
“But something more seems to be going on here—something involving an overall stealth secularization of conservative evangelicalism. What worries me isn’t so much that evangelical Christians can’t articulate Christian orthodoxy in a survey. It’s that, to many of them, Christian orthodoxy seems boring and irrelevant compared to claiming religious status for already-existing political, cultural, or ethnonational tribes.”
He goes on to ask—
“Some who (rightly) see troubling trends in surveys like these would argue that we need more theology books and conferences, along with more small groups, on systematic theology in our churches. I wonder, though, if the problem is bigger than that. Maybe rather than an information problem, we have an affections problem. Maybe before we have a theology problem, we have a priorities problem.”
He then identifies what he considers might be the cause of this development.
I cannot help wondering myself if this development is related at least in part to the increasing polarization in the church and in larger society in the United States and the substantial drop in church attendance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic in response to the findings of earlier surveys some Christian leaders were already questioning how adequately evangelical Christians were being discipled. The reluctance of evangelical Christians to evangelizing the unchurched as well as their embracing of unorthodox beliefs concerned them.
What Paul writes Timothy in today’s reading, 1 Timothy 6: 6-19, about fighting the good fight for the true faith is particularly applicable not just to evangelical Christians but all who call themselves Christians. What Paul is urging Timothy to do is to remain faithful to the truths and principles that he has been taught and not to wander from the true faith like some people have. This appears to be what is happening today in large measure, raising the question as whether those who have wandered from the true faith were instructed in it in the first place and whether, if they were instructed, they assimilated or absorbed what they were taught. It also raises the question whether they truly understood what following Jesus as their Lord means. When we become a disciple of Jesus, loyalty to Jesus, his message, his teaching, and his example takes priority over our loyalty to any other person or set of beliefs and ideas.
The true disciple takes to heart Paul’s advice to Timothy, intentionally avoids all forms of evil, not just those to which a particular tribe objects, and seeks to, in Paul’s words, “pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” Jesus is the center of the true disciple’s life, not someone or something else.
The temptations that face Christians today are not new ones. They have been around since New Testament times. Jesus himself recognized them and warned his disciples about them. He urged would-be disciples to count the cost before they started.
The fight to which Paul refers in today’s reading is not so much a fight against other people although other people may be involved, but a fight against our own desires which tempt us. The rich are not the only ones who are tempted by foolish and harmful desires. We all are. The rich may have their particular temptations to which they are susceptible. But they are not alone. Each of us has desires that tempt us. These desires will make us want to put someone or something else in Jesus’ place in our lives.
What recent events are revealing is that Jesus did not have the place in the lives of some people that their former attendance at church might have led us to believe. Attending a church and following Jesus as his disciple, however, are not the same thing. While being a follower of Jesus involves being a part of community of disciples, being a member or attendee of a church does not make us a disciple. Being a disciple goes beyond professing faith in Jesus. It involves making a serious commitment to live in accordance with the truths and principles that he taught and exemplified, being determined to “fight the good fight,” to “run the straight race,” and not give into our tempting desires whatever they may be.
Living the life of a disciple of Jesus is like running a marathon, a running race of slightly over 26 miles, 42.195 kilometers. It takes a lot of doing. We may begin at a cracking pace, only to find ourselves lagging behind the other runners. We may be forced to stop temporarily to catch our breath. But we do not drop out of the race. We keep running. We may come in last, but we finish the race.
As a disciple of Jesus, we struggle with temptations of various kinds. We may temporarily succumb to some temptations, but we overcome them and get back in the race. We keep going until we cross the finish line.
We have several things going for us. We are not the first to run this race; others have run it before us and have reached the finish line. We have a great crowd of them cheering us on. We see the faces of many people whom we have known in that crowd. God provides us with abundant grace that enables us to run the race. Jesus himself speaks words of encouragement and urges us on. Others encourage us too. They may no longer be with us, but they spoke encouraging words in their lifetimes. They inspired us with their sermons, their writings, and their hymns, giving us confidence to keep running.
Part of us may be saying, “But what’s in it for ME?” The answer to this question requires faith on our part, trust or confidence in the truth of Jesus’ words and the apostles’ teaching. For some it may be peace of mind. For others it may be the satisfaction of living a life which is not only good and right but also purposeful. For a number of people, it may the friendly feeling and the sense of belonging that exists between people who have a shared interest or who are doing something as a group. It may be the life transformation which they are experiencing, the growth they see in themselves in the qualities of character which Paul describes as the fruit of the Spirit. They see positive changes in themselves, changes for the better. They not only feel deeper feelings of love for God and their fellow human beings but act on these feelings and show this love in the way they relate to God and to others. While they may never be rich in earthly things, they are rich in things of the Spirit.
One of the ways that we can help each other fight the good fight and run the straight race is what John Wesley called the “class meeting,” A “class” was a group of up to 12 people who met every week to share with each other how they were progressing as disciples of Jesus, the temptations and other difficulties that they were facing, what they had done to overcome these temptations and other difficulties, what has worked, what has not; to encourage and support each other; and to reprove each other when reproof was needed. The class meetings and the three general rules that Wesley laid down for membership in a Methodist society helped many who had been “awakened” by the preaching of Wesley and other Methodist preachers from falling back asleep. Having high expectations of each other and holding each other accountable would accomplish the same thing in our time.
In Wesley’s day people attended church because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. A large part of the population was nominally Christian at best. With the exception of the expectation that respectable people attended church, things were not too different from how they are today. The Methodist movement with field, or outdoor, preaching and a methodical approach to discipleship would lead many people to take the message, the teaching, and the example of Jesus more seriously.
In a time in which we see a sharp decline in genuine discipleship as well as church attendance, it makes sense to evaluate what worked in the past and to determine whether it could be adapted to work in our time. Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists and others who share a common heritage may need not only to become more active in reaching and engaging the unchurched but also more methodical in forming them into disciples. We have a good idea about what we need to do. We need to ask God to open our hearts and minds to the infinite grace that he supplies us, enable us to make use of that grace, and do it
Silence is kept.
CONCLUDING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear Percy Dearmer’s “Jesus, Good Above All Other.”
1 Jesus, good above all other,
gentle child of gentle mother,
in a stable born our brother,
give us grace to persevere.
2 Jesus, cradled in a manger,
for us facing every danger,
living as a homeless stranger,
make we thee our King most dear.
3 Jesus, for thy people dying,
risen Master, death defying,
Lord in heaven, thy grace supplying,
keep us to thy presence near.
4 Jesus, who our sorrows bearest,
all our thoughts and hopes thou sharest,
thou to man the truth declarest;
help us all thy truth to hear.
5 Lord, in all our doings guide us;
pride and hate shall ne'er divide us;
we'll go on with thee beside us,
and with joy we'll persevere.
BLESSING
Silence is kept.
CONCLUDING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear Percy Dearmer’s “Jesus, Good Above All Other.”
1 Jesus, good above all other,
gentle child of gentle mother,
in a stable born our brother,
give us grace to persevere.
2 Jesus, cradled in a manger,
for us facing every danger,
living as a homeless stranger,
make we thee our King most dear.
3 Jesus, for thy people dying,
risen Master, death defying,
Lord in heaven, thy grace supplying,
keep us to thy presence near.
4 Jesus, who our sorrows bearest,
all our thoughts and hopes thou sharest,
thou to man the truth declarest;
help us all thy truth to hear.
5 Lord, in all our doings guide us;
pride and hate shall ne'er divide us;
we'll go on with thee beside us,
and with joy we'll persevere.
BLESSING
Open this link in a new tab to hear Paul Inwoods' "Blessing: Evening Prayer."
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil,
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen, amen, amen!
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil,
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen, amen, amen!
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