An All Hallows Service of Thanksgiving
Open this link in a new tab to hear Craig Duncan’s instrumental arrangement of the traditional Welsh tune THE ASH GROVE.
Praise our God, all you his servants:
those who fear him, both small and great.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Albert Frederick Bayly’s “Praise and Thanksgiving.”
1 Praise and thanksgiving,
Father, we offer,
For all things living
You have made good;
Harvest of sown fields,
Fruits of the orchard,
Hay from the mown fields,
blossom and wood.
2 Lord, bless the labour
We bring to serve you,
That with our neighbour
we may be fed.
Sowing or tilling,
We would work with you;
Harvesting, milling,
For daily bread.
3 Father, providing
Food for your children,
Your wisdom guiding
Teaches us share
One with another,
So that, rejoicing
Sister and brother
May know your care.
4 Then will your blessing
Reach every people;
Each one confessing
Your gracious hand.
When you are reigning
No one will hunger:
Your love sustaining
Fruitful the land.
This prayer of thanksgiving is said.
Bounteous God, you have lavished your finest gifts on each one of us. We thank you for the many ways in which you have blessed our lives--with love, hope, friends, our church, and so many other things that we cherish. Help us be a blessing for others--that they may come to know you and rejoice in your love. Give us hearts of courage and confidence to step out into the world in service, bringing hope where there is doubt, peace where there is strife, love where there is discord. These things we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
THE WORD OF GOD
PSALMODY
Open this link in a new tab hear Scott Soper’s responsorial setting of Psalm 145, “I Will Praise Your Name For Ever, My King and My God.”
I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God,
my king and my God.
1 I will praise you, God and king;
I will bless your name forever.
Ev’ry day I will bless you,
praise your name for ever.
I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God,
my king and my God.
2 You are grace and mercy, Lord,
slow to anger, filled with kindness.
You are good to all your children,
loving all creation.
I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God,
my king and my God.
3 Let your works give thanks to you;
let your faithful ever bless you;
let them praise your strength, your glory,
and proclaim your kingdom.
I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God,
my king and my God.
4 Ev’ry word you speak in faith,
ev’ry work you do is holy.
You lift up all who stumble,
you raise up the lowly.
I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God,
my king and my God.
Silence is kept.
King of the universe,
you show the bright glory of your reign
in acts of mercy and enduring love;
raise the spirits of the downcast
and restore those who have fallen away,
that we may sing for ever of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Poor Bishop Hooper’s rendition of Psalm 150, "Praise the Lord."
Praise the lord
praise the lord
praise him in his mighty heavens
praise the lord
praise the lord
praise him his unequaled greatness
Let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
praise the lord
Oh praise the lord
praise the lord
praise him in his mighty heavens
praise the lord
praise the lord
praise him his unequaled greatness
Let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
praise the lord
praise the lord
Let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
praise the lord
Praise him with harp and lyre
praise him with trumpet sound
praise him with strings and pipe
praise him with cymbals loud
Praise him with harp and lyre
praise him with trumpet sound
praise him with strings and pipe
praise him with cymbals loud
Let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
praise the lord
praise the lord
Let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
let everything that breathes
praise the lord
Praise the lord
praise the lord
praise the lord
praise the lord
Silence is kept.
God of life and love,
whose Son was victorious over sin and death,
make us alive with his life,
that the whole world may resound with your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Tony Alfonso’s adaptation of St. Francis’ Canticle of Creation, “Praise Be to You.”
1 Praise be you, in all your creatures,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
through Brother Sun, our radiant light
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Sister Moon,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
and through the stars you formed them bright.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
2 Praise be you, through Brother Wind,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
through whom you give creation life,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Sister Water,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
useful, flowing, pure and clear,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
3 Praised be you, through Brother Fire,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
through whom you light the dark of night,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Mother Earth,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
who governs and sustains all life.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Praise be you, through those who pardon,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
your instruments of love and peace.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Sister Death,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
from whom no living thing escapes.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
Be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Isaiah 55:1-11 Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
“Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Silence is kept.
Mark 4:26-29 Parable of the Growing Seed
Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
For some folks Thanksgiving Day is a day when family and friends will gather around a table loaded with food, share a meal together, and then watch a football game on TV. For other folks like myself Thanksgiving Day will not be a day very much different from any other day. When my mother and my aunt were alive, I would spend Thanksgiving Day with them at my aunt’s house. But that was a number of years ago. Now I spend Thanksgiving Day by myself at home.
While my church is hosting Community Thanksgiving in conjunction with Soup for the Soul, my town’s soup kitchen, I am not able to participate for a variety of reasons. Among other things I am a vegetarian, and I am also on a restricted diet. No foods that have a lot of sugar, salt, fat, or carbohydrates or are too spicey. No turkey or brown-sugar glazed ham, no sweet potatoes topped with marshmallow, no green bean casserole, no pumpkin pie for me.
When I think about my situation, I think about what the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians. “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5: 18 NLT). Whatever our circumstances an attitude of thankfulness is the right attitude for a Christian, for a follower of the Lamb, as the Shakers described believers.
How do we maintain such an attitude in the face of life’s adversities. One way is not to dwell on the bad things or unpleasant things that may have happened or continue to happen in our lives. Instead, we look for the ways that God has shown us grace, for how he keeps on showing us grace.
God shows us grace in numerous and surprising ways. Since I moved to western Kentucky from southeast Louisiana, I have met some caring, generous, and kind-hearted people. I have been able to attend free classes at the local state university. This spring I was blessed to see wild roses blooming in a hedgerow and toward the end of summer wild potato vines in a vacant lot and blue morning glories in a bean field. They may be little, inconsequential things to some folks, but to me they are signs that God is a loving God. God knows what can lift our spirits when we are sad and unhappy, and he provides them.
You may be thinking to yourself, “God didn’t put those flowers there for that purpose. You are seeing connections where no connections exist.” However, a God who sees a sparrow when it falls is also a God who makes a flower to blossom. He is also a God who can nudge us to take a walk and to take that walk past the place where that flower is blossoming. God is far more active in our lives than we can imagine. God is always working in us and in those around us.
God will sometimes use a difficult situation to teach us the way he would have us live or to produce in us what Paul called the fruit of the Spirit—" love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5: 22-23 NLT). This is also evidence of his grace.
Whatever you are doing on Thanksgiving Day, set aside some time to take stock of the ways that God has shown you grace this past year, how he is showing you grace right now, and offer him a word or two of thanks. A habit that I believe is worth acquiring, is to be always on the lookout for signs of God’s grace at work in you and in those around you and whenever you recognize evidence of God’s grace in your life or someone else’s life to thank God silently or aloud, as circumstances permit. Don’t wait until your quiet time. Thank God then and there.
In all we do, praise be to you!
2 Praise be you, through Brother Wind,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
through whom you give creation life,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Sister Water,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
useful, flowing, pure and clear,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
3 Praised be you, through Brother Fire,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
through whom you light the dark of night,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Mother Earth,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
who governs and sustains all life.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Alleluia! (Alleluia!)
Praise be you, through those who pardon,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
your instruments of love and peace.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be you, through Sister Death,
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
from whom no living thing escapes.
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
All the earth is yours, O God,
and sings your praise,
woven in communion by your love.
Let our praise for you
Be shown in tenderness.
In all we do, praise be to you!
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
Praise be to you! (Praise be to you!)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Isaiah 55:1-11 Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
“Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Silence is kept.
Mark 4:26-29 Parable of the Growing Seed
Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
"Be Thankful in All Circumstances"
For some folks Thanksgiving Day is a day when family and friends will gather around a table loaded with food, share a meal together, and then watch a football game on TV. For other folks like myself Thanksgiving Day will not be a day very much different from any other day. When my mother and my aunt were alive, I would spend Thanksgiving Day with them at my aunt’s house. But that was a number of years ago. Now I spend Thanksgiving Day by myself at home.
While my church is hosting Community Thanksgiving in conjunction with Soup for the Soul, my town’s soup kitchen, I am not able to participate for a variety of reasons. Among other things I am a vegetarian, and I am also on a restricted diet. No foods that have a lot of sugar, salt, fat, or carbohydrates or are too spicey. No turkey or brown-sugar glazed ham, no sweet potatoes topped with marshmallow, no green bean casserole, no pumpkin pie for me.
When I think about my situation, I think about what the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians. “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5: 18 NLT). Whatever our circumstances an attitude of thankfulness is the right attitude for a Christian, for a follower of the Lamb, as the Shakers described believers.
How do we maintain such an attitude in the face of life’s adversities. One way is not to dwell on the bad things or unpleasant things that may have happened or continue to happen in our lives. Instead, we look for the ways that God has shown us grace, for how he keeps on showing us grace.
God shows us grace in numerous and surprising ways. Since I moved to western Kentucky from southeast Louisiana, I have met some caring, generous, and kind-hearted people. I have been able to attend free classes at the local state university. This spring I was blessed to see wild roses blooming in a hedgerow and toward the end of summer wild potato vines in a vacant lot and blue morning glories in a bean field. They may be little, inconsequential things to some folks, but to me they are signs that God is a loving God. God knows what can lift our spirits when we are sad and unhappy, and he provides them.
You may be thinking to yourself, “God didn’t put those flowers there for that purpose. You are seeing connections where no connections exist.” However, a God who sees a sparrow when it falls is also a God who makes a flower to blossom. He is also a God who can nudge us to take a walk and to take that walk past the place where that flower is blossoming. God is far more active in our lives than we can imagine. God is always working in us and in those around us.
God will sometimes use a difficult situation to teach us the way he would have us live or to produce in us what Paul called the fruit of the Spirit—" love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5: 22-23 NLT). This is also evidence of his grace.
Whatever you are doing on Thanksgiving Day, set aside some time to take stock of the ways that God has shown you grace this past year, how he is showing you grace right now, and offer him a word or two of thanks. A habit that I believe is worth acquiring, is to be always on the lookout for signs of God’s grace at work in you and in those around you and whenever you recognize evidence of God’s grace in your life or someone else’s life to thank God silently or aloud, as circumstances permit. Don’t wait until your quiet time. Thank God then and there.
Silence is kept.
HYMN OF PRAISE
1 God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
God, we name you sovereign Lord!
Mighty King whom angels worship,
Father, by your church adored:
all creation shows your glory,
heaven and earth draw near your throne
singing 'Holy, holy, holy,
Lord of hosts, and God alone!'
2 True apostles, faithful prophets,
saints who set their world ablaze,
martyrs, once unknown, unheeded,
join one growing song of praise,
while your church on earth confesses
one majestic Trinity:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God, our hope eternally.
HYMN OF PRAISE
1 God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
God, we name you sovereign Lord!
Mighty King whom angels worship,
Father, by your church adored:
all creation shows your glory,
heaven and earth draw near your throne
singing 'Holy, holy, holy,
Lord of hosts, and God alone!'
2 True apostles, faithful prophets,
saints who set their world ablaze,
martyrs, once unknown, unheeded,
join one growing song of praise,
while your church on earth confesses
one majestic Trinity:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God, our hope eternally.
3 Jesus Christ, the King of glory,
everlasting Son of God,
humble was your virgin mother,
hard the lonely path you trod:
by your cross is sin defeated,
hell confronted face to face,
heaven opened to believers,
sinners justified by grace.
4 Christ, at God's right hand victorious,
you will judge the world you made;
Lord, in mercy help your servants
for whose freedom you have paid:
raise us up from dust to glory,
guard us from all sin today;
King enthroned above all praises,
save your people, God, we pray.
Coda
King enthroned above all praises,
save your people, God, we pray.
everlasting Son of God,
humble was your virgin mother,
hard the lonely path you trod:
by your cross is sin defeated,
hell confronted face to face,
heaven opened to believers,
sinners justified by grace.
4 Christ, at God's right hand victorious,
you will judge the world you made;
Lord, in mercy help your servants
for whose freedom you have paid:
raise us up from dust to glory,
guard us from all sin today;
King enthroned above all praises,
save your people, God, we pray.
Coda
King enthroned above all praises,
save your people, God, we pray.
Silence may be kept.
PRAYERS
Particular intercessions and thanksgivings may be offered before any section.
Periods of silence may be kept.
Blessed are you eternal God,
to be praised and glorified for ever.
Heavenly Father, hear us as we pray for the unity of the Church.
May we all be one that the world may believe.
Grant that every member of the Church
may truly and humbly serve you,
that the life of Christ may be revealed in us.
We remember those who have died.
Father, into your hands we commend them.
(Remembering N)
We praise you for all your saints
who have entered your eternal glory.
May we also come to share your heavenly kingdom.
Have compassion on those who suffer from sickness,
grief or trouble.
In your presence may they find strength.
Look with your kindness on our homes and families.
Grant that your love may grow in our hearts.
Make us alive to the needs of our community.
Help us to share one another’s joys and burdens.
Inspire and lead those who hold authority
in the nations of the world.
Guide us and all people in the way of justice and peace.
Strengthen all who minister in Christ’s name.
Give us courage to proclaim your Gospel.
We pray in silence for our own needs and the needs of others...
Thanksgiving, blessing and praise be yours,
God of the incarnation;
because you care for us and for our prayer.
May our love for you and our likeness to you
be strengthened every time we pray.
Amen.
THE COLLECTS
Bountiful God,
you crown the year with your goodness
and give us the fruits of the earth in due season:
give us grateful hearts
that we may sincerely thank you
for all your loving kindness,
and truly care for your creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eternal God and Father,
by whose power we are created,
and by whose love we are redeemed:
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves to your service,
and live this day in love to one another
and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
As Christ teaches us, 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.
CLOSING SONG
Open this link in a new tab to hear Katherine K. Davis’ “Let All Things Now Living.”
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
His banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into light.
His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"
THE CONCLUSION
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The almighty and merciful God bless us
and keep us now and for ever. Amen.
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