All Hallows Morning and Evening Prayer (January 29, 2023)
Morning Worship begins at the top of the page. Scroll down the page for the beginning of Evening Worship.
Morning Worship
Opening Hymn:
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your way
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your way
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your way
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your way
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your way
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
Greeting:
Sing the glory of God's name;
Give to God glorious praise.
Say, “How awesome are your deeds!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Natalie Sleeth's "Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet." [TFWS #2020]
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
A time of silence is kept and then this prayer is said.
Indeed it is right to praise you, gracious God,
Praise the Lord with the sound of trumpet,
praise the Lord with the harp and lute,
praise the Lord with the gentle sounding flute.
Praise the Lord in the field and forest,
praise the Lord in the city square,
praise the Lord anytime and anywhere.
Praise the Lord in the wind and sunshine,
praise the Lord in the dark of night,
praise the Lord in the rain or snow or in the morning light.
Praise the Lord in the deepest valley,
praise the Lord on the highest hill,
praise the Lord, never let your voice be still.
Praise the Lord with the crashing cymbal,
praise the Lord with the pipe and string,
praise the Lord with the joyful songs you sing.
Praise the Lord on a weekday morning,
praise the Lord on a Sunday noon,
praise the Lord by the light of sun or moon.
Praise the Lord in the time of sorrow,
praise the Lord in the time of joy,
praise the Lord in the every moment, nothing let your praise destroy.
Praise the Lord in the peace and quiet,
praise the Lord in your work or play,
praise the Lord every where in every way!
Opening Prayer:
praise the Lord with the harp and lute,
praise the Lord with the gentle sounding flute.
Praise the Lord in the field and forest,
praise the Lord in the city square,
praise the Lord anytime and anywhere.
Praise the Lord in the wind and sunshine,
praise the Lord in the dark of night,
praise the Lord in the rain or snow or in the morning light.
Praise the Lord in the deepest valley,
praise the Lord on the highest hill,
praise the Lord, never let your voice be still.
Praise the Lord with the crashing cymbal,
praise the Lord with the pipe and string,
praise the Lord with the joyful songs you sing.
Praise the Lord on a weekday morning,
praise the Lord on a Sunday noon,
praise the Lord by the light of sun or moon.
Praise the Lord in the time of sorrow,
praise the Lord in the time of joy,
praise the Lord in the every moment, nothing let your praise destroy.
Praise the Lord in the peace and quiet,
praise the Lord in your work or play,
praise the Lord every where in every way!
Opening Prayer:
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
A time of silence is kept and then this prayer is said.
Indeed it is right to praise you, gracious God,
every where in every way
for you are worthy of all praise.
Great and marvelous are your works,
King of the ages.
Just and true are your ways.
Open our hearts and minds to your Word
and enable us to not only hear
and understand it
but also make it part of ourselves
that in all we think, say, and do
we may bring honor to your name.
This we ask through your Son,
Jesus Christ, our redeemer, Lord,
and friend. Amen.
Scripture Reading:
A reading from the New Testament (Luke 6: 20-22)
Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
“God blesses you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
God blesses you who are hungry now,
for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
for in due time you will laugh.
What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
Silence follows the reading.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
“God blesses you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
God blesses you who are hungry now,
for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
for in due time you will laugh.
What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
Silence follows the reading.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Plain Talk: The Beatitudes
“Imitation,” it is said, “is the sincerest form of flattery.” The senior pastor of my church is preaching a sermon series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. “Why not write a series of talks on Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6: 20-49)?” I thought to myself. The New Living Translation (NLT) divides this sermon into six parts. I thought that I would write a talk on each part. The title I picked for this series is “Plain Talk.” The collection of Jesus’ teachings in Luke 6:20-49 is called the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus also does not mince words when teaching his followers and the crowds that came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases or delivered from evil spirits.
According to Luke’s Gospel Jesus had gone to pray in a quiet, secluded pace on a mountainside and then selected his inner circle of disciples, those upon whom he focused his attention, preparing them to spread his message and his teaching. In addition to his followers, a large crowd of people gathered in an open, flat space to hear him and to have him cure their diseases or deliver them from demonic oppression. Jesu turns to his followers and begins to teach them. He starts with a group of statements which have become known as the “Beatitudes.” They are so named because they refer to being blessed and made holy by God.
In these statements Jesus identifies three groups of people whom God blesses—those who are poor, those who are hungry, and those who weep. He tells his disciples that the Kingdom of the God is the poor’s; the hungry will be satisfied; and those who are presently weeping will with the passage of time laugh. Jesus goes on to say—
What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
While they may be treated with hatred and unkindness, intentionally avoided, or prevented from taking a part in the life of the community, the prayers of the synagogue, and the worship of the temple, and persecuted in other ways because they are his followers, their attitude should not be one of despair. It should be one of joy. One day they will receive a multitude of blessings for their devotion and faithfulness to him.
What Jesus is telling his followers is not particularly new. It reflects how God sees the poor, the hungry, and those who weep in the Old Testament. Go to biblegateway.com. Enter “poor” in the search engine and select the New Living Translation (NLT) and then click the search button. The result will be a number of references to the poor in the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Psalms, and the books of the various prophets as well as earlier books of the Old Testament. A word search will produce similar results for “hungry” and “those who weep.” What you will learn is that these groups of people have a special place in God’s heart. A survey of the books of the Old Testament will show that God also promises to bless and reward those who are steadfast and unwavering in their loyalty to him.
Notice that Jesus does not promise his disciples an easy life. Nor does he promise them material prosperity in this life. The reward that they will receive will be a heavenly one.
When Jesus talks about the hateful and unkind treatment that his disciples may receive, he is not talking about how they may be treated because they themselves treated others with hatred and unkindness, acted in ways that were not consistent with his message and teaching. This is a point that the apostle Paul makes in his letters. We should do no harm to anyone and avoid all forms of evil so that if we experience a negative reaction from others, it will not be the result of our own misconduct, the bad things that we ourselves have done.
It is not persecution, the kind of unfair or cruel treatment for being a follower of Jesus which Jesus describes, when the civil authorities impose reasonable sanctions on a church that intentionally flaunts reasonable public health measures to contain the spread of a disease in a community and to mitigate its effects upon more vulnerable members of the population. It is not persecution when the civil authorities arrest and prosecute a youth pastor for sexually abusing and exploiting teenagers in the church that employed him. It is persecution when the civil authorities proscribe all gatherings of Christians in a community and detain and imprison those Christians who do gather, tear down the buildings in which they gather, and permit mob violence against Christians and even incite it.
What then does this passage from Luke’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain mean for us? One thing I believe that we can conclude from what Jesus tells the disciples in this passage is that having little money and few possessions, not have enough to eat, and experience unhappiness and sorrow in our life does not mean that God does not love us. A fat wallet, a big house, an expensive car, a full belly, and a carefree life is not a measure of God’s love for us. Indeed, Jesus has more to say about these things in the Sermon on the Plain and on other occasions.
Despising the poor, those who struggle to feed themselves and their children, and those whose life’s circumstances are too much, or almost too much, for them to manage, an attitude that we see some individuals who profess to follow our Lord, is an attitude that is at odds with what Jesus is telling his disciples in this passage.
Being a follower of Jesus, living our life guided by his message and teaching, may cause some people to turn against us. Following Jesus comes with its own set of challenges. But if we persevere and do not falter in our devotion and faithfulness to Jesus, our perseverance and loyalty will not go unrewarded.
A word of caution. Jesus is pretty honest and upfront about what his disciples can expect. They will not always receive a positive reception. They may be greeted with lack of interest, skepticism, and even open hostility. At the same time, I do not believe that he is countenancing a paranoid worldview in which we believe that other people do not like us because we are followers of Jesus and is trying to harm us. This may be the case in some parts of the world, but we should be wary of the tendency to generalize this belief to the entire human race.
Human beings have a negativity bias hardwired into their brains. We have the proclivity to attend to negative information, learn from it, and use it far more than positive information. In processing positive and negative occurrences to understand the world, we respond more rapidly to negative events than we do non-negative ones and are more greatly affected or influenced by them. This bias explains why people give more attention to the negative things that Christians do than they do the positive things. It also explains why the media focus on negative events more than they do positive ones.
While no one can turn to God without God’s grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, working in them, God is very active in the world. God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. God is doing the same thing in those around us. It is a mistake to underestimate the extent to which God is active in creation.
Due to our limitations, we may not discern God working in others. God in some ways is like the air we breathe. The air is always moving around us, but we cannot always sense its movements. A cool breeze may be blowing on a hot summer day, but we may be standing in a place where the breeze cannot be felt.
Nor would Jesus countenance the view of some individuals who identify themselves as Christians that any objection to their words and actions is opposition to Jesus. When we are genuinely seeking to represent our Lord, other people may misconstrue our words and actions and form a mistaken understanding of the mean or intention of what we are saying or doing. On the other hand, we may do things and say things that are an expression of our sinful human nature, and which do not embody the principles our Lord taught and modeled. The criticism of other people may be reasonable and well-deserved. We failed to live by the standards that our Lord set for his disciples. We cannot assume as these individuals appear to do that we are faithful reflections of our Lord in every circumstance, and we are always right no matter what we do and say.
Jesus taught his disciples to be humble. Humility is the quality of not being proud because we are aware of our bad qualities and are willing to recognize and acknowledge our mistakes when we make them. This includes judging a person or situation wrongly.
The circumstances of our lives are not a measure of God’s love for us. God loves the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the indebted, those struggling with mental illness or addiction, those who are one way or another less fortunate than us or whose circumstances are similar to our own. As Jesus points to his disciples’ attention further on in the Sermon on the Plain, we show ourselves to be truly God’s children when we love them too and treat them with kindness and compassion.
Following Jesus is not a stroll in the park. Jesus is very clear in this regard. But if we continue to make an effort, even when it is difficult, a plenitude of blessings await us in heaven. As a first installment, a guarantee, a pledge, and a foretaste of what we will receive, Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus makes his home in us, and enables us not only to love God more deeply and to grow to maturity in those qualities of character that Jesus himself exhibited—"love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” but also to love more fully our neighbors as ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit that makes it possible for us to show the world that we are Jesus’s disciples by our love for each other, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as Christ loves us.
Silence is kept.
According to Luke’s Gospel Jesus had gone to pray in a quiet, secluded pace on a mountainside and then selected his inner circle of disciples, those upon whom he focused his attention, preparing them to spread his message and his teaching. In addition to his followers, a large crowd of people gathered in an open, flat space to hear him and to have him cure their diseases or deliver them from demonic oppression. Jesu turns to his followers and begins to teach them. He starts with a group of statements which have become known as the “Beatitudes.” They are so named because they refer to being blessed and made holy by God.
In these statements Jesus identifies three groups of people whom God blesses—those who are poor, those who are hungry, and those who weep. He tells his disciples that the Kingdom of the God is the poor’s; the hungry will be satisfied; and those who are presently weeping will with the passage of time laugh. Jesus goes on to say—
What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
While they may be treated with hatred and unkindness, intentionally avoided, or prevented from taking a part in the life of the community, the prayers of the synagogue, and the worship of the temple, and persecuted in other ways because they are his followers, their attitude should not be one of despair. It should be one of joy. One day they will receive a multitude of blessings for their devotion and faithfulness to him.
What Jesus is telling his followers is not particularly new. It reflects how God sees the poor, the hungry, and those who weep in the Old Testament. Go to biblegateway.com. Enter “poor” in the search engine and select the New Living Translation (NLT) and then click the search button. The result will be a number of references to the poor in the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Psalms, and the books of the various prophets as well as earlier books of the Old Testament. A word search will produce similar results for “hungry” and “those who weep.” What you will learn is that these groups of people have a special place in God’s heart. A survey of the books of the Old Testament will show that God also promises to bless and reward those who are steadfast and unwavering in their loyalty to him.
Notice that Jesus does not promise his disciples an easy life. Nor does he promise them material prosperity in this life. The reward that they will receive will be a heavenly one.
When Jesus talks about the hateful and unkind treatment that his disciples may receive, he is not talking about how they may be treated because they themselves treated others with hatred and unkindness, acted in ways that were not consistent with his message and teaching. This is a point that the apostle Paul makes in his letters. We should do no harm to anyone and avoid all forms of evil so that if we experience a negative reaction from others, it will not be the result of our own misconduct, the bad things that we ourselves have done.
It is not persecution, the kind of unfair or cruel treatment for being a follower of Jesus which Jesus describes, when the civil authorities impose reasonable sanctions on a church that intentionally flaunts reasonable public health measures to contain the spread of a disease in a community and to mitigate its effects upon more vulnerable members of the population. It is not persecution when the civil authorities arrest and prosecute a youth pastor for sexually abusing and exploiting teenagers in the church that employed him. It is persecution when the civil authorities proscribe all gatherings of Christians in a community and detain and imprison those Christians who do gather, tear down the buildings in which they gather, and permit mob violence against Christians and even incite it.
What then does this passage from Luke’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain mean for us? One thing I believe that we can conclude from what Jesus tells the disciples in this passage is that having little money and few possessions, not have enough to eat, and experience unhappiness and sorrow in our life does not mean that God does not love us. A fat wallet, a big house, an expensive car, a full belly, and a carefree life is not a measure of God’s love for us. Indeed, Jesus has more to say about these things in the Sermon on the Plain and on other occasions.
Despising the poor, those who struggle to feed themselves and their children, and those whose life’s circumstances are too much, or almost too much, for them to manage, an attitude that we see some individuals who profess to follow our Lord, is an attitude that is at odds with what Jesus is telling his disciples in this passage.
Being a follower of Jesus, living our life guided by his message and teaching, may cause some people to turn against us. Following Jesus comes with its own set of challenges. But if we persevere and do not falter in our devotion and faithfulness to Jesus, our perseverance and loyalty will not go unrewarded.
A word of caution. Jesus is pretty honest and upfront about what his disciples can expect. They will not always receive a positive reception. They may be greeted with lack of interest, skepticism, and even open hostility. At the same time, I do not believe that he is countenancing a paranoid worldview in which we believe that other people do not like us because we are followers of Jesus and is trying to harm us. This may be the case in some parts of the world, but we should be wary of the tendency to generalize this belief to the entire human race.
Human beings have a negativity bias hardwired into their brains. We have the proclivity to attend to negative information, learn from it, and use it far more than positive information. In processing positive and negative occurrences to understand the world, we respond more rapidly to negative events than we do non-negative ones and are more greatly affected or influenced by them. This bias explains why people give more attention to the negative things that Christians do than they do the positive things. It also explains why the media focus on negative events more than they do positive ones.
While no one can turn to God without God’s grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, working in them, God is very active in the world. God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. God is doing the same thing in those around us. It is a mistake to underestimate the extent to which God is active in creation.
Due to our limitations, we may not discern God working in others. God in some ways is like the air we breathe. The air is always moving around us, but we cannot always sense its movements. A cool breeze may be blowing on a hot summer day, but we may be standing in a place where the breeze cannot be felt.
Nor would Jesus countenance the view of some individuals who identify themselves as Christians that any objection to their words and actions is opposition to Jesus. When we are genuinely seeking to represent our Lord, other people may misconstrue our words and actions and form a mistaken understanding of the mean or intention of what we are saying or doing. On the other hand, we may do things and say things that are an expression of our sinful human nature, and which do not embody the principles our Lord taught and modeled. The criticism of other people may be reasonable and well-deserved. We failed to live by the standards that our Lord set for his disciples. We cannot assume as these individuals appear to do that we are faithful reflections of our Lord in every circumstance, and we are always right no matter what we do and say.
Jesus taught his disciples to be humble. Humility is the quality of not being proud because we are aware of our bad qualities and are willing to recognize and acknowledge our mistakes when we make them. This includes judging a person or situation wrongly.
The circumstances of our lives are not a measure of God’s love for us. God loves the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the indebted, those struggling with mental illness or addiction, those who are one way or another less fortunate than us or whose circumstances are similar to our own. As Jesus points to his disciples’ attention further on in the Sermon on the Plain, we show ourselves to be truly God’s children when we love them too and treat them with kindness and compassion.
Following Jesus is not a stroll in the park. Jesus is very clear in this regard. But if we continue to make an effort, even when it is difficult, a plenitude of blessings await us in heaven. As a first installment, a guarantee, a pledge, and a foretaste of what we will receive, Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus makes his home in us, and enables us not only to love God more deeply and to grow to maturity in those qualities of character that Jesus himself exhibited—"love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” but also to love more fully our neighbors as ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit that makes it possible for us to show the world that we are Jesus’s disciples by our love for each other, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as Christ loves us.
Silence is kept.
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s “Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother?” [TFWS #2225]
Who is my mother,
who is my brother?
all those who gather round Jesus Christ:
Spirit-blown people
born from the Gospel
sit at the table, round Jesus Christ.
Differently abled,
differently labeled,
widen the circle round Jesus Christ,
crutches and stigmas,
culture's enigmas,
all come together round Jesus Christ.
Love will relate us --
color or status
can't segregate us, round Jesus Christ:
family failings,
human derailings --
all are accepted, round Jesus Christ.
Bound by one vision,
met for one mission
we claim each other, round Jesus Christ:
here is my mother,
here is my brother,
kindred in Spirit, through Jesus Christ.
Who is my mother,
who is my brother?
all those who gather round Jesus Christ:
Spirit-blown people
born from the Gospel
sit at the table, round Jesus Christ.
Differently abled,
differently labeled,
widen the circle round Jesus Christ,
crutches and stigmas,
culture's enigmas,
all come together round Jesus Christ.
Love will relate us --
color or status
can't segregate us, round Jesus Christ:
family failings,
human derailings --
all are accepted, round Jesus Christ.
Bound by one vision,
met for one mission
we claim each other, round Jesus Christ:
here is my mother,
here is my brother,
kindred in Spirit, through Jesus Christ.
Concerns and Prayers:
The following is prayed, during which any person may offer a brief prayer of intercession or petition.
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Together, let us pray
for the people of this congregation...
for those who suffer and those in trouble...
for the concerns of this local community...
for the world, its peoples, and its leaders...
for the earth you have given to our care…
for the Church universal—its leaders, its members, and its mission...
in communion with the saints...
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught
us to pray,
The following is prayed, during which any person may offer a brief prayer of intercession or petition.
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Together, let us pray
for the people of this congregation...
for those who suffer and those in trouble...
for the concerns of this local community...
for the world, its peoples, and its leaders...
for the earth you have given to our care…
for the Church universal—its leaders, its members, and its mission...
in communion with the saints...
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught
us to 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.
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 Hymn:
Together we serve,
united by love,
inviting God's world to the glorious feast.
We work and we pray
through sorrow and joy,
extending your love to the last and the least.
We seek to become
a beacon of hope,
a lamp for the heart and a light for the feet.
We learn, year by year,
to let love shine through
until we see Christ in each person we meet.
We welcome the scarred,
the wealthy, the poor,
the busy, the lonely, and all who need care.
We offer a home
to those who will come,
our hands quick to help, our hearts ready to dare.
Together, by grace,
we witness and work,
remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong.
Together we serve
in Spirit and truth,
remembering love is the strength of our song.Benediction:
May God bless and keep us. Amen.
May God’s face ever shine upon us. Amen.
May God grant us peace for all our days. Amen.
May God’s face ever shine upon us. Amen.
May God grant us peace for all our days. Amen.
Evening Worship
Opening Hymn:
Open tis link in a new tab to hear Keith Getty and Phil Medeira's "O Breath of God Come Fill This Place." [WS #3179]
O Breath of God come fill this place
Revive our hearts to know Your grace
And from our slumber make us rise
That we may know the risen Christ
O Word of God so clear and true
Renew our minds to trust in You
And give to us the Bread of Life
That we may know the risen Christ
O love of God so unrestrained
Refresh our souls in Jesus' name
Let us reflect Your sacrifice
That we may know the risen Christ
May God the Father God the Son
And God the Spirit make us one
In holiness let us unite
That we may know the risen Christ
O Breath of God come fill this place
Revive our hearts to know Your grace
And from our slumber make us rise
That we may know the risen Christ
O Word of God so clear and true
Renew our minds to trust in You
And give to us the Bread of Life
That we may know the risen Christ
O love of God so unrestrained
Refresh our souls in Jesus' name
Let us reflect Your sacrifice
That we may know the risen Christ
May God the Father God the Son
And God the Spirit make us one
In holiness let us unite
That we may know the risen Christ
In holiness let us unite
That we may know the risen Christ
That we may know the risen Christ
In holiness let us unite
That we may know the risen Christ
Exult in God's holy nameThat we may know the risen Christ
Rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Scripture Reading:
Hymn of Praise:
God of great and God of small,
God of one and God of all,
God of weak and God of strong,
God to whom all things belong,
Alleluia, alleluia, praise be to your name.
God of land and sky and sea,
God of life and destiny,
God of never ending power,
yet beside me every hour,
Alleluia, alleluia, praise be to your name.
God of silence, God of sound,
God in whom the lost are found,
God of day and darkest night,
God whose love turns wrong to right.
God of heaven and God of earth,
God of death and God of birth,
God of now and days before,
God who reigns forevermore,
Alleluia, alleluia, praise be to your name.
Praise be to your name.
Opening Prayer:
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
A time of silence is kept and then this prayer is said.
You, O God, are the God of the past,
the God of the present,
the God of the future,
the God of every moment of our lives.
In our time here on earth
may we faithfully serve you,
honoring you with every thought,
every desire, every word, every deed,
living our lives
as you would have us live them.
We make this prayer
in the name of your Son, Jesus,
our Savior and Lord. Amen.
A reading from the Old Testament (Micah 6: 1-8)
Listen to what the Lord is saying:
“Stand up and state your case against me.
Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.
And now, O mountains,
listen to the Lord’s complaint!
He has a case against his people.
He will bring charges against Israel.
“O my people, what have I done to you?
What have I done to make you tired of me?
Answer me!
For I brought you out of Egypt
and redeemed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.
Don’t you remember, my people,
how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed
and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
when I, the Lord, did everything I could
to teach you about my faithfulness.”
What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Silence follows the reading.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
What Does God Require?
"....the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." With these words the prophet Micah addressed the people of Israel. What God wanted from them was not sacrifices. God wanted his people whom he had delivered from captivity in Egypt to act justly in their dealings with others, to treat them fairly, to show them compassion, kindness, and forgiveness, and to trust, respect, and obey him. A survey of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels, the four books that are at the beginning of the second part of the Bible, the New Testament, shows that Jesus emphasized the same things in his teaching.
What we can gather from reading the book of the prophet Micah and the four Gospels is that God sets far greater store in how we treat other people than he does in burnt offerings, the observance of festivals and special days, and the like. What is pleasing to God is not the slaughter of animals and children and the burning of their corpses on an altar but how we live our lives.
We may be tempted to pat ourselves on the back and say to ourselves, "We don't do that anymore." But I wonder.
With their sacrifices the people of Israel were trying to obtain God's favor. At the same time they were courting the favor of other gods, making offerings to their idols. What do we do to get things from God?
Something that we need to remember is that God show favor and goodwill toward us not because of what we do or who we are. God shows favor and good will toward us because of who God is. God shows favor and goodwill toward us even though we do not merit it and cannot earn it. God's favor and goodwill, unmerited and unearned, is what theologians, people who think and write about God, call grace. It is in God's nature to be gracious toward us, generous with his kindness, forgiveness, and patience where we are concerned.
God does expect us to follow his example, to be generous with our kindness, forgiveness, and patience. As Jesus pointed to the attention of his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain, when we exhibit these qualities of character, when we are merciful as God is merciful, we show ourselves to be God's children
1 Lord, I am not mine, but yours alone.
Let your will be done and not my own.
Put me where you will, and let me serve;
in everything I do, let me endure.
This is my prayer, Lord, to you.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
2 Father, Son, and Spirit hear my cry,
forever I am yours and you are mine.
Father, Son and Spirit hear my cry,
forever I am yours and you are mine.
Hymn of Response:
Let your will be done and not my own.
Put me where you will, and let me serve;
in everything I do, let me endure.
This is my prayer, Lord, to you.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
2 Father, Son, and Spirit hear my cry,
forever I am yours and you are mine.
Father, Son and Spirit hear my cry,
forever I am yours and you are mine.
This is my prayer, Lord, to you.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
Bridge:
Let me be employed for you,
laid aside for you,
lifted high for you or brought low.
Let me be full, let me empty.
Let me have all things or nothing.
3 Lord, I am not mine, but yours alone.
Let your will be done and not my own.
Put me where you will, and let me serve;
in everything I do, let me endure.
This is my prayer, Lord, to you.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
My promise and my vow, strong and true.
And the covenant I make on earth,
let it be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.
Concerns and Prayers
The following is prayed, during which any person may offer a brief prayer of intercession or petition.
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Together, let us pray
for the people of this congregation...
for those who suffer and those in trouble...
for the concerns of this local community...
for the world, its peoples, and its leaders...
for the earth you have given to our care…
for the Church universal—its leaders, its members, and its mission...
in communion with the saints...
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught
us to pray,
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Together, let us pray
for the people of this congregation...
for those who suffer and those in trouble...
for the concerns of this local community...
for the world, its peoples, and its leaders...
for the earth you have given to our care…
for the Church universal—its leaders, its members, and its mission...
in communion with the saints...
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught
us to 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.
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 Hymn:
Open this link in a new tab to hear David Haas’ “We Are Called.” [TFWS #2172]
1 Come, live in the light
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord
We are called to be light for the kingdom
To live in the freedom of the city of God
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
2 Come, open your heart
Show your mercy to all those in fear
We are called to be hope for the hopeless
So all hatred and blindness will be no more
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
3 Sing, sing a new song
Sing of that great day when all will be one
God will reign and we'll walk with each other
As sisters and brothers united in love
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
Open this link in a new tab to hear David Haas’ “We Are Called.” [TFWS #2172]
1 Come, live in the light
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord
We are called to be light for the kingdom
To live in the freedom of the city of God
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
2 Come, open your heart
Show your mercy to all those in fear
We are called to be hope for the hopeless
So all hatred and blindness will be no more
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
3 Sing, sing a new song
Sing of that great day when all will be one
God will reign and we'll walk with each other
As sisters and brothers united in love
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
We are called to act with justice
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another
To walk humbly with God
Benediction:
May God bless and keep us. Amen.
May God’s face ever shine upon us. Amen.
May God grant us peace for all our days. Amen.
May God’s face ever shine upon us. Amen.
May God grant us peace for all our days. Amen.
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