All Hallows Wednesday Evening Worship (January 25, 2023)

 

The order of worship for this Wednesday evening is based on the basic pattern of worship in the United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). The songs are taken from The Faith We Sing (2000) and Worship and Song (2011), supplements to The United Methodist Hymnal (1989).

One or more candles may be lit, and the following is sung.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Patrick Matsikenyiri’s “Jesu Tawa Pano {Jesus, We Are Here).” [TFWS #2273]

Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
tawa pano mu zita renyu.

Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
tawa pano mu zita renyu.

Jesus, we are here;
Jesus, we are here;
Jesus, we are here;
we are here for you.

Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
Jesu tawa pano;
tawa pano mu zita renyu.

Praise our God, all his servants, all who fear him, from the least to the greatest. Rev. 19:5

Open this link in a new tab to hear Dean McIntyre’s “How Shall I Come Before the Lord?” [WnS #3124]

How shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself with heart our poured?
And shall I come with offerings?
What shall I give? What shall I bring?

Will finest gifts bring God's delight?
Will wealth bring favor in God's sight?
What must we be? What must we do?
What does the Lord require of you?

Let justice shine in all your ways.
Let loving-kindness rule your days,
that, as this earthly path you trod,
you shall walk humbly with your God.

Let us bow our heads in prayer.

Silence is kept and then the following is said.

Loving God, you have filled us with light. Enable us by the power of the Holy Spirit always to live a life filled with love, following the example of your Son Jesus Christ, and to live as people of light, producing as fruit only that which is good and right and true. This we ask in his name. Amen.

A reading from the New Testament (Colossians 1:24-2:7)

I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Silence is kept.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Are You Rooted in Jesus and Building Your Life on Him?

For the better part of my life—almost 50 years, I lived in southeastern Louisiana. It rains frequently in that part of the state—daily in certain seasons of the year. It sometimes rains so heavily you cannot drive your car due to the poor visibility and must pull off the road until the rain slackens. Flooded streets are not uncommon. The ground may become saturated with rainwater and may stay water-logged for days if not longer.

After a severe thunderstorm a common sight is trees which have toppled because the soil had become too rain-soaked, and their roots had not grown down very far enough into the ground. Trees that had been growing as long as I could remember and maybe for a hundred years or more were uprooted.

The same thing happens here in western Kentucky when we have bad weather—heavy rains and high winds. Flooding. Rain-saturated ground. Toppled trees. In the next block down the street from where I live is a vacant house that has in its backyard a tree that toppled in this way during a thunderstorm.

When I read Paul’s words, “Let your roots grow down into him,” that tree and the other toppled trees I have seen came to mind. Their roots were too shallow, and the wind and the rain caused them to fall.

When we become a follower of Jesus, a disciple of our Lord, we need to put our roots down deeply into him, to become firmly rooted in him. When the storms of life come along—and they will come along, we are likely to be toppled if our roots are shallow.

I also thought about the dandelions that spring up in my yard and my neighbors’ yards in the spring. They are the bane of folks who want a perfect lawn. They have deep roots, and they are difficult to eradicate. If you try to pull up a dandelion, you’ll only break off the top part of the plant and the dandelion will grow back from its root.

I enjoy their bright yellow blossoms myself and I let them be. They are a beneficial plant in a number of ways. Their deep roots draw up nutrients from the earth that benefit not only them but also the other plants growing near them. They are to my mind an example of how we should be as disciples of our Lord—deeply-rooted, benefiting others as well as ourselves, and prolific in multiplying.

When I read Paul’s words, “…and let your lives be built on him,” Jesus’ Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders came to mind. It is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 7: 24-27) and his Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 6:46-49). Here is Matthew’s account of the parable. It is taken from the New Living Translation (NLT):

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

To build our lives on Jesus is to not only build our lives on his teaching as important as that is, but also to build them on Jesus’ person, who he is—on his work—what he did and what he continues to do, and on his character—what he revealed to us about God’s own character.

Jesus was more than a great teacher. Jesus had more than a special relationship with God. Jesus claimed to be one with God. This is an important part of the foundation on which we build our lives, the divinity as well as the humanity of Jesus.

At the same time Jesus was also truly human. God in the person of Jesus did not just take on human appearance. He became a human. He was born like you and I were born. He suffered heat, cold, hunger, thirst, happiness, sadness, pain, and death. In becoming a human, God has personally experienced what we experience. This enables God to empathize with us, to imagine what we are thinking and feeling in a particular situation. Jesus returned to heaven as a human. He did not shed his humanity like a snake sheds its skin.

As well as teaching us how to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God, Jesus offered the only sacrifice we need in atonement for our sins, once and for all time, so that no other sacrifice is needed to show that we are sorry for all the bad things we have done. He took upon himself all the consequences of our sins and wrongdoings when he suffered and died on the cross. He put things right between us and God, something which we cannot do by our own efforts. He opened to us the way of salvation, reconciliation with God by faith in him.

Jesus is the only mediator and go-between we need with God. When he ascended into heaven, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father where he intercedes for us. Through Jesus we have a direct line and immediate access to God.

Jesus is our ultimate and supreme lord. At his name, one day every knee will bend, and everyone will confess that he is lord. Jesus is not just lord to his followers, he is the lord of heaven and earth, of all that exists, what is seen and what is unseen. Jesus commands the obedience not only of angels, human beings, and all living things but also evil spirits. We owe our allegiance, devotion, and loyalty to only one person—Jesus.

Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to direct and guide us and to enable us to live our lives according to his teaching and example and to grow in our love of God and humanity, godliness, and holiness. It is the Holy Spirit that renovate the image of God in us so that our character become like God’s. It is the Holy Spirit which unites all believers to Jesus ad to each other.

In his character, in his attitudes, his ways of thinking, and his behavior, Jesus makes known the character of God, God’s compassion, God’s kindness, God’s forgiveness, God’s patience, God’s truthfulness. God’s trustworthiness.  God's faithfulness.

It is on this foundation that Paul tells the members of the church at Colossi to build their lives. It is on the same foundation that if we wish our faith to grow strong and our thankfulness to overflow, we will build our lives. We will then be like the wise builder who constructed his house on a solid foundation.

Silence is kept.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John L. Bell’s “Take, O Take Me as I Am.” [WnS #3119]

Take, O take me as I am,
summon out what I shall be,
set your seal upon my heart
and live in me.

Take, O take me as I am,
summon out what I shall be,
set your seal upon my heart
and live in me.

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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Jeremy Johnson’s “As We Go.” [WnS #3183]

As we go, may your Spirit go before us
As we go, may we follow where you lead
May we live what we have learned
Share the message we have heard
And be a light unto the world as we go

As we go, may your Spirit go before us
As we go, may we follow where you lead
May we live what we have learned
Share the message we have heard
And be a light unto the world as we go
And be a light unto the world as we go

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.