Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, April 27, 2023)
Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows. We are not born into God’s family like we are born into our biological family. We are made God’s children by grace by faith in Jesus Christ. God’s family is a diverse group of people—men and women; young and old; poor and rich; white, brown, and black, speaking many different languages and living in many different parts of the world. All are brothers and sisters in Christ.
DRAWING NEAR TO GOD
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Greeting:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Bruxvoort Colligan’s “People of God (A Greeting).”
People of God, the Living One is with you
And in your heart, servant of the Gospel
All welcome here, all welcome here
People of God, the Gospel is among us
Around the world, wherever we are gathered
All welcome here, all welcome here
Opening Hymn:
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Chandler’s translation of “Christ Is Our Cornerstone.”
1 Christ is our cornerstone
on him alone we build;
with his true saints alone
the courts of heaven are filled.
On his great love
our hopes we place
of present grace
and joys above.
2 O then, with hymns of praise
these hallowed courts shall ring.
Our voices we will raise
the Three-in-One to sing,
and thus proclaim
in joyful song,
both loud and long,
that glorious name.
3 Here, gracious God, do thou
for evermore draw nigh;
accept each faithful vow,
and mark each suppliant sigh.
In copious shower
on all who pray,
each holy day
thy blessings pour.
4 Here may we gain from heaven
the grace which we implore;
and may that grace, once given,
be with us evermore,
until that day
when all the blest
to endless rest
are called away.
Song of Praise:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Elizabeth Christopher’s “Worthy Is the Lamb.”
You are holy,
You are worthy,
Holy Lamb of God
You are righteous,
You are precious,
Holy Lamb of God
You are Lord,
You are Lord,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb of God
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb of God
[Instrumental interlude]
You are Lord,
You are Lord,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb of God
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy is the Lamb of God
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us pray.
Silence
Almighty God,
you have given your only Son
to be for us both a sacrifice for sin
and also an example of godly life;
give us grace that we may always thankfully receive
the immeasurable benefit of his sacrifice,
and also daily endeavor to follow
in the blessed steps of his most holy life;
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for evermore. Amen.
HEARING GOD’S WORD
A reading from the New Testament (Ephesians 2: 11-22)
Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Silent
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God
While they were often faithless and disobedient and did not show God the devotion and loyalty expected of them, the people of Israel and their descendants, the Jews, saw themselves as a special people. They viewed themselves as enjoying a unique relationship with God. They were the people of the Covenant, God’s chosen people. They viewed Gentiles, non-Jews, those who did not descend from the people of Israel and who were not party to God’s covenant with that people, as without hope and beyond redemption. Gentiles could not receive the blessings of God or so they believed.
The temptation to see ourselves as better than other people, as superior to them, is a temptation that is common to all humanity. It is not particular to one tribe, race, nation, or people group. God, on the other hand, has shown a willingness to disregard the way we sort ourselves into groups of people like us and to view those outside our particular group as inferior to ourselves for one reason or another. God gives no heed to our ethnic, linguistic, political, racial, social-economic, and tribal divisions. This is evident from the testimony of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
God became human in the person of Jesus to reconcile all humanity to himself, not one part of humanity. As Paul draws to the attention of the church at Ephesus, all who believe in Jesus are members of God’s family. To borrow the words from Marty Haugen’s song, “One Ohana,” they are one ohana, one great family. They are members of a family which has no divisions like the world has. All of its members are one in Christ.
If there are divisions in God’s family, they are not God’s doing. They are ours. They are divisions which we have brought in with us and which have no place in God’s family. We may have different gifts and different ministries, but we have the same baptism, the same Lord, and the same Holy Spirit.
As Paul points to the attention of the Ephesian Christians, God is building a temple for himself, a temple not made from stone and wood like the temple King Solomon built for God, but a temple built from people. All who believe in Jesus are part of this dwelling in which the Spirit of God is living. Their birthplace, the color of their skin, the language they speak, their age, their gender, their walk in life—none of that matters. What matters is their faith in Jesus Christ.
The temple God is building is a holy temple. Those whom God is making a part of this temple are called to live by God’s ways and not the ways of this world. They are called to shine like bright lights in the world, filling the darkness of this world with light.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s “Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother?”
1 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.
2 Differently abled,
differently labeled,
widen the circle round Jesus Christ,
crutches and stigmas,
culture's enigmas,
all come together round Jesus Christ.
3 Love will relate us --
color or status
can't segregate us, round Jesus Christ:
family failings,
human derailings --
all are accepted, round Jesus Christ.
4 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.
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WORLD
Concerns and Prayers:
Any person may offer a brief prayer of intercession, petition, or thanksgiving after each bidding.
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Let us pray for all people and the Church throughout the world.
Let us pray for the preservation of the earth…
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Let us pray for our nation…
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Let u pray for ourselves and our community…
Let us pray for those in need…
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
Other biddings may be added.
Eternal God and Father,
you have promised to hear those who pray
in the name of your Son.
Grant that what we have asked in faith
we may obtain according your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
GOING OUT TO SERVE
Let us pray.
Lord our God, we give you thanks
because you have delivered us from the
power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of
your Son.
Grant that, as by his resurrection
we are brought to new life,
so by his continued reign in us
we may be brought to eternal joy;
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Closing Song:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Delores Dufner’s “Go Forth in Peace.”
1 Go forth in peace, for Christ is your peace,
and God gives you peace in Christ.
Go forth in joy, for Christ goes with you;
wherever you go, Christ goes.
Daughters and sons of God in Christ Jesus,
share with the world the gift of God’s peace.
Go forth in peace, for Christ is your peace;
and God gives you peace in Christ.
2 Go forth to love as Christ loved the world,
as God has loved us in Christ.
Love all you meet, for love is of God,
and where love is, there is God.
When on the cross Christ died for all people,
he showed the depth and breadth of God’s love.
Go forth to love as Christ loved the world,
as God has loved us in Christ.
3 Go forth to serve as Christ served the world,
as God has served us in Christ.
Not to be served but to serve,
Christ came to teach us God’s way of life.
On that last night, with basin and towel,
Jesus knelt down and washed his friends’ feet.
Go forth to serve as Christ served the world,
as God has served us in Christ.
A Holy Temple for God
While they were often faithless and disobedient and did not show God the devotion and loyalty expected of them, the people of Israel and their descendants, the Jews, saw themselves as a special people. They viewed themselves as enjoying a unique relationship with God. They were the people of the Covenant, God’s chosen people. They viewed Gentiles, non-Jews, those who did not descend from the people of Israel and who were not party to God’s covenant with that people, as without hope and beyond redemption. Gentiles could not receive the blessings of God or so they believed.
The temptation to see ourselves as better than other people, as superior to them, is a temptation that is common to all humanity. It is not particular to one tribe, race, nation, or people group. God, on the other hand, has shown a willingness to disregard the way we sort ourselves into groups of people like us and to view those outside our particular group as inferior to ourselves for one reason or another. God gives no heed to our ethnic, linguistic, political, racial, social-economic, and tribal divisions. This is evident from the testimony of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
God became human in the person of Jesus to reconcile all humanity to himself, not one part of humanity. As Paul draws to the attention of the church at Ephesus, all who believe in Jesus are members of God’s family. To borrow the words from Marty Haugen’s song, “One Ohana,” they are one ohana, one great family. They are members of a family which has no divisions like the world has. All of its members are one in Christ.
If there are divisions in God’s family, they are not God’s doing. They are ours. They are divisions which we have brought in with us and which have no place in God’s family. We may have different gifts and different ministries, but we have the same baptism, the same Lord, and the same Holy Spirit.
As Paul points to the attention of the Ephesian Christians, God is building a temple for himself, a temple not made from stone and wood like the temple King Solomon built for God, but a temple built from people. All who believe in Jesus are part of this dwelling in which the Spirit of God is living. Their birthplace, the color of their skin, the language they speak, their age, their gender, their walk in life—none of that matters. What matters is their faith in Jesus Christ.
The temple God is building is a holy temple. Those whom God is making a part of this temple are called to live by God’s ways and not the ways of this world. They are called to shine like bright lights in the world, filling the darkness of this world with light.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s “Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother?”
1 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.
2 Differently abled,
differently labeled,
widen the circle round Jesus Christ,
crutches and stigmas,
culture's enigmas,
all come together round Jesus Christ.
3 Love will relate us --
color or status
can't segregate us, round Jesus Christ:
family failings,
human derailings --
all are accepted, round Jesus Christ.
4 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.
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WORLD
Concerns and Prayers:
Any person may offer a brief prayer of intercession, petition, or thanksgiving after each bidding.
After each prayer, the leader may conclude: God of mercy and all may respond: Hear our prayer.
Let us pray for all people and the Church throughout the world.
Let us pray for the preservation of the earth…
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Let us pray for our nation…
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Let u pray for ourselves and our community…
Let us pray for those in need…
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
Other biddings may be added.
Eternal God and Father,
you have promised to hear those who pray
in the name of your Son.
Grant that what we have asked in faith
we may obtain according your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
GOING OUT TO SERVE
Let us pray.
Lord our God, we give you thanks
because you have delivered us from the
power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of
your Son.
Grant that, as by his resurrection
we are brought to new life,
so by his continued reign in us
we may be brought to eternal joy;
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Closing Song:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Delores Dufner’s “Go Forth in Peace.”
1 Go forth in peace, for Christ is your peace,
and God gives you peace in Christ.
Go forth in joy, for Christ goes with you;
wherever you go, Christ goes.
Daughters and sons of God in Christ Jesus,
share with the world the gift of God’s peace.
Go forth in peace, for Christ is your peace;
and God gives you peace in Christ.
2 Go forth to love as Christ loved the world,
as God has loved us in Christ.
Love all you meet, for love is of God,
and where love is, there is God.
When on the cross Christ died for all people,
he showed the depth and breadth of God’s love.
Go forth to love as Christ loved the world,
as God has loved us in Christ.
3 Go forth to serve as Christ served the world,
as God has served us in Christ.
Not to be served but to serve,
Christ came to teach us God’s way of life.
On that last night, with basin and towel,
Jesus knelt down and washed his friends’ feet.
Go forth to serve as Christ served the world,
as God has served us in Christ.
The peace of the Lord always be with you.
And also with you.
All may share a sign of peace.
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