Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, June 11, 2023)
GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME
Gathering Song:
Open this link to James Quinn SJ’s paraphrase of the Jubilate Deo, “Sing All Creation.”
1 Sing, all creation, sing to God in gladness!
Joyously serve him, singing hymns of homage!
Chanting his praises, come before his presence!
Praise the Almighty!
2 Know that our God is Lord of all the ages!
He is our maker; we are all his creatures,
people he fashioned, sheep he leads to pasture!
Praise the Almighty!
3 Enter his temple, ringing out his praises!
Sing in thanksgiving as you come before him!
Blessing his bounty, glorify his greatness!
Praise the Almighty!
[Instrumental interlude]
4 Great in his goodness is the Lord we worship;
steadfast his kindness, love that knows no ending!
Faithful his word is, changeless, everlasting!
Praise the Almighty!
Greeting and Opening Prayer:
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Almighty God,
nothing is hidden from you,
not even the secrets of our hearts.
By your Holy Spirit,
purify our deepest thoughts
so that we may truly love you
and bring honor to your name
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Act of Praise:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Tom Mills and Tom Elowson’s “Song of the Lamb.”
1 Great and miraculous are Your deeds
And righteousness is Your way, Lord
You are the almighty King of kings
And Lord of all the age
O who will not fear You O Lord
And glorify Your holy name
When Your righteousness is revealed
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise to the song of the Lamb
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise with the song of the Lamb
2 All glory be to You, God and King
The heavens declare all Your greatness
So bright and beautiful in the skies
Their message rings to the earth
O who will not fear You O Lord
And glorify Your holy name
When Your righteousness is revealed
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise with the song of the Lamb
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise with the song of the Lamb
3 One day we'll all sing around Your throne
Praising Your holy name, Lord
Like the waves of a hundred oceans
Thundering on the shore
Singing
O who will not fear You O Lord
And glorify Your holy name
When Your righteousness is revealed
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise with the song of the Lamb
You alone are holy
You alone are holy
All nations come and worship You
We'll sing praise with the song of the Lamb
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
Prayer for Illumination:
Heavenly Father,
Give us wisdom and understanding.
As we listen to your Word,
May we know you better,
love you more,
and learn to please you in all we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A reading from the Old Testament (Genesis 12:1–9)
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram travelled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram travelled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshipped the Lord. Then Abram continued travelling south by stages towards the Negev.
Silence
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s setting of Psalm 33, “Let Your Mercy Be on Us.”
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
1 Your words, O God, are truth indeed,
and all your works are ever faithful;
you love justice and right,
your compassion fills all creation.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
2 See how the eye of God is watching,
ever guarding all who wait in hope,
to deliver them from death
and to sustain them in time of famine.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
3 Exult, you just, in the Lord,
for praise is the song of the righteous!
How happy the people of God,
the ones whom God has chosen!
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
4 Our soul is waiting for God,
for God is our help and shield.
May your kindness, O God, be upon us
who place our hope in you.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
A reading from the New Testament (Romans 4: 13-25)
Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Silence
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
1 Your words, O God, are truth indeed,
and all your works are ever faithful;
you love justice and right,
your compassion fills all creation.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
2 See how the eye of God is watching,
ever guarding all who wait in hope,
to deliver them from death
and to sustain them in time of famine.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
3 Exult, you just, in the Lord,
for praise is the song of the righteous!
How happy the people of God,
the ones whom God has chosen!
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
4 Our soul is waiting for God,
for God is our help and shield.
May your kindness, O God, be upon us
who place our hope in you.
Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.
(Let your mercy be on us, O God,
as we place our trust in you.)
A reading from the New Testament (Romans 4: 13-25)
Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Silence
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Josh Blakesly’s “Cry Out with Joy (Isaiah 12).”
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
1 Indeed God is my savior.
I am confident and sure.
He is my courage. I am not afraid.
My strength comes from the Lord.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
2 Give thanks and praise to the Lord.
Cry out among the nations.
With joy you will draw living water
from the fountain of salvation.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
Sing praise to God.
Proclaim his glorious deeds.
Zion, shout for joy and fall on your knees.
Fall on your knees.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
A reading from the New Testament (Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26)
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.
Silence
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
All of today’s Scripture readings are lessons in faith. They teach us about the nature of faith, its main characteristic. Abram was confident that God would do what he promised. He felt so certain about it that, as the reading from the Old Testament, from the Book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, tells us, ”he took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan….”
As Paul write in his letter to a group of Christians at Rome, our first New Testament reading, Abraham, the name by which Abram would be later known, did not waver in his belief that God would keep his promise. In Paul’s words, “he was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promises.” Abraham believed that God was a faithful God, a God in who he could put his trust, a God in whom he could have every confidence.
The leader of the synagogue whose daughter had just died felt certain that Jesus could bring his daughter back to life if he laid a hand on her. The woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding felt certain that she would be healed if she touched his robe. They both must have heard about the miracles that Jesus was performing and had become convinced that he could do for them what he had done for others. It was this strong belief that motivated them to go looking for him. The narrative does not tell us what they exactly believed about Jesus, only that they had faith in is power to raise the dead and to heal. They sensed that he was no ordinary person.
Abraham, the synagogue leader, and the woman are not the only ones in today’s readings who evidenced faith. So did Matthew the tax collector. He responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow him and be his disciples. Matthew’s response was an act of faith.
The faith of all four of these individuals was not a natural tendency on their part. It was not their own doing. It was the result of God’s grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, already working in them.
God always makes the first move. John Wesley called the mercy that God actively shows us before we are in any way aware of it “prevenient grace,” and believed that God extends it to everybody. “Prevenient” is derived from the Latin word prevenire, which means “go before.” Prevenient grace is the grace that goes before.
Faith then is a gift of God. It is not a gift that God forces on us, imposes upon us whether we want it or not. We are free to accept or reject it. That freedom is also not innately ours. It is also given to us by God.
God out of compassion for us desires that all people come to have a right relationship with him. He does, however, give us some leeway in choosing to live in harmony with him and in aligning our will with his. At the same time should we initially say “no” to him, he will not abandon us but will continue to pursue reconciliation with us throughout our lives.
For this reason let us not cease to pray for loved ones and others to come to faith one day for one day faith may indeed come to them and they will accept this most precious gift.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Rusty Edwards and Linda Cable Shute’s “By Grace We Have Been Saved.”
1 By grace we have been saved
Through faith and not by keeping law
God's saints believed
By what they heard
And not by what they saw
And not by what they saw
2 For all have sinned and fallen short
God's plan not one obeyed
Christ has for all fulfilled the law
Believe confess be saved
Believe confess be saved
3 God gave to earth a perfect love
Through Jesus on the cross
While we were foes
Christ died for us
We gained by God's own loss
We gained by God's own loss
4 We know the wage of sin is death
Thank God we shall revive
For just as Jesus rose again
We too are made alive
We too are made alive
5 Set free we now have peace with God
Salvation is secured
How beautiful the feet of those
Who share this gospel word
Who share this gospel word
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
Prayer of Confession and Act of Pardon:
God of mercy,
we acknowledge that we are sinners.
We turn from the wrong that we have thought and said and done,
and are mindful of all that we have failed to do.
For the sake of Jesus, who died for us,
forgive us for all that is past,
and help us to live each day
in the light of Christ our Lord. Amen
May the Lord forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are
and direct what we shall be,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Concerns and Prayers:
Let us pray for all people and for the Church throughout the world.
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ has promised that you will hear: us when we ask in faith: receive the prayers we offer.
Strengthen your people for their witness and work in the world, and empower your ministers faithfully to proclaim the gospel and to administer your holy sacraments. Unite in the truth all who confess your name, that we may live together in love and proclaim your glory in all the world.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Give wisdom to those in authority in every land, and guide all peoples in the way of righteousness and peace, so that they may share with justice the resources of the earth, work together in trust, and seek the common good.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
We commend to your keeping, Father, ourselves and each other, our families, our neighbors, and our friends. Enable us by your Spirit to live in love for you and for one another.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Comfort and heal, merciful Lord, all who are in sorrow, need, sickness, or any other trouble. Give them a firm trust in your goodness; help those who minister to them; and bring us all into the joy of your salvation.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
We praise you, Lord God, for your faithful servants in every age, and we pray that we, with all who have died in the faith of Christ, may be brought to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of your eternal kingdom.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Those present may offer additional petitions and thanksgiving in silence or aloud.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Closing Hymn:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sylvia Dunstan’s “Go to the World! Go into All the Earth.”
1 Go to the world! Go into all the earth;
Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth,
Baptizing as the sign of our rebirth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
2 Go to the world! Go into every place;
Go live the word of God’s redeeming grace;
Go seek God’s presence in each time and space.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
3 Go to the world! Go struggle, bless, and pray;
The nights of tears give way to joyous day.
As servant Church, you follow Christ’s own way.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
4 Go to the world! Go as the ones I send,
For I am with you till the age shall end,
When all the host of glory cry, “Amen.”
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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 and every day
in love to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Choral Benediction:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Roger Noble’s arrangement of “May the Lord, Mighty God.”
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever,
grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor.
Lift your eyes and see God's face, source of grace forever.
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
1 Indeed God is my savior.
I am confident and sure.
He is my courage. I am not afraid.
My strength comes from the Lord.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
2 Give thanks and praise to the Lord.
Cry out among the nations.
With joy you will draw living water
from the fountain of salvation.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
Sing praise to God.
Proclaim his glorious deeds.
Zion, shout for joy and fall on your knees.
Fall on your knees.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you.
Cry out with joy
for the Holy One is among you
A reading from the New Testament (Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26)
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.
Silence
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Gift of Faith
All of today’s Scripture readings are lessons in faith. They teach us about the nature of faith, its main characteristic. Abram was confident that God would do what he promised. He felt so certain about it that, as the reading from the Old Testament, from the Book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, tells us, ”he took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan….”
As Paul write in his letter to a group of Christians at Rome, our first New Testament reading, Abraham, the name by which Abram would be later known, did not waver in his belief that God would keep his promise. In Paul’s words, “he was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promises.” Abraham believed that God was a faithful God, a God in who he could put his trust, a God in whom he could have every confidence.
The leader of the synagogue whose daughter had just died felt certain that Jesus could bring his daughter back to life if he laid a hand on her. The woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding felt certain that she would be healed if she touched his robe. They both must have heard about the miracles that Jesus was performing and had become convinced that he could do for them what he had done for others. It was this strong belief that motivated them to go looking for him. The narrative does not tell us what they exactly believed about Jesus, only that they had faith in is power to raise the dead and to heal. They sensed that he was no ordinary person.
Abraham, the synagogue leader, and the woman are not the only ones in today’s readings who evidenced faith. So did Matthew the tax collector. He responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow him and be his disciples. Matthew’s response was an act of faith.
The faith of all four of these individuals was not a natural tendency on their part. It was not their own doing. It was the result of God’s grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, already working in them.
God always makes the first move. John Wesley called the mercy that God actively shows us before we are in any way aware of it “prevenient grace,” and believed that God extends it to everybody. “Prevenient” is derived from the Latin word prevenire, which means “go before.” Prevenient grace is the grace that goes before.
Faith then is a gift of God. It is not a gift that God forces on us, imposes upon us whether we want it or not. We are free to accept or reject it. That freedom is also not innately ours. It is also given to us by God.
God out of compassion for us desires that all people come to have a right relationship with him. He does, however, give us some leeway in choosing to live in harmony with him and in aligning our will with his. At the same time should we initially say “no” to him, he will not abandon us but will continue to pursue reconciliation with us throughout our lives.
For this reason let us not cease to pray for loved ones and others to come to faith one day for one day faith may indeed come to them and they will accept this most precious gift.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Rusty Edwards and Linda Cable Shute’s “By Grace We Have Been Saved.”
1 By grace we have been saved
Through faith and not by keeping law
God's saints believed
By what they heard
And not by what they saw
And not by what they saw
2 For all have sinned and fallen short
God's plan not one obeyed
Christ has for all fulfilled the law
Believe confess be saved
Believe confess be saved
3 God gave to earth a perfect love
Through Jesus on the cross
While we were foes
Christ died for us
We gained by God's own loss
We gained by God's own loss
4 We know the wage of sin is death
Thank God we shall revive
For just as Jesus rose again
We too are made alive
We too are made alive
5 Set free we now have peace with God
Salvation is secured
How beautiful the feet of those
Who share this gospel word
Who share this gospel word
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
Prayer of Confession and Act of Pardon:
God of mercy,
we acknowledge that we are sinners.
We turn from the wrong that we have thought and said and done,
and are mindful of all that we have failed to do.
For the sake of Jesus, who died for us,
forgive us for all that is past,
and help us to live each day
in the light of Christ our Lord. Amen
May the Lord forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are
and direct what we shall be,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Concerns and Prayers:
Let us pray for all people and for the Church throughout the world.
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ has promised that you will hear: us when we ask in faith: receive the prayers we offer.
Strengthen your people for their witness and work in the world, and empower your ministers faithfully to proclaim the gospel and to administer your holy sacraments. Unite in the truth all who confess your name, that we may live together in love and proclaim your glory in all the world.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Give wisdom to those in authority in every land, and guide all peoples in the way of righteousness and peace, so that they may share with justice the resources of the earth, work together in trust, and seek the common good.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
We commend to your keeping, Father, ourselves and each other, our families, our neighbors, and our friends. Enable us by your Spirit to live in love for you and for one another.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Comfort and heal, merciful Lord, all who are in sorrow, need, sickness, or any other trouble. Give them a firm trust in your goodness; help those who minister to them; and bring us all into the joy of your salvation.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
We praise you, Lord God, for your faithful servants in every age, and we pray that we, with all who have died in the faith of Christ, may be brought to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of your eternal kingdom.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
Those present may offer additional petitions and thanksgiving in silence or aloud.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Closing Hymn:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sylvia Dunstan’s “Go to the World! Go into All the Earth.”
1 Go to the world! Go into all the earth;
Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth,
Baptizing as the sign of our rebirth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
2 Go to the world! Go into every place;
Go live the word of God’s redeeming grace;
Go seek God’s presence in each time and space.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
3 Go to the world! Go struggle, bless, and pray;
The nights of tears give way to joyous day.
As servant Church, you follow Christ’s own way.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
4 Go to the world! Go as the ones I send,
For I am with you till the age shall end,
When all the host of glory cry, “Amen.”
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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 and every day
in love to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Choral Benediction:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Roger Noble’s arrangement of “May the Lord, Mighty God.”
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever,
grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor.
Lift your eyes and see God's face, source of grace forever.
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
May the Lord, mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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