Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, July 16, 2023)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows. All Hallows is an online worship and digital church ministry for Christians who are unable to attend a local church for any reason or who are traveling and for anyone who wishes to explore the Christian faith and way of life. All Hallows offers two services in a simple format each week, one on Thursday evenings and the other on Sundays. 

WE GATHER IN GOD’S NAME

Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell and Owen Alcott’s God's Greatest Gift (Instrumental Version).

Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell’s “You Have Called Us by Our Name.”

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

1 You have chosen us
to be members of your family.
In your love you have created
us to live in unity.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

2 You will lead us to your light,
walk before us through the night.
You will guide us on our journey.
You will keep our vision bright.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

3 You will hold us when we fall,
give new strength to hear your call.
You will never be beyond us,
for your love is all in all.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

4 You will nourish, you will lead,
giving ev'ry gift we need,
for your reign will be established
from the smallest of all seeds.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

5 Through our sharing here today
may our faith and life convey.
Christ our light and Christ our vision,
Christ our purpose, Christ our way.

You have called us by our name,
we belong to you.
You have called us by our name
and we are yours.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.

The Lord is present.
The Spirit is here.

Let us pray.

Silence.

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things,
graft in our hearts the love of your Name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and so by your mercy keep us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Bruxvoort Colligan’s “Have Mercy of God (A Kyrie).”

Have mercy, O God
We don't know what we do
Heal us, heal us
Have mercy, O Christ
We don't know what we do
Make us whole

Have mercy, O God
We wander off the way
Guide us, guide us
Have mercy, O Christ
We wander off the way
Give us life

Have mercy, O God
Restore our weary world
Free us, free us
Have mercy, O Christ
Restore our weary world
Grant us peace

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.

WE HEAR GOD’S WORD

Bountiful God,
we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word:
by your Holy Spirit, help us to receive it with joy.
and to live according to it,
that we may grow in faith, hope, and love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A reading from the Old Testament (Isaiah 55:10–13)

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Silence.

May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory

The Power of God’s Word

Today’s reading is one of the alternative readings appointed for this Sunday in the version of the Revised Common Lectionary used in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. A number of excellent readings are appointed for this Sunday but this one caught my attention. It is, I admit, one of my favorite readings in the Old Testament. I adapted several verses of the reading into a prayer which I sometimes use before preaching a sermon.

"Almighty God, heavenly Father, may your word, not mine, go forth from my mouth and return not to you empty but accomplish all that you have purposed. This I ask in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen."

It is a simple prayer. It recognizes that what gives power to the preaching of a ordained elder, a licensed local pastor, or a certified lay speaker is not the number of hours they devote to preparing a sermon or how well they deliver the sermon in the pulpit, but God’s grace working in and through their words.

John Wesley identified preaching along with prayer; “searching the Scriptures, reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture; fasting, participating in Sunday worship or worship on other occasions; the Lord’s Supper, and spiritual conversations with other believers as means of grace.

The means of grace are the ways that God not only shows his favor and good will toward us but also how he works invisibly in us, arousing and awakening faith in us and then transforming us into the likeness of Christ. We experience both a change of heart and changes in our way of life and we become more and more like Christ in our attitudes, our ways of thinking, and our qualities of character.

When Jesus calls us to follow him and we respond to his call, we take a new path. The means of grace help us to walk that path. It is a path on which Jesus is not only our companion, friend, and guide but also our destination.

Something to bear in mind is that God has a way of speaking through a preacher’s words. It may not always be what the preacher intended us to hear. I jot down notes when I am listening to someone else preach and I’ll go back over my notes later. This helps me to digest what the preacher was saying but also to hear what God was saying through the preacher. 

God may speak to me through what I have written down rather than what the preacher said. The Holy Spirit may give me a nudge to go in the direction that I need to go, to adopt a new attitude or a new way of thinking or to change my behavior and to act differently in how I relate to others, in how I treat them. The Holy Spirit may prompt me to see what else Scripture says on a particular subject and to consider how that applies to my life.

God’s word is indeed like the rain and snow which fall from the sky and water the ground, causing plants to grow and to produce fruit. We are the plants and the fruit we produce is a transformed life, a life that is pleasing God, a life that reflects God’s power and love, a life that brings honor to God’s name.

WE RESPOND

Open this link in a new tab to hear Martin How’s arrangement of “Day by Day” (Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester)

Day by day, dear Lord of thee three things I pray.
To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly,
day by day..

Day by day, day by day, of thee three things I pray.
(Day by day, dear Lord of thee three things I pray.)

                                                                   Solo: follow thee day by day,
                                                                            day by day.

To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly,
day by day, day by day.
(To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly,
day by day, day by day.)

WE PRAY FOR GOD’S WORLD

Let us pray for God’ people throughout the world; for our pastor; for this gathering; and for all ministers and people. Let us pray for the Church.

(Any person may offer a brief spoken prayer of intercession or petition.)

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Let us pray for peace, for goodwill among nations, and for the well-being of all people. Let us pray for justice and peace.

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Let us pray for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed, and those in prison. Let us pray for those in any need or trouble.

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Let us pray for all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of God. Let us pray that they may find and be found by God.

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

(Any person may ask the prayers or thanksgivings of those present.)

Let us pray for……….

Let us give thanks for……..

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Let us praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has bee honored [especially…….. whom we remember today. Let us pray that we have grace to glorify Christ in our own day.

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Accept our prayers, most gracious God, 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.

WE GO FORTH TO SERVE

May the Lord bless us and keep us,
May the Lord make his face to shine on us and be gracious to us,
May the Lord look on us with kindness and give us peace. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Tom Booth’s “Go Into the World.”

Go into the world
Loving the people that you meet
Let your presence light
New light in others in their hearts

1 For you are my hands
And you are my feet
To all those you meet
To all those you greet
To all those in need

Go into the world
Loving the people that you meet
Let your presence light
New light in others in their hearts

2 Seek out the poor
The sick and the lonely
Let mercy lead
As you have received
For they are my sheep

Go into the world
Loving the people that you meet
Let your presence light
New light in others in their hearts

3 I give my command
Love on another
As I have loved you
So shall you do
So shall you move in me

Go into the world
Loving the people that you meet
Let your presence light
New light in others in their hearts

Go into the world
Loving the people that you meet

Those present may exchange a sign of peace with these words.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.