Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, October 26, 2023)
Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.
WE GATHER IN GOD’S NAME
A lamp or a candle may be lit.
God is our light and our salvation,
Our refuge and our stronghold.
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
we praise your name, O God.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
As this evening hymn is sung, more lamps and candles may be lit.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Joyous Light of Glorious God from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We praise you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of the seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God,
rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord,
whose word makes evening fall.
Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Psalm 141 from Kent Gustavson's Mountain Vespers.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O God, I call you; come to me quickly;
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth,
and guard the doors of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;
Never occupied in wickedness.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
in you I take refuge.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
Strip me not of my life.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Silence
Lord God, our protector and guide,
who made us knowing both good and evil,
help us to desire all that is good,
that the offering of our lives may be acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Christopher Walker’s adaptation of Psalm 27, “The Lord Is My Light, My Help, My Salvation.”
The Lord is my light, my help, my salvation.
Why should I fear? With God I fear no one.
God protects me all my life.
With the Lord what should I dread?
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help,
The Lord is my salvation.
There is one thing I ask, of the Lord that I long for:
All of my days with God to be dwelling.
Gazing with awe at the beauty of God,
And in wonder look on God's house.
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help,
The Lord is my salvation.
I know I will live to see the Lord's goodness;
Now, in this life, I'm sure I will see it.
Trust in the Lord, be strong and be brave;
Wait in hope for God, our salvation.
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help,
The Lord is my salvation.
Silence
God, our light and our salvation,
illuminate our lives,
that we may see your goodness in the land of the living,
and, looking on your beauty,
may be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Open this link in a new tab to hear Jan Stuther’s “Lord of All Hopefulness.”
1 Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy:
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
2 Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe:
Be there at our labors, and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
3 Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace:
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.
4 Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm:
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
A reading from the New Testament (Matthew 24: 1-51)
As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”
Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.
“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
“So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
“Immediately after the anguish of those days,
the sun will be darkened,
the moon will give no light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
“Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
What Does Jesus Say about the Future?
In the 1840s William Miller, an American Baptist preacher, predicated that Christ would return sometime between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844, using Daniel 8: 14-16 and a method of interpreting Bile prophesy, known as the year for a day method. He convinced a large number of people of the accuracy of his prediction. They would sell their property and possessions, give away the proceeds, and gather on the top of hills and other high places on the predicted day, wearing white robes and prepared to meet Christ. To their great disappointment Christ was a no show. Hiram Edson and other Millerites came to believe that Miller had not made an error in his calculations but had misinterpreted Daniel 8:14-16. They would give birth to what would become the Seventh Day Adventist Church and other Adventist groups, which emphasize in their teaching the imminent second coming of Christ.
The recent brutal attack of the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hammas, on the civilian population of Israel and the prospect of a widening regional conflict has prompted speculation on social media that these events are signs of the end times. It strikes me to be a good time to examine what Jesus himself said about the future, particular about his return. Jesus, as we will see, has a lot to say about future events in this evening’s reading, Matthew 24: 1-51) and it is to this reading we need to turn to learn what Jesus teaches about the end times.
In Matthew 24 Jesus is recorded as predicting the desecration and destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In 70 AD a Roman army under the command of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. This occurred about 40 years after Jesus was crucified. Titus later became Roman emperor. He reigned for barely two years. During the first year of his reign Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii and neighboring Herculaneum under volcanic ash and pumice. During the second year of his reign the Roman Pantheon, a temple in which all the gods of Rome were worshipped, and other parts of Rome were destroyed by a devastating fire.
Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that a number of things will happen before he returns—wars and threats of war; famines and earthquakes; severe persecution of his followers; false Messiahs and false prophets who will deceive large numbers of people; widespread, unchecked sin; and the falling away of a number of his followers whose love for him has grown cold. These occurrences, however, are not signs of his imminent return. They are just the first of the early labor pains of the end times.
Jesus further tells them he does not know when he will return but his return will be sudden and unexpected. Consequently, his followers need to be ready for his return at any time.
Jesus does appear to identify one thing upon which his return is contingent—the preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom throughout the whole world so that all the nations will hear it. This is the task that he entrusted to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. It is a task which has been passed down to each generation of his followers with the charge to make disciples of all people groups. It is a task that is far from completed. There are in many parts of the world many people who have never heard anything about Jesus.
As well as being faithful in doing whatever they have been given to do like good servants awaiting the return of their master, followers of Jesus in our times need also need to give particular attention to Jesus’ warnings about false Messiahs and false prophets who will deceive many and about many growing cold in their love for Jesus. In this country and in other parts of the world several different political figures represent themselves as saviors and have attracted to themselves a sizeable following. At the same time, we hear and read about individuals and groups who claim to be Christian but who criticize Jesus’ teaching as “too weak,” “too liberal,” or otherwise deficient in their estimation or who espouse beliefs and ideas which have no connection with what Jesus taught or practiced. Modern communication technology and the internet have made such developments even more possible than in the past.
An important part of being faithful is genuinely recognizing Jesus’ lordship over our lives and uncompromisingly following his teaching and his example. It is not enough to give lip service to Jesus or say a sinner’s prayer. As Jesus himself said, “why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” Real discipleship involves not only believing in Jesus but also demonstrating our faith in him in the way that we live.
Let us daily ask God to give us grace to faithfully live our lives as disciples of Jesus, dedicating each day of our lives to him, as we await his coming again in glory. .
Silence
WE RESPOND
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Magnificat from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
1 You O God have done great things
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you
n ev’ry generation.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
2 You have shown the strength of your arm,
you have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast the might down from thrones
and have lifted up the lowly.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 You have filled the hungry with good things,
the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel
you’ve remembered your promise of mercy.
The promise you made
to Sarah and Abraham.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Amen
WE PRAY FOR GOD’S WORLD
For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God,
and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this dwelling (house, apartment, condo, common room, etc.), and for all who offer here their worship and praise.
Lord, have mercy.
For the health of the creation, for abundant harvests that all may share,
and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For public servants, for government, and those who protect us;
for those who work to bring peace, justice, healing and protection
In this and every place, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who travel, for those who are sick and suffering,
and for those who are in captivity, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For deliverance in times of affliction, wrath, danger, and need,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For …… and all servants of the church, for this gathering,
and for all people who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Other petitions may be added.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Silence
Giving thanks for all who have gone before us and are at rest, rejoicing in the communion of …… and all the saints, we commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to you. Through Christ our Lord.
To you, O Lord.
Almighty God,
yourr Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and truth;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us join together in the prayer Jesus gave us.
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
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Wesley’s “Covenant Prayer.”
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.
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.
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.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link to hear Kent Gustavson’s “Benediction.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord’s face shine on you.
May the Lord be gracious to you.
May the Lord look on you and give you peace.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord’s face shine on you.
May the Lord be gracious to you.
May the Lord look on you and give you peace.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Those present may exchange a sign of peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us join together in the prayer Jesus gave us.
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
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Wesley’s “Covenant Prayer.”
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.
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.
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.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link to hear Kent Gustavson’s “Benediction.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord’s face shine on you.
May the Lord be gracious to you.
May the Lord look on you and give you peace.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord’s face shine on you.
May the Lord be gracious to you.
May the Lord look on you and give you peace.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Those present may exchange a sign of peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
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