Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, February 25, 2024)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, the Second Sunday in Lent, we take a look at a key Christian doctrine—salvation by grace through faith. It lies at the heart of the Christian religion. 

GATHER IN GOD’S NAME

The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Tim Chester and Bob Kauflin’s “Come Praise and Glorify.”

1 Come praise and glorify our God
The Father of our Lord In Christ
He has in heav'nly realms
His blessings on us poured
For pure and blameless in His sight
He destined us to be
And now we've been adopted through
His Son eternally

To the praise of Your glory
To the praise of Your mercy and grace
To the praise of Your glory
You are the God who saves

2 Come praise and glorify our God
Who gives His grace in Christ
In Him our sins are washed away
Redeemed through sacrifice
In Him God has made known to us
The myst'ry of His will
That Christ should be the head of all
His purpose to fulfill

To the praise of Your glory
To the praise of Your mercy and grace
To the praise of Your glory
You are the God who saves

[Instrumental interlude]

3 Come praise and glorify our God
For we've believed the Word
And through our faith we have a seal
The Spirit of the Lord
The Spirit guarantees our hope
Until redemption's done
Until we join in endless praise
To God, the Three in One

To the praise of Your glory
To the praise of Your mercy and grace
To the praise of Your glory
You are the God who saves

To the praise of Your glory
To the praise of Your mercy and grace
To the praise of Your glory
You are the God who saves

God has promised forgiveness
to all who truly repent,
turn to Christ in faith
and are themselves forgiving.

Let us confess our sins to God our Father.

Silence

Heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault;
by what we have done
and by what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ who died for us,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace, 
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Trevor Hodge’s “No Other Name.”

There is no other name
In heaven can be found
Through whom we are redeemed
Through whom your grace abounds
No other name can save
But Jesus Christ our Lord

1 There is no other name
In heaven can be found
Through whom we are redeemed
Through whom your grace abounds
No other name can save
But Jesus Christ our Lord

My joy in sorrow’s tears
My strength to cast out fears
No other name but Jesus, Jesus
My hope in darkest night
My broken soul’s delight
No other name but Jesus, Jesus

2 There is no victory
But Jesus crucified
No other cure for sin
But that our Saviour died
No other hope we have
But that he rose again
He rose again

My joy in sorrow’s tears
My strength to cast out fears
No other name but Jesus, Jesus
My hope in darkest night
My broken soul’s delight
No other name but Jesus, Jesus
No other name

3 No other throne endures
No other song remains
But ‘Worthy is the Lamb
Who was for sinners slain’
When every knee shall bow
And tongue confess you are Lord
You are Lord

My joy in sorrow’s tears
My strength to cast out fears
No other name but Jesus, Jesus
My hope in darkest night
My broken soul’s delight
No other name but Jesus, Jesus

Let us pray.

Silence

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
Grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things
as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

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

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

Saved by Grace through Faith

A basic tenet of Christianity is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not by our own efforts. It is a key doctrine of the Christian faith which sets it apart from other faiths. It is found in a number of places in the Bible. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

“Saved by grace through faith” means that God loves, forgives, and saves us because God chooses to love, forgive, and save us. God is under no obligation to love, forgive, and save us because of who we are or what we have done. God loves, forgives, and saves us because of who God is and what Jesus has done.

Our best efforts can never make us right with God. God counts us as righteous because of our faith in him, our trust in the one who raised Jesus from the dead.

Our faith in God, our trust in him, just like our salvation, is a gift from God. It is pure grace. It is unearned. It is free. If it was earned by our own efforts such as by obeying a list of do’s and don’ts or doing good deeds, it would not be grace.

From what does God save us? From ourselves! If you look around you, watch the news on TV or the internet, read the newspaper, listen to conversations, you will see and hear the worst of human nature.

Human nature is badly flawed. As C. S. Lewis put it in Out of the Silent Planet, the first book in his three Perelandria science fiction novels, human beings are “bent.”

The Bible offers one explanation as to how things got that way. Sociologists and psychologists offer their own explanations. All would agree that human beings are inclined to do evil things.

Jesus in his teaching recognized this inclination. “As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11 GNT) Jesus recognized that the evil we do comes from the evil within ourselves (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21-23).

The Bible calls this inclination “sin.” We may not recognize it but sin exercises tremendous power over our lives. It traps us in patterns of living that will have serious negative consequences for us. It trips us up when we seek to do good things. It blinds us to the harm that we are doing to ourselves and to others.

When we receive the gift of faith, the power of sin is broken in our lives. We not only given a new standing with God; we are also given the gift of a new life. It is like being born anew. We live out this new life with thankful hearts, growing in grace and faith, showing God’s love to others, and sharing God’s love with them. God works in us, transforming our lives and perfecting us in love.

How then do we receive this gift? It does require a response from us. God, however, enables us to freely accept the gift, to take it from his hand and believe. Yes, take it from his hand and trust in him.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Adrea Sandifer’s “By Grace We Have Been Saved.”

1 Far from holy, dead in sin,
we followed the course of the world.
But You, oh Lord, in Your steadfast love,
adopt us even still.
To be chosen,
in Christ we have redemption,
forgiveness of our sins.
By grace we have been saved.
Our Father, we pray for revelation,
to know this hope You give.
By grace we have been saved,
through faith.
By grace we have been saved.

2 Gift of God through sacrifice,
brought nearby Christ our Peace.
So we may walk worthy of this call,
and may our love increase.
For we are chosen,
in Christ we have redemption,
forgiveness of our sins.
By grace we have been saved.
Our Father, we pray for revelation,
to know this hope You give.
By grace we have been saved,
through faith.
By grace we have been saved.

Unite our hearts in Jesus Christ
To serve with love and grace,
To stand in strength and walk in faith,
our lives, to You alone be praise!
For we’re chosen
in Christ we have redemption,
forgiveness of our sins.
By grace we have been saved.
Our Father, we pray for revelation,
to know this hope You give.
By grace we have been saved.
We’re chosen,
in Christ we have redemption,
forgiveness of our sins.
By grace we have been saved.
Our Father, we pray for revelation,
to know this hope You give.
By grace we have been save.
Through faith.
By grace we have been saved.
Through faith.
By grace we have been saved.

Let us affirm with Christians across the ages what we believe about God
and his love for us.

We believe in one God,
who made us and loves all that is.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was born, lived, died and rose again,
and is coming to call all to account.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who calls, equips and sends out God’s people,
and brings all things to their true end.

This is our faith, the faith of the Church:

We believe in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

Let us pray for the Church and the world.

Father, we pray for your holy catholic Church
that we all may be one.

Grant that every member of your Church may truly and humbly serve you:
that your name may be glorified by all people.

We pray for all ministers of the Church
that they may be faithful ministers of your word and sacraments.

We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world
that there may be justice and peace on the earth.

Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake
that your glory may be proclaimed through our lives.

Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble
that they may be delivered from their distress.

We praise you for your saints who have entered their eternal joy
may we also come to share in the fulness of your kingdom.

We pray for our own needs and for those of others:

Silence. 

The people may add their own petitions.

Gracious God, grant that the desires of your people’s hearts
may find favour in your sight,
through the intercession of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught 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,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE

Holy and everliving God,
by your power we are created
and by your love we are redeemed;
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves to your service,
and live each day in love to one another and to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

May the almighty and merciful God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us
now and forever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Rob Smith’s “Undivided.”

1 Give me an undivided heart
That I might fear your name
Teach me to walk in righteous paths
And follow in your ways
For you are gracious and forgiving
Hear, O Lord, and answer me

2 Give me an undivided mind
That I might love your word
Help me to hunger for your voice
And know your Spirit’s sword
For you are good, your truth unchanging
Life is found in serving you

Undivided – I want to live for you
Single-minded – all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord

3 Give me an undivided love
For all that you desire
Make me a living sacrifice
Ignite in me your fire
For you, O Lord, are God eternal
All my ways are known to you

Undivided – I want to live for you
Single-minded – all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord

Undivided – counting my gains as loss
Single-minded – whatever the pain, whatever the cost
Sanctify me, help me take up my cross
And live for him who died for me

Those present may exchange a sign of peace.

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