Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, May 2, 2024)
Since the early days of Christianity, Christians have begun and ended each day with praise and prayer offered to God. This practice would eventually evolve into what are called Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the Anglican Church and in Matins and Vespers in the Lutheran Church. Other Christian traditions also have their equivalent of these two services. They are a beautiful way of consecrating and setting apart the day to God.
GATHER IN GOD’S NAME
Come, praise the Lord,
all his servants….
Raise your hands in prayer…
and praise the Lord!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Keith Duke’s “Sun of Our Night.”
Light of the world in grace and beauty
Mirror of God’s eternal face
Transparent flame of love’s free duty
You bring salvation to our race
Now as we see the lights of evening
We raise our voice in hymns of praise
Worthy are you of endless blessing
Sun of our night, lamp of our day
[Instrumental interlude]
Light of the world in grace and beauty
Mirror of God’s eternal face
Transparent flame of love’s free duty
You bring salvation to our race
Now as we see the lights of evening
We raise our voice in hymns of praise
Worthy are you of endless blessing
Sun of our night, lamp of our day
Christ is with us!
He is with us indeed!
In penitence and faith we come before God.
Let us confess our sins.
Gracious God, Creator and Father,
we come before you a rebellious people.
we have denied your intentions for us;
we have preferred our way to Christ’s way;
we have disobeyed your commandments;
And we have worshiped ourselves and th things we have made.
Forgive us,
restore us in the knowledge of who we are,
and make us alive to serve you in faith, obedience, and joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hear the promises of God: “Ask and it will be given to you;
Seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins.”
Praise the Lord.
The Lord be praised.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Eric Becker’s responsorial setting of “Daniel 3 - Glory and Praise.”
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord God our Father,
praiseworthy and exalted for ever;
blessed and holy and glorious your name,
exalted for all ages.
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your glory,
praiseworthy, glorious, your name for ever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
above all for ever.
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon cherubim,
praiseworthy, exalted above all forever.
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Frye’s “Be the Centre.”
Verse 1
Jesus be the centre
Be my source, be my light
Jesus
Verse 2
Jesus be the centre
Be my hope, be my song
Jesus
Chorus
Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live
Jesus, Jesus
Verse 3
Jesus be my vision
Be my path, be my guide
Jesus
Final Chorus
Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live
Jesus, Jesus
Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live
Jesus, Jesus
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
Eternal God,
In the reading of the scripture, may your word be heard;
In the meditations of our hearts, may your word be known;
In the faithfulness of our lives, may your word be shown. Amen.
A reading from the New Testament (Matthew 7: 24-27)
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Silence
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
No Part-Time Disciples
When Jesus calls us to follow him, he is calling us to be a full-time, round- the-clock, seven-days-a-week disciples. He expects us to live our daily lives according to the truths and principles that he taught and which he exemplified. This is why he told those who expressed a desire to follow him to weigh in their minds the cost of following him and decide whether they were willing to pay that price.
Following Jesus is not something that we do when we feel like it, when we are in the right mood.
For example, forgiving someone because we are feeling in a particularly benevolent mood on Tuesday and letting the same person feel our full ire because we are feeling in an unforgiving mood on Thursday is not what Jesus taught or exemplified. Implicit in his teaching and example is that our mood, the way that we are feeling at a particular time, is not the determining factor in whether we forgive someone. We forgive that person because it is the right thing to do. We are patient with other people and kind to them for the same reason. Our mood does not govern how we treat them.
This is not to say that we may at times let our feelings get the better of us. However, we do not permit it to become a habit, something that we do often and regularly.
Following Jesus means that we see and treat people differently from the way that we once saw and treated them. We shed the biases and cognitive distortions that influence our perceptions of other people. We see them as Jesus would have us see them—as neighbors and in the case of Christians like ourselves as fellow disciples. We treat them as Jesus instructed his disciples to treat them and how Jesus himself treated people. While we may have the occasional lapse, following Jesus means that we are consistent in how we treat them. We are not selective, intentionally choosing to treat some people differently from other people, Rather we always behave toward everyone in a similar way.
For example, we are courteous and friendly toward everyone at church, not just to those with whom we get along well while at the same time snubbing those with whom we may have had a misunderstanding or who do not interest us. We behave in a pleasant, kind way toward everyone, even those whom we do not enjoy being around.
Discipleship does not end at the church door. If we are genuinely following Jesus, we act the same way outside of church as we do in church. Jesus’ influence permeates everything we say and do. His influence so affects us that other people do not hear us, they hear Jesus. They do not see us, they see him.
Silence
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
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
Let us pray for the Church and the world.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
you promised through your Son Jesus Christ
to hear the prayers of those who ask in faith.
Lord of your people:
strengthen your Church in all the world …
renew the life of this [diocese] [annual conference] …
bless .... our bishop, and build us up in faith and love.
Lord of creation:
look with favour on the world you have made,
guide the nations in the ways of justice and of peace,
and bless [ Canada: Charles our King, the leaders of the nations,
and all in authority] [United States: our President, .... .... ,
the leaders of the nations, and all in authority].
Lord of our relationships:
comfort and sustain the communities in which we live and work …
help us to love our neighbours as ourselves,
Enable us to serve our families and friends
and to love one another as you love us.
Lord of all healing:
relieve and protect those who are sick or suffering,
be with those who have any special need …
and deliver all who know danger, violence or oppression.
Lord of eternity:
bind us together by your Holy Spirit,
in communion with .... and all who, having confessed the Faith,
have died in the peace of Christ, that we may entrust ourselves,
and one another, and our whole life to you, Lord God,
and come with all your saints to the joys of your eternal kingdom.
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,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
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 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 James Quinn’s “Christ Be Beside Me.”
1 Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me, King of my heart.
Christ be within me, Christ be below me,
Christ be above me, never to part.
2 Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me, shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising, light of my heart.
[Instrumental interlude]
3 Christ be in all hearts thinking about me,
Christ be on all tongues telling of me.
Christ be the vision in eyes that see me,
In ears that hear me Christ ever be.
4 Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me, King of my heart.
Christ be within me, Christ be below me,
Christ be above me, never to part.
Those present may share a sign of peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
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