Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, October 3, 2024)
This coming Sunday, the first Sunday of October, is World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday is observed by a number of Protestant denominations on the first Sunday of every October and promotes Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation.
This Thursday evening, we continue our message series on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians.
GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME
Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4: 16
Let us now confess our sins to almighty God.
Silence
God of all mercy,
we humbly admit that we need your help.
We have wandered from your ways.
We have sinned in thought, word, and deed,
and have failed to do what is right.
You alone can save us.
Have mercy on us,
wipe out our sins and teach us to forgive others.
Bring forth in us the fruit of your Spirit that
we may live the new life to your glory.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 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.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
One or more candles may be lit.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sharon Dennis and Doris Au MacDonald’s setting of the Phos Hilaron. “Joyous Light of Glory of the Immortal Father.”
Joyous light of glory of the immortal Father.
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ.
You are worth of being praised with pure voices
forever.
You are worth of being praised with pure voices
forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
The universe declares your glory.
We have come to the setting of the sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worth of being praised with pure voices
forever.
You are worth of being praised with pure voices
forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
The universe declares your glory.
The universe declares your glory.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sharon Dennis and Doris Au MacDonald’s setting of Psalm 141 “Let My Prayer Rise Before You as Incense.”
Let my prayer rise before you as incense
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice
Let my prayer rise before you as incense
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice
1 O Lord I call to 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
2 Set a watch before my mouth O Lord and guard the door of my lips
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing
Let me not be occupied in wickedness with evil doers
Let my prayer rise before you as incense
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice
3 But my eyes are turned to you
Yes, my eyes are turned to you,
O my eyes are turned to you, Lord God
in you I take refuge strip me not of my life
Let my prayer rise before you as incense
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sandra McCracken’s “
From the Rising of the Sun” (Psalm 113).
Verse
Hallelujah, give praise, you servants
Praise the name of the LORD
Let the name of the LORD be blessed
From now and forevermore
Chorus
From the rising of the sun
To its going down
Let the name of the LORD be praised
From the rising of the sun
Post-Chorus
The LORD is high above all nations
And his glory above the heavens
Bridge
Who is like the LORD our God? Who sits enthroned on high?
Who is like the LORD our God?
Who stoops to behold
The heavens and the earth?
Chorus
From the rising of the sun
To its going down
Let the name of the LORD be praised
From the rising of the sun
Outro
From the rising of the sun
Silence
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the New Testament: Colossians 1:15-24
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all
creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
A Monumental Act of Human Cruelty, A Far Greater Act of God’s Love for Us
In this evening’s reading the apostle Paul states an important article of the Christian faith. God was fully present in Jesus, reconciling everything to himself, including humanity. The way God accomplished this reconciliation was through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. He goes on to urge the believers at Colossae to whom he wrote the letter from which this evening’s reading was taken to continue to believe this truth and to stand firm in it.
In this evening’s reading Paul recognizes that human beings in their natural state are far away from God. They are God’s enemies whose evil thoughts and actions separate them from God. When they turn in repentance from their evil thoughts and actions and turn in faith to Jesus, trusting in what he has done for humanity, God no longer sees them as enemies but as friends. God works in their lives, transforming them so that, in Paul’s words, they stand holy and blameless before him.
A LifeWay Research -Ligonier Ministries surveys conducted in 2022 into the beliefs of Americans who identify themselves as evangelical Christians found that two-thirds of the people who were surveyed did not believe that human beings in their natural state are prone to entertain evil thoughts and to say and do evil things despite the immense body of empirical evidence showing that it is indeed the case. Even worse, 43 % of the people who were surveyed believed that Jesus was just a good teacher but not God in the flesh. They had wandered from the truth which Paul had urged the believers at Colossae to continue to believe and to stand firm in, assuming that they at one time believed it.
Some critics of Christianity and even some Christians themselves question the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. At least one critic has described God as “monstrous” and a “child abuser,” for forcing Jesus, as he put it, to suffer such a cruel death. The same critic in forming this opinion ignores the testimony of the Gospels that Jesus went to the cross on his own volition, by his own free will. He was not forced. He also ignores the Gospels’ testimony that the one who died on the cross was God in the person of the Son.
While we do not fully understand the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, we do know from the testimony of this evening’s reading and that of other New Testament texts that it played an important part in reconciling God and humanity. Jesus also instituted the Lord’s Suppr as “a perpetual memory” of what happened. In his First Letter to the Corinthians Paul wrote that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim our Lord’s death until he comes again.
Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians is an exhortation to which we also need to give heed and to continue to believe and firmly stand in the truth that God was in Jesus, reconciling humanity to himself. It was God in the person of the Son who willingly experienced suffering and death on the cross to bring about that reconciliation. What was a monumental act of human cruelty was a far greater act of God’s love for us. Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross enabled us to no longer be God’s enemies but to become God’s friends.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sharon Dennis and Doris Au MacDonald’s setting of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
He has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
God has mercy on those who fear him
from generation to generation.
The Lord has shown strength with his arm,
And scattered the proud in their conceit,
casting down the mighty from their thrones,
and lifting up the lowly.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
[Instrumental interlude]
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
to remember the promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
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 world and for the Church and give thanks to God for his goodness.
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.
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 bishops, elders, deacons, and licensed local pastors
that they may be faithful ministers of your word and sacraments.
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 silently or out loud.
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.
Gracious God, we humbly thank you
for all your gifts so freely bestowed on us.
For life and health and safety,
for power to work and leisure to rest,
and for all that is beautiful in creation and in human life.
But, above all, we thank you for our Saviour Jesus Christ,
for his death and resurrection,
for the gift of your Holy Spirit,
and for the hope of glory
Fill our hearts with all joy and peace in believing;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear the American folk hymn, “What Wondrous Love Is This.”
1 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul?
What wondrous love is this, O my soul?
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?
2 When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.
3 To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing,
to God and to the Lamb I will sing,
to God and to the Lamb who is the great I Am,
while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
while millions join the theme, I will sing.
4 And when from death I’m free I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on,
and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be,
and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
and through eternity I’ll sing on.
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.
Gracious God,
you have given us much today;
grant us also a thankful spirit.
Into your hands we commend ourselves
and those we love.
Keep us always in your care and protection,
and when we take our rest,
renew us for the service of your Son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Those present may extend their palms toward each other in a gesture of blessing.
May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of Love be our guide and path,
for all our days. Amen.
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Those present may exchange a gesture of peace with these or similar words:
Peace be with you.
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