Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, January 19, 2025)
Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.
In the twenty-first century those planning worship have a broad range of hymns and other forms of church music from which they can select treasures both old and new, like those the master of the house brought from his storeroom in Matthew 13:52. The church music of Christians of other times and other places is a part of their witness. Exposure to a wide variety of these forms will not only enrich the worship of a congregation but also foster its spiritual growth. This Sunday we have church music from the sixteenth century, the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, and the twenty-first century. The topic of this Sunday’s message is spiritual gifts.
GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME
Open this link in a new tab for Healey Willan’ prelude on RICHMOND for organ.
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom now and forever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Henry Ustick Onderdonk’s metrical paraphrase of the Magna et mirabilia, “How Wondrous and Great.”
1 How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise!
How just, King of saints, and true are thy ways!
O who shall not fear thee, and honor thy Name?
Thou only art holy, thou only supreme.
2 To nations of earth thy light shall be shown;
their worship and vows shall come to thy throne:
thy truth and thy judgments shall spread all abroad,
till earth's every people confess thee their God.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Silence.
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light
of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word
and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's
glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the
ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with
you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the Book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 62:1-5
I will speak out to encourage Jerusalem;
I will not be silent until she is saved,
And her victory shines like a torch in the night.
Jerusalem, the nations will see you victorious!
All their kings will see your glory.
You will be called by a new name,
A name given by the Lord himself.
You will be like a beautiful crown for the Lord.
No longer will you be called “Forsaken,”
Or your land be called “The Deserted Wife.”
Your new name will be “God Is Pleased with Her.”
Your land will be called “Happily Married,”
Because the Lord is pleased with you
And will be like a husband to your land.
Like a young man taking a virgin as his bride,
He who formed you will marry you.
As a groom is delighted with his bride,
So your God will delight in you.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Silence.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Xander Stok’s adaptation of Psalm 36, “Fountain of Life.”
Your unfailing love, O Lord
Is as vast as the heavens
Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice like the ocean depths
You care for people and animals alike
O Lord
You care for people and animals alike
O Lord
O Lord
How precious is Your unfailing love
How precious is Your unfailing love
O God
O God
I find shelter in the shadow of Your wings
I find shelter in the shadow of Your wings
You feed me from the abundance of Your own house
Letting me drink from Your river of delights
For You are the fountain of life
The light by which I see
You are the fountain of life
The light by which I see
Pour out Your unfailing love
On those who love You
Your unfailing love, O Lord
Is as vast as the heavens
Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice like the ocean depths
You care for people and animals alike
O Lord
You care for people and animals alike
O Lord
How precious is Your unfailing love
How precious is Your unfailing love
O God
You feed me from the abundance of Your own house
Letting me drink from Your river of delights
For You are the fountain of life
The light by which I see
You are the fountain of life
The light by which I see
Pour out Your unfailing love
Pour out Your unfailing love
Pour out Your unfailing love
Pour out Your unfailing love
On those who love You
Your unfailing love, O Lord
Is as vast as the heavens
A reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit.
I want you to know the truth about them, my friends. You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols. I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Silence.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw, Jr.’s metrical paraphrase of the Benedictus, “Blessed Be the God of Israel.”
1 Blessed be the God of Israel
who comes to set us free
and raises up new hope for us:
a Branch from David's tree.
So have the prophets long declared
that with a mighty arm
God would turn back our enemies
and all who wish us harm.
2 With promised mercy will God still
the covenant recall,
the oath once sworn to Abraham,
from foes to save us all;
that we might worship without fear
and offer lives of praise,
in holiness and righteousness
to serve God all our days.
3 My child, as prophet of the Lord,
you will prepare the way,
to tell God's people they are saved
from sin's eternal sway.
Then shall God's mercy from on high
shine forth and never cease
to drive away the gloom of death
and lead us into peace.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to John.
John 2:1-11
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine had given out, Jesus' mother said to him, “They are out of wine.”
“You must not tell me what to do,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
Jesus' mother then told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
The Jews have rules about ritual washing, and for this purpose six stone water jars were there, each one large enough to hold between twenty and thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill these jars with water.” They filled them to the brim, and then he told them, “Now draw some water out and take it to the man in charge of the feast.” They took him the water, which now had turned into wine, and he tasted it. He did not know where this wine had come from (but, of course, the servants who had drawn out the water knew); so he called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!”
Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Silence.
Spiritual Gifts
Many Christians have mistaken ideas about the Holy Spirit. This was the case in the time of the apostle Paul when Christianity was young. It is also the case nowadays centuries later.
Among the reasons that Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Corinth, a church which he had planted, was to set its members straight about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A number of its members had concluded that they were spiritually superior to the other members because they had a particular gift—speaking in tongues.
We find a similar attitude in some modern-day churches. In these churches speaking in tongues is seen as prima facie evidence of infilling with the Holy Spirit. Members and attendees of these churches are led to believe that their spiritual lives without this particular gift are deficient, lacking something that is necessary and consequently not what they should be.
But is that really the case? What Paul tells the church at Corinth in today’s second reading does not support that notion. (I am quoting from the Easy to Read Version of the Bible.)
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve, but we serve the same Lord. And there are different ways that God works in people, but it is the same God who works in all of us to do everything. Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person. The Spirit gives this to each one to help others….”
Paul goes on to list a number of spiritual gifts.
“The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. And the same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. The same Spirit gives faith to one person and to another he gives gifts of healing. The Spirit gives to one person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy, and to another the ability to judge what is from the Spirit and what is not. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages, and to another the ability to interpret those languages.”
He concludes—
“One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what to give each one.”
In Romans 12:6-8 Paul gives a different list of spiritual gifts. (I am again quoting from the Easy to Read Version of the Bible.)
“We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace God gave us. Whoever has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in a way that fits the kind of faith they have. Whoever has the gift of serving should serve. Whoever has the gift of teaching should teach. Whoever has the gift of comforting others should do that. Whoever has the gift of giving to help others should give generously. Whoever has the gift of leading should work hard at it. Whoever has the gift of showing kindness to others should do it gladly.”
What we can gather from these passages is that spiritual gifts are not given to set one particular group of Christians apart from their fellow believers. Nor are they given for the benefit of the individual believer. Rather spiritual gifts are given to benefit the whole body of believers.
Every believer has received a spiritual gift. During their lifetime they may receive more than one spiritual gift. As their circumstances change, they may exercise a different spiritual gift in their new circumstances.
Spiritual gifts are the different ways that the Holy Spirit works through individual believers to build up the Body of Christ. They are not the same as the natural talents God as give us or the learned skills God has enabled us to acquire.
The Body of Christ can be thought of in two ways—as the great multitude of believers in every time and every place and as a particular gathering of believers in a particular time and place. What unites believers to each other and to their Lord is the Holy Spirit. This includes housebound believers and believers who cannot otherwise meet in person with their fellow believers for one reason or another.
How then do believers recognize what spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has give them, the ways the Holy Spirit is manifesting himself in them? Here are three questions that a believer can ask themselves to help them discern what their gifting is. (These questions are adapted from an article by Mark DeYmaz,)
What excites, inspires, or gives me joy in service of God?
What do I do that works or proves in time to be successful?
What do people consistently affirm about God’s work in me?
This last question is the most important. The ways in which the Holy Spirit gifts us will be evident to others.
The important thing to remember is that the spiritual gifts are not just gifts to us. They are gifts to the Body of Christ. God works in each of us. He helps us to want to what please him, and he gives us power to do it. Building up our fellow believers is pleasing to God.
Silence.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
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 the Church may truly and
humbly serve you;
That your Name may be glorified by all people.
We pray for all bishops, presbyters, deacons, and licensed
lay ministers;
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.
Forgive all our sins, what we have done and what we have
failed to do.
Grant us the help of the Holy Spirit to change our ways.
Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake;
That our works may find favor in your sight.
Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble;
That they may be delivered from their distress.
Give to the departed eternal rest.
Let light perpetual shine upon them.
We praise you for your saints who have entered into joy;
May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.
Let us pray for our own needs and those of others.
Silence.
Those present may add their own petitions.
Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in
the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we
pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our
sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear F. Bland Tucker’s translation of Nikolas Decius’ paraphrase of the Gloria in Excelsis, “All Glory Be to God on High.”
1 All glory be to God on high
and peace on earth from heaven.
And God’s good will unfailingly
be to all people given.
We bless, we worship you, we raise
For your great glory thanks and praise,
O God, almighty Father.
2 O Lamb of God, Lord Jesus Christ,
Whom God the Father gave us,
Who for the world was sacrificed
upon the cross to save us.
And as you sit at God’s right hand
and we for judgment there must stand,
have mercy, Lord, upon us.
3 You only are the Holy One,
who came for our salvation,
and only you are God’s true Son,
who was before creation.
You, only Christ, as Lord we own
and with the Spirit, you alone
share In the Father’s glory.
[Let us pray in the words our Savior Christ 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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14
or
The peace of the Lord be with you.
And also with you.
All greet one another in the name of the Lord.
But is that really the case? What Paul tells the church at Corinth in today’s second reading does not support that notion. (I am quoting from the Easy to Read Version of the Bible.)
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve, but we serve the same Lord. And there are different ways that God works in people, but it is the same God who works in all of us to do everything. Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person. The Spirit gives this to each one to help others….”
Paul goes on to list a number of spiritual gifts.
“The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. And the same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. The same Spirit gives faith to one person and to another he gives gifts of healing. The Spirit gives to one person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy, and to another the ability to judge what is from the Spirit and what is not. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages, and to another the ability to interpret those languages.”
He concludes—
“One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what to give each one.”
In Romans 12:6-8 Paul gives a different list of spiritual gifts. (I am again quoting from the Easy to Read Version of the Bible.)
“We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace God gave us. Whoever has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in a way that fits the kind of faith they have. Whoever has the gift of serving should serve. Whoever has the gift of teaching should teach. Whoever has the gift of comforting others should do that. Whoever has the gift of giving to help others should give generously. Whoever has the gift of leading should work hard at it. Whoever has the gift of showing kindness to others should do it gladly.”
What we can gather from these passages is that spiritual gifts are not given to set one particular group of Christians apart from their fellow believers. Nor are they given for the benefit of the individual believer. Rather spiritual gifts are given to benefit the whole body of believers.
Every believer has received a spiritual gift. During their lifetime they may receive more than one spiritual gift. As their circumstances change, they may exercise a different spiritual gift in their new circumstances.
Spiritual gifts are the different ways that the Holy Spirit works through individual believers to build up the Body of Christ. They are not the same as the natural talents God as give us or the learned skills God has enabled us to acquire.
The Body of Christ can be thought of in two ways—as the great multitude of believers in every time and every place and as a particular gathering of believers in a particular time and place. What unites believers to each other and to their Lord is the Holy Spirit. This includes housebound believers and believers who cannot otherwise meet in person with their fellow believers for one reason or another.
How then do believers recognize what spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has give them, the ways the Holy Spirit is manifesting himself in them? Here are three questions that a believer can ask themselves to help them discern what their gifting is. (These questions are adapted from an article by Mark DeYmaz,)
What excites, inspires, or gives me joy in service of God?
What do I do that works or proves in time to be successful?
What do people consistently affirm about God’s work in me?
This last question is the most important. The ways in which the Holy Spirit gifts us will be evident to others.
The important thing to remember is that the spiritual gifts are not just gifts to us. They are gifts to the Body of Christ. God works in each of us. He helps us to want to what please him, and he gives us power to do it. Building up our fellow believers is pleasing to God.
Silence.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
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 the Church may truly and
humbly serve you;
That your Name may be glorified by all people.
We pray for all bishops, presbyters, deacons, and licensed
lay ministers;
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.
Forgive all our sins, what we have done and what we have
failed to do.
Grant us the help of the Holy Spirit to change our ways.
Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake;
That our works may find favor in your sight.
Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble;
That they may be delivered from their distress.
Give to the departed eternal rest.
Let light perpetual shine upon them.
We praise you for your saints who have entered into joy;
May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.
Let us pray for our own needs and those of others.
Silence.
Those present may add their own petitions.
Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in
the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we
pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our
sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear F. Bland Tucker’s translation of Nikolas Decius’ paraphrase of the Gloria in Excelsis, “All Glory Be to God on High.”
1 All glory be to God on high
and peace on earth from heaven.
And God’s good will unfailingly
be to all people given.
We bless, we worship you, we raise
For your great glory thanks and praise,
O God, almighty Father.
2 O Lamb of God, Lord Jesus Christ,
Whom God the Father gave us,
Who for the world was sacrificed
upon the cross to save us.
And as you sit at God’s right hand
and we for judgment there must stand,
have mercy, Lord, upon us.
3 You only are the Holy One,
who came for our salvation,
and only you are God’s true Son,
who was before creation.
You, only Christ, as Lord we own
and with the Spirit, you alone
share In the Father’s glory.
[Let us pray in the words our Savior Christ 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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14
or
The peace of the Lord be with you.
And also with you.
All greet one another in the name of the Lord.
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