Thursday Evening at All Hallows (February 26, 2026)
Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.
In this Thursday evening’s message we take a look at the first of eight spiritual disciplines, which is also a channel of God’s grace—the public worship of God.
GATHER IN GOD’S NAME
Open this link to hear Discovery House Music’s instrumental arrangement of “What Wondrous Love Is This.”
Silence
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 51: 17
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and
just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9
Let us now confess our sins to almighty God.
Silence
Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much
the devices and the desires of our own hearts.
we have offended against your holy laws,
we have left undone what we ought to have done,
and we have done what we ought not to have done.
Yet, good Lord, have mercy on us;
restore those who are penitent,
according to your promises declared
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Grant, most merciful Father, for his sake,
that we may live a godly, righteous, and sober lives,
to the glory of your holy 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 our lips, O Lord;
And we shall declare your praise.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
The Lord’s name be praised.
Open this link to hear Isaac Watts’ “Before the Lord's Eternal Throne Hymn” (Psalm 100).
1 Before the Lord's eternal throne,
ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
know that the Lord is God alone;
he can create, and he destroy.
2 His sovereign power without our aid
formed us of clay and gave us breath;
and when like wandering sheep we strayed,
he saved us from the power of death.
3 We are his people, we his care,
our souls, and all our mortal frame:
what lasting honors shall we rear,
almighty Maker, to thy Name?
4 We'll crowd thy gates with thankful songs,
high as the heavens our voices raise;
and earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.
5 Wide as the world is thy command,
vast as eternity thy love;
firm as a rock thy truth must stand,
when rolling years shall cease to move.
Open this link to hear Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady's “As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams” (Psalm 42).
1 As pants the hart for cooling streams
When heated in the chase,
So longs my soul, O God, for Thee,
And Thy refreshing grace.
2 For Thee, my God, the living God,
my thirsty soul doth pine;
O when shall I behold Thy face,
Thou majesty divine?
3 Why, restless, why cast down, my soul?
Hope still, and thou shalt sing
the praise of Him who is thy God,
thy health’s eternal spring.
4 To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the God whom we adore,
be glory as it was, is now,
and shall be evermore
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the Gospel according to John.
John 4: 1-26
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’
Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’
Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
In last Thursday evening’s message we heard that John Wesley, the eighteenth century Anglican clergyman and Christian leader who founded the Methodist movement identified six means of grace, “ordinances,” as he called them in his General Rules for Methodist Societies. Wesley called them “ordinances” because they were ordained by God according to the testimony of the Bible. Wesley’s General Rules were the fruit of his study of the Bible and were design to help the those whom the Holy Spirit had aroused and awakened to faith through his preaching or the preaching of other Methodist preachers to live the Christian life and to grow spiritually.
Wesley had come to recognize the importance of follow-up, of discipling new believers and providing spiritual care to them. Without follow-up, they were apt to lapse into their former state. For this purpose, he organized them into societies and subsequently organized them in small groups, into classes and bands, in which they could watch over each other in love, holding each other accountable and encouraging each other.
The means of grace are ways that God invigorates, strengthens, and confirms our faith. The Holy Spirit works in our lives through these means as well as directly in us. The Holy Spirit enables us not only to trust God more whole heartedly but also to obey God more fully.
At the top of the list of six “ordinances,” or means of grace, given in the General Rules is “the public worship of God,” the topic of this Thursday evening’s message. In Wesley’s day the public worship of God would have fallen into one of three categories—the worship of cathedrals and collegiate chapels of the Church of England, the established Church; the worship of parish churches and chapels of ease of the Church of England; and the worship of the chapels of Protestant nonconformists such as Baptists and Congregationalists licensed under the provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689. Technically the worship of these chapels was licensed private worship. The provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689 excluded Roman Catholics, Jews, and Unitarians. What Wesley had in mind was the Prayer Book worship as it was practiced in the Church of England’s parish churches and chapels of ease. This is evident from his compilation of The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America with Other Occasional Services, an abridgement of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer containing a number of revisions made by Wesley.
What was this worship like? During Wesley’s lifetime the pattern for Sunday worship in the morning was Morning Prayer, followed by the Litany and Ante-Communion, and in the late afternoon Evening Prayer. Holy Communion was infrequent, rarely more than three times a year, the minimum required by the Prayer Book. The children and servants were catechized at Evening Prayer. Both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer include a general confession and a declaration of forgiveness, a selection of Psalms from the Book of Psalms, a reading from the Old Testament, a reading from the New Testament, a canticle after each reading, the Apostles Creed, the Lesser Litany, the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and the Collects. The Litany, also known as the Great Litany, a general intercession, is oldest English language prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Ante-Communion is an abridgement of The service of Holy Communion for use on occasions when there is no communion. It includes the Ten Commandments, two readings, one from the Epistles and the other from the Gospels, Nicene Creed, a sermon or homily, and concluding prayers. During the eighteenth century the congregational singing of hymns was incorporated into Prayer Book worship. The congregational singing of metrical versions of the Psalms and other Scriptural paraphrases had been sung by congregations since the reign of Elizabeth I. Eighteenth century metrical psalters include metrical settings of the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creeds, and the Prayer Book canticles.
Wesley championed congregational hymn singing. While he was not as prolific as his younger brother Charles, Wesley wrote and translated hymns and compiled a hymnal.
Few parish churches and chapels of ease had pipe organs in Wesley’s day. Vested choirs were found only in cathedrals and college chapels. Congregations sung acapella or were accompanied by local musicians on string and wind instruments. They were led by a small ensemble of local singers who with the local musicians occupied the church’s west gallery.
Wesley recognized the benefits of regularly gathering with other believers to worship God. By their very presence believers encourage each other and set a good example for new believers. Singing together, praying together listening to the reading and exposition of Scripture together, and partaking the Lord’s Supper together, they strengthen the bonds that unite them, as well as their sense of common identity. Their hearts and minds are focused on God and all God’s excellencies—God’s character, attributes, and works, deepening their love of God and one another.
Regrettably some parish churches and chapel of ease did not welcome the early Methodists for a variety of reasons. Class prejudice and accusations of enthusiasm, that is, religious fanaticism and emotionalism, were factors. As a consequence, some Methodist societies were forced to license their meeting places as non-conformist chapels under the provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689. The poor reception that the early Methodists received in these churches eventually led to a parting of the ways between the Church of England and the Methodist movement.
When he wrote about “attending” the public worship of God, Wesley was not talking about simply going to church, he was talking about taking an active part in the worship, joining in the hymns, worship songs, and service music, listening attentively to the readings and the sermon or homily, adding our own prayers to the intercessions, praying expectantly and from the heart, receiving communion frequently and regularly. When we do, it will have a transformative effect not only upon ourselves but also upon whoever else is present. The Holy Spirit will infuse our actions and empower us, having an impact on us and others too.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Kate Bluett’s paraphrase of the Magnificat, “Mary’s Hymn of Praise.”
1 My soul proclaims God’s greatness,
rejoicing in the Lord
who looks upon my meekness,
as ages will behold.
Now God does great things for me,
and holy is God’s name.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
2 In every generation
God pours such mercy down,
shows might before the nations,
and scatters all the proud.
God lifts up all the humble,
casts princes down in shame.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
3 Rejoice now in God’s promise
to Sarah and Abraham
and all of their descendants,
to keep us in God’s hand.
God fills the poor and hungry
and sends the rich away.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on 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.
Lord, show us your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Keep our nation under your care,
and guide us in justice and truth
Let us now confess our sins to almighty God.
Silence
Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much
the devices and the desires of our own hearts.
we have offended against your holy laws,
we have left undone what we ought to have done,
and we have done what we ought not to have done.
Yet, good Lord, have mercy on us;
restore those who are penitent,
according to your promises declared
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Grant, most merciful Father, for his sake,
that we may live a godly, righteous, and sober lives,
to the glory of your holy 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 our lips, O Lord;
And we shall declare your praise.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
The Lord’s name be praised.
Open this link to hear Isaac Watts’ “Before the Lord's Eternal Throne Hymn” (Psalm 100).
1 Before the Lord's eternal throne,
ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
know that the Lord is God alone;
he can create, and he destroy.
2 His sovereign power without our aid
formed us of clay and gave us breath;
and when like wandering sheep we strayed,
he saved us from the power of death.
3 We are his people, we his care,
our souls, and all our mortal frame:
what lasting honors shall we rear,
almighty Maker, to thy Name?
4 We'll crowd thy gates with thankful songs,
high as the heavens our voices raise;
and earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.
5 Wide as the world is thy command,
vast as eternity thy love;
firm as a rock thy truth must stand,
when rolling years shall cease to move.
Open this link to hear Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady's “As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams” (Psalm 42).
1 As pants the hart for cooling streams
When heated in the chase,
So longs my soul, O God, for Thee,
And Thy refreshing grace.
2 For Thee, my God, the living God,
my thirsty soul doth pine;
O when shall I behold Thy face,
Thou majesty divine?
3 Why, restless, why cast down, my soul?
Hope still, and thou shalt sing
the praise of Him who is thy God,
thy health’s eternal spring.
4 To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the God whom we adore,
be glory as it was, is now,
and shall be evermore
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the Gospel according to John.
John 4: 1-26
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’
Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’
Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
The Public Worship of God: A Channel of God’s Grace
In last Thursday evening’s message we heard that John Wesley, the eighteenth century Anglican clergyman and Christian leader who founded the Methodist movement identified six means of grace, “ordinances,” as he called them in his General Rules for Methodist Societies. Wesley called them “ordinances” because they were ordained by God according to the testimony of the Bible. Wesley’s General Rules were the fruit of his study of the Bible and were design to help the those whom the Holy Spirit had aroused and awakened to faith through his preaching or the preaching of other Methodist preachers to live the Christian life and to grow spiritually.
Wesley had come to recognize the importance of follow-up, of discipling new believers and providing spiritual care to them. Without follow-up, they were apt to lapse into their former state. For this purpose, he organized them into societies and subsequently organized them in small groups, into classes and bands, in which they could watch over each other in love, holding each other accountable and encouraging each other.
The means of grace are ways that God invigorates, strengthens, and confirms our faith. The Holy Spirit works in our lives through these means as well as directly in us. The Holy Spirit enables us not only to trust God more whole heartedly but also to obey God more fully.
At the top of the list of six “ordinances,” or means of grace, given in the General Rules is “the public worship of God,” the topic of this Thursday evening’s message. In Wesley’s day the public worship of God would have fallen into one of three categories—the worship of cathedrals and collegiate chapels of the Church of England, the established Church; the worship of parish churches and chapels of ease of the Church of England; and the worship of the chapels of Protestant nonconformists such as Baptists and Congregationalists licensed under the provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689. Technically the worship of these chapels was licensed private worship. The provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689 excluded Roman Catholics, Jews, and Unitarians. What Wesley had in mind was the Prayer Book worship as it was practiced in the Church of England’s parish churches and chapels of ease. This is evident from his compilation of The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America with Other Occasional Services, an abridgement of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer containing a number of revisions made by Wesley.
What was this worship like? During Wesley’s lifetime the pattern for Sunday worship in the morning was Morning Prayer, followed by the Litany and Ante-Communion, and in the late afternoon Evening Prayer. Holy Communion was infrequent, rarely more than three times a year, the minimum required by the Prayer Book. The children and servants were catechized at Evening Prayer. Both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer include a general confession and a declaration of forgiveness, a selection of Psalms from the Book of Psalms, a reading from the Old Testament, a reading from the New Testament, a canticle after each reading, the Apostles Creed, the Lesser Litany, the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and the Collects. The Litany, also known as the Great Litany, a general intercession, is oldest English language prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Ante-Communion is an abridgement of The service of Holy Communion for use on occasions when there is no communion. It includes the Ten Commandments, two readings, one from the Epistles and the other from the Gospels, Nicene Creed, a sermon or homily, and concluding prayers. During the eighteenth century the congregational singing of hymns was incorporated into Prayer Book worship. The congregational singing of metrical versions of the Psalms and other Scriptural paraphrases had been sung by congregations since the reign of Elizabeth I. Eighteenth century metrical psalters include metrical settings of the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creeds, and the Prayer Book canticles.
Wesley championed congregational hymn singing. While he was not as prolific as his younger brother Charles, Wesley wrote and translated hymns and compiled a hymnal.
Few parish churches and chapels of ease had pipe organs in Wesley’s day. Vested choirs were found only in cathedrals and college chapels. Congregations sung acapella or were accompanied by local musicians on string and wind instruments. They were led by a small ensemble of local singers who with the local musicians occupied the church’s west gallery.
Wesley recognized the benefits of regularly gathering with other believers to worship God. By their very presence believers encourage each other and set a good example for new believers. Singing together, praying together listening to the reading and exposition of Scripture together, and partaking the Lord’s Supper together, they strengthen the bonds that unite them, as well as their sense of common identity. Their hearts and minds are focused on God and all God’s excellencies—God’s character, attributes, and works, deepening their love of God and one another.
Regrettably some parish churches and chapel of ease did not welcome the early Methodists for a variety of reasons. Class prejudice and accusations of enthusiasm, that is, religious fanaticism and emotionalism, were factors. As a consequence, some Methodist societies were forced to license their meeting places as non-conformist chapels under the provisions of the Toleration Act of 1689. The poor reception that the early Methodists received in these churches eventually led to a parting of the ways between the Church of England and the Methodist movement.
When he wrote about “attending” the public worship of God, Wesley was not talking about simply going to church, he was talking about taking an active part in the worship, joining in the hymns, worship songs, and service music, listening attentively to the readings and the sermon or homily, adding our own prayers to the intercessions, praying expectantly and from the heart, receiving communion frequently and regularly. When we do, it will have a transformative effect not only upon ourselves but also upon whoever else is present. The Holy Spirit will infuse our actions and empower us, having an impact on us and others too.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Kate Bluett’s paraphrase of the Magnificat, “Mary’s Hymn of Praise.”
1 My soul proclaims God’s greatness,
rejoicing in the Lord
who looks upon my meekness,
as ages will behold.
Now God does great things for me,
and holy is God’s name.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
2 In every generation
God pours such mercy down,
shows might before the nations,
and scatters all the proud.
God lifts up all the humble,
casts princes down in shame.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
3 Rejoice now in God’s promise
to Sarah and Abraham
and all of their descendants,
to keep us in God’s hand.
God fills the poor and hungry
and sends the rich away.
My spirit sings God’s wonders,
and oh! my soul proclaims!
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on 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.
Lord, show us your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Keep our nation under your care,
and guide us in justice and truth
Clothe your ministers with righteousness,
and make your chosen people joyful.
Lord, save your people,
and bless your inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord,
for you are our help and strength.
Create in us dean hearts, O God,
and renew us by your Holy Spirit.
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
Give us grace to discipline ourselves
in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have
made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eternal God, from whom all holy desires, all good purposes,
and all just works proceed: give to your servants that peace
which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to
obey your commandments, and that free from the fear of our
enemies we may pass our time in trust and quietness;
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Lighten our darkness, Lord, we pray: and in your great
mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night;
for the love of your only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Charles Wesley’s “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”
1 O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!
2 Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears,
'tis life, and health, and peace.
3 See all your sins on Jesus laid;
The Lamb of God was slain:
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.
4 He breaks the power of canceled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.
5 He speaks, and listening to his voice,
new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.
6 Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb,
your loosened tongues employ;
ye blind, behold your savior come,
and leap, ye lame, for joy.
7 My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name.
and make your chosen people joyful.
Lord, save your people,
and bless your inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord,
for you are our help and strength.
Create in us dean hearts, O God,
and renew us by your Holy Spirit.
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
Give us grace to discipline ourselves
in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have
made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eternal God, from whom all holy desires, all good purposes,
and all just works proceed: give to your servants that peace
which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to
obey your commandments, and that free from the fear of our
enemies we may pass our time in trust and quietness;
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Lighten our darkness, Lord, we pray: and in your great
mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night;
for the love of your only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Charles Wesley’s “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”
1 O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!
2 Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears,
'tis life, and health, and peace.
3 See all your sins on Jesus laid;
The Lamb of God was slain:
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.
4 He breaks the power of canceled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.
5 He speaks, and listening to his voice,
new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.
6 Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb,
your loosened tongues employ;
ye blind, behold your savior come,
and leap, ye lame, for joy.
7 My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name.
Silence may be kept.
Those present may offer their own prayers and thanksgivings, either silently or aloud.
Gracious God,
you have given us much today;
grant us also a thankful spirit.
Into your hands we commend ourselves
and those we love.
Be with us still, and when we take our rest
renew us for the service of your Son Jesus Christ.
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.
Open this link to hear Isaac Watts’ “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.
3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear St. Aidan’s Community’s “The Grace” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God our Father,
and the fellowship, the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with us
for evermore and evermore and evermore. Amen.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God our Father,
and the fellowship, the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with us
for evermore and evermore and evermore. Amen.
Those present may offer their own prayers and thanksgivings, either silently or aloud.
Gracious God,
you have given us much today;
grant us also a thankful spirit.
Into your hands we commend ourselves
and those we love.
Be with us still, and when we take our rest
renew us for the service of your Son Jesus Christ.
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.
Open this link to hear Isaac Watts’ “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.
3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear St. Aidan’s Community’s “The Grace” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God our Father,
and the fellowship, the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with us
for evermore and evermore and evermore. Amen.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God our Father,
and the fellowship, the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with us
for evermore and evermore and evermore. Amen.
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