Sundays at All Hallows (April 26, 2026)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday for those Christian denominations that have adopted a version of the three-year Revised Common Lectionary.

The structure for this Sunday’s service is an adaptation of the Church of Ireland’s structure for A Service of the Word. This form of service has its roots in the synaxis of the early Church and the Ante-Communion service of the sixteenth century reformed Church of England and Ireland. Both are non-Eucharistic services of Scripture readings, a sermon, and prayers. A number of Christian denominations have similar forms of service.

In this Sunday’s message we will unpack John 10:1-10 and consider its implications for believers and those who do not yet believe.

GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

Open this link in a new tab to hear David Baroni’s arrangement of his song “My Help Comes From The Holy One” for solo piano.

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Open this link in a new tab to hear Isaac Watts’ “Before the Lord's Eternal Throne,” a paraphrase of 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.

[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,
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.

[The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.]

[Let us pray.]

Silence

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
Raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the Book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 9:6-15

And Ezra said: ‘You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham; and you found his heart faithful before you, and made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite; and you have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.

‘And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they passed through the sea on dry land, but you threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. Moreover, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go. You came down also upon Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known your holy sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through your servant Moses. For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear “The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want,” a paraphrase of Psalm 23 from the Scottish Psalter 1650.

1 The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want;
he makes me down to lie
in pastures green; he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.

2 My soul he doth restore again,
and me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness,
e'en for his own name's sake.

3 Yea, though I walk through death's dark vale,
yet will I fear none ill;
for thou art with me, and thy rod
and staff me comfort still.

4 My table thou hast furnishèd
in presence of my foes;
my head thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.

5 Goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me;
and in God's house for evermore
my dwelling-place shall be.

A reading from the First Letter of Peter.
1 Peter 2:19-25

For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

‘He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear “Jesus, Our Mighty Lord,” F. Bland Tucker’s adaptation of Clement of Alexandria’s “Shepherd of Eager Youth.”

1. Jesus, our mighty Lord,
our strength in sadness,
the Father's conquering Word,
true source of gladness
your name we glorify,
O Jesus, throned on high:
you gave yourself to die
for our salvation.

2. Good shepherd of your sheep,
your own defending,
in love your children keep
to life unending.
You are yourself the way:
lead us then day by day
in your own steps, we pray,
O Lord most holy.

[Instrumental interlude]

3. Glorious their life who sing,
with glad thanksgiving,
true hymns to Christ the King
in all their living:
all who confess his name,
come then with hearts aflame,
the God of peace acclaim
the God of peace acclaim
as Lord and Saviour.

A reading from the Gospel according to John.
John 10: 1-10

‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

The Gateway to Life

When I was a young boy in England, I entered a watercolor painting in a contest sponsored by the Cobbers Children’s Club and won a prize for my entry. The prize was a sum of money, enough to buy three books at the bookshop in Bungay. They were classic children’s books by Enid Blyton. One of them was Shadow the Sheepdog, a book about the adventures of a sheepdog and his owner, a boy who lived on a sheep farm.

In those days I was a voracious reader. I lived in a country village, a handful of cottages, scattered around a common. No electricity. No running water. No television. No smartphone.

From this book and the other books I read, I learned how sheep had been raised in the British Isles for generations. For a boy who lived on a small farm, who passed by other farms on his bicycle on his way to school, and whose friends were all farmers’ children, acquiring this kind of knowledge was not unusual. It was the kind of knowledge that might prove to be useful one day. This would indeed prove to be the case but not as I may imagined as a child.

Later on in life I would learn that in the ancient Mid-East and even in the Mid-East today shepherds tend their sheep differently from the way that shepherds tend their sheep in the British Isles. In the Mid-East lambs are given names and hear their shepherd’s voice from birth. The lambs learn to respond to their name and their shepherd’s voice, distinguishing their name and their shepherd’s voice from others. It is not unusual to see a Mid-Eastern shepherd leading his sheep.

On the other hand, British shepherds herd their sheep with the help of sheepdogs trained for that purpose. (The English word “shepherd” is a contraction of “sheep herder.”) ln the past, they walked behind the sheep, directing their sheepdogs. Today they may ride on a four wheeler.

In this Sunday’s reading from the Gospel according to John, Jesus compares himself to a Mid-Eastern shepherd of that time and those who recognize him for who he is and believe in him to sheep who recognize their shepherd’s voice. His description of himself as a shepherd is significant because this description is applied not only to the leaders of the people of Israel in the Old Testament but also to God. The people of Israel are described as God’s flock, God’s sheep.

A flock is a group of sheep, goats, or birds. It can also mean a large group of people. A sheepfold is a small enclosure surrounded by a dry stone wall, wicker hurdles, or even thorn bushes where sheep can be put for shelter for the night.

A frequent criticism aimed at the people of Israel’s leaders in the Old Testament is they were not shepherding the Israelites in ways pleasing to God and were either allowing them to stray or leading them astray themselves.

In the same reading we encounter one of what Bible scholars call the “I AM” discourses in John’s Gospel. I AM is the name for himself God reveals to Moses in Exodus 3:14:

God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I AM.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.”’

In these discourses Jesus is identifying himself with God. The “I AM” discourses are also invitations to believe in Jesus and believing in him to “have life, and have it abundantly.”

In describing himself as “the gate,” Jesus is saying that only through him and through him alone do we have access to God and to a life-giving relationship with God. This Jesus says again and again in several different ways in John’s Gospel. For example, John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus also points out that those who enter by him not only be saved but also they will “come in and go out and find pasture.” In other words, they will flourish.

Sheep crop the grass and other herbage they eat close to the ground, and it takes time for the vegetation to grow back. Consequently, a shepherd must often move his sheep to fresh pasturage, to places which have grass or other herbage suitable for grazing sheep. Certain times of the year fresh pasturage may be more difficult to find than other times. The sheep may become thin, weak, and sickly.

In assuring that those who enter by him will find pasture is another way of Jesus saying that they will live a life abounding in the fruits of the Spirit, in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” even in times of adversity. They may never have a lot of what the world values—wealth, status, power, or possessions, but they will enjoy an abundance of what matters most.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Joel Raney’ arrangement of Dorothy A. Thrupp’s “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” for SAB Choir with Piano Accompaniment and Optional Handbells.

Savior, like a shepherd lead us,
Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us,
For our use Thy folds prepare:

We are Thine, do Thou befriend us,
Be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray

Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

Early let us seek Thy favor,
Early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior,
With Thy love our bosoms fill:

Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still

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.
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

[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 bishops and other ministers
that they may faithfully preach your word and administer your 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.

Those present may add their own petitions.

Faithful God,
you have promised to hear the prayers
of all who ask in Jesus’ name.
In your mercy, accept our prayers.
Give us what we have asked in faith,
according to your will:
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Let us give thanks to God for his goodness.]

Almighty God, we praise you for the blessings brought to the world through your Church. We bless you for the grace of the sacraments, for our fellowship in Christ with you and with each other, for the teaching of the Scriptures, and for the preaching of your word. We thank you for the holy example of your saints, for your faithful servants departed this life, and for the memory and example of all that has been true and good in their lives. Number us with them in the company of the redeemed in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

God of all power,
you called from death our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep;
send us as shepherds to rescue the lost,
to heal the injured,
and to feed one another with understanding;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Saviour taught us, 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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Thomas A. Jackson’s “We Are Called to Be God's People.”

1 We are called to be God's people
Showing by our lives His grace
One in heart and one in spirit
Sign of hope for all the race
Let us show how He has changed us
And remade us as His own
Let us share our life together
As we shall around His throne

2 We are called to be God's servants
Working in His world today
Taking His own task upon us
All His sacred words obey
Let us rise then to His summons
Dedicate to Him our all
That we may be faithful servants
Quick to answer now His call

3 We are called to be God's prophets
Speaking for the truth and right
Standing firm for godly justice
Bringing evil into light
Let us seek the courage needed
Our high calling to fulfill
That we all may know the blessing
Of the doing of God's will

GOING OUT AS GOD’S PEOPLE

Eternal God and Father, by whose power we are created and
by whose love we are redeemed: guide and strengthen us by
your Spirit, that we may give ourselves to your service, and live
every day in love to one another and to you; through Jesus
Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us
and be gracious to us.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Nancy Raabe’s choral arrangement of
Shirley Erena Murray’s “Go Gently, Go Lightly.”

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don’t carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God’s goodness,
go spreading God’s kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don’t carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God’s goodness,
go spreading God’s kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

Go singing, go bringing
the gifts of the Spirit,
go hopefully searching
for things that are true:
in living, in loving,
whatever befalls you,
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.