Sundays at All Hallows (June 21, 2026)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday is the Third Sunday after Trinity. It is also the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. It marks the beginning of the astronomical summer and is the longest day of the year.

In this Sunday’s message we consider what is the measure of a true disciple.

GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

Open this link in a new tab to hear Mark Howard’s arrangement of “O God, Thou Art The Father” (DURROW) for mixed instruments.

The Lord is the strength of his people, he is the saving refuge of his anointed. O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd and carry them for ever. Psalm 28.8-9

[Let us worship God.]

Open this link in a new tab to hear James Quinn’s “Sing All Creation” (Psalm 100).

1 Sing, all creation, sing to God in gladness!
Joyously serve Him, singing hymns of homage!
Chanting His praises, come before His presence!
Praise the Almighty!

2 Know that our God is Lord of all the ages!
He is our Maker, we are all His creatures,
people He fashioned, sheep He leads to pasture!
Praise the Almighty!

3 Enter His temple, ringing His praises!
Sing in thanksgiving as you come before Him!
Blessing His bounty, glorify His greatness!
Praise the Almighty!

4 Great in His goodness is the Lord we worship;
steadfast His kindness, love that knows no ending!
Faithful His word is, changeless everlasting!
Praise the Almighty!

[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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Paul Field’s setting of “Glory to God in the highest.”

Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.
Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.

Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.
Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.

1 Lord God heavenly King,
Almighty God and Father;
we worship you,
we give you thanks
we praise you for your glory

Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.
Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.

2 Lord Jesus Christ,
Only Son of the Father;
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world,
receive our prayer

Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.
Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.

3 You alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the most High
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit
in the glory of God the Father.

Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.
Glory to God in the highest.
and peace to his people on earth.

Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.

[Let us pray.]

Silence

Graciously hear us, Lord God; and grant that we, to whom you
have given the desire to pray, may by your mighty aid be defended
and strengthened in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 20: 10-12

For I hear many whispering:
‘Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
‘Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.’
But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonour
will never be forgotten.
O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.

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

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Fred MacKrell’s “O God, You Are My God” (Psalm 63).

O God, you are my God!
In earnest I will seek you;
For in a dry and weary land,
My soul and body yearn and thirst for you.

O God, you are my God!
In earnest I will seek you;
For in a dry and weary land,
My soul and body yearn and thirst for you.

1 I see you in the sanctuary
And I behold your power and glory
Because your love is more than life
My lips will praise you, Lord

2 For I will bless you while I’m living
With hands held high
And praises giving
My spirit satisfied will be
My mouth will praise you. Lord

O God, you are my God!
In earnest I will seek you;
For in a dry and weary land,
My soul and body yearn and thirst for you.

[Instrumental interlude]

3 On you, at night, shall I be thinking
Beneath your wings in joyous singing
With your right hand upholding me
My soul pursues you, Lord

O God, you are my God!
In earnest I will seek you;
For in a dry and weary land,
My soul and body yearn and thirst for you.

A reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
Romans 6: 1b-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Saward’s “Baptized in Water.”

1 Baptized in water,
sealed by the Spirit
cleansed by the blood of Christ our king;
heirs of salvation,
trusting his promise -
faithfully now God's praise we sing.

2 Baptized in water,
sealed by the Spirit,
dead in the tomb with Christ our king;
one with his rising,
freed and forgiven
thankfully now God's praise we sing.

3 Baptized in water,
sealed by the Spirit,
marked with the sign of Christ our king;
born of one Father,
we are his children -
joyfully now God's praise we sing.

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew.
Matthew 10: 24-39

‘A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

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

Silence

The Measure of a True Disciple

In this Sunday’s gospel reading Jesus continues his instructions to the twelve disciples whom he is sending on their first mission, a mission for which he has been preparing them with his teaching and example. He has summoned them to him and given them authority over demons, to bind and expel them, “and to cure every disease and every sickness.” He has instructed them to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to the Jewish inhabitants of what in the time of King Solomon was the Kingdom of Israel. As they go, they are to proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

While everything that Matthew records Jesus as saying warrants our attention, verses 34-39 require careful explanation as they can be misunderstood and misapplied. In this passage Jesus recognizes and acknowledges that he, his message, and his teaching may divide families. He stresses that a disciple’s first loyalty is to him. If we live in a culture which puts loyalty to family first, what Jesus told his disciples may be a hard saying. Jesus, however, is quite emphatic. A deep unwavering devotion to Jesus is the measure of a true disciple. Jesus and Jesus alone will come before everything else in a true disciple’s life.

What Jesus tells the disciples in these verses must be understood in the context of what he says and does elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus instructed the twelve disciples to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. He told them that if a community did not welcome them, they were to shake the dust off their feet and go on their way. They were not encouraged to argue with its inhabitants or to get into a fight with them.

Jesus himself did not go out of his way to clash with the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day. While he occasionally used strong language in his conversations with them, it did not characterize these conversations. On one occasion he made a whip from braided cords and drove livestock out of the Temple and overturned the counting tables of the money changers, those who exchanged ordinary coinage for Temple coinage and charged a fee for their services. His anger was righteous anger directed at those who were exploiting the religious obligations of their fellow Jews for a profit. It was not the petulant angry outburst of someone who expects others to cater to their whims and become enraged when they do not.

Regrettably some Christians will take passages from the Gospels like these ones and read into them license to speak and behave in ways that are an expression of their own sinful human nature, adopting a belligerent tone of voice, being unnecessarily confrontive, using harsh language, showing negligible respect for others and even demonizing them. They may display a hostile attitude toward others, of which they themselves may not be aware but which is noticeable to those at which it is directed. They reinforce the all too common perception of Christians as hypocritical, judgmental, mean, petty, uncaring, and otherwise unpleasant to be around. Rather than helping to further the mission for which our Lord called his Church into being, that is, to tell the world about him and make disciples of all people groups, they hinder its furtherance.

Jesus told the twelve disciples that they must be ready to face trouble in this world. The kind of trouble which he was talking about was the kind of trouble that true disciples experience when they are genuinely faithful to their Lord, his message, and his teaching.

The path of discipleship is not an easy one. For this reason, Jesus urged those considering it to first count the cost.

What Jesus was not talking about was the kind of trouble that we make for ourselves and upon close examination has nothing to with faithfulness by any stretch of imagination even though it may masquerade as faithfulness. Nor was he talking about the kind of trouble that we may stir up and then blame upon someone else, the kind of trouble that we may provoke to justify adopting a particular attitude or taking particular action, an attitude or an action which runs counter to what Jesus taught or did.

As the apostle Peter put it, “if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed…it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:14, 17). Peter may have gotten a few things wrong as a disciple of Jesus and an apostle of the Lord, but he got that one thing right. If we are going to suffer, let it be for being genuinely faithful and not giving rein to our sinful human nature, for living our lives as true disciples of Jesus.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “Lord, for the Years.”

1 Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.

2 Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive Your people's praise.

4 Lord, for our world when we disown and doubt him,
loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
hungry and helpless, lost indeed without him:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

5 Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us -
self on the cross and Christ upon the throne,
past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.

[Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.]

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
And 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

[Let us pray for the Church and the world.]

Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may
be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal
your glory in the world.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the
ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another
and serve the common good.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others
and to your honor and glory.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant
that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as he
loves us.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or
spirit; give them courage and hope in their troubles, and
bring them the joy of your salvation.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We commend to your mercy all who have died, that your will
for them may be fulfilled; and we pray that we may share
with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

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 mercies,
we give you hearty thanks
for all your goodness and loving kindness to us
and to all people.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace; and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such a sense of all your mercies,
that our hearts may be truly thankful
and that we may praise you
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
serving you in holiness and righteousness all our days,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory,
now and for ever. Amen.

Gracious God,
we who are baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death:
we pray that, as you raised him from death,
so by the power of the Holy Spirit
we may live the new life to your glory,
knowing ourselves to be dead in sin
but alive for you in Jesus Christ;
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 James Seddon’s Church of God, Elect and Glorious.”

1 Church of God, elect and glorious,
holy nation, chosen race;
called as God's own special people,
royal priests and heirs of grace:
know the purpose of your calling,
show to all his mighty deeds;
tell of love which knows no limits,
grace which meets all human needs.

2 God has called you out of darkness
into his most marvellous light;
brought his truth to life within you,
turned your blindness into sight.
Let your light so shine around you
that God's name is glorified;
and all find fresh hope and purpose
in Christ Jesus crucified.

3 Once you were an alien people,
strangers to God's heart of love;
but he brought you home in mercy,
citizens of heaven above.
Let his love flow out to others,
let them feel a Father's care;
that they too may know his welcome
and his countless blessings share.

4 Church of God, elect and holy,
be the people he intends;
strong in faith and swift to answer
each command your master sends:
royal priests, fulfil your calling
through your sacrifice and prayer;
give your lives in joyful service
sing his praise, his love declare.

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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Lee Fisher’s “Go in Peace, Go in Love.”

Go in peace, go in love,
May the Lord be at your side.
Go in peace, go in love,
May he ever be your guide.
May his grace overflow
And his blessing be upon you.
Go in peace, go in love,
Now and evermore,
Go in peace, go in love,
May the Lord be at your side.
Go in peace, go in love,
May he ever be your guide.
May his grace overflow
And his blessing be upon you.
Go in peace, go in love,
Now and evermore,
Amen
Amen
Amen