Sundays at All Hallows (August 2, 2026)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

Beginning this Sunday, the Ninth Sunday after Trinity, we will be switching back to the order of service for Festal Morning Prayer for the remainder of Trinitytide. The order of service we are using is adapted from that of Morning Prayer in An Australian Prayer Book (1978).

In this Sunday’s message we will be taking a look at Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, and its meaning and implication for contemporary Christians and those exploring the Christian faith.

GATHER IN GOD’S NAME

Open this link in a new tab to hear Christopher Hoh’s Postlude on LAND OF REST for solo organ.

Silence

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me; I am poor and needy, hasten
to me, O God, you are my helper and deliverer, O Lord, do not
tarry. Psalm 70: 1,5

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 draw near to God with sincerity and confidence, and humbly confess our sins.

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 they may be cleansed from all their
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 in a new tab to Edwin Le Grice’s “All Nations of the World” (Psalm 100).

1 All nations of the world
be joyful in the Lord:
with willing hands your Master serve with one accord:
in ceaseless praise
with heart and voice in him rejoice through all your days.

2 Be sure the Lord is God,
creation's source and spring:
in him alone we live, to him our lives we bring.
From days of old
he feeds his flock and guides the wanderers to his fold.

3 In gladness go your way:
approach his courts with song
in thankfulness to him to whom all things belong:
His name adore:
his gracious mercy, truth and love for evermore.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Scott Soper’s “I Will Praise Your Name” (Psalm 145).

I will praise your name forever, my King and my God,
my King and my God.

1 I will praise you, God and King;
I will bless your name forever.
Every day I will bless you,
praise your name forever.

I will praise your name forever, my King and my God,
my King and my God.

2 You are grace and mercy, Lord,
slow to anger, filled with kindness.
You are good to all your children,
loving all creation.

I will praise your name forever, my King and my God,
my King and my God.

3 Let your works give thanks to you;
let your faithful ever bless you;
let them praise your strength, your glory,
and proclaim your kingdom.

I will praise your name forever, my King and my God,
my King and my God.

4 Ev’ry word you speak in faith,
ev’ry work you do is holy.
You lift up all who stumble,
raise up the lowly.

I will praise your name forever, my King and my God,
my King and my God.

Silence

Lord God, King of the Universe,
you show the bright glory of your reign
in acts of mercy and enduring love:
raise the spirits of the downcast
and restore those who have fallen away,
that your Church may continually sing of your saving help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “Praise the Lord of Heaven” (Psalm 148).

1 Praise the Lord of heaven,
praise him in the height;
praise him, all his angels,
praise him, hosts of light.
Sun and moon together,
shining stars aflame,
planets in their courses,
magnify his Name!

2 Earth and ocean praise him;
mountains, hills and trees;
fire and hail and tempest,
wind and storm and seas.
Praise him, fields and forests,
birds on flashing wings,
praise him, beasts and cattle,
all created things.

3 Now by prince and people
let his praise be told;
praise him, men and maidens,
praise him, young and old.
He, the Lord of glory!
We his praise proclaim!
High above all heavens
magnify his Name!

Silence

O glorious God,
the whole of creation proclaims your marvellous work:
increase in us a capacity to wonder and delight in it,
that heaven’s praise may echo in our hearts
and our lives be spent as good stewards of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the Book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 55: 1-5

‘Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendour.’

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Perry’s "O Bless the God of Israel" (Benedictus)

1 O bless the God of Israel,
who comes to set us free,
who visits and redeems us
and grants us liberty.
The prophets spoke of mercy,
of rescue and release,
God shall fulfil his promise
and bring his people peace.

2 He comes! The Child of David,
the Son whom God has given;
he comes to live among us
and raise us up to heaven.
Before him goes his servant,
forerunner in the way,
the prophet of salvation,
the herald of the Day.

3 Where once were fear and darkness
the sun begins to rise-
the dawning of forgiveness
upon the sinner’s eyes.
He guides the feet of pilgrims
along the paths of peace:
O, bless our God and Saviour,
with songs that never cease!

A reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
Romans 9: 1-5

I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit –  I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race,  the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.  Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, for ever praised! Amen.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Fintan O’Carroll and Christopher Walker’s “Father, We Praise You as Lord” (Te Deum).

Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

1 Father, we praise you as Lord,
all of the earth gives you worship,
for your majesty
fills the heavens, fills the earth.

Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

2 Blessed apostles sing praise;
prophets and martyrs give glory:
“For your majesty
praise the Spirit, praise the Son!”

Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

3 You are the Christ everlasting,
born for us all of a Virgin,
you have conquered death,
opened heaven to all believers.

Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

4 Help those you saved by your blood,
raise them to life with your martyrs.
Save your people, Lord,
as their ruler raise them up.

Alleluia, Alleluia.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew.
Matthew 14: 13-21

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed those who were ill.

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’

Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’

‘We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered.

‘Bring them here to me,’ he said. And he told the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Silence

An Unexpected Evening Meal on the Grass

In churches in which the Holy Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, is the central act of worship on Sundays and even weekdays, it is tempting to jump from Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand to a reflection upon the “I am the Bread of Life” discourse in John’s Gospel and the beliefs one has about the sacrament. Those for whom Matthew wrote this account would not have made such a leap. If we are to accurately understand Matthew’s account, we will not make that leap either.

According to Bible scholars, Matthew wrote his gospel for Jews and God-fearers, Gentiles, or non-Jews, who were acquainted with the Old Testament from attending a synagogue of Greek-speaking Jews or reading the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. In his gospel Matthew presumes a familiarity with Old Testament prophesy. Matthew’s gospel is more than an account of Jesus’ life, ministry, and teaching. One of its purposes is to establish Jesus’ credentials as the Messiah, God’s Anointed One.

Those for whom Matthew wrote the gospel would have seen parallels between Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fish and God’s feeding of the Israelites with manna and quail and his feeding of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and her son with a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug for an unstated number of days. They would have seen connections between Matthew’s account of the miracle and psalms like Psalm 146:7–9, Psalm 132:15, Psalm 72:12–13, and Psalm 68:10 and proverbs like Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 22:2, and Proverbs 28:27. The psalms in question draw attention to the qualities of compassion, generosity, and kindness in God’s character and proverbs to these same qualities in the character of the righteous. They would have seen the connection between God’s character and Jesus’.

It is this connection that Matthew wished them to make, to recognize in Jesus not just the fulfillment of God’s promise but God himself. Jesus’ words had authority because they were God’s words.

Jesus’ words are God’s words for us too. We are to trust them and to obey them. In trusting and obeying his words we show that we indeed have faith in him, a faith that goes beyond giving a passing nod to Jesus and going about our lives as we always have. We make a wholehearted commitment to Jesus, one which is evident in every area of our lives.

It means feeding the hungry and treating the poor and the needy with kindness, generosity, and respect, not showing them indifference and even hostility and blaming them for their circumstances. It means living what Anglican theologians dubbed the Golden Rule and doing to others what we would wish done to us. This is what Jesus taught, and it is how he expected his disciples to live. It is what Jesus commanded his disciples to teach new disciples.

How are we doing?

Silence

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

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.

Grant us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always such
things as are right, that we who cannot do anything that is good
without you, may in your strength be able to live according to your
will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, the author and lover of peace, in knowledge of whom
stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom;
defend us your servants in all assaults of our enemies,
that, surely trusting in your defense, we may not fear the power
of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

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 James Seddon’s “Let Us Praise God Together.”

1 Let us praise God together, let us praise;
let us praise God together all our days:
he is faithful in all his ways,
he is worthy of all our praise,
his name be exalted on high!

2 Let us seek God together, let us pray;
let us seek his forgiveness as we pray:
he will cleanse us from all our sin,
he will help us the fight to win,
his name be exalted on high!

3 Let us serve God together, him obey;
let our lives show his goodness through each day:
Christ the Lord is the world's true light-
let us serve him with all our might,
his name be exalted on high!

[Let us pray for all in civil authority.]

Almighty God, you rule over the kingdoms of the world: We
commend to your merciful care the people of this land, that,
being guided by your providence, they may dwell secure in
your peace. Grant to [here the appropriate persons in government
are named] and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know
and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness,
that they may serve your people faithfully to your honour and glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Let us pray for the Church]

Almighty and eternal God, you alone work great marvels:
send down your life-giving Spirit of grace on our bishops and other clergy, and on the congregations which they serve; and, in order that they may truly please you, pour upon them the continual dew of your blessing. Grant this, Lord, for the honour of our advocate and mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Let us pray for all people according to their needs]

God of providence, God of love,
we pray for all people: make your way known to them, your saving power
among all nations.
We pray for the welfare of your Church throughout the world: guide and
govern it by your Holy Spirit, that all who call themselves Christians
may be led in the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit,
in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.
We commend to your fatherly goodness all who are afflicted or distressed
in mind, body, or circumstances (especially…). Relieve them according to their needs, giving them patience in their sufferings, and deliverance in their afflictions. This we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

[Let us pray for ourselves and others.]

Silence

Those present may offer their own prayers and thanksgivings, either silently or aloud.


O God, you have included all your commandments in one commandment

of love, so that if we do not love our neighbor, we cannot fulfil your law; we 

humbly beseech you to create in such a sincere and fervent love of our fellow human beings and one another, that we may be true children of our Father in heaven, and faithful disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

Almighty God and merciful Father,
we give you heart-felt thanks
for all your goodness and loving kindness to us
and to all people.
We bless you for our creation and 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 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 honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty God, you have promised to hear the petitions of
those who ask in your Son’s name: mercifully accept us who
have now made our prayers to you; and grant us those things
which we have asked in faith according to your will; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Sylvia Dunstan’s “ Go to the World!”

1 Go to the world! Go into all the earth.
Go preach the cross where Christ renews life's worth,
baptizing as the sign of our rebirth.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 Go to the world! Go into every place.
Go live the word of God's redeeming grace.
Go seek God's presence in each time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Go to the world! Go struggle, bless and pray;
the nights of tears give way to joyous day.
As servant church, you follow Christ's own way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

[Instrumental interlude]

4 Go to the world! Go as the ones I send,
for I am with you till the age shall end,
when all the hosts of glory cry "Amen!"
Alleluia! Alleluia!

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 John Rutter’s “A Clare Benediction.”

May the Lord show His mercy upon you;
may the light of His
presence be your guide:
May He guard you and uphold you;
may His spirit be ever by your side.

When you sleep, may His
angels watch over you;
when you wake, may He
fill you with His grace.
May you love Him and
serve Him all your days,
Then in heaven may you see His face.

May the Lord show His mercy upon you;
may the light of His
presence be your guide:
May He guard you and uphold you;
may His spirit be ever by your side.

When you sleep, may His
angels watch over you;
when you wake, may He
fill you with His grace.
May you love Him and
serve Him all your days,
Then in heaven may you see His face.
Then in heaven may you see His face
Then in heaven may you see His face