Bulletin – Sunday, October 29, 2023 – All Our Saints
Sunday, October 29, 2023
All Our Saints
Approach
Welcome
Lighting the Christ Candle
Illuminating God, your radical love enters the world like a new dawn. Break into our lives with the radiance of a single candle flame. Point us toward the light of healing and wholeness. In the name of the Light of the World, we pray. Amen.
Call to Worship
One: Seeking God’s way, unsure of what lies ahead,
All: let the wisdom of God’s word help us learn to love.
One: Confronted by Difficulty, stretched by possibility,
All: let the strength of God’s faith help us grow in love.
One: Challenged by setbacks, disconcerted or confused,
All: let the promise of God’s grace help us persist in love.
Hymn – “Part of the Family” (VU #395)
Come in, come in and sit down,
You are a part of the family.
We are lost and we are found,
And we are a part of the family.
You know the reason why you came,
Yet no reason can explain;
So share in the laughter and cry in the pain,
For we are a part of the family.
God is with us in this place,
Like a mother’s warm embrace.
We’re all forgiven by God’s grace,
For we are a part of the family.
There’s life to be share in the bread and the wine,
We are the branches, Christ is the vice.
This is God’s temple, it’s not yours or mine,
But we are a part of the family.
There’s rest for the weary and health for us all;
There’s a yoke that is easy, and a burden that’s small.
So come in and worship and answer the call,
For we are a part of the family.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
All: Sometimes it is easier to feel alone than to trust that we are not alone.
One: We believe in God: who has created and is creating,
All: Sometimes we struggle with what we believe and God seems far away.
One: who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new,
All: Sometimes we don’t want to be reconciled or to try new ways.
One: who works in us and others by the Spirit.
All: Sometimes we would prefer to be left alone to go our own way.
One: We trust in God.
All: Sometimes we don’t even trust ourselves, never mind God.
One: We are called to be the Church:
All: Sometimes we resist God’s call.
One: to celebrate God’s presence,
All: Sometimes our grief naturally drowns out the celebration.
One: to live with respect in Creation,
All: Sometimes caring for creation is too complicated.
One: to love and serve others.
All: Sometimes resenting others feels more enticing and even justified.
One: to seek justice and resist evil,
All: Sometimes we prefer to be victims, so we don’t have to act for justice.
One: to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.
All: Sometimes declaring our faith is the last thing we want to do. Gracious God, help us live into these words of faith, today, and every day.
Words of Assurance
One: God is Holy Mystery, beyond complete knowledge, above perfect description. Yet, in love, the one eternal God seeks relationship. And so receive these words of assurance:
All: In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Our Saints Time
One: Today is All Our Saints’ Sunday. This is the Sunday we remember all Christians both past and present, recognizing that we are beneficiaries of those who have come before us. Today we affirm that we are not alone. Those who have come before us, these saints who journey with us each moment of each day, help us as we live in the Way of Jesus. In 2020, during the first fall of the pandemic, we created a video of those members of the congregation who had passed away during the year. We continue with this tradition today.
One: Heart to heart, we cherish our memories of those members of the congregation who passed away since last October. All of the people in the video have been part of this community of faith, connected various ways.
One: Let us pray.
All: O God, in life, in death, in life beyond death, you are with us. God of all saints, we thank you for the many blessings these souls have given to our lives and the life of this church, we thank you for the cherished memories of those we love. Amen.
Hymn – “Blest Are They” (VU #896)
Blest are they, the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blest are they, full of sorrow; they shall be consoled.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.
Blest are they, the lowly ones, they shall inherit the earth.
Blest are they who hunger and thirst, they shall have their fill.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.
Blest are they who show mercy, mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are they, the pure of heart, they shall see God!
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.
Blest are they who seek peace; they are the children of God.
Blest are they who suffer in faith, the glory of God is theirs.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.
Blest are you who suffer hate, all because of me.
Rejoice and be glad yours is the kingdom shine for all to see.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.
The Word
Scripture Reading: Psalm 90
One: God, you have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were brought forth, before earth and world were formed,
All: from age to age everlasting, you are God.
One: You turn frail humans back to dust, saying: “Return, you mortals.”
All: For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, a day that is past, a watch in night.
One: You sweep them away like a dream, like grass that is fresh in the morning,
All: like grass which in the morning is green, but the evening is dried up and withered.
One: Your anger consumes us; your wrath overwhelms us.
All: You set our misdeeds before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
One: All our days pass away under your anger; our years come to an end like a sigh.
All: The days of our life are seventy years, even eighty, if we are strong;
One: but all that the years bring is toil and trouble;
All: they are soon gone, and we fly away.
One: Yet who understands the power of your anger? Who considers the fierceness of your wrath?
All: Teach us to count our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
One: Turn back, O God! How long? Have compassion on your servants.
All: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
One: Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, as many years as we have suffered adversity.
All: Show your servants your work, and let their children see your glory.
One: Let the favour of our God be upon us, and proper the work of our hands.
All: Prosper the work of our hands.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-46
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit[b] calls him Lord, saying,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?
45 “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” (VU #644)
I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit your well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell.
When you heard the wonder of the word, I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord, to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time and you join your hearts as one,
I’ll be there to make your verses rhyme from dusk till rising sun.
In the middle of ages of your life, not too old, no longer young.
I’ll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I’ve begun.
When the evening gently closes in and you shut your weary eyes,
I’ll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise.
I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
Sermon – “Meanwhile, Standing on One Foot”
Anthem – “Love One Another”
Love is patient, love is kind.
Love is gentle, love divine.
Love forgives, is never rude.
Love rejoices in the truth.
Love one another, as God has also loved you.
Love one another, as God has also loved you.
Love is faithful, love is pure.
Love is hopeful, love endures.
Love is humble, love is strong.
Love is such a joyous song.
Love one another, as God has also loved you.
Love one another, as God has also loved you.
Offering
Offering Response – “Grant Us, God, the Grace” (VU #540)
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
With a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living
We may offer faithfully.
Offering Prayer
The Response
Prayers of the People
Hymn – “Be Thou My Vision” (VU #642)
Be thou my vision, O joy of my heart;
Naught be all else to me save that thou art,
Thou my best thought, by day or by nights,
Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, my calm in all strife;
I ever with thee, and thou in my life;
Thou loving parent, thy child may I be,
Thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.
Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
Thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tower,
Raise thou me heavenward, O power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, the first in my heart,
Great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.
Great God of heaven, after victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.
Benediction
Response – “May the God of Peace” (MV #224)
May the God of peace and of all good,
May the God of peace and of all good
Be always with you. Amen!
May God’s peace be with you. Amen!
(Material taken from The Gathering)
