The Celebration of the Gospel
November 6, 2016 —All Saints Sunday
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Realm of God.
— Luke 6.20
________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE
8:15: Prelude on Lota and O’Carolan’s Air — traditional, arr.Betty Paret. (Elena Davids, harp)
10:30: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less — Camil Van Hulse
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of love, we gather surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.
All: Blessed and upheld with all the saints, we praise you.
We come at Christ’s invitation, with the poor and the outcast.
Healed and made new with all the saints, we thank you.
We shine with the gifts of your Spirit.
Gifted and anointed with all the saints, we serve you.
In gratitude and joy, with all the saints, we worship you!
* SONG For All the Saints Blue hymnal # 711 vv. 1, 2, 4, 6
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Saints Today, Saints of Old John D. Horman
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of grace and mercy, we give thanks for all the saints who have gone before us. We open our hearts that you may fill us with the light that filled them, that we may live with the love they lived with, that we may take our place among the communion of saints who serve you, blessed and led by your Word in Christ. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 1.11-23
[God will redeem us, and gives us the Holy Spirit as a promise. The author prays that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, so that we can know the hope God offers us, and the riches of God’s gift, and the greatness of God’s power, which raised Christ and placed him in authority over all things.]
God’s will, which is always fulfilled,
is that that we, who began by hoping in the Love that Fills the World,
would ourselves live lives that radiate that love.
When you first heard this wonder,
your wholeness that you see given to you in Christ,
when you first trusted it and opened yourself to this love,
it poured into you. God’s Spirit changed you.
Now you yourself are part of God’s promise.
The Spirit in you is the first bit of God’s redemption of the world.
That is God’s glory, God’s praise.
Fiends, I have heard of your deep trust in Jesus,
the Beloved, the Anointed of God,
and of your love for all the saints,
so I never cease giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
I pray that the God Jesus reveals to us, the glorious Giver of Life,
will give you a spirit of wisdom and perceptiveness,
so you may know God more deeply.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened,
so the hope God offers us will fill your hearts.
May you know the riches that God’s beloved ones inherit
and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who trust,
the very power by which God raised Christ from the dead,
and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
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GOSPEL Luke 6.20-31
[Jesus promises God’s grace for those who are poor, hungry, mourning and persecuted, and woe for those who are comfortable. God gives us grace freely and abundantly, irrespective of our effort or “deserving.” But when we seek power, security and honor, we miss out on God’s gifts. In this radical trust of God’s grace, we dare to love even our enemies.]
Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:
Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the Empire of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude you, revile you,
and defame you on account of the Human One.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
for surely your reward is great in heaven;
for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
I say to you that listen,
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
pray for those who abuse you.
If anyone strikes you on the cheek,
offer the other also;
and from anyone who takes away your coat
do not withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you;
and if anyone takes away your goods,
do not ask for them again.
Do to others
as you would have them do to you.
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SERMON
SONG Blest Are They Black hymnal # 2155
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
PASSING THE PEACE
__________We Share at Christ’s Table __________
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Reflection on “Schmücke Dich” Robert Lau
* COMMUNION SONG I Come with Joy Blue hymnal #617 vv. 1, 2, 5
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
(Pastor) The Lord be with you.
(People) And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, O God, Creator of all and all that is to come.
By your grace you have given us life and made us a people.
You rescue us from all that enslaves us,
judge the forces of oppression, and offer freedom to all people.
You have surrounded us with saints,
women, children and men who have rejoiced in your grace,
shared in your work of redemption,
and shined as teachers and examples in the way of faith.
You have gathered us into the community of the redeemed,
and given us as a light to the nations.
Therefore together with the whole communion of saints,
and in union with all Creation, we sing your praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and God of love,
heaven and earth are full of your light.
Hosanna! Praise to you!
Blessed is one who comes in your name. Hosanna! Praise to you!
Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
who brought good news to the poor,
who lifted up the downtrodden and gathered the outcast,
and who called disciples to follow
in the holy way of compassion and joy.
Even in death his gift was love and light.
[… The Blessing and Covenant …]
The crucified Christ you have raised to life,
so that we might walk in newness of life.
In his dying and rising
you have sealed the lives of your saints.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again in love.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on this food gathered for the needy,
that in it they may know your grace.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the Body and Blood of Christ.
In communion with Christ and all the saints,
we offer our lives as a living and holy sacrifice.
Gather us in unity of heart, sanctify us by your grace,
and send us in the power of your Spirit,
for the sake of the healing of the world.
Amen.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Mother, 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, forever. Amen.
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL [Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. In your Spirit you have bound us together with all your saints as one body in Christ. Send us out in love, for the sake of the world, in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World _____
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Sanctuary Black hymnal #2164
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE [We stand and sing to our neighbors:]
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Holy, Holy, Holy John B. Dykes, arr: Fred Bock
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]