GREETING (adapted from Revelation 7:10b, 12)
Salvation belongs to you, our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!
Amen!
Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might
be to our God forever!
Amen!
HYMN 711 “For All the Saints”
PSALM 34:1-10, 22
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
(When All Saints Day falls on Sunday, declare your faith by repeating “The Apostles’ Creed” (882) or “The Nicene Creed,” (880) or use the following affirmation. When All Saints falls on a weekday, this and the “Glory Be to the Father” can be skipped.)
We believe that God can add even us to the congregation of saints.
God can choose to forgive and cleanse us of all our sins.
God is the supreme authority and God can choose grace.
Sins can be covered, our names added to the book of life.
God’s will, not our righteousness, will decide our future.
God can pour out the Holy Spirit upon us as with the first disciples.
The Spirit can lead us in a way to escape all temptations,
humble our judgment and guide us into all righteousness.
The Spirit can inspire us to good works as a steady focus.
The Spirit can free us from fear and from false beliefs.
God can bring us to sanctification by holding up Christ’s example.
God can open us to full comprehension of Jesus’ sacrifice.
God can challenge us and call us to the same self-giving.
God can grow the love that Jesus has already seeded in us.
God can inspire in us unity with Christ and with the saints.
God can inspire us to surrender our bodies to be used by Jesus Christ.
With Christ Sovereign we can let him live through us.
Christ can speak comfort, wisdom and truth through us.
In Christ we can seek advantage for others, not ourselves.
Christ can turn us into saints offering living sacrifices.
With Christ as our King, even we can join the congregation of saints. Amen.
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER 70 or 71
PRAYER
Father of Holiness, who lifts your saints into your holy life,
the world calls us naïve, superstitious, ignorant, misguided;
but you call us your children, your own sons and daughters,
who are loved with a pure, everlasting, unconditional love.
It is this love, and your gift of grace, that creates the saints.
Your love and grace lift us, give us hope and set our path.
Too many think saints are made with unyielding obedience,
but where are such steely men and women to be discovered?
There are no people capable of always resisting temptation.
We are all broken with the same sins as were Eve and Adam.
But the power of your love is revealed and made known,
in Jesus Christ who died for us while we were still sinners.
It is we broken, unholy, sin-full people whom you claim,
as your own beloved children, people for your holy kingdom.
It is this act of love that so many find impossible to believe.
but to those who believe, it is the birth of unexpected hope.
In this hope your own people are able to purify themselves,
and to prepare for the promised inheritance among the saints.
In this hope your children live obedience in order to praise,
to praise you, our loving Father, and to praise Jesus’ sacrifice.
In this hope you sanctify your children with grateful hearts,
and this gratitude turns into an obedience of thankful living.
In this hope your saints are created in your sanctifying love,
created by what you have done, not by our accomplishments.
In this hope we look toward a glorious inheritance with you,
in the company of those saints, whom you call your children.
The world knows not those living in the hope you provide,
but you know them, and call them saints, your own children.
Thank you, Holy Father, for the hope created by your love.
Thank you for your obedient Son, Jesus Christ, our brother.
Sanctify us in faith, love and grace as your sainted children.
Grant us love for all your saints, the citizens of your kingdom.
Give us wisdom and revelation as we grow in knowing you,
Mark us, as being your own, with the seal of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 727 “O What Their Joy and Their Glory Must Be”
CLOSING PRAYER
Glorious and holy God of the sainted ones above,
forgive us for how we have failed today.
Hear our resolve to serve more nobly tomorrow,
so that your forgiveness bears fruit in us.
But now let us rest in the certainty of your love,
with your Spirit sealing us for sainthood.
Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
