All Saints Sunday Order of Service
All Saints Sunday Coronavirus
11-01-2020 10:00AM Worship
(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)
OPENING SONG: “COME, WE THAT LOVE THE LORD”
THE OPENING RITE (based on Psalm 34):
L God is good…
C All the time!
L And all the time…
C God is good!
L I feel as if I can never stop praising God.
Come and rejoice with me over God’s great goodness!
C When I was weeping and wounded on the inside, God was there to give me strength and courage!
When I was beaten and battered on the outside, God was near to help and support me!
L What God has done for me He can do for you.
Turn to God… God will not turn away from you.
C I have learned through experience that God hears, God cares, and God loves!
I trust that God offers me his peace, power, and promises in the midst of my pains and problems!
L Even the children of God must experience affliction and tears as they live on this earth.
But they know that they have a loving God who will keep them and watch over them no matter what.
C The godless suffer in loneliness and sink into despair, living without hope.
But the servants of God find meaning and purpose in spite of their suffering and conflict! HALLELUJAH!
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Almighty God, you have knit your people together in ONE HOLY CHURCH, the Body of Christ our Lord.
Grant us amazing grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the abundant joys you have prepared for those who sincerely love you.
We want to be ready when the trumpet sounds when the saints go marching in. Amen.
FIRST READING: REVELATION 7:9-17 [Who is able to stand? An assurance to the faithful of God’s ultimate victory.]
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 3:1-3 [Already God’s children now! And someday we will be just like Him.]
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
GOSPEL VERSE: “Victory is mine, victory is mine, victory today is mine!
I TOLD SATAN ‘GET THEE BEHIND!’… victory today is mine!
(2) Joy is mine…
(3) Peace is mine…”
HOLY GOSPEL: MATTHEW 5:1-12 [Burdened, battered… and blessed by the BEST!]
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
THE SERMON Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION
THE APOSTLES’ CREED:
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven, and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again 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.
OFFERTORY SONG:
“Thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… I just want to thank you, Lord!
(2) Been so good…
(3) Love you, Lord…”
OFFERING PRAYER:
God of grace and glory, we thank you for the gift of creation and the gift of our lives, for the gift of salvation and the gift of Jesus Christ, for the gift of your Holy Spirit and the gift of your Church.
Take our attitude of gratitude and transform it into caring and sharing towards the least, the lost, and the lonely all over the face of this earth.
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… Today we remember with a lighted candle and our tears and thanksgiving the members of our congregation who have died since last ALL SAINTS DAY: William Stonewall Jackson III (03-27-2020); Frances Lucille Russell (04-26-2019). And certainly, there are other loved ones of faith – relatives and friends and neighbors and co-workers and well-known and hardly known saints – that we might mourn and celebrate today. For now, we have a picture, a vision, a promise of how they and all our departed saints rest and rejoice – for if we have died with Christ, we shall live with him. Let us hold on to our memories, let us hold fast to the resurrection promise, and let us look beyond their grave and ours. LET US WIPE AWAY OUR TEARS AND BE STEADFAST IN OUR DAILY JOURNEY TO JOIN THEM OVER THERE!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION
THE BENEDICTION by one of the Pastors.
Month of November… Give thanks, live thanks, share love.