All Saints Day
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
Call to Worship
Leader: We have come to affirm our historic faith.
People: To worship the God of our mothers and fathers.
Leader: We have come to remember God’s benefits to us the living.
People: To respond in thanksgiving to the mighty works of God in our lives.
Leader: We have come to affirm our trust in the God of all futures,
People: To whose name be blessing and honor, glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Opening Prayer
We seek and find you in Creation, O God,
in the world you have made and the people you have called.
Your vulnerable, powerful Lamb is our shepherd and guide,
leading us to share the shelter of your abundant life.
People: Let us recognize you here
in the beauty of this day and in its challenge;
may the Risen One, your Shepherd-Lamb,
lead us to act for your justice and peace:
so that all may drink from your springs of the waters of life,
and find their tears of sorrow and pain wiped away.
In the name of the Risen One we pray: Amen.
The Corporate Confession
Leader: God, you send us saints …
People: And we imprison them, or nail them on crosses. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us saints …
People: And we persuade ourselves that they are fools, or meddlers or incompetents. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us saints …
People: And we hate them for reminding us that our comfort requires the poverty of others. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us saints …
People: And we ignore them. Have mercy.
(Some moments of reflective silence)
Words of Assurance
God’s Word to us is a word of forgiveness, a word of assurance, a word of grace. We are loved and accepted because we are we and God is God and nothing can finally separate us from our Creator, our Parent, our Sustainer. Amen.
A Prayer Meditation for All Saints Day
We give you thanks, O God, for all the saints who ever worshiped you
Whether in brush arbors or cathedrals,
Weathered wooden churches or crumbling cement meeting houses
Where your name was lifted and adored.
We give you thanks, O God, for hands lifted in praise:
Manicured hands and hands stained with grease or soil,
Strong hands and those gnarled with age
Holy hands
Used as wave offerings across the land.
We thank you, God, for hardworking saints;
Whether hard-hatted or steel-booted,
Head ragged or aproned,
Blue-collared or three-piece-suited
They left their mark on the earth for you, for us, for our children to come.
Thank you, God, for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who have gone before us.
Bless the memories of your saints, God.
May we learn how to walk wisely from their examples of faith, dedication, worship, and love.
Corporate Prayer
Let us pray (in silence) [as we rejoice and keep festival in honor of all the saints]
pause
Almighty God,
your saints are one with you
in the mystical body of Christ:
give us grace to follow them
in all virtue and holiness
until we come to those inexpressible joys
which you have prepared for those
who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
Benediction
(based on Revelation 7: 12, 16-17)
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power
and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen!
We go out to be God’s people.
Go in strength to be the saints of God
for you will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike you, nor any scorching heat.
We go out to be God’s people.
Live the way of God with confidence
for God is your shepherd,
and will guide you to the spring of life.
We go out to be God’s people.