Ward Hill Church of Christ the King – A Christ-Centered Community of Faith, Hope, & Love

The Lord’s Day, November 1, in the Lord’s Year 2020 – All Saints’ Day

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words.

Meeting God

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am)

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.

We gather here to remember God’s glorious deeds — recorded for all

time by people whose lives were touched by God’s grace.

As people of hope, they affirmed the great works of God, and the

importance of keeping the commandments of God. We are heirs of

their faithfulness in witnessing to the greatness of God’s wondrous

acts. Let our witness be as convincing, so that generations to come

will continue to honor God’s holy name.   (based on Psalm 89:1-7)

Hymn 358   For All the Saints                                                          SINE NOMINE

Invocation

Being Reconciled to God and One Another

Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Declaration of Forgiveness: If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

New Life in Christ: If you love God, keep his commandments. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Response (Red Hymnal 414)                                                                             REST

Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways!  Reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives Thy service find; in deeper reverence, praise.

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise.

Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)                                         GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.

The Peace of Christ        The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.

Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer

Preparing to Hear God

Song –  I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true,

Who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.

And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green,

They were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear, and his love made them strong;

And they followed the right for Jesus’ sake the whole of their good lives long.

And one was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;

And there’s not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn’t be one too.

They lived not only in ages past; there are hundreds of thousands still.

The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus’ will.

You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,

In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;

For the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.

Oh, when the saints go marching in, Oh, when the saints go marching in

Lord I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in.

(Oh, when the stars fall from the sky…; Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call…)

Collect for All Saints’ Day – Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Hearing God by Word and Spirit

Micah 3:5-12                           Psalm 43                     The Word of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13           Matthew 23:1-12         Thanks be to God.

Sermon – “A Saintly March”

Answering God in Faith, Prayer, and Giving

The Nicene Creed – hymnal page 846

Prayers of Thanksgiving, Petition, and Intercession

Offering Ourselves and Our Gifts to God

Offertory (Hymn 729)                                                           HERR JESU CHRIST

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

Doxology (Hymn 731)                                                             OLD HUNDREDTH

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Offertory Prayer

Communing with God in the Lord’s Supper

This is the table of the Lord, not of Ward Hill Church. Therefore, we invite to the Lord’s table all baptized persons who have confessed their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. Normally, you should also be in regular fellowship with, if not this church, a congregation in another location. If you do not wish to participate in the Lord’s Supper today, we understand and sincerely ask for God’s blessing on your life. Either way, we are thankful that you have been present with us this day in the house of the Lord.

Eucharistic Prayer and the Sanctus

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Praise be to you, Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed your mercy towards your people in giving your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We give thanks for the redemption you have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Let your Holy Spirit come into our hearts to enlighten us with a living faith. With your whole Church on earth and with all the saints and angels in heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name in this unending praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Consecration of the Elements & Ourselves:Discerning the Body of Christ

O God, sanctify by your Spirit this bread and wine, which you have given and human hands have made. Here we offer them to you, that through them we may partake of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the same night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you.” In the same way, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples saying, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Therefore, heavenly Father, we celebrate this supper in remembrance of your Son’s passion and death, his resurrection and ascension. We will eat of the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Blessing until the day when he comes again in glory.

We ask you, O God, to remember the perfect and eternal sacrifice through which, in Christ, you have reconciled us with yourself. Grant that we may be united into one body, and be made a perfect living sacrifice in Christ. Through him, and with him, and in him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever. And now we pray as our Savior taught us: 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Holy Communion: Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ

The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. The cup for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

The gifts of God for the people of God. Amen.

Thanksgiving and Commission: Being the Body of Christ in the World

Let us give thanks. Almighty and eternal God, you have fed us with the Holy Communion of the body and blood of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ; we thank you for this gift, by which you assure us that we are members of the mystical body of your Son and heirs through hope of your everlasting kingdom. So assist us by your Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in knowledge of your truth, and in faithfulness to your will, abiding in that fellowship in which all your saints have part; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen. Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

Being Sent with God’s Blessing into the World

Hymn 100   Holy, Holy, Holy                                                                     NICAEA

Benediction

Postlude