Pentecost 24/ All Saints Sunday
November 4, 2018
Isaiah 25:6-9
Call to Worship (from Revelation 21:1-6a)
One: Look! There is a new heaven and a new earth!
Many: We’re looking, but it’s tough to see.
One: God’s home willbe among us!
Many: We eagerly anticipate that realm.
One: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Many: Death will be no more!
One: Until that time comes, we actively wait and prepare for God’s realm.
Many: Until that time comes, we’re grateful for love that holds us close.
All: Alleluia! God is making all things NEW!
Opening Prayer
God, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
As we remember those who have gone before us,
shine the light of your eternal presence in each one of us.
As we give you thanks for life,
encourage us to live in constant awareness of your Love which surrounds us.
As we offer you our praise and thanksgiving,
raise us up to sing a joy-filled “Alleluia”!
(consider sharing opening prayer, then vs. 1 of Give Thanks for Life, Chalice # 649)
Stewardship Moment
(include a notecard in each bulletin so everyone has opportunity to participate)
Some of us may recognize the most easily memorized verse of the Bible. We heard it in our Gospel text (John 11:32-44): “Jesus wept”. On this All Saints Sunday, many of us recognize that response. We’ve wept, especially in the absence of one we have loved.
Today, we remember and recognize Jesus’ response was to give back to Mary and Martha the life of their brother, Lazarus.
And tho’ we cannot give back the life of one who has died, we can give in response to that life.
In each bulletin, there is a notecard for you to use to write a note of thanks for a particular person you are remembering on this All Saints Day. Please take a moment to write that note as we prepare for our morning offering.
Then, you may drop your card in the offering tray as one way to remember and give thanks.
You may also add someone’s name to the memo line of your check or on the back of your giving envelope, along with a short note of gratitude for that life.
And, we also encourage each person to give in response to the life of your loved one by sharing a memorial gift with this congregation. Every gift can be a way of giving back something of the life of the person you are remembering.
For All the Saints!
Prayer of Thanksgiving
For every life remembered, for every gift given,
for every opportunity to connect with those who have gone before,
we give you thanks, God of Life.
Receive these gifts,
accept our tears, our laughter and our memories
and use all that we bring to proclaim the Realm which is yours,
made known to us most clearly in Jesus,
the first fruits of those who have died (I Cor. 15:20). AMEN
Invitation to Communion
The invitation is simple: come and eat of the feast.
Not a meal to nourish the body, but to feed the soul.
We receive the bread and wine connected to the ages:
to the saint of old who felt unworthy,
to the seeker eager to know God,
to the teenager who wonders what it’s all about,
to the child who eats with unburdened faith.
Woven into this time, the hopes and tears of generations.
There is great joy here.
No one is turned away for God is the host! 1.
- Adapted from Scott A. Ressman, Copyright 2018 Faith Formation Ministry Team,
United Church of Christ