ST ANDREW’S  CHURCH      

 

Reformation Sunday/All Saints Sunday

 

OCTOBER  30, 2022

 

LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Welcome to this online service as we celebrate All Saints Day and Reformation Sunday. May this service be a blessing to you and bring honour and glory to God.
Thank you, Rev. Shirley Cochrane, for preparing and leading our worship today.

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings as eagles;

They shall run and not be weary;

They shall walk and not faint.

In the company of all God’s saints and pilgrims, come and worship.

We come with prayer and praise to find our strength renewed!

 

HYMN                814  Morning has  broken

 

Prayer of Adoration

Ancient of days, God of our everyday lives, we praise you for your guidance and care in every generation, and for the example of those who have gone before us, who taught us your name and brought us to faith. In the great mystery of your love, we know these saints gather with, to praise and adore you for your wisdom that instructs, your grace that redeems, your Spirit who guides us, and for the comfort and hope we claim in the knowledge that neither death nor life can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Hear us now Lord as we confess before you…

 

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Gracious God,  you have been faithful to us in every generation.

 yet we confess that we are not so faithful to you.

 We shrink from costly discipleship and we seek cheap grace. 

Forgive our fleeting enthusiasms and our shallow commitments.

Guide us always  with the love and mercy we witness

 in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Dear friends, while it is true that we have all sinned, It is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ. Be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

 

THE PEACE

 

HYMN                611 For all the saints

 

 

SCRIPTURE READINGS

 

Psalm 149

Daniel 7.1-3, 15-18

 

SERMON

In the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit

 

Today is the last Sunday in the month — October  the 30th – typically an ordinary  Sunday.  But today precedes by one day, two celebrations rather close to  the church .  The first is Reformation Day – October  31st –  the  official recognition of the establishment of the Protestant  Christian tradition . The second is All Saints day – November 1st preceded  by  All Hallow’s Eve , Oct 31st

 

Thus, some pastors choose to preach on the reformers – others choose to uphold the saints, and some keep their congregations glued to their pews with both topics. I have chosen to touch on both. But don’t worry — I’ll let you go home for lunch.

 

The most traumatic era in the entire history of Roman Catholicism, some have argued, was the period from the middle of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th. This was the time when Protestantism, through its definitive break with Roman Catholicism, arose to take its place.

Along with the sociopolitical forces in the crisis of late medieval ages, Catholicism promoted spiritual and theological factors which also helped to bring about the Protestant Reformation The standing of the church within the political order and the class structure of western Europe was irrevocably altered in the course of the later Middle Ages.

The spectre of many national churches supplanting a unitary Catholic church became a grim reality during this age. What neither heresy nor schism had been able to do before—was done by a movement that confessed a loyalty to the orthodox creeds of Christendom. By the time the Reformation was over, a number of new Christian churches had emerged and the Roman Catholic Church had come to define its place in the new order.

 

It is not a coincidence that the Reformation first appeared in Germany where animosity toward Rome had long existed and memories of the papal-imperial conflict lingered. During the Protestant Reformation the church’s conflicting tendencies toward both corruption and reform coincided with the highly personal struggle of Martin Luther, who asked an essentially medieval question: “How do I obtain a God who is merciful to me?”

 

The answer that he eventually found was the conviction that God is merciful, not because of anything that the sinner can do, but because of a freely given grace that is received by faith alone (the doctrine of justification by faith) Luther’s unsparing attacks upon the moral, financial, and administrative abuses of the church were initially prompted by the sale of indulgences. Luther further insisted throughout his life, that the primary object of his critique was not the life but the doctrine of the church—the distortion of the gospel.

Reformed theology continued to  emerge in 1516 with Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland who decided to participate in this European-wide discussion after seeing Luther’s work and writings ; yet all this would not have happened without the events of 31 October 1517.

Protestants have been celebrating Reformation Day for  505  years. It always falls on October 31st, which is when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of a Catholic Church in 1517. French lawyer John Calvin joined the theological conversation in 1536 with publication of his Institutes of the Christian Religion.   Calvinist churches throughout the world celebrate Reformation Day in a similar manner to Lutherans.

Reformation Day is a great opportunity to discover or remind ourselves of the story of Martin Luther and the beginning of the Reformation. Sliding together is the other theme of the day’

 

Sliding together is the other theme of the day, Saints; The Webster dictionary declares “a person whose holiness has been attested by miracles after his death and who has been officially recognized by the church and is worthy of veneration and to receive intersession; a soul gone to heaven “

 

The word “saint” is derived from a Greek verb (hagiazo ) whose basic meaning is “to set apart, ” “sanctify, ” or “make holy.” In the history of the Old Testament religion, the idea of holiness or separateness was inherent in the concept of God. God was unapproachable in the tabernacle or temple by the ordinary individual – Only the high priest was allowed to stand in God’s presence in this area, and then only once a year at Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The intent was to impress upon the people the utter holiness and sacredness of the God they worshiped, but also the necessity of their being set apart or sanctified as saints in his service.

 

Scripturally, in the OT there are 40 references to saints – 16 being in the Psalms; in the NT there are 60 references.  The lectionary cited a passage from the Book of Daniel so ages ago that is the text I choose for today. Daniel, you may remember was a young brilliant Jewish nobleman captured in the raids of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon in 597 BC. Daniel remained faithful to God during his long stint of captivity. During this time he openly declared his loyalty to his God and God’s presence and work being  done through him.

Our text recites “In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed.” Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. He saw four beasts and where they came from – the destruction they caused and their end.

 Daniel7;  27 goes on to say  Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints ,the people of the Most High  We  notice that the kingdom and dominion… shall be given to the saints. It is something received, not achieved. The church does not convert the world to Jesus’ kingdom and give the kingdom to Jesus; He gives the kingdom  to them… to us.

 

Officially, the Catholic Church teaches that all people in heaven are saints, but some are officially “canonized,” or recognized as having lived lives of heroic Christian virtue and are worthy of imitation. During the church’s first 1,000 years, saints were proclaimed by popular demand. As a result, it’s impossible to quantify exactly how many saints there are, but some estimates have the number exceeding 10,000 by the 1600’s   The names and histories of many of these holy men and women have been long lost to history.

 

This idea of the separateness of God and his people is carried forward in the New Testament, by those who interpreted God’s covenant with Israel through the teachings of Christ. People who were dedicated to the teachings of Christ were frequently called saints by these writers  like Matthew,  Luke, and  Paul (e.g., Matt 27:52 ; Acts 9:13 ; 26:10 ; Rev 14:12 ). Six of Paul’s letters to churches are addressed to saints (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians).

Saints, in the New Testament, are never deceased individuals They are living individuals who have dedicated themselves to the worship and service of the one true God as revealed through his Son, Jesus Christ. The saints of the church are certainly a diverse group of people with varied and interesting stories.

Pope Boniface IV formally started what would later be known as All Saints Day on May 13 in 609 AD when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honor of the Virgin Mary and all martyrs.  Pope Gregory III declared November 1 a holiday to celebrate the saints during his time as pope which ran from AD 731–741. In changing the date, Gregory may have been attempting to smother pagan rituals held in the autumn

 

The first recorded use of the name All Saints’ Day is from 1570–80, The day was celebrated by holding feasts to honor the saints. An older English term for All Saints’ Day is actually  Hallowmas  with hallow meaning “holy person; saint”)..

 

The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows’ Eve October  31st when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself.   The word itself means “hallowed evening,” and is known to early European celebrators as paying homage to the saints. Eventually, it was shortened to “Halloween.” The earliest known root of Halloween is the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain. meaning “summer’s end.”   celebrated by Irish Celtic people over 2,000 years ago They believed the festival was a time when the dead could walk among the living — the souls of the dead returned to their homes, so people dressed in costumes and lit bonfires to ward off potentially evil spirits. This initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day.

 

 

November 1 is All Saints’ Day, which is the day when all Christian traditions recognize saints who have reached Heaven , those who are among us , even those who are fairly unknown in the church. The Roman Catholic Church sometimes calls All Saints’ Day the Solemnity of All Saints. 

 

The name Hallowmas was first found in 1375–1425 in late Middle English Allhallows is actually recorded before the year 1000!. It specifically describes the feast carried out on November 1 to honor the saints.

 

The day after All Saints’ Day, November 2, is All Souls’ Day. This day honors the souls of all the dead, even those in purgatory. For those in the Roman tradition, the prayers from people on Earth are said to help cleanse their souls and prepare them to move on to Heaven. Many people visit graves of passed loved ones on this day and decorate them in remembrance.

 

Major Protestant reformers, wishing to reaffirm the unique mediatory role of Jesus Christ, deny the intercessory role of the saints and view the communion of saints as all believers in Christ.

 

Thus in its most basic sense, a saint is a “holy one,” someone who is set apart for God’s special purposes. As a result, every follower of Jesus Christ is a saint. Through Christ’s sacrifice, redemption is attainable. So we sinners, however grave our faults, can become saints.  Few of us consider ourselves “saints” but the truth is –simply focus on being the best, most compassionate Christian you can be. Be humble and work to serve God and make a positive difference in the lives of others in the belief  that the Trinity holds you  in their hand .Blessings be upon all you saints as we go forward into our community and  share the love of Christ   AMEN

 

HYMN                481 Blest be the tie that binds

 

OFFERING

When we gather as God’s Church, we celebrate the gifts of so many others, for so many centuries, offered in Jesus’ name. Now is our opportunity to join our gifts to theirs, so that God will be praised and Jesus’ love will be spread in this generation and to  those to come.

 

DOXOLOGY

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

 

OFFERTORY PRAYER

Generous God, you are faithful and fruitful in every generation. Bless our gifts and make them fruitful beyond our imagining in the work of your kingdom. Keep us faithful in this generation so we can offer the inheritance we have received in Christ to the generation that comes after us. Amen.

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

God who calls throughout the ages, we give thanks that you have spoken to your people in every generation, calling them into the light, showing them the paths of justice, guiding them out of the bondage into freedom. In every age, you have called leaders to guide your people with courage and insight, speaking through them to offer comfort and challenge. We give you thanks for your Holy Spirit, who offers the gift of faith to us, and for the ways that those who came before us have handed that faith on to us.

As we give thanks for all that we have received, remind us that we are but a small part of your creation, its history, life and love. May such a reminder keep us humble in our mission, even as you call us to take up our place in the ongoing story of your love with courage and creativity.

 

Sovereign God , as the clergy and leaders in the past centuries created reforms  in the life of the church , we give thanks for  those who today are  following in their footsteps so that  the church will remain strong and true to the love and truth of the gospel. Hear our prayers, O God, for your church in this place and around the world. Sustain and support the work of the Gospel.  Where the church is in physical danger, protect it with your Spirit. Where the church is facing division, unify it through your love. Where the church lacks courage to stand up for justice, embolden it with example of those saints who have gone before us. Where the church lacks energy or vision, renew its hope in the presence of Christ who is with us always.

 

Strengthen our hearts, O God; make them eager to serve you and your purposes. Trouble us with the smallness of our vision and awaken us to the greatness of your glory and the breadth of your grace. We thank God for knitting us into one fellowship; for the people who have gone ahead of us in the faith and who loved us, formed our faith and served God with joy and grace.

 

As the days grow shorter and colder, we pray for the homeless and underhoused and give thanks for those who provide shelter, food and friendship.

 

Lord we  set before you  all the  joys and petitions  which  we have voiced  before  you today  ….

We give you thanks  for ….

We pray for  those  who are  ill…..

Heading fro  or needing  treatment …

Grieving….

Safety in travel….

We pray for the situations in the world

Ongoing  battle in Ukraine  –

……

 

God of the past, the present, and what is still to come We thank you today for all those saints who have shown us how to love each other, and for those who still touch people in trouble with tenderness, caring for the sick, cheering the lonely, helping the poor. In this quiet moment, we remember those around us who need a saint  to reach out to them in their need this day:

 

Give each of us the courage and compassion to be your saints alive today, touching the world in Jesus’ name, as we pray in the words he taught us:

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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.  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. Amen.

 

HYMN                89  Oh when the Saints go marching in

 

BENEDICTION

Take up your calling in Christ Jesus and go into the world to serve and celebrate in his name. Be strong and of good courage, for Christ walks with you. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and communion in the Holy Spirit be with you, now and evermore. Amen.

 

CLOSING SONG: Now thank we all our God verse 1 Public Domain

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,

who wondrous things has done, in whom God’s world rejoices,

who from our mother’s arms has blessed us on our way,

with countless gifts of love and still is ours today.