Description
Matthew 5:1-12
It’s easy to struggle with understanding the Beatitudes. It seems like Jesus is saying we are blessed if we are failures. In the 1500’s this led to an attitude of the church that served the poor without ever helping them. The theology of the time taught that being poor meant you were blessed, and those who have are called to give, so both the poor and the rich had a part to play in God’s Kingdom. What if the Beatitudes aren’t about being broken, but are being tamed? Could the beatitudes be about meekness where in our broken spirit we come to live under the rule and authority of Christ in our life? What we see in these verses is a description of what it means to follow Christ. It isn’t about giving pity to those who are poor, it is defining a relationship where we submit to Christ in all areas of life and live to God’s glory.
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include videos (countdowns, worship music, welcomes), worship music CD, or live music by worship band.]
Time of Praise and Worship
Nothing Is Impossible
Jonathan Hunt © 2008 Planet Shakers Ministries Int. Inc. (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Our God
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Jonas Myrin, & Matt Redman, ©2010 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian
Meet With Me
Lamont Hiebert, ©1999 Maranatha! Music (Admin. by Maranatha! Music)
[Traditional Options]
For All The Saints
BH75 144; BH91 355; CH 767; CHH 637; EH 287; ELW 422; HWC 546; HFG 614; HLC 533; HGP 25; LBW 174; LSB 677; LW 191; NCH 299; PH 526; RH 667; STTL 685; TFWS 2283; WC 751; UMH 711; WAR 529; WHM 597; WIS 310
Behold A Host Arrayed in White
ELW 425; LBW 314; LSB 676; LW 192; NCH 296
Invocation and Introduction of Today’s Theme
Pastor We come today to worship the Living Lord.
ALL We come, worshiping the God of our ancestors
Pastor We come today knowing Christ Lives!
All We come today knowing Christ has power over death!
Pastor We gather now in the name of God the Father who created us, Christ who redeemed us in the Holy Spirit who guides us each day.
ALL Amen!
Opening Prayer
Pastor Loving Lord Jesus, we come today on this All Saints Sunday remembering and celebrating those who have gone before us. We give you thanks for their witness to your grace and mercy. Open our eyes today to experience your presence with us once again. Fill our hearts anew with the glory of your Spirit as we celebrate your victory over death.
ALL In Jesus’ ….. Amen.
Time of Greeting
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor We come before you Jesus our sins, our doubts and our pains…
(silence)
Pastor Jesus, we confess that we often seek the very things you warn us against;
All We seek power and glory;
We doubt the importance of being meek;
We create conflict and division instead of living as peacemakers in the word.
Forgive us for falling short in our lives, for our questions, doubts, struggles and selfishness.
Pastor Our Lord Jesus comes to us in the midst of our struggles, doubts and failures. When we mourn, he comforts. When we hunger and thirst he fills. When we sin, he forgives. Experience now the forgiveness of your sins and the grace of Christ, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All Amen
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading: Rev. 7: (2-8) 9-17
The great multitude, washed in the blood of the Lamb, offers their endless praise.
2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.9 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 forever 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.”
