Archived Video from November 2, 2014

All Saints Sunday

 November 2, 2014

10 am Holy Communion Service

Grace Evangelical Lutheran

Today’s Worship Participants: 

Pastor: Rev. Megan Rohrer

Music Director: Dorothy Clazie

Assisting Minister: Alita

Reader: Anna Marie 

Welcome to worship at Grace!

Welcome to long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and people new to faith. Welcome to all who have no church home, want to follow Christ, have doubts, or do not believe. Welcome to new visitors and old friends. Welcome to people of every age and size, color and culture, every sexual orientation and gender identity, socio-economic status, marital status, ability and challenge. Welcome to believers and questioners, and to questioning believers. This is a place where you are welcome to celebrate and sorrow, rejoice and recover.  This is a place where lives are made new.

Special Welcome to Newcomers

Welcome to our small community of faith.  While we are small in numbers, we have big hearts and a desire to grow.  In order to help you follow along, we have included all the materials you need for worship in this bulletin.

Please join us for worship any Sunday at 10am that you are able.  If you cannot join us in person, you can also join us online via live stream or by watching the archives of our worship and Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck anytime during the week at our website (www.gracesf.com), or on our mobile phone app, Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck, is available on Google Play and ITunes. 

If you have any questions about the service or about Grace, you can fill out the form in pew to let our pastor know you’d like to chat.  Or you can contact Pastor Megan Rohrer at pastor@gracesf.com.

About Today’s Special Service

All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. As November heralds the dying of the landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptism is complete. At the Lord's table we gather with the faithful of every time and place, trusting that the promises of God will be fulfilled and that all tears will be wiped away in the new Jerusalem.

Confession and Forgiveness

All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.

Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, the Sovereign over all the earth, the Wisdom from on high, our merciful Judge and Savior. Amen.

Let us boldly approach the throne of grace, trusting in God's mercy and love.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Generous and faithful God,
we confess to you all the ways,
known and unknown,
that we reject and undermine your steadfast love.
Though you made us your people,
we treat strangers with suspicion.
Though you forgave our debts,
we collect without mercy.
Yet we are quick to pass judgment on others.
Have mercy on us, O God,
and remember your promise to us,
for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Water is poured into the baptismal font. 

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Through the living Word, + Jesus Christ, God forgives your every debt, your every sin, and gives you a new heart and a new spirit. Amen.

Greeting:  

The Grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.                                      C   And also with you.

Opening Hymn:

Welcome

Prayer of the Day:

Communal God, grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you.  Amen.

First Reading: Revelation 7:9-17 

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" ¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" ¹⁴I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  ¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

L   Word of hope, word of life.                        Thanks be to God

Psalm  99 (read responsively)

I will bless the God the most high at all times;

the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.

²I will glory  in the LORD; let the lowly hear and rejoice.   ³Proclaim with me the greatness of God the most high;

let us exalt God's name together.

⁴I sought God the most high, who answered me and delivered me from all my terrors.

⁵Look upon God the most high and be radiant, and let not your faces be ashamed.  ⁶I called in my affliction, and God the most high heard me and saved me from  all my troubles.  ⁷The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear the LORD and delivers them.

⁸Taste and see that God the most high is good; happy are they who take refuge in God!

⁹Fear God the most high, you saints of the LORD, for those who fear God the most high lack nothing.  ¹⁰The lions are in want and ^| suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD lack nothing ^| that is good.

²²O God the most high, you redeem the life  of your servants, and those who put their trust in you will not be punished. 

Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3

See what love the Holy Parent has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know God. ²Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when God is revealed, we will be like God, for we will see God as God is. ³And all who have this hope in God purify themselves, just as God is pure.

L   Word of hope, word of life.                        Thanks be to God

Artist of the Month: Laurel Kapros Rohrer

Special Music:  The Magnificat from Holden Evening Prayer             Marty Haugen          Grace Choir

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 5:1-12        
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. ¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The gospel of the Lord.                                Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon: Silence for reflection follows the sermon.  The assembly stands to proclaim the word of God in song.

Hymn of the Day:

Prayers of Intercession

Remembering the saints who have gone before us and giving thanks for God's blessings, we pray for the church, all in need, and God's good creation.

A brief silence.

We pray for the whole church, gathered in word and sacrament, in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, to continue to bring care and blessing to all. God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.   

We pray for wisdom, courage, and commitment to help restore your good creation, that clean water, air, and the fruits of the earth are available for future generations. God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.   

We pray for nations suffering from oppression, war, and economic uncertainty. Raise up leaders who will work for peace. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for our sisters and brothers who are hungry and thirsty, who need peace, who are persecuted, and all who need your healing touch through our hands (especially). God, in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

We pray for the Grace Infant Care Center, Welcome, SF CARES and all the activities of our church as we continue reaching out to our neighborhood and community to share the goodness you offer through Christ. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We give thanks for all our faithful departed, including… 

participants may speak or remember in your heart the names of those who have died

God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For what else to do the people of Grace pray? 

P Our prayers rise like incense and are held by a loving God who yearns for us to be our best.  May we sleep well, worry less, and live convinced that God is on our side.    Amen.

Peace

The presiding minister and the assembly greet each other in the peace of the risen Christ.

P   The peace of Christ be with you always.                C   And also with you.

The people may greet one another with the sign of Christ’s peace, and may say, “Peace be with you” or similar words.    Then, the assembly is seated.

Offering

An offering is gathered for the mission of the church, including the care of those in need. 

Offertory: Wonder, Natalie Merchant

Offering Prayer:

After the offering is gathered, the assembly stands.

A    Let us pray.   God, bless all that we have to offer.  May our financial support match the generosity of our lives.  Help us to be good stewards of our financial and emotional investments.  Amen.

Communion:

P  It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise . . . we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

 

P   On the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

The Lord’s Prayer:  (This version is from the New Zealand Prayer Book)
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

Announcements

Sending Hymn  

Dismissal

A:  Go in peace and serve our God.

C: Thanks be to God.

Please join us for coffee and refreshments downstairs in the Fellowship Hall.

To get to the Fellowship Hall, exit to the right of the communion railing at the front of the church.

Announcements:

You can find more information and find archived sermons and worship live streams at our website: www.gracesf.com  or on our blog: www.sfgrace.blogspot.com

Join us at these special events in November through December

Book Club:

Mondays @ 6pm - We'll be reading Bishop Desmund Tutu's The Book of Forgiving.

Just Worship:

Mondays @ 7pm - Casual worship & communion using multimedia to explore a theme.

Brown Bag Bible Study:    

Tuesdays @ 12pm - Casual worship & communion using multimedia to explore a theme.

Learn more or participate online at www.gracesf.com

·        November 8 – Welcome Fundraiser: We will have a Musical Events featuring the movie RENT.

·        November 27 – Thanksgiving:  A meal served for 300 individuals (mostly homeless or seniors) by Welcome at St. Francis Lutheran Church.

·        December 4 – 18  - Holden Evening Prayer, 6:30pm: Each Thursday night in Advent.

·        December 11-13 – West Coast LGBTQ Conference for Christian College Students

·        December 24 – Christmas Eve Service of Carols, 9:30pm

Scripture in this service is adapted from The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, by Priests for Equality.  2009, Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition. The traditional Lutheran liturgy is from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2014 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #28429. Hymns used with permission for worship and podcast under OneLicense.net  #A-723548.