Welcome to our service - 1 November - All Souls Day
This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.
If you are able, we would also like invite you to join us for our main Sunday service, 10am, live on Zoom. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join you. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.
Notices
Please join us this Sunday for a socially distanced and COVID-19 compliant unsung Holy Communion service at 11:30am. We ask you to come with a face mask.
SERVICE
Opening
SERVICE
Opening
God in Christ has revealed his glory.
Come let us worship.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the Lord’s name is greatly to be praised.
Give him praise, you servants of the Lord.
O praise the name of the Lord!
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDeiy9-t2GE
Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine:
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of Salvation, purchase of God,
born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture burst on my sight;
angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is my story……
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story…
Fanny Crosby
Music: William P Rowlands (1860-1937)
CONFESSION
Since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, looking to Jesus in penitence and faith.
As we acknowledge our human frailty, we call to mind our sins of word, deed and omission, and confess them before God our Father.
Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done, through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past; and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.
ASOLUTION
Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy upon you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you in life eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
COLLECT
God of holiness,
your glory is proclaimed in every age:
as we rejoice in the faith of your saints,
inspire us to follow their example
with boldness and joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox1r0OzIwoo
Through all the changing scenes of life
in trouble and in joy,
the praises of my God shall still
my heart and tongue employ.
2. Of his deliverance I will boast,
till all that are distressed
from my example comfort take,
and charm their griefs to rest.
3. O magnify the Lord with me,
with me exalt His name;
when in distress to Him I called,
He to my rescue came.
4. The hosts of God encamp around
the dwellings of the just;
deliverance He affords to all
who on His succour trust.
5. O make but trial of His love;
experience will decide
how blest they are, and only they,
who in His truth confide.
6. Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then
have nothing else to fear;
make you His service your delight,
He’ll make your wants His care.
Nahum Tate (1652-1715)
and Nicholas brade (1639-1726)
READINGS
Jonah 1 New International Version - UK
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’
Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’
He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’
This terrified them and they asked, ‘What have you done?’ (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’
‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.’
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Luke 9: 18-27 New International Version - UK
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’
They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.’
‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’
Peter answered, ‘God’s Messiah.’
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.’
Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
‘Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’
TALK by Alistair Stevenson JONAH 1
This morning we start a new series on the book of Jonah. Throughout November we shall be focusing on the story of Jonah as we lead into advent. Jonah’s life was a picture - albeit very incomplete - of Jesus Christ. As Jesus says in Luke 11:30, “as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh so will the Son of Man be to this generation.”
As is often the case with Old Testament bible stories, our understanding of Jonah is sometimes shaped by a kind of watered down, children’s story version. An understanding which can reduce the stories of the Old testament to a bland, simple moralistic point.
So, for example, if you search on Amazon: ‘Jonah children’s bible story’, again and again the books portray Jonah and a fish, and usually a whale. And so we develop this notion that the story centres around Jonah and a whale when in fact a whale isn’t even mentioned and the fish only gets mentioned in 3 sentences. It certainly isn’t the focus of the story. Treating Old Testament stories in this way means we could miss what the author is really trying to communicate.
The book of Jonah is a super quick, crazy story about a very flawed prophet, a ship in a huge storm, a big fish, a huge city, and a dying tree. But in the midst of all of this, if you are paying attention, you stop and see that the story is asking us to reflect on our own flawed attitudes. It’s a bit like an unexpected jab in the gut, exposing within us the worst of who we are - our pride, judgmentalism, small mindedness, tribalism. It exposes our inability to grow and change and let God’s grace actually surprise us once again. Within the wonderful, extravagant narrative is a message that, if we allow it, speaks to the very core of who we are.
And so I would like to encourage you, as we start this series, to be ready and willing - to be open to letting the story speak to you in a new way, particularly if you come to it thinking you know it so well.
Firstly, when we come to any book in the bible we need to start by asking: ‘what type of literature is this?’. We need to ask: is it historical narrative, poems, parable, prophecy etc. Knowing this is going to help us understand its meaning and significance.
In Jonah, we get a hint within these opening 3 verses which say: ‘The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.’
If you were hearing this sorry in the time it was written you would have immediately been left thinking: ‘Wait, what? I was with you until verse 3’. You see, this book starts like many of the prophetic books. If you skip forward a few pages to Micah it starts in exactly the same way: ‘The word of the Lord that came to Micah’ and then Micah goes on to declare the word of the Lord as should any good prophet. But not so with Jonah. God speaks and then verse 3 tells us that Jonah runs away. That’s not right. That’s not what prophets did.
So immediately we have to think this is not your usual prophetic book. As we read on, we see that it is in fact completely different. There is no other book quite like Jonah in the Bible. It is totally unique and the reason is that Jonah is ultimately a satire. Satire the dictionary tells us uses ‘humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices’. It takes famous people and politicians and puts them in completely ridiculous situations, saying ridiculous things to expose not only them, but also the culture they inhabit. So we end up laughing not only at the figures portrayed but at ourselves. Jonah is like this. It’s like reading a combination of ‘Spitting Image’ and a comic book. He is the ultimate failed prophet who is hard-hearted, callous and deeply flawed who we end up laughing at because of his bombastic and ridiculous actions. But Jonah is also a bit like a comic book - everything is big in Jonah. In fact, the Hebrew word translated as great or huge, is used 15 times in the book. Everything in the book is huge - a huge storm, a huge fish, this huge city that took 3 days to cross. There was no city in the ancient world that would take 3 days to cross - that’s like a 45 mile wide city. Nineveh was 7 miles around in its day and that was the biggest in the world. Moreover, Jonah’s emotions are wild, going from one extreme to the next, clearly in desperate need of an ancient therapist. The whole story is deliberately satirical and reads a bit like an outlandish comic book - everything is crazy and extreme.
The author does this, as with all good comedy, to use humour and satire to make a very important point. To make our laughter turn to a deep reflection on the very core of who we are - not just as individuals but as God’s people. To hit those first listeners in the gut, to wake them up to a really important frailty and brokenness as the covenant people of God - to the worst tendencies of who they were.
So, this book should constantly leave us asking - how am I like this and therefore how much more do I need the grace of God through Jesus to be poured out on my life? As we draw to advent - how much more thankful am I that Jesus came - Immanuel, God with us - so that the deepest and darkest parts of me could be redeemed and restored by Jesus.
There is so much more I could say as a way of introduction to this book. As is so often the case - if you start to get under the surface of the biblical text you realise how rich it is. And may I really encourage you to do this. Take time to go deeper. I have created some notes alongside this sermon for you to do, ideally with a small group of others or you could do it on your own.
But what I want to do now is just draw out a few points from this first chapter that I hope will make us stop, and think about our own attitudes and views, our own lives, and ask that Jesus would come to redeem and restore us.
The question I want to ask you out of this passage is: what are YOU running away from?
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. This is the Assyria that wiped out the 10 northern tribes of Israel. Nineveh was the most brutal, murderous, oppressive people the world had ever known. To go and preach there would be the equivalent of being airlifted into Berlin at the end of the 1930s shouting - ‘down with the Third Reich’. And so we can assume that it is fear that causes Jonah to run the other way. But, we see in chapter 4 the real reason why Jonah tried to run away. When Nineveh does turn and repent Jonah is angry at the compassion and mercy of God. He says this:
“Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah wasn’t scared so much as he was angry that God would show grace and compassion to this completely ungodly nation.
A common accusation thrown at God - particularly in light of the Old testament - is that He is judgemental, condemning and harsh. But here we see a God who is full of mercy and compassion. Despite the atrocities committed by this godless city, He is quick to forgive. In comparison to God’s mercy, Jonah reflects a common human condition that we may too be prone to display; when we see crimes being committed and people being abused, we demand justice, punishment and retribution. It is right to desire justice, but perhaps it is humanity which is slow to forgive, not God! Jonah, maybe sometimes like us, can’t cope that God would be so compassionate and merciful. In his mind - that’s just not fair!
Here on the boat, Jonah knew who God was - he declared his nature to the sailors: that his God is the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land’ - but he doesn't want to share this God with others. However, amazinginly, despite Jonah’s best efforts the sailors turn to God. They cry out to God and once the storm calms the passage says they ‘greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him’. Extraordinary God is still using Jonah to bring people to Him, even though Jonah seemingly wants the complete opposite. That can give us some hope when we struggle to share our faith.
Jonah is literally sleeping on the job. He wants nothing to do with the redemptive plans of God because ultimately he doesn’t want God to save others - especially when they are so unrighteous and unworthy. He is quite happy it is them and us. I wonder if we can have a similar attitude to sharing our faith and the love of God with others? Are we sleeping on the job? Are we happy it is them and us?
You see, Jonah thinks he is running FOR his life but actually Jonah is running FROM life. He is running FROM this amazing opportunity to participate in God’s redemptive story, for the men in this boat and for the people of Nineveh that are so far from God. But what is happening is that he is missing out on being a part of LIFE - the life that God calls each of us into. The writer wonderfully illustrates Jonah’s moved away from God, and away from life, by his downward movement. In Jonah 1: 3 “he went down to Joppa”, verse 5 “he went down into the depths of the ship” and “he laid down and fell into a deep sleep”. Eventually he will go down into the sea and deep into the belly of the fish.
The reality is that when we don’t follow the call that God has put on our life or we try and run away from God completely, it can feel like we’re on a downward trajectory.
When we say ‘Yes’ to Jesus - when we declare his Lordship over our lives - we are putting to death our vision of what our life should look like. We are putting to death our narrow view of the world and of God. Baptism is a symbol of this. We put to death our own lives, under our control and rise up to new life, trusting in the abundant life that Jesus has for us, trusting in his calling on us and that he knows ultimately what will bring us joy, fulfilment and deep satisfaction. Why, because then we will be participating in his amazing rescue plan for our world. Jesus is inviting us into a different narrative - a rich and deep story where we get to play our part in the redemption of this world.
So which areas of our life are we running from? It might be that there are some areas of our life that we are happy for Jesus to come into, but others that we keep away from him. Perhaps we begin to compartmentalise our relationship with Jesus: ‘You can have this bit Jesus, but you’re coming nowhere near that’. And for some of us, having been followers of Jesus for so many years we are very good at this. So our putting to death is a long-term, on-going, daily choice. Saying yes to Jesus and saying yes to life in him.
Whether we have been a Christian for many years or only a few months, it can be easy to only allow our relationship with Jesus to impact only certain areas of our lives. Jesus wants it all because only then can we have life fully in him and life in all its fullness. So what areas of your life do you need to stop running away from God? What calling has he put on your life that you are running from? May we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us and cause us to turn and run towards God because when turn, as the prodigal son experienced, we realise that he is already running to us. Amen.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand
of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
O LORD, HEAR MY PRAYER,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
When I call answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
Come and listen to me.
Jacques Berthier/Taizé.
Copyright © 1982 Ateliers et Presses de Taize (France).
PRAYERS - written by Linda Chambers
God of the past, present and future, eternal and unchanging, gracious and merciful, we come before you now in prayer.
We give thanks for those who taught us the faith, who have inspired us along the way, for all who have shared their vision and their love, who have enriched our lives by their goodness and faith.
We give thanks for all who through faith have built up your Church worldwide and here at St. Gabriel’s. May we become the people you have called us to be - a chosen people, a holy people. May we each fulfil our vocation and use our gifts to your glory and in the service of others. Lord, make your church a holy church, a praying church, a giving church, a serving church.
We remember those who have suffered in the past for their faith, often making a stand against evil. We pray today for Christians whose faith is being tested at this time, especially in North Korea, Iran and Somalia. Please guide and encourage ‘Open Doors’ which seeks to support persecuted Christians, providing practical help and spiritual care.
Gracious God, we lift before you Christians serving you in local and national government, across the political spectrum. Please equip them and give them courage as they contribute to complex decision making processes, especially related to COVID 19.
We pray for Christians in positions of responsibility and power in our own city – in education, health and social care, industry, commerce … Sustain them with your love and may they fulfil their roles with humility, integrity and compassion.
We ask your blessing on our communities, homes and loved ones. Please provide for the needs of those who have lost their jobs in the current situation or who work freelance and have financial worries. We pray for those struggling with different fears or anxieties, those who are frightened about the rise of Covid cases again, those who feel isolated or beset by mental health problems. And we especially remember our older church members and others who may have long term health concerns and those recently bereaved.
As we conclude our prayers, grant us together with the saints a share in your everlasting kingdom, through Christ our Lord. AMEN
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen
On this All Saints day we take a special opportunity to commemorate the faithful departed
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power.
For you have created all things,
and by your will they have their being.
You are worthy, O Lamb, for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign with you on earth.
Take a moment to say the names of those you particularly want to remember.
Silence is kept after each name.
This is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Lord God, creator of all, you have made us creatures of this earth, but have also promised us a share in life eternal.
According to your promises, may all who have died in the peace of Christ
come with your saints to the joys of your kingdom, where there will be neither sorrow nor pain, but life everlasting.
Alleluia. Amen.
Grant to us, Lord God, to trust you not for ourselves alone, but for those also whom we love and who are hidden from us by the shadow of death; that, as we believe your power to have raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, so may we trust your love to give eternal life to all who believe in him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiBnbUg0Iz4
With a prayer you fed the hungry,
with a cry you stilled the storm;
with a look you had compassion
on the desperate and forlorn.
With a touch you healed the leper,
with a shout you raised the dead;
with a word expelled the demons,
with a blessing broke the bread.
Love incarnate, love divine,
captivate this heart of mine
'til all I do speaks of you.
As a sheep before the shearer
you were silent in your pain;
you endured humiliation
at the hands of those you'd made.
And as hell unleashed its fury
you were lifted on a tree,
crying 'Father God, forgive them,
place their punishment on me.'
Love incarnate…
I will feed the poor and hungry,
I will stand up for the truth;
I will take my cross and follow
to the corners of the earth.
And I ask that you so fill me
with your peace, your power, your breath,
that I never love my life so much
to shrink from facing death.
Love incarnate…
Stuart Townend © 2002 Thankyou Music
OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you, and of your own do we give you.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o469PRLdbHU
WILL YOU COME AND FOLLOW ME
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let My love be shown,
Will you let My name be known,
Will you let My life be grown in you,
And you in Me?
Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare,
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let Me answer prayer
In you and you in Me?
Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in Me?
Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through My sight and touch and sound
In you and you in Me?
Lord, Your summons echoes true
When You but call my name.
Let me turn and follow You
And never be the same.
In Your company I’ll go
Where Your love and footsteps show;
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In You and You in me.
Graham Maule & John L. Bell.
Copyright © 1987 WGRG, Iona Community.
FINAL BLESSING:
God the Father, by whose love Christ was raised from the dead, open to you who believe the gates of everlasting life. Amen.
God the Son, who in bursting the grave has won a glorious victory, give you joy as you share the Easter faith. Amen.
God the Holy Spirit, whom the risen Lord breathed into his disciples, empower you and fill you with Christ’s peace. Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen