From Every Tribe

Call to Worship

On this All Saints Day, we gather to join the multitude of saints across the generations from all tribes, peoples, and languages, to proclaim:
Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

We come to remember, to grieve, and to celebrate those saints who have come before, yet whose life and witness continues to teach us:
Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

We gather today as the family of Christ, siblings and saints, diverse yet united by grace to live lives that declare:
Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

May we be guided today by the Lamb who is our Shepherd, the one who gathers us, comforts us and tends us.
May we join in the work of the Shepherd to bring about a world with no more hunger, no more thirst, no more suffering, and no more pain that all the saints of the past, the present, and the future may share in God’s abundant life. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, April 2023.

Prayer for the Day

Amante y generoso Dios, nos acercamos a ti con hambre y sed de tu palabra. Sacia nuestra alma, sacia nuestra sed. Permitenos escuchar de nuevo todas tus promesas y recibir la plenitude de tu inagotable gracia.

Pausamos para recorder la fidelidad de tus siervos y siervas de todas las generaciones, de todos los pueblos, en todos los idiomas, que compartieron en palabra y acción las maravillas de tu gracia.

Ahora, con esperanza en nuestros corazones, respondemos nuevamenta a tu llamado de llevar la Buena Nueva de Jesucristo en todos los idiomas, a través de todas las fronteras, y hasta lo ultimo de la tierra.

Envianos con el poder de tu Santo Espíritu a nuestra misíon como testigos de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, quien en un humilde sinagoga Nazarena anunció: “Hoy se ha cumplido esta Escritura delante de vosotros”.

Loving and generous God, we come to you hungry and thirsty for your word. Satisfy our hunger, quench our thirst, nourish our soul. Teach us to listen and heed all your promises and receive the abundance of your inexhaustible grace.

We pause to remember the faithfulness of your servants from all generations, from all peoples, in all languages, who shared in word and deed the many wonders of your love and grace.

And now, with words of hope in our hearts, we again respond to your call to carry the Good News of Jesus Christ, in all languages, beginning here in our communities, across all borders, and unto the ends of the earth.

Send us in the power of your Holy Spirit to join your mission of bearing witness to your Son, our Lord, who in a humble Nazarene synagogue announced: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Written by Joel N. Martínez, Fiesta Jubilosa, ed. Raquel Mora Martínez (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2022), 112.

Litany of Remembrance

Living God, our Guide and Guardian,
Who sits on the throne and delivers us into eternal life,
we give you thanks for the saints of every time, tribe, and tongue
who now rest in the shelter of your embrace.
We set aside this moment to remember
Those saints who are dear and precious to us
Who have died and entered into glory
during the last twelve months.

As each name is called, ring a bell and/or light a candle in honor of each person. Where possible, have family members or close friends of the person named come forward to light a candle or rise where they are sitting.

We bless you for the life and love of these dear saints,
and rejoice for them that they have entered
into the fullness of life in your presence.

We also remember those saints who
We hold in our hearts who have not been
With us for some time, yet whose life and witness
Continue to form and shape us as your disciples.
We honor them now by lifting their names aloud or in our hearts.

Allow space for people to speak names aloud from where they are seated.

On this All Saints Sunday, we also remember
that we too are living saints,
members of the family of God
with all the saints of the past, the present, and the future.
And so, we remember:

We are God's children.
What we shall be has not yet been revealed;
but we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
So today and every day,
may we put on Christ and live as saints
who tend the poor,
comfort the mourners,
learn from the meek,
affirm those who seek righteousness,
offer mercy alongside the merciful,
and work for peace with the peacemakers
until Christ comes in final victory
and we feast as the family of God
at his heavenly banquet. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, April 2023.

Prayer of Confession

Lord Jesus, you bless the poor in spirit
and give them the Kingdom.
But we fatten ourselves, as James says, “in the day of slaughter”;
we turn away from those whose physical poverty
reminds us of our true spiritual state,
and we build our own little kingdoms of self.
Kyrie eleison — Lord, have mercy.

You bless those who mourn and you comfort them.
But we flee grief that leads to repentance,
and we seek comfort in possessions and prestige and power.
Kyrie eleison — Lord, have mercy.

You bless the meek, and promise them the earth,
you bless the merciful, and promise them mercy.
But we are far from meek —
we try to make the world our own through pride and self-promotion;
we forget the forgiveness that was won at such cost,
and we hold grudges at the slightest offense.
Kyrie eleison — Lord, have mercy.

You bless those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—
you promise to satisfy their desires.
You bless the pure in heart, and promise that they shall see God.
But we hunger and thirst after everything else:
the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes
and the pride of life;
our hearts are not pure, and so we cannot see you.
Kyrie eleison — Lord, have mercy.

You bless the peacemakers and the persecuted and the reviled—
you call them sons of your Father
and you give them the kingdom of heaven.
But we covet each other’s things and looks and jobs and successes,
and we seek friendship with the world,
over living as heirs of your Kingdom.
Kyrie eleison — Lord, have mercy.

Amen.

Adapted from Reggie Kidd. Copyright © Reggie Kidd. Posted on Cardiphonia. http://cardiphonia.org/2010/04/23/beatitudes-prayer-of-confession-reggie-kidd/. Reposted on the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-of-confession-beatitudes.html.

Benediction

Beloved, receive this good news: you are children of God, united as family with the saints of every tribe, nation, language, and generation. Go forth now in the company of the multitude who have put on the life of the Lamb that you may love and live after the imitation of Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, April 2023.