Four Prayers for All Saints Day Based on Hebrews 12.1-3

Posted on October 21, 2022 by revlisad

Opening Prayer for All Saints Day
Jesus,
You are The Way, opening the path
You are The Truth, clearing the clutter
You are the Light, blazing the trail

You run
You endure
For the sake of joy
To set joy before us
and in us

Inspire us to keep running
To run remembering joy is our strength
Inspire us to remember and endure

Opening Prayer #2 for All Saints Day
Jesus, Pioneer and Perfector of Faith
Your race comes with a cross
A course of blood and tears
Mocking and piercing

Help us take up our cross and follow
Disregarding shame (that ancient enemy)
In you, it falls by the wayside
Tired scraps on the breath of new life

Help us remember and endure
Help us take up our cross and run
We’ll sit down with you in the next life
Not this one
Amen

Prayer: Help Us Run
Heavenly Father,
You surround us with great and good companions
With witnesses who run the race before us
Now cheering us on
Inspiring us with their courageous faith

Help us run with perseverance

Blessed Jesus,
Pioneer and Perfector of our faith
You blaze the trail
You endure the cross
You disable its shame and ours

Help us run with perseverance

Holy Spirit,
You companion us and supply us
with witnesses running beside us
Churning up the dust of this well-traveled path
Encouraging us with the steady beat of their beautiful feet

Help us run with perseverance
Daring, Enduring, Alive with Hope
Amen

Prayer of Confession for All Saints Day
Run beloved, run
Lay aside every weight
Every worry
Every excuse
Every inner critic shouting against inspiration

Lay aside the sin that clings so closely
Every self-serving motivation
Every self-medicating choice
Every weak thing you’ve trusted more than God

Lay them aside and run
Run beloved, run
Run with perseverance the race
Looking not to the dust, but to Jesus
The Pioneer and Perfecter of your faith
Look not to the right or to the left
Look to Jesus
Focus
Follow

The congregation is invited to offer their own prayers of confession

Run
Run remembering
You are forgiven
Joy is your strength
Run remembering
Our Jesus, who endured
So that you may not grow weary or lose heart
For your strongest step is yet to come

*****
You’re welcome to use these works in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Run Beloved, Run – a poem for All Saints Day

Posted on October 25, 2021 by revlisad

Hebrews 12:1-3 NRSV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

You are surrounded
By great and good companions

With witnesses who ran the race before you
Now cheering you on
Inspiring you with their courageous faith

With witnesses running beside you
Churning up the dust of this well-traveled-path
Encouraging you with the steady beat of their beautiful feet

Run beloved, run
Lay aside every weight
Every worry
Every excuse
Every inner critic shouting against inspiration

Lay aside the sin that clings so closely
Every self-serving motivation
Every self-medicating choice
Every weak thing you’ve trusted more than God

Lay them aside
and run

Run beloved, run
Run with perseverance the race
Daring
Enduring
Alive

Looking not to the dust, but to Jesus
The Pioneer and Perfecter of your faith
Look not to the right or to the left
Look to Jesus
Focus
Follow

Jesus is The Way, opening the path
The Truth, clearing the clutter
The Light, blazing the trail

He runs
He endures
For the sake of the joy
Of setting the joy before you
and in you

Run
Run remembering
Joy is your strength
Remember and endure
For this race comes with a cross
A course of blood and tears
Mocking and piercing

Take it up
Disregard its shame (that ancient enemy)
Let it fall by the wayside
Tired scraps on the breath of new life

Take it up and run
Sit down in the next life
Not this one

Run beloved, run
Following and looking and remembering him who endured
So that you may not grow weary
Or lose heart
For your strongest step is yet to come

********
Be sure to check out Steve Garnaas Holmes reflection Cheer, on cheering on his niece as she ran the Boston Marathon and how that connects to our spiritual life.

Run Beloved, Run © 2014 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please contact Lisa for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

All Saints Day Remembrance for Home or Gathered Worship

Posted on October 22, 2021 by revlisad

all-saints

1 Corinthians 1:2-3, NRSV
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

The followers of Jesus in Corinth had some serious problems, infighting and immorality to name a couple, yet Paul calls them saints. A saint is not a perfect person. Saints are simply persons who know their deep need of God. The recognize their need of wholeness and forgiveness, yet they don’t set up house there. They keep trying and growing and trusting in the marvelous grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Let us remember who we are in Jesus-
Beloved, Wounded Healers,
Saints set apart by God and for God

Let us remember our purpose-
To lead a devoted life of compassion, generosity, justice, and hope
A life worthy of the calling to which we have been called
A life which inspires faith in others

Let us remember and recommit ourselves to this life,
by first honoring the lives of those who have inspired us
The heroic and humble who ran the race before us
The martyrs who sacrificed all for the sake of Jesus
And especially those who we have known and loved
who led us to Jesus and encouraged us to deeper faith and service

Name those persons out loud now… pause

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
You surround us with witness after witness to your transforming love
Inspire us and empower us to endure
Fill our hearts with courage

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
You weep with us in our personal heartbreak and loss
Name those you are grieving out loud now… pause
Comfort us and protect us in our mourning
Fill our souls with hope

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
You weep with us in our communal heartbreak and loss
COVID… Fires… Storms… Division… Injustice… Death
Comfort us and protect us in our mourning
Fill our souls with hope

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
You cry out in victory over sin and the grave
Raise us and release us to fulfill your calling to be saints
Fill our lives with faithfulness and good works
Honor and hope
In Jesus’ Name and for His Glory, who taught us to pray…

Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer

Consider lighting candles or lumineria, tying ribbons to a branch or wreath, or placing flowers in a vase or stream following the prayer.

*************
All Saints Remembrance 2021 © 2021 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia (www.revlisad.com)
Please contact Lisa for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Worship Resources for All Saints Day

Posted on October 23, 2020 by revlisad

all-saints SERMONS AND SERMON STARTERS
How Jesus Grieves, a Sermon for All Saints Day
Scripture: Matthew 14:1-21

There’s No Place Like Home, a message on the now and note yet of heaven
From the sermon series Finding God in Oz
Scriptures: Revelation 21:1-5, 22-26; 1 Peter 2:9-12

Church as Communion of Saints, Cloud of Witnesses
Quotes and Sermon Illustrations

PRAYERS, POEMS AND LITURGIES
All Saints Remembrance
This liturgy includes quotes from Nelson Mandela and James C. Howell, a reading of 1 Corinithians 1:2-3, a brief explanation of what it means to be a saint, a prayer, naming saints who have strengthened our faith, and flowering the cross. Feel free to use only parts of this liturgy and to assign multiple persons to lead it.

Run Beloved, Run- a poem for All Saints Day

All Saints Day– a poem by Steve Garnaas Holmes based on 1 John 3:1, “See what love God has given us, that we should be called children of God.”

All Saints Remembrance 2020
Let us remember who we are in Jesus-
Beloved, Wounded Healers,
Saints set apart by God and for God

Let us remember our purpose-
To lead a devoted life of compassion, generosity, justice, and hope
A life worthy of the calling to which we have been called
A life which inspires faith in others

Name those persons out loud now… pause

From wherever you are worshiping, repeat after me.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God
ALL: Blessed are you, O Lord our God

You surround us with witness after witness to your transforming love
Inspire us and empower us to endure
Fill our hearts with courage

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
ALL: Blessed are you, O Lord our God

You weep with us in our personal heartbreak and loss
Name those you are grieving out loud now… pause
Comfort us and protect us in our mourning
Fill our souls with hope

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
ALL: Blessed are you, O Lord our God

You weep with us in our communal heartbreak and loss
COVID… Fires… Storms… Division… Injustice… Death
Comfort us and protect us in our mourning
Fill our souls with hope

Blessed are you, O Lord our God
ALL: Blessed are you, O Lord our God

You cry out in victory over sin and the grave
Raise us and release us to fulfill your calling
To be saints
Fill our lives with faithfulness and good works
Honor and hope
In Jesus’ Name and for His Glory. Amen.

*************
How Jesus Grieves, a sermon for All Saints Day © 2019 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
There’s No Place Like Home… © 2016 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
All Saints Remembrance © 2016 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Run Beloved, Run © 2014 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
All Saints Remembrance 2020 © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia (www.revlisad.com)
Please contact Lisa for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Run Beloved, Run – a poem for All Saints Day

Posted on November 1, 2017 by revlisad

You are surrounded
By great and good companions

With witnesses who ran the race before you
Now cheering you on
Inspiring you with their courageous faith

With witnesses running beside you
Churning up the dust of this well-traveled-path
Encouraging you with the steady beat of their beautiful feet

Run beloved, run
Lay aside every weight
Every worry
Every excuse
Every inner critic shouting against inspiration

Lay aside the sin that clings so closely
Every self-serving motivation
Every self-medicating choice
Every weak thing you’ve trusted more than God

Lay them aside
and run

Run beloved, run
Run with perseverance the race
Daring
Enduring
Alive

Looking not to the dust, but to Jesus
The Pioneer and Perfecter of your faith
Look not to the right or to the left
Look to Jesus
Focus
Follow

Jesus is The Way, opening the path
The Truth, clearing the clutter
The Light, blazing the trail

He runs
He endures
For the sake of the joy
Of setting the joy before you
and in you

Run
Run remembering
Joy is your strength
Remember and endure
For this race comes with a cross
A course of blood and tears
Mocking and piercing

Take it up
Disregard its shame (that ancient enemy)
Let it fall by the wayside
Tired scraps on the breath of new life

Take it up and run
Sit down in the next life
Not this one

Run beloved, run
Following and looking and remembering him who endured
So that you may not grow weary
Or lose heart
For your strongest step is yet to come

********
Be sure to check out Steve Garnaas Holmes reflection Cheer, on cheering on his niece as she ran the Boston Marathon and how that connects to our spiritual life.