For All The Saints!

Sunday November 6th we celebrated "All Saints" day at New Wine Mission.  We had a great day of worship and perhaps most notable no sermon.   That may sound funny coming from the preacher, but we had others speaking to us with the testimony of their lives.  During the course of the Liturgy of the Word and the Prayers we paused to give thanks for over a dozen saints that had touch many of our lives.  Members of our community stood prayed remembrance prayers as we celebrated the lives of the saints who has touch our own lives.  Some were Bible heroes like  Father Abraham.  Here is the prayer we prayed:

"We begin our All Saints Day remembrance today by giving thanks for the life of our Spiritual forefather, Abraham. By faith he stepped out and left the comfort of what was familiar and known, to sojourn in an unknown land, simply because he heard the Lord's call. By faith he turned from his own plans to produce an heir and trusted in God. By faith he acted in obedience to God and offered his one true son Isaac as an altar sacrifice believing God would still provide. Not perfect, but faithful, Abraham was used of God and from his family line the Savior was born."

Here is our prayer for an Anglican Hero, Thomas Cranmer:

" We give thanks for the life of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who in the midst of great political drama helped established The Church of England. Protestant in theology, he was partly responsible for the dissemination of the Bible into the vernacular of the people. He developed the first Book of Common Prayer which allowed the people of England to worship the Lord in their own language. Under Mary Tudor's pressure (better known as Bloody Mary) he was charged to return the church back to Rome. He refused and was tried for heresy. Under the threat of death he recanted his protestant teaching, but would later publicly renounce this lapse. Bishop Cranmer died among the protestant martyrs during Mary's reign in 1556. He was burned at the sake courageously placing his hand that he signed his recantation in the flames first. For his leadership, legacy and courage we give thanks."  

In place of the sermon we prayed this prayer of thanks:

"We give thanks for faithful priests, pastors and preachers who have faithfully "handled the word of God". We thank you for those who have labored in study and prayer as they prepared to share the Good News of Jesus in pulpits, classrooms and even stadiums. We think of Anglican priests and bishops like Phil Zampino, Niles Blatz, Michael Schulenberg and our own bishop, Doc Loomis. But, we also give thanks for powerful communicators like Ravi Zacharia and Billy Graham and other faithful teachers of Your Word. The truths they proclaimed have moved and transformed our hearts and minds. We know we are a different and better people because of their faithful service to your word. We pray for the next generation of preachers. We pray for men like Micah Chisholm and Mike Cupp who you are allowing us to help raise up. Give people everywhere ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth of the Gospel especially in this community where we live."

But perhaps one of the most inspiring was our prayer for George Muller who died in 1898:

" We are grateful for the life of George Muller who was a Christian evangelist, director of the Asley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, and who cared for over 10,000 orphans in his life. He was well-known for providing an education to the children under his care, to the point where he was accused of raising the poor above their natural station in life. He also established 117 schools which offered Christian education to over 120,000 children, many of them orphans. George and his wife remind us that work in your Kingdom is never done. At the age of 70 George left the work of the orphanage in his daughter's hands and went off on a preaching mission to Europe, America, India, Australia and China extending over a period of 17 years! Let us never think our work for you is done and be open to your leading even in the twilight years of our earthly pilgrimage."

With these, and several others we entered into a rich time of worship with good liturgy and inspirational songs and hymns.  We give thanks today for such a special time in the Lord and "For ALL The Saints"!