3rd November 2013
Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost)
3 November 2013
'All Saints' Day:
The custom of commemorating all of the martyrs of the church on a single day goes back at least to the third century. In modern practice, 'All Saints' Day commemorates not only all the martyrs but all the people of God, living and dead, who form the mystical body of Christ. The feast is, in effect, a feast of the church.
¯ THIS MORNING'S SONG'S OF PRAISE:
119, 161, 'It is well with my soul' (Choir), 12, 265, 854 (Choir), 194, 38.
FIRST BIBLE READING:
Daniel 7:1-3, and 15-18
'Daniel's vision of the holy ones of the Most High' (NIV)
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.
Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea..."
"I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.
"So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 'The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. But the holy people of the Most High will
receive the kingdom and will possess it forever - yes, forever and ever.'
SECOND BIBLE READING:
Ephesians 1: 11-23
'God's blessings through Christ for his people' (GNB)
All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he
had decided from the very beginning. Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God's glory!
And you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of
ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised. The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!
For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my
prayers and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him.
I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his
people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe.
This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world
Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; he has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next.
God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. The church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes
all things everywhere.
GOSPEL READING:
Luke 6: 20-31
'Blessed are the poor and the persecuted' (NIV)
Jesus looked at his disciples and said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Bible readings for Sunday 10th November:
Job 19: 23-27a,
2 Thess. 2: 1-5, 13-17,
Luke 20: 27-38.
REFLECTION ON THE READINGS:
How do we live out God's call to sainthood? This week's readings
affirm that all who claim and trust in the promises of God are blessed. God's saints today - including all who are baptised into Christ - are called to look ahead, to know the hope to which God
calls. And God's saints are called to live now in the presence of God's promises, working toward their fulfillment.
Imagine the scene in Luke 6: 20 - 31, Jesus goes up a mountain to pray and stays all night. The next morning he calls the disciples together and chooses twelve of them to be apostles .
As they come down the mountain, there is an enormous crowd of people waiting for them, seeking healing. In this group there are other disciples,
Jews (those noted as coming from Judea and Jerusalem)
and Gentiles (those noted as coming from Tyre and Sidon).
Jesus turns to the disciples and says, "Blessed are you..."
In this way the gospel of Luke begins Jesus' teaching commonlycal led the Beati¬tudes. These sayings are also recorded in Matthew 5:1–12. This teaching marks the beginning of a period of instruction for the disciples before Jesus sends them out on their own.
As Jesus teaches about the life of discipleship, he turns conventional human understanding upside down.
Luke reports Jesus' teaching as includ¬ing four sets of blessings and woes. Poor/ rich, hungry/full, weeping/laughing, and rejected/accepted form parallel pairings of blessing and woe.
Jesus' hearers would have considered blessing to be a sign of God's favour and woe a sign of God's disapproval or judgment.
Jesus' message to those who would follow as disciples is one of astounding promise. Jesus speaks prophetically of the great
reversal of human understanding that we encounter in the reign of God. Jesus' words call us and all the saints to gaze forward to the time when God's prom¬ises will be fulfilled. Those who weep now will laugh. Those who are hungry now will be filled. Those who are poor now will receive the riches of God's inheritance. With this
future firmly in our gaze, the obstacles to faith become smaller, the path easier to navigate.
After giving thanks for the faith of the Ephesians, in Ephesians 1:11–23 the writer affirms that, through the "seal" of the Holy Spirit,
these saints in Ephesus are living in God's power and protection.
The writer shares Paul's prayer that they will welcome Jesus the Christ as head of the church.
Written to encourage those being perse¬cuted by Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BCE, Daniel 7:1–3, 15–18 relates Daniel's first vision and its
interpretation. An angel explains to Daniel that four successive empires (or their rulers) will be destroyed by God and replaced by "the saints of the Most High"- those now suffering under Antiochus.
In Psalm 149, the psalmist calls God's faithful saints to praise God's saving acts and promises.
......................................................
There are blessings and woes in life, and God's saints are not exempt. Yet, when we faithfully place ourselves in God's presence,
new possibilities for life and service become visible. We have a role to play, along with the saints of old, in the story of God's saving work. What might we do, as individuals and as the church, to live into God's promises?
Announcements:
1. This week in the Lord's Service - 3rd - 10th Nov:
Parents to note: No Sunday School this morning!!
Saturday - 10.00 am - 11.00 am - 'Sing - along' time for those who wish to learn songs for the Sunday.
Saturday - 11.00 am to 12 noon - Choir practice.
Next Sunday - 9.30 am - Public Divine service.
2. Lutheran Media Ministries:
The radio 'Face to Face' and TV program guide for November is available from the notice board.
Coming up for your diary:
Thursday 14th November and Tuesday 17th December - 2.30 to 4.00 pm - worship service with Holy Communion. Fellowship afternoon tea to follow.
Friday 15th November - 9.30 am - Worship Team.
Tuesday 19th November - 12.30 pm - Kaffeestunde,
Sunday 1st December - ( A/W) - Elections meeting.
Sunday 8th December - Guest speaker Jonathan Krause - launch of ALWS Christmas Action appeal.
Tuesday 17th December - 6.30 pm - Church Council.