Today's Service: 1 November
All Saints' Day
Our services continue with "visiting" preachers.
Today's is by Revd Val Towler.
This is best viewed in Landscape orientation
You will appreciate the sound better if you use earphones or an external loudspeaker, whatever type of device you view on.
Mini-service for All Saints Day
Opening:
In the winters of life, when the flowers and leaves have fallen by the wayside, the stripped-back branches reach starkly to the sky and the roots cling to the earth and its rocky foundations like a grip of hard-won faith, there is God. God is our company in the questioning, the seeker after truth, the passion in our indignation, always gently and tenderly holding us all in love. In stillness, let us place this day and all our journeying along the pathways of life and trembling faith into the hands of God.....
Psalm 34: 1-8
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him and be radiant, so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.
Hymn: Sing for God's glory (CH4 172)
tune 'Lobe den Herren' , with Intro.
1. Sing for God's glory that colours the dawn of creation,
racing across the sky trailing bright clouds of elation;
sun of delight
succeeds the velvet of night,
warming the earth's exultation.
2. Sing for God's power that shatters the chains that would bind us,
searing the darkness of fear and despair that could blind us,
touching our shame
with love that will not lay blame,
reaching out gently to find us.
3. Sing for God's justice disturbing each easy illusion,
tearing down tyrants and putting our pride to confusion;
lifeblood of right,
resisting evil and slight,
offering freedom's transfusion.
4. Sing for God's saints who have travelled faith's journey before us,
who in our weariness give us their hope to restore us;
in them we see
the new creation to be,
spirit of love made flesh for us.
Kathryn Galloway (b. 1952)
Prayer
In faith, O God, we dare to bring to you the doubts, the angers and the pain which are part of our journey through life.
Each of us carries with us past experiences, past failures or mistakes, which lie like burdens on our shoulders.
Each of us has a history in relationships, things we wish we had not done or said, or things which should have happened but never did.
Each of us has memories of faithful ones who have gone before us, setting an example which we have struggled to follow.
God, who does not turn away from the truth about our lives, even unto death, we confess that we have far less courage. We know we will never be who we would like to be. Our faith is too small and our faithfulness too brief; our care for others comes and goes. As we humbly admit to our faults and failures, we place them into your hands for your care and compassion....
God loves us as we are, not as we believe we should be; we are granted forgiveness as a gift, beyond anything we have deserved or earned. Taste and see that the Lord is good; give thanks to him and bless his holy name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver is from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
1 John 3: 1 - 3
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Matthew 5: 1 - 12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Reflection
All Saints Day is fairly difficult for those of us in the Reformed tradition, as we rarely celebrate or mention those who have been sanctified by the Roman Catholic church, unless it is for patriotic reasons.
When I was candidating for the ministry, I asked a member of my church, who was a minister's widow, what her husband had been like. Her response was, 'He was a saint dear, a saint.' Since she followed this up by adding, 'You should stick to teaching, it's much the best for women.', I took the husband's saintliness with a pinch of salt!
So what is a saint? Not necessarily someone who is holier than us, but rather someone who struggles to keep the faith in difficult circumstanced.
The saints, revered as holy men and women, were not steadfast in their holiness, and I am glad, because if they were as weak and fallible as the rest of us, there is hope for all of us. For example, Peter and Paul were not angels: Peter denied the Lord and Paul supported the killing of disciples, yet both are saints. Augustine, the great Theologian of the Church, was a womaniser without morals. He is a saint. More recently, Pope John Paul II made papal visits a big thing, and went to 129 countries during his lifetime, expanding the positive impact the pope could make, but he also presided over the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church and appointed the bishops and cardinals who 'passed the buck'. He is a saint as well.
The saints were all wonderful, faulty, flawed human beings - just like us - whose love of God and trust in their faith endured alongside their human failings. They were not always embodying the Beatitudes (or 'best attitudes') perfectly, but that did not stop them from trying. As complicated and as broken as some of the saints are, they still had faith which carried then through and allowed them to strive to serve God and others. That is a model we can follow; we. can be men and women who live amongst and serve those who are meek, those who show mercy, the peacemakers, the persecuted, and those who are poor (both in spirit and in physical need). After all, if we want to know God better, we should begin with knowing those whom God has deemed blessed.
We will fail, and often, but we can always get back up and keep trying. That is the ultimate mark of the saints we remember today, those officially recognised and others who made their mark more quietly.
The Beatitudes, both as they were presented by Jesus and by how many Christians choose to live, are words for our times. As we mourn our dead, personally and communally, they are words that bring comfort and hope. As we recall the dead, nationally and globally, they are words that promise the kingdom of heaven here and now, as well as in the future. As we remember those who have died at the hands of hatred and violence, they are words that remind us how distant righteousness really is - and ask us how truly thirsty for righteousness we are. As we continue to experience the effects of national and global trauma, of natural and human disasters and the burden of 'compassion fatigue', these are words to believe in, to count on and to trust, even in the darkest times of life.
Hymn: (CH4 543) Longing for light
tune 'Christ be our light' (piano accomp. with full verse Intro.)
1. Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts,
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your Church gathered today.
2. Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Christ, be our light! etc.
3. Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.
Christ, be our light! etc.
4. Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.
Christ, be our light! etc.
5. Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your Church gathered today.
Bernadette Farrell (b. 1957)
Prayers for ourselves and others
Loving God, you tell us that the poor in spirit are blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We pray for those whose spirit fails them, that they may be strengthened in their faith; for those whose poverty is physical, that they might have an equal share in the fruits of your kingdom; and for those whose outlook on life is poor, that they might have a glimpse of hope and purpose.
You tell us that those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted. We pray for all who are cast down by grief, whether from recent losses or a deep-seated sorrow over many years, that they may know the comfort of hope, of love and of new life.
You tell us that the meek are blessed, because they will inherit the earth. We pray for leaders and followers, for big people and little people, for the proud and the humble, that in acceptance and grace we might work together for the good of all.
You tell us that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. We pray that we, who seek to live righteously, may be filled with wonder and joy. You tell us that the merciful are blessed, for they will receive mercy. Help us to forgive others, that we might know and understand the true meaning of forgiveness. You tell us that the pure in heart are blessed, because they will see you. Make our hearts pure within us, that we may know more of your love.
You tell us that the peacemakers will be blessed children of God. We pray for all who work for peace: peace in relationships, in communities, in politics, and in places of conflict and peace for the body, mind and soul, that all might see themselves as God's children. You tell us that those who are persecuted are blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We pray for the broken and despised, the marginalised and the downtrodden, the victims and the dispossessed, the refugees and the homeless, to whom this precious kingdom belongs.
And as we pray for others, we pray that you will hold us always in communion with the saints of all the ages, especially those who are dear to us, those who have been blessed and whose memories, example and love still bless us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Hymn RS658/CH4740: For all the saints
tune 'Sine Nomine' , without Intro.
1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be for ever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2. Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
3. Oh, may thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win, with them, the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
4. O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
5. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
6. The golden evening brightens in the west;
soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
7. But, lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
the saints triumphant rise in bright array;
the King of Glory passes on his way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
8. From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
William Walsham How (1823-1897)
Blessing
May God be in our every action, Christ Jesus be in every pausing to listen, and the Holy Spirit be in every moment of choosing; and the blessings of God, the saints, the angels and the whole people of God keep us and comfort us, today and always. Amen.
Don't forget the live streamed hymns on Sundays at 10:45 a.m. from Zöe (via Facebook)
These are available to view later as well. (via YouTube, for those without Facebook, and also Facebook)
The streamings are proving to be a great success - well done, Zöe!
The recorded streamings are now, thanks to Harry Marshall, available to all on YouTube - search for 'Northgate URC Darlington'.
Ask Harry to invite you to the Northgate Facebook Group 
and you will get a notification of the live stream.
- Or you can just search for 'Northgate URC Darlington' in Facebook.
The URC denominational church audio Services (podcasts) at https://devotions.urc.org.uk/ are excellent, with well-delivered prayers and readings using a selection of voices and well-presented hymns.
Do give these a try - they are excellent.
(Just start the sound playing and scroll down to the written words)
Why not put the time aside for Zoe at 10:45, our preacher's service after that and follow up with the podcast - you will feel as if you had been IN church, as well as WITH church.