Sunday Worship - for All Saints
St Thomas' Church welcomes you to our Parish Eucharist for All Saints Day at 10 am. Our own Associate Priest David Halford will be preaching and presiding today.
We follow all of the guidelines to ensure the safety of everyone worshipping here, and we have ample seating to welcome families whilst maintaining safe distancing.
If, for whatever reason, you are unable to join us in church today, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Special notice - last night's announcement by the Government is likely to mean that we will no longer be able to worship in our church buildings from Thursday this week. Wednesday's Worship for all Generations, 6.30 pm at St Agnes' and All Souls Service, 7.30 pm at St Thomas' will still be able to take place. Further updates will be posted on this page as soon as we have further information.
Our first hymn this morning is "Ye Holy Angels Bright"
Today's Gospel -
Reflection
Some Christian traditions focus on remembering special Christians on All Saints Day or bringing to mind believers who have died and gone to be with the Lord. This day offers a fine opportunity to thank God for those whose lives have honoured him and made a difference to us. Yet, it's important to remember that the biblical sense of "saint" includes all of God's people, not just those who have excelled in discipleship. I thought it might be helpful for us to review what we learned about saints from Ephesians 1:1.
In the opening verse of this letter, Paul addresses the letter's recipients as "God's holy people." Traditionally, the Greek word hagioi, translated here as "God's holy people," is rendered "saints." In fact, the English word "saint" comes from the Latin sanctus, which means "holy." So, saints are holy people, by definition.
But what does it mean to be a holy person, a saint? From a biblical perspective, something is holy when it is set apart for God and God's purposes. So, an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord is holy because it is designated for this special function. In Exodus 19, God set apart the Israelites as his own "treasured possession" (19:5). They would be a "holy nation" (19:6) through which God would make himself known to the world. In the New Testament, believers in Jesus Christ are referred to as "saints" or "holy people" because they have inherited Israel's divinely conferred status as people set apart by God for him and for his saving purposes.
If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a saint. You are a holy person. This does not necessarily say anything about your worthiness to receive this title or your exemplary lifestyle, however. I wouldn't recommend that you go around putting "Saint" in front of your name. Rather, you are a saint because God has chosen you to belong to him and his people. He has set you apart so that you might participate in his redeeming work in the world.
Remember, you are not a solo saint. There is no such thing from a biblical perspective. Rather, as a saint, you have been joined to the family of all saints, including those who live around the world and those who have gone to be with the Lord. Therefore, on All Saints Day, it is a perfect time to remember that God has made you special for him and his purposes, and that he has joined you into the eternal, worldwide fellowship of all his saints. Moreover, it's a good day to take seriously the fact that God wants to make himself known in this world through you as a member of the family of all saints.
[This week’s reflection is by Mark D. Roberts and is from Theology of Work Project Online Materials by The High Calling. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ]
We also have a reflection today from Archdeacon Jean Burgess about All Saints.
This morning's prayers -
And our final hymn today is "For All The Saints"
