Call to worship & Prayer
All: Holy God, Holy Son, Holy Spirit. Before all that is, outside all we know and after all is finished, You are God.
Pastor: We are thankful for Your presence that abides in every corner of our living. In the loneliest places of our heart, our devastations, our losses and our fear, You are.
All: Holy God, Holy Son, Holy Spirit. Before all that is, outside all we know, and after all is finished, You are God.
Pastor: Speak to us so we may find comfort in Your Word and let Your Hand catch us when the shadow of death enfolds us in grief, loss and hopelessness. Remind us that we should not be afraid and never lose heart as You are with us.
All: Holy God, Holy Son, Holy Spirit. Before all that is, outside all we know and after all is finished, You are God.
Pastor: We give thanks for all the saints in our lives: those who are living and those of blessed memory. Be with us today as we remember with love and faith.
All: Holy God, Holy Son, Holy Spirit. Before all that is, outside all we know and after all is finished, You are God. Amen.
First Reading Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
2. Hymn: WOV 741 Thy Holy Wings
Second Reading Ecclesiastes 3.1-8
There is time for everything.
3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Apostle Creed
3. Hymn: WOV In All Our Grief
Refrain: Lord, have mercy.
Christ have mercy. Lord, grant us peace.
Gospel Luke 6.20-31
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blesse
dare you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 ‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Sermon: “Remembering with love and faith.”
November has just begun. November 2 it is today and we begin this second to last month of the year with a day of Remembrance.
All Saints is a very special day in our church – and personally, it becomes more and more important for me as I get older, as I experience more loss and as I am confronted with my own mortality.
The philosopher Unamuno writes in The Tragic Sense of Lif that all of us, all people, are haunted by the thought of death, no matter how hard we try to push is out of our concernedness. And during this very season of October and November we see all things dying around us. There is a new colder chill in the air, the sun is setting earlier, the days a shorter, and there is sadness in the wind in the trees outside our windows. The sudden dampness and coolness in the air even here in Sunny California, the sound of the dry rustling leaves along the pavements or patio, all of this carries a sadness. A Sadness of goodbyes, of endlings, of seasons, of death.
This is why grief and loss are present with us very specifically, spiritually and emotionally here at the start of November.
The darkest and longest month of the year has just begun, but we know we need to walk through this season too. So let us walk together.
I am sure many of you in our church and congregation have the same deep sense of sadness and loss when we think about all the wonderful men and women that have dies over the last years. So many seats in the pews are empty, so many conversations are over and so much laughter has been silenced.
All Saints is a very personal day for each one of us, carrying with us our grief and our loss, but it is also a very shared day of loss for us as a church. Over 200 memorials have I officiated here at the church. The last couple of years have been filled with sadness over losing so many of the people that have been so much part of the fabric of this church and the community that I care for.
And I hum: Alle de mennesker jeg har elsket befinder sig stadig et sted i mig.
All of the people that I have loved still live in me.
Today is also 4 months ago when my beloved mom passed away. So, this year I am lighting a candle of faith for my mom together with all of you for your loved ones. I remember my mom with deep love and profound gratitude, and I wear her favorite ring today and I feel her close. I heard the wind chime play a beautiful tune this morning, and knew my mom was with me. I
All of the people I have ever loved still live in me.
And still live with God.
Take a moment to remember. Remember the ones you have loved and lost – and still love. Remember their voices, their scent, their touch, their laughter, their eyes.
Remember the time you had, the moments shared and the memories made.
On this All-Saints day it is as if the veil between this life and eternity is more open. Breezes of remembrance come through and let us know that love is the strongest of all even death can not conquer love.
Soren Kirkegaard rites in his book Works of Love in 1847 that it is in relation to the dead that our love really is tested. At the graveyard, he writes, we are taught the true being of love. When you are at the graveyard, when you are remembering, you do not expect anything back. The dead cannot give you anything back. But love is still there. And Kierkegaard says that it is our duty to remember our dead loved ones. With faithfulness, with thanksgiving and with loss. Remembering the one who were salt and light in our lives, people who had tremendous influence on our lives, people who marked us, formed us and loved us.
It can be hard to carry your grief. It hurts and it stays. We need to accept it as a part of our continued life, as we still love.
Grief may come to us, and we have to understand that grief is the price of love.
Grief is the love that is homeless. Grief is the memory of a lived life that we shared.
Grief is the loved that refuses to die and let go of us.
Grief is the same branch, where love once blossomed and bloomed.
Grief and love er not separated feelings, but inseparable.
Because if you receive love, if you are loved and love, you will meet grief.
And if you embrace and face that grief, then love will come again.
And then we are back on the mountain with Jesus, giving the most beautiful sermon of all times: “Blessed are you,” he said. “Who are poor, hungry, weeping. Blessed are you even if you don’t think you are blessed in your misery and grief. Blessed are you if you dare to love and believe…. it will be given back to you.
From the beautiful blessings to the haunting woes, Jesus spoke directly into the lives of them and us. The heartache and the grief, the longing and the despair. And he promised light and love if we dare to believe and if we dare to lift the veil between this life and eternity with the deep sense that life is more than we know, see and understand. That love transcends the boundaries of life – to give us faith and courage to dare to live with hope.
How blessed are we!
How loved are we!
All of the people that we have ever loved, still live in us and with God.
Amen.
Prayer:
Almighty God,
We come with our sorrows and worries and lay them on you: we pray for strength to live and cope.
Make us strong when we are weak.
Give us light when there is darkness.
Give us faith when we doubt.
Give us hope when we despair.
Tell us that the ones we love are with you: loved, blessed and comforted.
We pray for all without hope, all weak, vulnerable, sick and dying. We pray for all who mourn and cry.
Give strength and wisdom to those who have power, position and privilege in the world. Let them rule with love as the Golden Rule.
Be with your church and your people.
Bless us to live, hope and believe. Bless us to be. Amen
Candles of faith, hope, and love.
Solo played by Rush Robinson:
“Skybrud.”
Candles of faith, hope and love.
All Saints 2025
In a moment I will read the names of the ones we lost and loved. And with every name, I will light a candle. The light and life of a beloved person we remember today will be present in a small candle. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Let us pray:
We thank you for all the saints remembered through history and time and we give thanks for those dear beloved ones, most precious to us.
Today we give thanks to those who during the last twelve months have died. We give thanks for their life and love and rejoice in our faith that they are at peace.
Candles of faith to be lit.
In the loving memory of our loved ones whom we have lost and whom we mourn and miss. In loving faith and hope that the loving light of God embraces them.
ALL SAINTS 2025
Carol Ann Kirkman 2024
Bent Aage Christensen 03-2025
Mark Edward Harris, 02-2025
Patricia Dickerman 04-2025
Jytte Madsen 04-2025
Dorothy Malcolm, 03/2025
Steen Erik Mortensen 06-2025
Karen Rowse, 06-2025
Birgit Mosegård Nielsen, 07 2025
Richard Osborne, 08-2025
Mette Haydt, 08-2025
Jonathan David Neal, 08-2025
Henrietta Mary Braginton, 09-2025
Connie Mikkelsen, 2025
Jean Jensen, 2025
Karen Sue Thompson, 2025
Prayer for All Saints
Almighty God of Grace and light.
We are grateful for all Your presence that abides in every corner of our living and in the loneliest place of our hearts and souls.
Stay with us in our devastations, our losses, and our fears.
When we are grieving and mourning, and when our hearts are worn out by loss, speak to us about that day when all will be new.
Comfort us and embrace us with your hope and your eternal light.
We pray this prayer in your name.
Amen.
Please rise: The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us all. Let us greet one another. Amen
Please take a moment to remember. If you have a loved one you would like to light at candle for, please come forward.