Login / Signup

Free Access

Advent Sale - Save $131!

All Saints

Worship
Lectionary Worship Aids, Cradled in God's Heart
Series VIII, Cycle A
Call To Worship
One: At all times we are called
to bless God's name.
All: Our lips drench with praises,
our hearts exult in God.
One: The proud will bend knees in worship,
the humble will lift glad songs.
All: We are set free from our fears,
we have searched for God and been found.
One: Our faces glow with thanksgiving,
our spirits overflow with grace.
All: God has wiped away our tears,
God has fed us from the storehouses of hope.

Prayer Of The Day
They are gathered around you,
God of Forever and Ever.
Some are well known,
like Martin Luther,
Mother Teresa,
C.S. Lewis,
Helen Keller,
and so many more.
Some have been forgotten,
like Agnes and Cadoc,
Tuda, Mary of Egypt,
and Ebba,
while others have days named after them.

But many are ordinary folk,
such as the teacher from second grade
who guided our fingers under the words;
the nurse in the hospital
who held our hand while blood was taken;
the coach who trusted us with the ball,
not the end of the bench.

There is an old man who left retirement behind him,
and an barren woman who laughed at your promise;
there are popes, princes, and power-brokers,
who are taught heaven's hymns
by the paupers and pretenders;
there are those who moved mountains
and those who murmured in the wilderness;
there are those who founded the church,
and those who floundered on the waves of Galilee.

All saints,
just like us,
singing your praise forever and ever,
and we join in their anthem
even as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,

Our Father ...

Call To Reconciliation
When God sets the table of the Lamb, all will be welcome -- the young and the old; those who were faithful, and those who failed; those who followed Jesus, and those who lost their way. Let us confess to God our unsaintly ways, knowing how quick God is to forgive.

Unison Prayer Of Confession
We did not listen, when the Teacher spoke, God of Sinners.
Rich in pride and arrogance,
our spirits have no need for a kingdom;
taught to not let anyone see us cry,
we refuse your comforting arms;
seeing the rich and successful have their way,
we yearn to inherit their hardened hearts;
noticing the hungry standing by the side of the road,
we make sure we get more than our share of the world's
resources;
taking note of how he merciful are pushed aside,
we develop callouses on our souls.
Forgive us, Saint Maker, that we follow the wrong examples and listen to false teachings. It is the peacemakers who live into your hope; it is those whose hearts are shaped by yours, who are able to see you in the poor and broken; it is those who give themselves to serve others who are your saints, following the example of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our Shepherd, guiding us to the wellsprings of life.


Silence is kept

Assurance Of Pardon
One: When we seek God, we are found;
when we cry out, we are heard;
when we confess, we are forgiven and made new.
All: We can taste the yeasty flavor of grace, we can drink the deep wine of hope, we can find our home in God's heart receiving mercy and new life. Thanks be to God. Amen.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Transfiguration
29 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
40 – Children's Sermons / Resources
25 – Worship Resources
27 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Ash Wednesday
16 – Sermons
60+ – Illustrations / Stories
20 – Children's Sermons / Resources
13 – Worship Resources
15 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Lent 1
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
George Reed
For February 22, 2026:
  • Reading the Jesus Files by Chris Keating. Jesus temptations bring us face to face with the questions of his identity and calling as God’s Son, inviting us to discover the possibilities of Lent.
  • Second Thoughts: Worship Me by Dean Feldmeyer. Worship: (verb transitive) 1. to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power

SermonStudio

Marian R. Plant
David G. Plant
Our Ash Wednesday service is full of rich symbols. With the Imposition of Ashes and the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we are reminded that our faith, our church, and our worship life, has much outward symbolism.
David E. Leininger
Temptation. Every year, the gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Lent is about temptation, and the temptations of Christ in the desert in particular. What's wrong with turning stones into bread (if one can do it) to feed the hungry? Later, Jesus will turn five loaves of bread and a couple fish into a feast for 5,000. What's wrong with believing scriptures so strongly that he trusts the angels to protect him? Later, Jesus will walk on water, perhaps only slightly less difficult than floating on air.
John E. Sumwalt
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.

Dag Hammarskj ld


Dag Hammarskj ld, Markings (New York: Knopf, 1964).

Lent 1
Psalm 32

Still Learning Not To Wobble

Rosmarie Trapp
Elizabeth Achtemeier
The first thing we should realize about our texts from Genesis is that they are intended as depictions of our life with God. The Hebrew word for "Adam" means "humankind," and the writer of Genesis 2-3 is telling us that this is our story, that this is the way we all have walked with our Lord.

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The temptation of Adam and Eve has to do with their putting themselves in the place of God.

Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
The Serpent Tempts Eve
Russell F. Anderson
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15--17; 3:1--7 (C); Genesis 2:7--9; 3:1--7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b--9, 15--17, 25-3:1--7 (E); Genesis 2:7--9, 15--17; 3:1--7 (L)
Thomas A. Pilgrim
Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had.

Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to a time of decision in His own life.
David O. Bales
"He started it." You've probably heard that from the backseat or from a distant bedroom. "He started it." If you have a daughter, the variation is, "She started it." Children become more sophisticated as they grow up, but the jostling and blaming continue.

Schuyler Rhodes
I might as well get this off my chest. I have an abiding dislike for alarm clocks. Truth be told, more than a few of them have met an untimely demise as they have flown across the room after daring to interrupt my sleep. It's true. There is nothing quite so grating, so unpleasant as the electronic wheezing that emerges from the clock by my bedside every morning at 6 a.m. It doesn't matter if I'm dreaming or not. I could even be laying there half awake and thinking about getting up a little early.
Lee Griess
A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new office they were opening there. He accepted the assignment because it would enable him to earn enough money to marry his long-time girlfriend. The plan was to pool their money and, when he returned, put a down payment on a house, and get married. As he bid his sweetheart farewell at the airport, he promised to write her every day and keep in touch. However, as the lonely weeks slowly slipped by, his letters came less and less often and his girlfriend back home began to have her doubts.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
Once there was a man who owned a little plot of land. It wasn't much by the world's standards, but it was enough for him. He was a busy man who worked very hard, and for enjoyment he decided to plant a garden on his plot of land. First he grew flowers with vibrant colors which gave promise of spring and later fragrant flowers which graced the warm summer days. Still later he planted evergreens that spoke of life in the midst of a winter snow.
Robert J. Elder
Three observations:

1. If newspaper accounts at the time were accurate, one of the reasons Donald Trump began having second thoughts about his marriage -- and the meaning of his life in general -- can be traced to the accidental deaths of two of his close associates. The most profound way he could find to describe his reaction sounded typically Trumpian. He said that he could not understand the meaning behind the loss of two people "of such quality."
Albert G. Butzer, III
In his best--selling book called First You Have To Row a Little Boat, Richard Bode writes about sailing with the wind, or "running down wind," as sailors sometimes speak of it. When you're running with the wind, the wind is pushing you from behind, so it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. Writes Bode:

StoryShare

Keith Wagner
Keith Hewitt
Contents
"A Little Soul Searching" by Keith Wagner
"It’s All About Grace" by Keith Wagner
"The Gift" by Keith Hewitt

A Little Soul Searching
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 4:1-11

Several years ago there was a television program that was called "Super Nanny." The show was about a British woman who visited homes where the children were completely out of control. After a few weeks the families were miraculously transformed and the children were well behaved.

Keith Hewitt
Larry Winebrenner
Sandra Herrmann
Contents
"Silver Creek" by Keith Hewitt
"The Rich Man and the Tailor" by Larry Winebrenner
"Open My Lips, Lord" by Larry Winebrenner
"A Broken Bottle, A Broken Pride" by Sandra Herrmann
"March of Darkness" by Keith Hewitt


* * * * * * * *


Silver Creek
by Keith Hewitt
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Sandra Herrmann
It’s the beginning of Lent, and having worshiped on Ash Wednesday, we have declared that we are separated from God by our own doing. Oh, wait. We probably evaded that idea by talking about “the sins of man.” That does not absolve any of us. WE are sinners. WE disappoint and offend each other on a daily basis. (If you think that’s not you, ask your spouse or children.)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Stella Martin first became aware of her unusual gifts when she was quite small. When she was three, Stella had been a bridesmaid at her cousin Katy's wedding. Just three months later, Stella had looked at Katy and uttered just one word, "baby." Katy's mouth had fallen open in astonishment. She'd looked at Stella's mum and asked, "How did she know? I only found out myself yesterday. I was coming to tell you - we're expecting a baby in September."

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL