St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. Worship service

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use.

In the service: The service will be shown on the screen. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter or leave. Pastor David distributes the communion wafers and an Assisting Minister distributes wine or grape juice in individual glasses.

We have coffee and fellowship time available again in Luther Hall after the service.

We will continue to evaluate our worship service procedures on a monthly basis.

Sunday November 1, 2026 - All Saints Sunday.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
November 1, 2026 – All Saints Sunday
Based on ELW Setting Ten

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who pours love into our hearts and
healing upon the earth.
C: Amen.

P: Confident that God justifies us by grace through faith, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Compassionate God,
C: we confess that we struggle to embody your goodness in the world and
in our own hearts.
Creation groans from overuse. Jealousy and bitterness strain our
relationships. Indifference keeps us from seeking justice. Divisions
disrupt your call to show genuine love to others.
Turn our hearts back to you. Restore our world and reconcile us to one
another. Renew us to live as your holy people, following the way of Jesus
Christ. Amen.

P: Hear this good news: We have peace with God through ☩ Jesus Christ, in
whom there is no condemnation, but only forgiveness and the promise of eternal
life. Receive freely this healing gift of grace.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Shall We Gather at the River (ELW #423)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE (ELW p. 203)
Have mercy on us, Lord, and hear our solemn prayer.
We come to hear your living word; it saves us from despair.
Have mercy on us Christ, and wash away our sin.
Pour out your grace and make us whole that new life may begin.
Have mercy on us, Lord; make sin and shame depart.
Renew us with your saving pow’r; create in us new hearts!

CANTICLE OF PRAISE (ELW p. 204)
Glory be to God in heaven; peace, goodwill to all the earth.
Mighty God of all creation, Father of surpassing worth:
we exalt you, we adore you, we lift high our thanks and praise.
Saints and angels bow before you; here on earth our songs we raise.
Glory be to Christ forever, Lamb of God and Lord of love.
Son of God and gracious Saviour, you have come from heav’n above;
on the cross you died to save us; now you reign at God’s right hand.
Hear our prayer; restore, forgive us; in your promise firm we stand.
Holy One we now acclaim you; Lord alone, to you we call;
Holy One in faith we name you, God most high, yet near to all:
Jesus Christ, with God the Spirit, in the Father’s splendour bright.
For the peace that we inherit, glory be to God on high!

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Almighty God, you have knit your people together in one communion in the
mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant us grace to follow your
blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible
joys you have prepared for those who love you, through Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever.
C: Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Revelation 7:9-17
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their
hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God
who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11 And all the angels stood
around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they
fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 singing, "Amen!
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and
might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." 13 Then one of the elders
addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they
come from?" 14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to
me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason
they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his
temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will
hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any
scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their
shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will
wipe away every tear from their eyes."

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM: Psalm 34: 1-10, 22
1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord;
let us exalt God’s name together.
4 I sought the Lord, who answered me
and delivered me from all my terrors.
5 Look upon the Lord and be radiant,
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6 I called in my affliction, and the Lord heard me
and saved me from all my troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear the Lord
and delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are they who take refuge in God!
9 Fear the Lord, you saints of the Lord,
for those who fear the Lord lack nothing.
10 The lions are in want and suffer hunger,
but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.
22 O Lord, you redeem the life of your servants,
and those who put their trust in you will not be punished.

SECOND READING: 1 John 3:1-3
1 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. 2 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. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify
themselves, just as he is pure.

A: The word of the Lord
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (ELW p. 205)
Alleluia! Lord and Saviour: open now your saving word.
Let it burn like fire within us; speak until our hearts are stirred.
Alleluia! Lord, we sing for the good news that you bring

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down,
his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will
receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute
you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
P: The gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
Matthew 5:1-12
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts, always
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer. AMEN
Did you ever think about the implications of the fact that the God in whose
image we, as human beings, are created is known to us as a Trinity?
Relationship is at the very heart of the nature of God, and that also says
something very important about us. None of us is an island. We are not made to
live only to ourselves. We are made for relationship, both with God and with
each other and God’s world. So, we live out our lives in a complicated and ever-
changing web of associations.

We turn to each other almost instinctively as we celebrate our joys, mourn our
losses, and need support through tough times and transitions. We work together
to accomplish our goals. We look to each other for reassurance that we are on
the right track or for guidance if we are not on the right track. And we scarcely
ever in adulthood make a decision that does not take someone else into
consideration. We look to our parents, our grandparents, and mentors for
wisdom. We look to our children for energy and inspiration. We look to our
friends for help in sorting out the muddle of our everyday lives. None of us is an
island.
On the first of November every year, we in the Christian church remember that
in fact we are not islands and give thanks for that in the celebration of All Saints
Day. As the name suggests, it is a time for remembering all the “saints,” known
and unknown, who have preceded us, marking our way.
So, what is a saint? A saint in this definition is an exemplary model of faith.
There are those who are especially recognized by the church for exemplary
lives. But we aren’t just remembering the stories and witness of these individual
recognized saints. We are also remembering those people in our lives who are
absolutely loving and Christlike, who not only know what God wants them to do,
but who also do it. These people have touched our lives in a special way and
remain with us in our hearts. Our lesson from Revelation tells us, “...there was a
great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and
peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed
in white, with palm branches in their hands.” Among these were the unnamed,
unknown, and unacknowledged everyday saints who faced tough days and
responded with quiet, confident, persistent faith - - faith that their getting through
the tough times was an act of witness to the love of God.
There are other ways of describing saints. Paul’s letters to his churches often
begin with greetings to “those called to be saints,” and those greetings were
addressed to the entire congregation. In other words, to any and all Christians.
The word saint simply means “holy”: one like or set apart for God. Frederick
Buechner wrote, “A saint is a life giver...A saint is a human being with the same
sorts of hang-ups and abysses as the rest of us, but if a saint touches your life,
you become alive in a new way.”
Then there is the simple definition that says it all to me. It was first said by a
child who had been told that the figures in the stained-glass windows in the
church were saints: “A saint is someone the light shines through.”
We all have such saints in our lives. Perhaps it was a much-loved grandparent,
or admired mentor, or a friend who would not let us be less than God called us
to be. Such everyday saints help us to remember that it matters that we are
faithful, and they show us how to be faithful. We need them in our lives. We
need to know that we are not alone, that we are not little islands, that we are not
the first to feel the pounding of the sea, and that it is possible to stand firm
against the waves. We need to know that we are part of a great community of
saints who have kept the faith throughout history, as we continue to do so.
In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit,
those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers.
Jesus does not quantify or set thresholds. Blessed are those who mourn great
and small losses. Blessed are those who broker peace on the global stage and
around the dinner table. Jesus calls us to respond to whatever life gives,
whether it seems earth shattering or insignificant, with quiet, confident,
persistent faith that what we do in this life and how we do it matters, that there is
a connection between this life and the next.
After the Hymn of the Day, we will be affirming our faith with the words of the
Apostles’ Creed. In that creed we will be saying, “We believe in the communion
of saints,” that is, our communion with the saints. There is something real
between this world and the world to come, something that spans the gulf of time.
We have not “lost” those who have died. Rather they live now nearer to the
presence of God, beyond our immediate reach, yet connected to us through
memory, faith, and love.
None of us is such a saint that we can continue without support. We need the
communion of saints to remind us that we are blessed when we live as if the
love of God were the most important and most reliable reality in life. We need
the community, and the community needs us. With each other’s help, we can
live the life to which Jesus calls us, the life of God’s kingdom on earth,
tomorrow’s life today.
None of us ever does that perfectly. But enough of us do it enough of the time
that, over the centuries, the church has, through the daily life of its members as
much as through its preaching and teaching, been able nurture a distinctive
vision, a unique outlook on the world that results in a different kind of living in
the world.
Our heritage is summed up in the words of the first letter of John. “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 will purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
Keeping that hope alive is what the communion is all about, and it is why we
take time each year to reaffirm our connection with the family of faith, because
we want to be recognizable as children of God.
The celebration of All Saints Sunday reminds us that Christ’s body on earth and
in heaven, the Church and the saints, are not separate but are continuous; that
we are reaching toward the saints in imitating their lives. It gives us hope that
the heavenly vision of the saints, who see God as God is, will be our vision. And
it invites us to trust that God will shelter us and wipe away every tear from our
eyes. That God will there even when, perhaps especially when, we are just
having a difficult day. For, as Christians, we were never intended to go it alone.
We are not islands; we are part of the body of Christ. AMEN

HYMN OF THE DAY – For All the Saints (ELW #422)

ALL SAINTS’ DAY
It is our tradition to mark the first Sunday of November as a day to remember
those who have died in the past year. In Lutheran practice, we thank God for the
lives of the faithful departed, but we do not pray for the dead since they are
already in the hands of God. God remembers us all; this is our way of
remembering also.

REMEMBRANCE OF ALL SAINTS
P: Let us remember all the saints before God. We praise and bless you, O holy
Trinity. You have taught your church that it is an ageless communion of saints.
We thank you for gathering those who faithfully waited in hope for the
redemption you promised, and now for adding us who celebrate the love
of Christ for the redemption of the world. Prepare a place for us among those
who are already with you. Help us remember them as an encouragement to
saintly living, exciting us to love, in anticipation of an eternal reunion.
With them we praise and bless you, O holy Trinity.
C: Amen

P: Jesus says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart.
C: And you will find rest for your souls.

P: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
C: And you will find rest for your souls.

P: Today we remember those who have died and have been lovingly entrusted
to God’s care. We light a candle for each one as we read the names:
Iza Marja Bachman
Linda Bone
Barb & Reg Chilton
Jeff Haywood
Barbara Kress
Clay Leonard
Mike Pace
Jo-Anne Robichaud
Mary Margaret Schierbeck
Olive Siemon
And all those we remember in our hearts.

APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: United with the great cloud of witnesses, we offer our prayers for the church,
the world, and all of creation.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Larry
and Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also pray
for our neighbours in the Anglican Church of Canada, especially the people of
St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, London and their Rector, Rev. Rob Henderson,
and Bishop of Huron, Todd Townshend. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Fill your church with mercy and humility as we proclaim the gospel in our
worship and witness in the world. Renew and inspire all who preach and teach
among us. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Restore all lands suffering from ecological degradation. Protect soils and
waterways. Point us toward innovative ways of living in harmony and joy
with creation. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Unite the nations in their actions toward justice and peace. Raise up leaders
who listen deeply for the needs of their communities, that they may lead with
wisdom and discernment. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Bring comfort and care to all who are in need, especially all who mourn this
day. Sustain any who are weary, experiencing loneliness, or struggling with
chronic illness. We pray especially for Beth, Jean, Kristine, Karen, Emma, Cathy,
Lene, Lyra, Bud, Pastor Bob, Margaret, Johnny, Marion, and those others who
are in our hearts. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Nurture programs and communities that support elders and those who are
homebound. Bless caregivers, nurses, chaplains, social workers, and hospice
staff. Guide this congregation’s ministry with seniors and their families. God, in
your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Merciful God, we pray for peace as war continues in Ukraine and in the
Middle East. Shelter all living in fear; protect those seeking refuge in
neighbouring countries; sustain families separated by the horrors of war;
tend to those who are injured; comfort all who mourn their dead.
Direct your people into the way of peace. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: With grateful hearts we remember all who have died and now rest from their
labours. Fill us with songs of praise until we too are gathered at your side. God,
in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Into your steadfast love, faithful God, we entrust all for whom we pray, in the
name of Jesus, your beloved.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: 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;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

SENDING

BLESSING
P: The God of love draw you into full accord and one mind, in the body of Christ
Jesus.
C: Amen.

P: The God of hope grant you strength and joy in all circumstances through the
interceding of the Spirit.
C: Amen.

P: The God of grace + bless you now and forever.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – Holy God, We Praise Your Name (ELW #414)

DISMISSAL

A: Go out in joy. Be led forth in peace.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – The Lord Now Sends Us Forth (ELW #538)
Verse 1
The Lord now sends us forth
with hands to serve and give,
to make of all the earth
a better place to live. Repeat (2X)

Verse 2
The angels are not sent
into our world of pain
to do what we were meant
to do in Jesus' name;
that falls to you and me
and all who are made free.
Help us, O Lord, we pray,
to do your will today. Repeat (2X)