ZACHARY'S NOTES:

Stanza 1 // Christ came to earth to make all people part of His Church - His beloved bride - as this hymn [and Scripture] say. Where Jesus’ promise of forgiveness is present, the Church exists, and those who are without a shepherd have the Good Shepherd in Jesus’ promise.

Stanza 2 // When God gives His promise - whether through Christ or those He sends with the good news of the Gospel - those with ears to hear demand to know this promise. The church is “elect from every nation” and “yet one” because it is united in one Lord, one faith, and one birth - the promise of Christ given to sinners.

Stanza 3 // There is no rest in the world, even for those named as part of Christ’s Church. Being drafted as one of Jesus’ apostles did little to help the disciples’ cause - and this is still true today. Whatever “weeping” we suffer in this life, Christ gives us a “song” to sing - that we might know peace and comfort in Chirst, even as we strain to know Him in the struggles of this life.

Stanza 4 // This world does not offer the rest we desire. We long for rest from work, sickness, disease, and death. These are a small slice of the trials and tribulation in which we live. In the midst of these, Jesus promises victorious rest in His promise, that what we long for might be given freely by God’s grace.

Stanza 5 // The rest Christ promises is ours today, for we share the same promise with all who in the past have clamored for the word of the Lord, and now rest from their labors in Jesus Christ. The final cry of this hymn is not unlike the crowds who close in on Christ - “Lord, save us by your grace!”

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:

ELW 654 - The Church’s One Foundation - AURELIA

ELW 332/611 - I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - THIRD MODE MELODY // KINGSFOLD

ELW 604 - O Christ, Our Hope - LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN

ELW 607 - Come, Ye Disconsolate - CONSOLATOR

ELW 654 - The Church’s One Foundation - AURELIA

ELW 657 - Rise, O Sun of Righteousness - SONNE DER GERECHTIGKEIT

ELW 764 - Have No Fear, Little Flock - LITTLE FLOCK

ELW 789 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

LBW 300 - O Christ, Our Hope - LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN

LBW 369 - The Church’s One Foundation - AURELIA

LBW 476 - Have No Fear, Little Flock - LITTLE FLOCK

LBW 481 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

LBW 497 - I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - THIRD MODE MELODY

LSB 553 - O Christ, Our Hope - ICH SINGE DIR

LSB 644 - The Church’s One Foundation - AURELIA

LSB 684 - Come unto Me, Ye Weary - ANTHES

LSB 699 - I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - SARAH-ELIZABETH

LSB 711 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

LSB 735 - Have No Fear, Little Flock - LITTLE FLOCK

RH 88 - The Church’s One Foundation - AURELIA

RH 185 - Come, Ye Disconsolate - CONSOLATOR

RH 202 - Have No Fear, Little Flock - LITTLE FLOCK

RH 205 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

RH 241 - I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - THIRD MODE MELODY

ZACHARY'S NOTES:

Stanza 1 // For a hymn listed to be sung in celebration of All Saints’ Day, this text has much to teach us about what it means to be named a saint. At all times - most especially when “all around seems bleak” - saints rely solely on “God’s good promise” in life and death.

Stanza 2 // The hope of John the Baptist [and King Herod] is the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. This same hope has been given to us today, greater than all the kingdoms of the world, a “beacon ever bright” even when the world serves our head on a platter to those in power.

Stanza 3 // The concerns of this weekend’s cast of characters is what they want, what they desire, and their own preservation. John the Baptist lived [and died] as one who pointed in faith to Jesus Christ. This is what it means to show God’s love in all we say and do, that God’s concerns might be our own, and God’s love shown through the lives God gives.

Stanza 4 // With all the saints of our Lord’s Church, we share the One who is the “way, truth, and life” - and is their and our way through life and death! Whether saints of “ages past” or those “alive today” - we rely on God’s promise and give thanks to walk the way of faith God gives.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:

ELW 428 - Give Thanks for Saints - REPTON

ELW 418 - Rejoice in God’s Saints - LAUDATE DOMINUM

ELW 421 - By All Your Saints - KUORTANE [stanzas 1, 2 and/or 14, and Last]

ELW 424 - Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones - LASST UNS ERFREUEN

ELW 428 - Give Thanks for Saints - REPTON

ELW 429 - In Our Day of Thanksgiving - ST. CATHERINE’S COURT

ELW 776 - What God Ordains Is Good Indeed - WAS GOTT TUT

ELW 786 - O Holy Spirit, Enter In - WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET

ELW 812/813 - Faith of Our Fathers - ST. CATHERINE

LBW 175 - Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones - LASST UNS ERFREUEN

LBW 178 - By All Your Saints in Warfare - KING’S LYNN [stanzas 1, 15, and 3]

LBW 446 - What God Ordains Is Always Good - WAS GOTT TUT

LBW 459 - O Holy Spirit, Enter In - WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET

LBW 500 - Faith of Our Fathers - ST. CATHERINE

LSB 518 - By All Your Saints in Warfare - KING’S LYNN [stanzas 1, 2 and 18]

LSB 670 - Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones - LASST UNS ERFREUEN

LSB 760 - What God Ordains Is Always Good - WAS GOTT TUT

LSB 913 - O Holy Spirit, Enter In - WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET

RH 174 - Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones - LASST UNS ERFREUEN

RH 216 - Faith of Our Fathers - ST. CATHERINE

ZACHARY'S NOTES

Stanza 1 // God’s Word comes in the flesh to those who are bound to the ways of the earth to give a promise that will “pierce the darkness” - even to those who would reject Jesus Christ.

Stanza 2 // This promise is not new, but one of mercy God consistently gave to those who were both “blind and willful” - much as described in this weekend’s Gospel reading. Christ continually seeks those who do not want Him - even those who killed Him - that we might know the mercy of Almighty God.

Stanza 3 // God’s Word and promise is not only relevant in his hometown, and though unwelcomed by sinful hearts, God’s compassion is seen in the face of Christ, which extends through all ages that we might know the Lord’s unfair justice and abounding grace.

Stanza 4 // As this weekend’s reading concludes, so this hymn also ends with a call of sending to “every land and race” that “myriad tongues” may celebrate the gift of God in Jesus Christ.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

ELW 507 - O God of Light - ATKINSON

ELW 509 - God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage - EIN FESTE BURG

ELW 513 - Listen, God is Calling - NENO LAKE MUNGU

ELW 514 - O Word of God Incarnate - MUNICH

ELW 517 - Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word - ERHALT UNS, HERR

ELW 519 - Open Your Ears, O Faithful People - YISRAEL V’ORAITA

ELW 575 - In Christ Called to Baptize - ST. DENIO

ELW 579 - Lord, You Give the Great Commission - ABBOT’S LEIGH

ELW 675 - O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True - O JESU CHRISTE, WAHRES LICHT

ELW 737 - He Comes to Us as One Unknown - REPTON

LBW 230 - Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word - ERHALT UNS, HERR

LBW 231 - O Word of God Incarnate - MUNICH

LBW 239 - God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage - EIN FESTE BURG

LBW 380 - O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True - O JESU CHRISTE, WAHRES LICHT

LSB 523 - O Word of God Incarnate - MUNICH

LSB 582/582a - God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage - REUTER // EIN FESTE BURG [alternate]

LSB 655 - Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word - ERHALT UNS, HERR

LSB 833 - Listen, God is Calling - NENO LAKE MUNGU

LSB 836/836a - O God of Light - ATKINSON

LSB 839 - O Christ, Our True and Only Light - O JESU CHRISTE, WAHRES LICHT

RH 70 - God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage - EIN FESTE BURG

RH 71 - Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word - ERHALT UNS, HERR

RH 266 - From Greelnad’s Icy Mountains - MISSIONARY HYMN