Kristen and I traveled recently to attend a memorial service for Kristen’s grandmother. It took some maneuvers to align schedules, arrange details, and make sure that the dog would get fed. It was an investment and a worthy one at that. Rosalie’s faith in Christ still influences our family. It was an honor to go and remember and celebrate.
The Christian knows the value and the need to recall - to remember and celebrate the provisions that God has given to us in our state of dependence on Him. For instance, we remember Christ’s birth as we celebrate Christmas and His resurrection as we celebrate Easter. There are other celebrations as well. All Saints' Day has to do with God’s provision of a community of faithful believers who surround us from heaven even after they pass from earthly life to glory.
The writer of Hebrews anchors our pursuit of Christ in community when he exhorts his readers to “run the race” in part since “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...” (Hebrews 12:1). We’re not alone and God has given us the provision of those who have gone before us in the faith.
We will celebrate All Saints Day a week from Sunday. It is a time to pause, recall, and give thanks for this provision.
Charles Wesley makes an invitation to such a celebration with these words from one of his hymns: “Let saints on earth unite to sing, with those to glory gone, for all the servants of our King in earth and heaven, are one.”
Peace,
Justin+
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During our service Sunday, November 3 we will remember the saints, the people who during their earthly lives encouraged, nurtured, and inspired us with their faithful service and devotion to Jesus Christ.
We invite you to email a list of names to the church office by 2 PM, October 30, and they will be read aloud in our service, during the Prayers of the People.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." -- Hebrews 12:1-2