November 1, 2026
Sermon: “For All the Saints”
Scripture: Hebrews 12: 1 - 3
Reverend Betty Jo Sims
Invocation
Almighty and Loving God, please instruct us in the ways of humility and love. Help us to live in community with one another rather than in competition with each other. Give us your heart for serving our neighbor. Assure us of your abiding presence and release us from the hierarchies of this world. May your kingdom come with power and gentleness as we strive to live as embodied witnesses of the good news in Christ Jesus.
We have come together to praise God and to affirm our historic faith; to worship the God of our mothers and fathers. We have come to remember God’s benefits to us the living and to respond in thanksgiving to the mighty works of God in our lives. We have come to affirm our trust in the God of all futures, to whose name be blessing and honor, glory and power forever. Amen.
Scripture Hebrews 12: 1 - 3
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Revelation 7: 9-12, 17
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb….. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever…. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”
This is the word of God for the people of God ….
Thanks be to God.
Prayer
Gracious Lord, On this All Saints Sunday, we gather to remember teachers and storytellers who made God’s stories come alive for us. We remember choir members, praise bands, organists, and all the musicians who sang and played your praises. We remember preachers and lay leaders who led our worship through the years. We remember parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings who showed us how to hold fast to the faith.
We remember our church families – this one and others we have loved. We remember all those who have been a part of this faith family with whom we grew our faith and our love for God and neighbor.
We remember our ancestors in the faith whose courage enables us to be here today. We give thanks for the saints who came before us, are present here with us, and will continue after us. Thanks be to God! We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who brings us abundant life and everlasting joy.
Amen.
“For All the Saints”
Halloween is also known as “All Hallows' Eve,” or “All Saints' Eve.” It is a celebration observed in many countries on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day or All Saints Day.
It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
One theory holds that many Halloween traditions may have been influenced by ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which may have had pagan roots.
Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films.
the Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated in Mexico and elsewhere associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.
family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is commonly portrayed as a day of celebration rather than mourning.
Traditions connected with the holiday include building home altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using calaveras, aztec marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves.
All Saints' Day, also known as the Feast of
All Saints, is a Christian day celebrated in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on November 1 and commemorates the faithful departed. The Christian celebration of All Saints' Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the "Church triumphant"), and the living Church today.
In our Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around "giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints", including those who are "famous or obscure". As such, individuals throughout the Church Universal are honored, such as Paul the Apostle, Augustine of Hippo and John Wesley, in addition to individuals who have personally led us and others to faith in Jesus, such as our grandparents, family members and friends.
All Saints Day falls on Sunday this year. John Wesley considered it one of the greatest celebrations in the life of the church. in 1756, He said, “How superstitious are they who scruple giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints!” Year after year, he commented on the celebration of the saints. It was a festival John Wesley dearly loved.
We too love the remembrance of the saints of the church. Many congregations have different traditions for this celebration. But it seems especially pertinent to observe All Saints this year. It is possible that because of the pandemic and the safety regulations against gathering in large groups, that there have been church members, friends, and family members who have died and there was no opportunity to celebrate their lives in the past in our usual ways with services and celebrations of life.
Today’s All Saints Day is an opportunity for all of us to remember them together and to reclaim the hope of the Resurrection, as we acknowledge the legacy that remains from the blessed saints of the church and all who have gone on to glory before us and are a part of that great cloud of witnesses.
All Saints Day provides an opportunity to remember the promises of eternity. It is a way of looking through all that is surrounding us now into a future that looks significantly different. It is Not an escape. All Saints Day is a call to action,
to live into this possible future, the kingdom of God, where there is no hunger or thirst, and there is comfort for those who mourn and those who suffer so that they will find peace in the hands of God. Today is a day for hope. It is a grace to cling to in uncertain times.
John Wesley wrote in his journal, “Why do we neglect giving honor to the saints?” Why indeed? Because we do not notice them, I suspect. At least, that is part of the answer. We are not tuned into the saintly, or, at times, we are offended or scandalized by them. “Saintly” becomes a slur, in a way, or it becomes a way to dismiss someone.
Yet we are drawn to them, to those who seem saintly. We are drawn to those who have a secret knowledge or relationship we do not have. We are drawn to those who seem grounded, confident, at peace. We are in awe of, or a little afraid of, those we identify as saints. But should we be?
A saint, according to the New Testament anyway, is not someone who is flawless or a super believer or doer. A saint is one who claims Christ and then seeks to emulate him according to the grace given. In other words, all of us are, or can become, saints. All those who come to church or wish they could, all those who claim faith in Jesus, all those who struggle and fail, and all those who struggle and succeed—all of us, in other words. We are saints.
And so are those who worship with us. Those who drop their kids off for the church lock-in down the road. Those who stand in line with us at the potluck or in the grocery store. Those in our small groups and our committee meetings. Those who fold the bulletins, stuff the finance letters, make desserts and phone calls. Those who picked up the litter along the road and those who did not even notice it there. Those who sing the hymns, hear the words, and pray the prayers with us week by week. The saints are all around us. They are us.
That is not something we pay attention to very often. That is why we need a Sunday to stop and look up and see.
Part of what we see is that some are no longer here. Most folks equate All Saints with remembering the dead. And that is an important part of what we do together. But one of the reasons for doing that is to remind us to pay attention to the living as well. None of us are here forever. It would not hurt us to pay attention now and then to the saints all around us. They might have something to teach us. They might be able to help us with some knotty problem. They might add something to our lives - if we let them.
But what sorts of things do saints do? Follow Jesus! Well, yes, thank you, that is a big part of it. But can we itemize a little more helpfully? Make a list. And if you want a list, who else to turn to but Paul. This passage from Second Thessalonians is a good list of saintly activities. Short and sweet.
We are on a saint hunt; so be vewy, vewy quiet. Sorry, my inner Elmer Fudd came out for a moment. These few verses give us some quick pointers on identifying saints. The Thessalonians are worried, apparently, and need some reassurance.
Paul responds to their concerns by affirming them in glowing terms. And it is this affirmation that can give us the marks of a saint.
2 Thess 1: 3-4, “ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
First of all, Paul says, “Your faith is growing abundantly.” That is one mark of a saint, growing faith. How can we ensure that our faith is growing? Study and exercise, simple as that. Paul commends them for spending time studying their faith—in Sunday school or small groups—reading devotionally and academically, asking questions and testing themselves, and pushing the limits of knowledge and experience in a way that breathes new life and sustenance into their souls. “We give thanks to God,” writes Paul, “because your faith is growing abundantly.” A saint is one who wants to learn more.
Second, Paul writes that “the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing.” That is rather convoluted phrasing, but it means they were acting out their faith in real ways. They were caring for one another; they were including; they were inviting; they were tending and healing and comforting and lifting up. They made up a body that truly loved one another.
What an amazing thing. Just think what would happen if everyone who visited our church came away convinced that we loved one another, not just tolerated one another or occupied the same space as one another but genuinely loved one another in a way that would include anyone who walked in as a potential “other” who would be loved.
Wouldn’t that be transforming? Wouldn’t that guest be likely to come back to experience that love again? We would certainly hope so. “Your love is increasing,” writes Paul. You are discovering new expressions, new ways of loving, and new ways to reach out and connect
with one another to make a difference in someone else's life. A saint is one who wants to love more.
Then Paul writes that he boasts “of your steadfastness and faith” even when things are going wrong. He was commending the church for staying true to the image of Christ within them even when it was not easy.
Now let’s look at verses 11-12. “ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul is reminding them that they are still works in progress. God will make you worthy, and God will fulfill every work within you. God is still at work in saints; they - and we - are never a finished product. A saint is someone who wants to be more.
The amazing thing is that they are all around us. They are us. Some have gone on, and we miss them. But many are still here, just under the radar. We would see them if we paid a little more attention. If we would just stand firm and hold fast with love increasing, we might find that there are saints abounding among us.
We are called to stand strong on the rock of faith and let His love lift us all. Every day. We look toward the multitudes who have gone before us as a promise and a beacon of light in our darkness. These are the ones we celebrate and honor by how we live.
Paul says, "Go find Christ in the world." Go find the one you love, the one who loves you, focus on that, and you will know joy. The fruit of the Spirit is love that then brings us into joy, the joy of the Lord, always. Always. Let us continue to open our hearts as God shapes us to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.
In the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Beloved, we are God’s children now, but what we will be in the fullness of our time has not been revealed. What we do know is this: we will be like Jesus the Christ and saints of God.
Let us consider how Jesus was revealed among us
and pray to be more like the Christ in every way.
Jesus embodied the unconditional love of God…
Jesus fed those who were hungry… Jesus drew near to those living on the margins and excluded…
Jesus brought healing and wholeness to those in need… Jesus hungered and thirsted for righteousness… We pray, may we be more like Jesus.
Beloved, through the love shown to us by Jesus,
we can be sure that we are God’s children now.
The Spirit of Christ is among us in this gathering,
and the nature of Christ is revealed within us.
We are becoming more and more like Christ each day, Living witness to the good news of God’s grace. Therefore, let us live joyfully as God’s people, saints and instruments of God’s way.
O God, hear our prayers and answer them as you know is best for us, We know that those who call upon your Name rejoice.
Join us as we pray for these ….. our police officers, EMTs & firefighters, our doctors, nurses, and medical technicians and staff, all in our military service & their families, our nation, our church, all unspoken prayer concerns, people of Ukraine & Russia, the Middle East, Cuba & Venezuela, Japan, Nepal, all victims of violence, those who suffer grief and the death of loved ones
Give us a new peace this day. Help us to pray and listen for you. Now may we boldly pray together the prayer you taught us - - saying
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, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.