All Saints Day
Revelations 7: 9-17; Psalm 34: 1-10, 22; 1 John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12 Today we are celebrating All Saints Day. The old way of saying it was "All Hallow's Day" and so as we know, that is where we get the word “Halloween”, from “All Hallows' Eve”. This is a day to celebrate all the Christian saints, known and unknown. The first reference we have to the celebration of All Saints Day is from Ephrem the Syrian, who is from the area now known as Turkey, and lived in the 300’s. The day we recognize as the celebration of All Saints has shifted around the calendar a little bit. But it became solidly established in the very early 600s, and it has been a feast in the Christian church since then. Last week at the announcements I mentioned our new mission statement: "Reveal Jesus, encounter Christ, live His Word." An aspect of what we mean by "reveal Jesus" has to do with the saints. What we mean by "reveal Jesus" is about learning, understandi...