Those Who Weep Will Be Comforted

November 2, 2025 All Saint’s Day Luke 6:20-31 Those who weep will be comforted Year C Prelude Greeting Introit Invitation to Worship A thousand days are but a moment to God; All flesh is grass, and withers away. Still we treasure our days with those whom we love, And reluctantly give them back to God. On this day, we thank God for the saints in our lives. Let us worship God. In the beginning, God called the world into being, saying, “Let there be light!” In the fullness of time, Jesus came from God to us, saying, “I am the Light of the world.” In our everyday life, we see the work of the saints, The ones in whom God’s light shines. So let us give thanks for the saints this day, And let us worship God. We gather this morning to remember our call: To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. We bring with us the events of the week in the world and in our lives, Trying to know how to be just and loving and humble in the midst of it all. We gather here, and see those who are doing justice, who are kind beyond measure, who set the example for humility. With gratitude for living saints, with thankfulness for the purpose of faith, let us worship God. “Written by Beth Merrill Neel on her blog, ‘Hold Fast to What Is Good’. Used with permission. Song For all the Saints UMH 711 A Sermon for all Ages 🌿 Children’s Moment: “Seeds of Love” (Props: a fresh pomegranate and a small bowl or plate) Opening (Hold up the pomegranate.) Good morning, everyone! Do you know what this is? That’s right — it’s a pomegranate! It’s a fruit that’s full of hundreds of tiny red seeds. You can’t tell from the outside, but when you open it up, you find that all the good things — the juicy, sweet seeds — are hidden inside. Connecting Story A long time ago, people told a story about a mother named Demeter who loved her daughter Persephone very, very much. One day, Persephone had to go away for a while, and Demeter was so sad that she stopped making things grow. But after a time, Persephone came back — and when she did, flowers bloomed again and the world was full of life. It’s a story that reminds us something important — that love never really goes away. Even when someone we love has to go to heaven, that love is still here, like seeds planted in the ground. And God helps those seeds grow into kindness and memories that keep blooming in our hearts. Faith Connection Today is All Saints Day — a special Sunday when we remember people who loved us and taught us about God. Some of them might be in heaven now. We may miss them — and that’s okay. Jesus said, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” That means God is close to us when we are sad. Just like this pomegranate, our love for others is full of seeds — seeds that can grow into acts of kindness, generosity, and joy. Closing (Gently tap the pomegranate or scoop out a few seeds.) Each seed is like a memory, or a piece of love we can share. Maybe one seed is helping a friend. Another is saying “I love you.” Another is remembering Grandma or Grandpa and smiling when we think of them. Every seed of love we plant helps God make the world a little brighter. Let’s pray: “Dear God, thank you for the people we love and the people we miss. Help us plant seeds of love and kindness every day, until we see them again in your heavenly garden. Amen.” Scripture Luke 6:20-31 Sermon Those who weep will be comforted Here’s a 10-minute All Saints Day sermon based on Luke 6:20–31 (“Blessed are you who weep now… love your enemies… do to others as you would have them do to you”), weaving in the story of Demeter and the pomegranate as a tender reflection on grief and love. (Sermon totally generated by ChatGPT version 5) Sermon Title: “The Blessing Hidden in Our Tears” Scripture: Luke 6:20–31 Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” These are strange blessings—words that reach into the ache of human life. Jesus is not blessing pain for its own sake, but the deep, transforming love that pain can uncover. On All Saints Day, when our hearts remember those we have lost, these blessings speak directly to the mystery of grief and grace. The Story of Demeter and the Pomegranate There’s an old Greek story about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, and her daughter Persephone. One day Persephone is taken to the underworld by Hades. Demeter’s grief is so vast that the earth itself stops producing grain; nothing grows, the world turns cold. Eventually, Zeus intervenes, and Persephone is allowed to return—but because she has eaten six pomegranate seeds in the underworld, she must spend six months each year below and six months above. So the seasons were born—winter and spring, death and rebirth, grief and joy intertwined. It’s an ancient story, not Christian, but it tells a deep truth we know too well: love and loss cannot be separated. Where there is deep love, there will be deep grief. And where there is grief, love still lingers—ripening like seeds in the dark earth. Once there was a beautiful young girl called Persephone. Her mother was Demeter, the Goddess of the growing things. Demeter and her daughter lived in a world where it was always summer. Green things were always blooming and the sun shone warm and sweet. One day while she was out with her friends, Persephone felt a trembling beneath her feat and heard a rumbling. The ground split open and Hades, God of the underworld, appeared driving a chariot. He snatched Persephone and took her back into the earth with him. The ground closed up again with a huge roar and all that was left of Persephone was a bunch of flowers on the ground. Demeter searched everywhere, but she could not find her daughter. For days and days she looked for Persephone. Her grief was so great that the earth began to grow cold and all the green things died. There was no food, and a terrible hunger came to the people. In the underworld, meanwhile, Persephone came to see that Hades wasn’t as scary as she first thought. He had been so lonely in the underworld, he told her of his longing to keep her there with him. Persephone missed her mother and the bright world above ground. But her new status as Queen of the underworld and her love for Hades gave her reason to stay with him. She believed that she had important work to do deep under the ground. Persephone knew that if she ate or drank anything in the underworld, she would have to stay there forever. Even though Hades begged her too have just a sip, or one bite of food, she didn’t’. Demeter had finally learned where Persephone was. She insisted that she be returned to her. Hades sadly hitched his horses to his chariot and prepared to take Persephone back. But before they left, he offered Persephone one last thing to eat – a ripe, blood red pomegranate. Looking him in the eye, Persephone took six seeds and ate them. They went back above ground, up through a crack in the earth. Persephone threw herself into her mothers arms, joyous to be reunited. The earth again grew rich with flowers and the sun shone once more. But, because Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, it was decided that for six months of each year, she must return to the underworld with Hades, on Mabon, and winter would come to the world. In spring she would once again return to her mother, allowing the earth to bloom. The Blessing of Those Who Weep When Jesus says, “Blessed are you who weep now,” he is not denying the pain of Demeter’s winter or our own. He is naming it as sacred ground. The tears of those who love are holy. The ache we feel for the saints—our family members, our friends who have gone before us—is the measure of the love they left behind. And in God’s mysterious way, that love never dies. It goes down like a seed into the soil, and in time, it grows again—perhaps as peace, perhaps as kindness, perhaps as the courage to love others more deeply. Love That Keeps Returning Every spring in the story, Persephone rises again. Every spring, Demeter’s joy returns. And every time we remember the saints, tell their stories, laugh at their quirks, or carry on their compassion—we are seeing resurrection break through our winter. This is why Jesus calls us to love our enemies, do good, bless those who curse us. Because love—real, generous, risky love—is the only thing that survives the grave. It’s the only thing that can transform mourning into hope. A Word for the Grieving If you are missing someone today, if the world feels colder without them, hear this: Your tears are not weakness—they are seeds. Every act of love, every memory cherished, every kindness done in their name becomes part of God’s great harvest of life. The saints are not gone; they are with God. And God is with you—in the kitchen where you set one less plate, in the quiet moments where memory catches your breath, in the laughter that surprises you when you thought you could only cry. Closing Demeter’s grief turned to spring when her daughter returned. Our hope turns to joy when we remember that in Christ, love never leaves us. The saints we remember today live in the fullness of that love. And someday, when God makes all things new, we too will rise—like seeds breaking through the dark earth into the light. “Blessed are you who weep now,” says Jesus, “for you will laugh.” Amen. (ChatGPT 5) Song Kum Ba Yah (sing twice) UMH 494 Stewardship Moment As followers of Jesus, we claim our intention to learn from him, to claim him as our Lord, as the Christ, as the Master of our lives. If that’s our true identity, one way to demonstrate who we are is to see if our giving reflects what’s most important to us. If you were to check out your giving statement from the church, or the record on your credit card statement, or the graph of how your expenses are divided by category, you would have a visual description of what your dollars declare is important. As we remember “the saints” today, I’m grateful for ________________. (Use someone from your congregation who was a faithful giver or adapt this to fit your situation: “I’m grateful for my own parents who taught us not only with their words, but with their weekly offering checks and their end-of-life proclamations and legacy gifts.”) Today, we celebrate the giving of you saints! Prayer of Thanksgiving Alleluia! We give you praise, God of all life, for these gifts, and for the saints who are gathered to share in this offering. Receive this collection. Call each of us to your life and your service in the coming days, that together we might remember Jesus, and seek to live out his ministry each day of our lives. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Litany of Remembrance and Celebration (Print) Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “What the heart once owned and had, it shall never lose.” Tonight we remember those whom our hearts have owned and had, and whom we know we will never lose. We recall those who have touched our lives in such a way that we will never be the same. We are grateful for the ways in which they have blessed our lives. We lite candles in memory of those who gave us the gift of life. We honor those who gave us birth and nurtured us, those who endowed us with a heritage and raised us. We remember mothers and fathers, grandparents and great-grandparents, and all our ancestors through the ages. We remember also those who were as mother or father to us, loving us by choice rather than chance. We lite candles in memory of those who have linked us into the ongoing chain of family life. We honor those who have shared our heredity and who have experienced our common bonds. We remember sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, relatives near and distant through time. We lite candles in memory of those who have walked beside us in so many ways. We remember those who have worked with us and played with us, who made our time on earth more enjoyable and our experiences in the world more memorable. We remember friends and co-workers and neighbors who lifted us and expanded our horizons. We lite candles in memory of those to whom we ourselves passed on the precious gift of life. We hold dear in our hearts those we have held dear in our arms. We remember children who have gone before us, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We remember those who lived only within the womb, those who lived a very brief time after birth, as well as those who lived on this earth for any number of years. We lite candles for those who have died In disasters, wars and violence of the world. For those who have sacrificed their lives so that we could have ours, For those whom we hold within our hearts. Robert koornneef A Service of Remembrance Invitation to Communion (Do not print words) The invitation is simple: come! Eat here, sharing in this feast. Not a meal to nourish the body, but more than enough to feed the soul. We receive the bread and wine connected to the ages: to the saint of old who felt unworthy, to the seeker eager to know God, to the teenager who wonders what it’s all about, to the child who eats with unburdened faith. Woven into this time, the tears and the hopes of generations. Come! No one will be turned away, for we know God as our Creator, Jesus the Christ as our host and the power of God’s Spirit to gather us in. Come! Remembering John Muir, renowned naturalist, who spoke of “great thousand-year days” experienced when hiking in the Sierras: Today, at this table, we share a thousand-year moment; for here we’re not just with one another in this sanctuary, but we’re surrounded by the “great cloud of witnesses” from Paul and Lydia on to the children among us. Communion. Page 13 THE GREAT THANKSGIVING FOR ALL SAINTS AND MEMORIAL OCCASIONS This text is used by the pastor while the congregation uses A Service of Word and Table II (UMH 13–15) or III (UMH 15–16) or one of the musical settings (UMH 17–25). The pastor stands behind the Lord's table. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. The pastor may lift hands and keep them raised. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty (almighty God), Creator of heaven and earth: God of Abraham and Sarah, God of Miriam and Moses, God of Joshua and Deborah, God of Ruth and David, God of the priests and the prophets, God of Mary and Joseph, God of the apostles and the martyrs, God of our mothers and our fathers, God of our children to all generations. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: The pastor may lower hands. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The pastor may raise hands. Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread, or touch the bread, or lift the bread. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the cup, or touch the cup, or lift the cup. When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." The pastor may raise hands. And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. LORD’S PRAYER The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread and cup. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. The pastor may raise hands. Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those whom we name before you— Name(s) —(in our hearts). Silence may be kept for the remembrance of names. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God), now and for ever. Amen. Copyright: “The Great Thanksgiving for All Saints and Memorial Occasions” Copyright© 1972 The Methodist Publishing House; Copyright © 1980, 1981, 1985 UMPH; Copyright © 1986 Abingdon Press; Copyright © 1987, 1989, 1992 UMPU. Used by permission.” Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May God grant you grace, that in pain you may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection. Amen – From United Methodist Book of Worship, Service of Death and Resurrection, pg. 142 Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benedictions Go into the world as the living body of Christ, bringing eternal life to all who seek God’s face. Amen. (Psalm 24, Revelation 21) Additional Illustrations There is a sound, God, when grief spills from the corner of an eye, and stains the earth with its wetness. It is not a quiet sound, although it may be difficult to hear, and it is not a strange sound; we know its compelling rhythms all too well, because it is, after all, the sound of your voice. You fill every tear with your nail-scarred presence, and breathe into every gasp, your comforting Spirit. And in every broken voice, you call, inviting us to find you in the weeping. Thank you for the grace that shouts in the pain of our world, and that teaches us to listen for life in the sound of tears.

For All The Saints

All Saints Day November 6, 2022 Luke 6:20-31 For all the Saints Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship One: Come, a great cloud of witnesses surrounds us as we gather. Many: May the lingering echo of saints resound in our songs. One: May their stories open a space for the Spirit to enter us anew. Many: In remembering them, may we find ourselves re-membered. One: May the God of every generation form us anew for this generation. Many: And may a new joy rise in our lives and in the life of the world. ( United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Bob Cross) Invocation God of every age and time, inspire us today with memories of saints whose energy still lingers, hovering around and within as encouragement and strength. Wrap us anew with a felt sense of your persistent presence, granting a new energy to offer You everything of our hearts, minds and souls. Yes, Love of Life, root us and ground us in this. And let it be more than enough for today, as we gather in the name of Jesus. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, The Rev. Dr. Bob Cross) Song For All the Saints UMH 711 Children’s Sermon Full Children’s Sermon: Good morning children. Many churches celebrate this Sunday as “All Saints Day.” On this day we remember all the believers in the family of God that have gone before us, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and others that we read about in the bible as well as the many other men and women of God who were disciples of Jesus Christ down through the ages. I want to say more about this but first I wanted to show you something I brought from home. (Hold up your family photo album.) Do you know what this is? That’s right. It’s my family picture album. I’d love to show it to you. Look at this elderly man here. This is my grandfather Ernie. He was a wonderful man. He had a bad leg because he was injured in the war but he worked very hard on his orchard growing apples. I’ve always been inspired by how much he loved us and how he was such a hard worker. And here is my grandmother MacKinnon. In the summers we used to go with her to the lake. She was very caring and looked after us if we ever got hurt. I often look at this photo album because it reminds me of family members I used to know and even one that I never got to meet because they died before I was born. (Put down the photo album and hold up your bible.) Do you know what this book this is? Right, it’s a bible. I like reading the bible too. As believers in Jesus Christ we are all part of the family of God. The bible is a book about members of the family of God that goes back many, many years. (Open up the bible.) This part of the bible talks about a man names Abraham who had great trust in God. This part talks about Moses who led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. This part talks about God’s son Jesus and about the disciples, John, James, Peter, etc. We call them Saints. Saints are people who have been “set apart” for God’s holy / special purposes. In a sense we are all saints, but we like to specially remember them because they knew Jesus and were the first to follow him. What I want you to understand is that these Saints that are mentioned in the bible are really part of our family – the family of God. So you see that the bible is like our family album. It tells the story of great men and women of faith in the family of God; the same faith family that we belong to! Children’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the many and wonderful saints that followed Jesus down through the ages. Help us to follow their good examples and to remember what a blessing it is to be in the same family of faith. We ask this in Jesus’ name – Amen! Feel free to use this story on Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus.com and consider linking to this site. Thank you. A.H. Prayer for Transformation and New Life Loving God, Grant me grace to release everything too much or too little into your transforming fire of refinement. Sear in me the strength of your saints – generous and gentle, focused and fierce – just enough to answer every devilish temptation distracting or denying Your Holy hope for my re-formation. Yes, Love, form me anew from the inside out, centering others ahead of every selfishness that dares me to choose anything less than You. Release me from the burdens and brokenness of my own making, that I may be readied to meet You in every ordinary saint whose path crosses mine in the gift of this day. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins) Words of Grace Hear the good news! Jesus tells us that the Holy One is a God of grand reversals. Weeping turns to rejoicing, hunger is answered with fullness, honesty of heart is answered with grace upon grace. Every energy that diminishes is interrupted with a newness of life made possible by the One who is always searching us out with forgiving love. In Jesus, God revealed that grace and forgiveness has already arrived, and it includes you and me. It is the Good News! You can trust it with your life. The saints knew it and now you do, too. Thanks be to God! Amen and Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins) Scripture Luke 6:20-31 Sermon For all the Saints I am convinced that one of the most deadly illnesses in the world is grief. It makes all of the other things in life that we deal with so much worse. When we suffer a loss, and that loss starts to live in our thoughts and in our bodies it can take its toll on us. We all suffer loss, we all have an experience with death. All of us are dealing with unresolved grief. So as we take the time to honor those whom we have lost this year, our grief and sense of loss is real. So it may seem ironic that our scripture for today is about how to be happy. But Luke 6 speaks more of a holy happiness – not the emotion of happiness. Happiness in the midst of struggle. Finding Peace, justice, and wellbeing – when things in life don’t support that. Happy – what does that mean? What does it mean to be happy? What does it take for you to be happy? What does being happy have to do with serving God? Jesus must have given some thought to that same question. There are two different stories of how Jesus answers that question. The first story of how Jesus answers that question is in the book of Matthew – given in what is called the Sermon on the Mount. After Jesus calls his disciples – he takes them up on a mountain top and tells them what it means to be a happy Christian. He gives them 8 condition of what it means to live a blessed life – called the 8 beatitudes. In Luke, Jesus also talks about the beatitudes in Luke - But this time after going up on the mountain to pray – he comes down to level ground to speak with the people. In Luke this sermon is called the sermon on the plain. Jesus gives 4 blessings, but he also gives 4 woes. Four statements of how life should be, and four statements the life we should be wary of. He is telling us that there are two kinds of happiness in the world. One has lasting consequences, and one does not. There is the happiness that the world gives, and there is a holy happiness – that we can only get from being connected to God. The word beatitude is a latin word – that means blessing. The old testament gives several beatitude list – the 10 commandments are a sort of statement of blessings. I have decided that I will wait until I preach on Matthews list of beatitudes before I get on my soap box about the true meaning of being blessed. Because Luke’s sermon the plain has a slightly different meaning. In this context – the word beatitude is closer the to latin meaning of the word – meaning happiness. Happiness as a tangible condition of life. Matthew uses a more spiritual definition of the word. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who are sad for they shall be comforted. Luke uses a concrete, economic definition that applies to the lives of those who have gathered to hear Jesus. Happy are those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who cry and those who are rejected. Those are the 4 conditions in Luke for being blessed. That would have been 99% of the people who were on the plain listening to these words. They had nothing, they lived hand to mouth everyday, and there was no hope things would ever change. A family had sold everything possible to pay bills and to put food on the table. Nevertheless, a burglar broke in one night when the family was gone. The family returned and found the door knocked off its hinges. "œWhat did the burglar get?" the police officer asked. The head of the house just shook his head. "œPractice," he said. It's not easy being poor. What did Jesus mean, "œBlessed are the poor?" A quote from Helen Keller sums of Jesus point best. She said that blessings in life don’t have anything to do with our condition in life. Life can be full of suffering, but it also can be full of overcoming – that is holy happiness.are Luke gets even more direct about the difference between worldly happiness and holy happiness. Because he gives 4 blessings, but he also gives 4 woes. Woe to those who are rich, woe to those who are filled woe to those who are laughing now, woe to those who are popular. You have received your blessing and will receive nothing more. The word for woe is an interesting Greek word – meaning consolation. – or paid in full. In other words, those who have in this life have received their reward, and there is nothing else for them to receive. But those who rely on God – shall receive their blessing from God. There is more to come. Is Luke saying that we should strive to be poor, and that there is something wrong with being rich. Not exactly. He is just telling us that there is a difference between worldly happiness and holy happiness? What does happiness mean to you? Where does your happiness come from. Which list describes your condition in life? Poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, reviled defamed? Or rich full, laughing, well thought of? There is a true story about a Quaker who put up a sign on the vacant piece of land next to his house. It read: This Land Will Be Given To Anyone Who Is Truly Satisfied. A wealthy farmer who was riding by stopped to read the sign and said to himself, “Since I have all I need as a wealthy man, I certainly qualify. I might as well claim the land.” He approached the Quaker to seal the deal. “And art thou truly satisfied?” the Quaker inquired. “I am, indeed. I have all that I need.” “Friend,” said the Quaker, “if thou art satisfied, what dost thou want the land for?” We can all be hungry for a better world. We can pray for the day when all will be taken care of. We can consider ourselves happy in all circumstance. If our happiness comes from God, not from others. Our scripture goes on to give us a second even stronger message. Not only are we called to recognize our own need and dependence upon God. We are called to recognize the need and vulnerability of others. And then to offer to them, through our lives, the rich soil of compassion and justice. We are called to be in solidarity with the poor, the hungry, with those who are weeping. We are called to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Biblical scholars point out that the Beatitudes are what is called a “performative word.” These predictions about blessedness are not going to happen — they are already happening. This is not about what might be. This is about what is. This is God’s agenda, God’s vision, God’s kingdom. The reality described by the Beatitudes will happen, is happening, whether we choose to be part of it or not. Only a few of us are called to be the poor. A few more of us are called to work with the poor. But all of us are called to be for the poor — because that’s what it means to be God’s people. My friends, our scripture readings for today remind us that “human happiness” and “holy happiness” are often two different kinds of reality. Jesus is suggesting that “blessing” is more than enjoying ourselves. The goal of life is more than self-fulfillment. And prosperity is more than getting what we want. Happiness is to be open to God. Blessedness is to be fully alive and in harmony with God’s ways both in the good times and the bad. Let us be comforted and instructed by the words of the psalmist: Happy are those who delight in the Lord. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. (Psalm 1) (Susan Andrews – the sermon Holy Happiness) We come together today to remember that true happiness comes in living together, supporting one another, and working for a world where all are given true peace, justice and wellbeing. Coming together today will not take away our grief. We are a part of a community that has worked for that goal since the beginning of time and our work is not done. Saints are those who participate in that work. The candles that we light remind us of their presence, their example, their work. Let their light lead us and inspire us to continue to stand, to be the saints of God. Who in all time and in all things bring God’s Kingdom to earth. Song My Hope is Built UMH 368 All Saint’s Day Prayer Bless the many parted souls who lived their lives with grace. Bless the saints in heaven, gathered in that special place. May we tell their stories and remember all the ways they lived their faith and spent their days. There is glory and reward, even if at first there’s strife. Oh, blessed saints, you help us see a path that’s to eternal life. May we always hold them dear and know their life and place. May we know their inspiration and aspire to their grace. (Loyola Press) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (Don’t Print) In Ephesians 1, believers are reminded we 1) are adopted as God’s children 2) are given forgiveness and redemption through Christ 3) are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. What an inheritance we’ve received! We also have a history of receiving financial inheritances from those who have loved this church over our history. As we celebrate All Saint’s Day, we remember these who have provided an inheritance for the on-going witness of this church. (You might name 3 or 4 specific names, especially if they would be remembered by many, or if their gifts are events/spaces/rooms named for them.) While weekly, monthly and annual financial gifts are necessary, the financial gifts offered by earlier saints provide examples of ways we, too, might provide an inheritance for this fellowship. (If you have a flier in the bulletin or a slide on the screen with information about how to create such a gift, call attention to it now.) Know this community of faith will celebrate your decision! For each gift, given today, or planned for years from now, we are grateful. Let us joyfully offer our gifts. Prayer of Thanksgiving (Print) Loving God, thank you for the inheritance you provide for each of us. We ask you to accept these gifts of gratitude. Help us use them wisely and well to extend your Realm on earth. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Remembering our Saints Prayer UMH 713 Candle Lighting Service Communion UMH 13 Invitation to Communion (Don’t Print) (consider using CH#649, “Give Thanks for Life” as a communion hymn. While not explicitly focused on communion, it uses language of “thanks”, provides images of light from Christ, and wheat as a sign of resurrection) Around this table, we’ve come to break bread, to drink from the cup, to remember – and to anticipate. Like a diamond, this ritual includes a multitude of facets. Today, we focus on thanksgiving and memory. With memory, we call to this present moment the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. With thanksgiving, we share simple sips of juice and morsels of bread as signs/emblems of Jesus blood and body. But with eyes of memory, we also see and call to mind loved ones no longer present, who shared bread in the past around this very table (perhaps invite people to name one or more – aloud or in silence –). And with an attitude of gratitude, we give thanks that this meal is a rehearsal for the banquet to which Jesus invites all. So let us feast! Communion (don’t print) This text is used by the pastor while the congregation uses A Service of Word and Table II (UMH 13–15) or III (UMH 15–16) or one of the musical settings (UMH 17–25). The pastor stands behind the Lord's table. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. The pastor may lift hands and keep them raised. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty (almighty God), Creator of heaven and earth: God of Abraham and Sarah, God of Miriam and Moses, God of Joshua and Deborah, God of Ruth and David, God of the priests and the prophets, God of Mary and Joseph, God of the apostles and the martyrs, God of our mothers and our fathers, God of our children to all generations. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: The pastor may lower hands. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The pastor may raise hands. Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread, or touch the bread, or lift the bread. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the cup, or touch the cup, or lift the cup. When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." The pastor may raise hands. And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread and cup. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. The pastor may raise hands. Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those whom we name before you— Name(s) —(in our hearts). Silence may be kept for the remembrance of names. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God), now and for ever. Amen Copyright: “The Great Thanksgiving for All Saints and Memorial Occasions” Copyright© 1972 The Methodist Publishing House; Copyright © 1980, 1981, 1985 UMPH; Copyright © 1986 Abingdon Press; Copyright © 1987, 1989, 1992 UMPU. Used by permission.” Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go forth from this time of worship as a flowing stream through a parched desert, pouring the love of God upon the hearts and lives of all you meet so that hope might take root and blossom. As you go, know that the God who created you, the Christ who redeems you and the Spirit who empowers you is with you today and ever more. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Bob Cross) Community Time Benediction Beloved of God, trust that the Holy One still forms saints. They might be standing next to you. They might just be you. Trust that God has formed your life to be part of something larger than you could possibly imagine. So go, anticipating that God is already blessing you to bear good news into the world. Yes! Yes! Yes! Amen and Amen! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins) Additional Illustrations

Re-member

All Saints Day
Remembering so that we can move forward
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31
Year C



Poem to Remember

Always remember to forget the things that made you sad, but never forget to remember the things that made you glad. Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but don’t forget to remember those who have stuck by you. Always remember to forget the troubles that have passed away. But never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

Definition of Remember
The dictionary definition of remember is to re memor (memoir) – to bring back to mind, to be aware of, to rethink, to look back upon.
But there is a deeper meaning – to literally re –member. We live such fractured lives, where our thoughts are all over the place. We remember the past, not as it happened, but as it is convenient. We remember people with sorrow – for what we should have done, and not for what we do. We can get so caught up on what needs to be done, that we forget to look at the blessings that God has given us in today. I heard a saying that tomorrow is a date on a fool’s calendar. In our fractured state, we worry about what we will do when we have more money, more time, more understanding, never realizing that day will never come. All that we have is today – and who we are and what we have.
Remembering is the task of re membering our lives. Taking all of the parts of ourselves and putting them in one place. Taking our past and our future and making a strong connection with the present. That is all that we have to work with.

History of Englewood
Since coming to Englewood church, I have been fascinated in researching the history of the church. If learning of the young pastor who came on the train to meet someone, they didn’t show up and he realized that there was not a Methodist church in the area, so he gathered the Methodist families and started one. Then there was the newsletter article from the 20’s or 30’s which said the Negros are coming, and a challenge to the church to reach out to them. The building of the new facility in the late 50’s early 60’s as the neighborhood was changing and the facility was starting to age and need care.
I even had a facebook friend who emailed me from Iowa to tell me that a member of his church, James Beebe was also pastor of this church. It was funny because he assumed that because he was pastor in 1910, he must have been the founder of the church. It was fun to email him back to say that this man was five years old when Englewood was founded, so he could not be the founder. Rev. Beebe had a pretty distinguished career, he died pretty early at about 56, but he went on to become president of several seminaries and I think even a district superintendent. And it looks like he had been brought into the conference specifically to run a 1000 member church. He pastured Englewood in its heyday.
In reading the 25th anniversary booklet, Rev. Beebe makes a very powerful statement. It was a celebration of the church and the Sunday school. He say, “It is one thing to be proud of the achievements of our predecessors. It is another thing so to achieve that our predecessors would be proud of us. Let us manifest our pride in the history of our Sunday school, not by boastful words, but by service in our day as faithful and conscientious as the past ever knew. So we too shall enter into the joy of our Lord – and our successors.”
What a wonderful statement of what it means to remember. To connect who we are and what we do in the future, not only with the past, but also with Christ, and the saints that he commissioned before us.

Vision
I was so impressed with his statement, that as I get more and more familiar with Englewood, and I develop the vision and mission for ministry in this area – that is my foundational goal. To remember what was done here in the past, but to create a future that achieves just as much and makes the saints proud.
Ephesians says that in Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were first to set our hope on Christ.
We have inherited a purpose, a plan and a hope. We are all saints – people who have been chosen by god for a holy purpose. We have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit – which gives us ability to recognize that God is with us at every moment of our lives, the ups and the downs. Christ is not only the ruler of our lives, but the example of what it means to live holy. The church is a group of saints that have been chosen by god and who belong to Christ.

What it means to be a saint
Being a saint has nothing to do with whether we are good or bad, or even if we are dead or alive, God has different categories than that. It is about whether we listen to the Holy Spirit and we devote our lives to discipleship and service. We are not concerned with making a name for ourselves in the world, but in the eyes of our ancestors who taught us the ways of God.

Discipleship and Service
The second text for today is called the sermon on the plain. Matthew has the Sermon on the Mount that we are familiar with. In Luke Jesus gives 4 blessings to the oppressed, but he also gives 4 woes to those of us who forget to be in discipleship and service to Christ and those whom Christ blesses. You heard it in the new Revised Standard Version, so I will give it to you in another version. Rev. Eugene Peterson, wrote a version of the bible in modern language, called the Message – and once you have the literal version, it breaks it down.
Luke 6: 24-26 says
There is trouble ahead if you think you have made it. What you have is all you ‘ll ever get. And its trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself, your self will not satisfy you for ling, and it is trouble ahead if your think life is all fun and games, there’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it. There is trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others saying what flatters them doing what indulges them. Popularity contest are not truth contest. Look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors. Your task is to be true, not popular.
Usually on all saints day – we spend a lot of time remembering the blessings, remembering that our tears of loss for our loved ones will be comforted, remember that is we are peaceful we will be blessed. Remembering that in our sadness we will be blessed. Remembering is not task of feeling, it is a task of action and work. I think that it is honoring the woes – the trouble ahead that we really honor the saints who gave their lives before us. It remind us of the work in the present that we have to do. Of who we have to be to honor their lessons and to honor the lessons of Christ. Never be satisfied with who we are and what we have. Never look for the truth within ourselves, be true to our values, not to the world. In all things think of what it means to be in discipleship and service. That is the task of remembering – re- membering – bringing the world together in unity with Christ.
And when we complete that task, God moves us on to another task. In another world.

God makes no distinction

For God, life and death is not defined in terms of whether we are physically present in the body. God notes that there a lot of people in the world who are breathing, but are dead, because they have no idea of what their inheritance is and what they were put on this earth to do. And there are a lot of people who are not breathing, and yet have been granted eternal life, because they are faithful. In god’s eyes there is no separation of the past, the present and the future – they are all happening at the same time. In God’s eyes – there is no distinction of the work of the saint, we all work together for a common cause.
Unfortunately we don’t always see things the way god sees them.

We are never alone

A man from Chicago went up to heaven. And walking the streets of God, and visiting the many mansions, he noticed there was a sign on one door which said quiet please. He asked saint peter why the sign asked for quiet.
He said that behind that door there was a group of saints – they were having church service – and the members of heaven had to be quiet, because the saints truly believed that they were all alone – no one was having church but them.
We are never alone – how many other churches are having service and in praise and worship with us right now, how many people who wish they could be with us, but join us in spirit. We are never alone – but we have to have special days like this, to set aside time to remember – to re-member to connect to all of the saints of God. Let us pray….