November 6, 2022 – Saints Who Have Gone Before (All Saints Day)
On this day we remember and give thanks to God for those in our church community who have died and now rest in the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Those who have gone before us now sit in the presence of God, in right relationship with the Father, as was originally intended.
Revelation 7:15-17
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat,
17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Traditions Service
Connections Service
November 13, 2022 – What Does it Mean to be a Saint?
We believe that those who have died in the faith of Jesus are now with him forever. They are saints! But we also believe that we can begin living in ways that honor them in this life and prepare us now for how we live in the Kingdom come!
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
9 You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. 11 As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, 12 urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.
Traditions Service
Connections Service
November 20, 2022 – Who is our King? (Christ the King Sunday)
There are saints and then there are kings and queens. And those who are alive are called to serve the king as necessary. And while society has its various kings, Christians are called to serve but one King. But who is this King? And what is His goal for His reign?
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Restoration after Exile
23 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3 Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear longer or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”