All Saints' Sunday Worship, November 7, 2021

Over the past few months, we've said good-bye to so many dear ones who've passed from this life into the wide embrace of our Lord. For us who remain and continue our pilgrimage here on earth, it's been hard because we're still bound to these saints by love that never ends, and so we miss them greatly. Yet at the same time, we're grateful for the love that endures beyond the grave and keeps us connected, and we give thanks that our loved ones are now free from pain and suffering.

This Sunday we will gather to remember and give thanks for the lives of all our beloveds who've died in the past year. We'll read their names and light candles as a reminder that their names have been written in the Book of Life and that they now dwell in eternal love and light.

Even as we grieve the loss of their presence with us, may we find peace and comfort worshiping in the abiding presence and promise of our faithful God: "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3b-4).

I hope you will join us in person or online for worship this Sunday, as we remember the saints who've gone before us and yet still surround us as part of the "great cloud of witnesses." Like those dear saints, you and I, who've been baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, belong to God forever, and so, even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we know that we never walk alone. In the face of death, we can lift up our heads and look to the future with hope, daring to live here and now in the unquenchable light of resurrection joy.

Grace and peace be with you all!