All Saints Day

All Saints Day

By the Rev. Brook Batchelor

All Saints’ Day /All Hallows Day – (“hallows” means holy ones, the godly)

• Originally started to remember Christian martyrs
• Over time it became a celebration of those who had died as faithful followers of Jesus

Revelation 7:9–17 (NIV84)

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 in front of 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.”

• Saints are ultimately those who have found God’s in Jesus

• Saints long for better things than this world provides

Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV)
13  All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 16  Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

• Saints can experience great – even miraculous – favor from Heaven

Hebrews 11:32-40 (NIV)
32  And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35  Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

• Sometimes they are examples of how to live when they receive the worst this world has to offer

 Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36  Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37  They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39  These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

Who have been the saints that have influenced your life?

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
19  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Peter 2:5 (NIV)
5  You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Who are you influencing for the sake of Jesus?

Stones of Remembrance

• Who are the saints in YOUR life for whom you are thankful?

• For whom will you be that person?

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
20  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.