Worship Notes for All Saints' Day, 2015

Friday after Reformation Sunday

October 30, 2015

The Lord be with you.

Well, I’m a day late in posting the worship notes for this coming Sunday but that is because I’ve been out of town. But, as my mother used to say, “Better late than never.”

This coming Sunday is All Saints’ Day, November 1. We will celebrate this Feast using the appointed readings for the day and sharing in the Lord’s Supper. In the past we have used a special liturgy for the day but this year we will use Divine Service, Setting One (page 151).

The appointed lections for the day are Revelation 7:2-17, 1 John 3:1-3 and Matthew 5:1-12. The text for the sermon will be Revelation 7:9. The sermon is titled “Living in Heaven.”

Our opening hymn will be “Sing with All the Saints in Glory” (LSB 671). Our sermon hymn will be “I’m But A Stranger Here” (LSB 748). Our closing hymn will be “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” (LSB 649). We will have only two distribution hymns as the second one has eight verses. They are “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” (LSB 621) and “For All the Saints” (LSB 677).

During our prayers we will remember saints who have gone to be with the Lord.

Below is a video of our sermon hymn, “I’m But A Stranger Here,” sung by the Lutheran Quartet.

Our adult Bible class continues with the study, Word: God Speaks to Us. Though you may have missed the class up to this poing, you are still encouraged to attend. What you learn will be a blessing. The Bible study hour begins at 9:00 am. Fill free to bring children. Class is provided for them as well.  

What follows is a synopsis of Sunday’s lessons, provided by the synod, then the lessons.  Following the readings are some additional important notes.

Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ

“A great multitude … from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–17). Faith-filled saints from every place and time, with unified voices, eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3). Joined with the throng of angels and a myriad of saints, we shall “serve him day and night in his temple” (Rev. 7:9–17). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit through faith in Christ propels us forward, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament, to our eternal home. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure and the persecuted are all blessed, and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1–12).

Revelation 7:2-17

²           Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, ³“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵           12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

            12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

            12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

⁶           12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

            12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

            12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷           12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

            12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

            12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

⁸           12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

            12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

            12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

⁹           After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³          Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵          “Therefore they are before the throne of God,

                        and serve him day and night in his temple;

                        and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

¹⁶          They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

                        the sun shall not strike them,

                        nor any scorching heat.

¹⁷          For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

                        and he will guide them to springs of living water,

            and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

1 John 3:1-3

^3:1         See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Matthew 5:1-12

^5:1         Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

²           And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³           “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴           “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵           “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶           “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷           “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸           “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹           “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰          “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹          “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Some Additional Notes

• Daylight Savings Time ends. Set your clocks back one hour before going to sleep Saturday.

• Our Second Coat Drive is in full swing. We team with the Bethlehem Center, who distributes the coats to individuals in need. An insert will be in the bulletin with more information.

• Our November newsletter has been posted. Just go to the page on the right-hand side of the blog to read it.

• Keep Praying for your Neighbors and Walking your Neighborhoods.

• Don’t forget to check out the other posts from earlier this week. An easy way to review the titles is by looking at the left hand side of this blog. If a title catches your attention, just click on it and you will go to that post. Remember, you can link one or more of our blog posts to your facebook (or other social media) page. Find one you like and share it.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert