THE FIRST LESSON 1 John 3:1-3
THE SECOND LESSON Revelation 7: 9-17
SERMON "Life and Death: The Courage of Faith"
Worship Notes
In worship today, we remember and celebrate those persons who have gone from our lives and who have joined the communion of saints with our Lord God in heaven. In the liturgical calendar, this commemoration is called "The Festival of All Saints Day," and it is observed on November 1. It is Westminster's tradition to observe All Saints on the first Sunday in November. The liturgical color for All Saints Day is white.
The focus of this service is not on the experience of death and loss, but rather on the celebration of life. Those "saints" whom we remember by name in worship today are the ten individuals from this congregation who have died since last All Saints Day in November 2007. As the name of each person is read aloud, a family member or deacon will take light from the Christ Candle to light one of the candles placed in front of the communion table as a visible sign of the presence of the deceased among the communion of saints. As we worship, we recall the ways in which we, like these individuals, live out our response to God's call upon our lives within this community and in mission to the greater world outside these walls.
Communion today will be received by intinction. After coming forward to receive the bread and cup, you may wish to light a candle to celebrate the memory of someone from your own life who now is among the communion of saints.
The music through which we worship today also celebrates those who have gone before us and whose Christian examples give shape to our mission. The prelude and the opening hymn, "For All the Saints," are set to a tune by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams who died fifty years ago in 1958. The response hymn, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God", articulates our understanding that saints live among us and serve with us in mission even now. We exit the worship service today as a community poised to carry out that mission in the world. As we do so, we unite our voices in singing, "When the Saints Go Marching In."
