Music: For All The Saints

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,who thee by faith before the world confessed, thy Name, O Jesus, be for ever blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

("For All The Saints," The Hymnal 1982, 287)

For All The Saints Today we come together to acknowledge the passing of a saint. I say "saint" because according to the New Testament, the word "saint" is used to describe a person who professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who was a member of the Christian community. N. was such a person: a person who professed faith in Christ; a member of the Christian community.

When a saint departs from our midst, there is grief. We come together to share that grief this morning, so that none of us has to bear it alone. But also deep within us wells up an overwhelming grati…