November 2, 2025 · Rev. Derek van Gulden · Psalm 146; Hebrews 12:1-3; Matthew 22:34-40
On All Saints Sunday, Rev. Derek van Gulden asks who the saints in your life have been, known and unknown, still here or gone before, and offers a meditation on the great cloud of witnesses whose love still surrounds us.
Transcript
People of God, would you join me now in a moment of prayer? Gracious and holy God, I ask you this morning to move the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts by your love, and help each of us this day not to be the instrument of our own, but an instrument of peace. In every step and every breath. In every moment of every day. Amen.
If you haven't figured it out yet, today we are celebrating All Saints Day, which was yesterday. We have a beautiful place in the back of the church called the Bride's Room. More often than not these days it's. More. The feeding room or where the pastor goes to watch everybody else. They get to watch the service in there and play with Legos. So if you are looking for me later on, I'll be in there with them.
So Halloween, All Saints Day, and then All Souls Day, which is technically what today is. But in the church, we celebrate All Saints Day. Sunday is closest as we can. I'm not going to say a whole lot. I just want us to be aware. That All Saints Day we celebrate and remember and pray for the saints that are known and the saints that are unknown. The saints that are known. If you come from traditions that have saints in their church, or even if you don't, you hear of saints throughout your lifetime, the saints that have been saints to you in your life, who either still with us or have gone before us. I want you to think about that.
Why I read the next little piece. Who in your life has been a saint? The saints that we don't usually see, the saints that walk with us and during our prayer time. I'm going to invite people just to call out the names of those people. We'll all be doing it so you don't have to feel embarrassed. [reads a meditation on the saints who have gone before us] May we be open to celebrating and remembering them. Amen.