Words of Faith
November 2, 2022
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NLT)
Do you ever think about the future? Your ultimate future? In theological study, we call that “eschatology,” or the study of death, judgment, and final destiny. It’s a heavy thought sometimes. It’s also an important one so that you aren’t fooled about life’s reality.
I guess we all have some point in our life when we ignore risk or think it won’t happen for us. I remember a few years ago, I started thinking about skydiving. Partly for the badge of honor to say, “I did it!” and partly because I just wanted to see if I had the courage to do it. They offer tandem skydiving, where the experienced person straps you to their back and you both jump out of the plane—the expert does the thinking, steering, pulling the cord, and guiding the landing.
Well, a week later—I kid you not—I saw an article about a tandem skydive where the instructor had a heart attack mid-fall and the other person had to figure it all out. You can read about that here. I took that as a sign God may still have more for me to do on earth—at least more than skydiving!
But there are things worth taking every risk to do. You see, being a Christian in the first century AD was a very dangerous proposition. In fact, for many, knowing the promise of eternal glory with God was the only true hope they had in life, so the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica to encourage them in their faith and restate the promise of Jesus’ return!
To die falling from a perfectly good airplane is probably not God’s best for me or you. Although, I am still tempted to try it—and may give in sometime. But dying after a life fully devoted to God—that’s the perfect way to live.
It’s with that perspective we enter November remembering All Saints Sunday. We honor the life and grieve the death of those who have passed away since last year at this time. We cling to the promise of eternal glory with God and remember the ministry of revival to which God calls all the living.
This Sunday, November 6, we will honor All Saints Day. We will also celebrate new members—both adult and youth—who will affirm their faith in Jesus, receive or remember their baptism, and become professing members of our church. It will be a special day, a very significant one in the life of our church. Plan to attend and invite a friend—they’ll be glad you did!