11-6-22 Sermon Notes “From One Generation to Another”

I am writing this on November 1 – “All Saints’ Day.” This day is not nearly as well known as the day before… “All Hallow’ (Saints’) Eve” (better known as “Halloween”). That beings said, All Saints’ day is a far more important day in the life of our church.

Since we can’t always count on November 1 hitting on a Sunday, we always celebrate All Saints’ Sunday on the first Sunday of November. It is a day that we remember all the saints from FUMC Gadsden who have died since last All Saints’ Sunday the year before. We call their names, and light a candle to remember that their light shines still as a beacon for future generations.

You might say, “Wait a minute…United Methodists don’t believe in saints, do we?” The answer to that is, “Yes and no.” No, in that we don’t revere saints in the same way that the Roman Catholic Church does. Yes, in the general sense that the Scriptures refer to all believers as “saints” and God’s people. Those are the ones we remember on All Saints’ Sunday – those who have run the race, finished the course, and have received the prize waiting for them…and who cheer us on as the “great cloud of witnesses.”

This Sunday, we will be talking about how that our faith is always to be passed on from one generation to another. Psalm 145: 1-5 says,

I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall extol your works to another

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 They will recount the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works I will meditate.

Psalm 145 praises God for attributes such as God’s greatness (v.3), his grace, goodness and compassion (vv. 8-9), his glory and might (v. 11), his righteousness and kindness (v. 17) and his providential care (v. 20). How could we not praise a God with these amazing characteristics?!

Just as important as our praising God from day to day, is that we pass on the faith from one generation to another. Remember – give thanks – pass it on!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Sam