• Facebook
  • Twitter

Calvary, Silver Spring

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • New Here?
    • Our Staff
    • Mission and Vision
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Contact Us
  • Connect
    • Kids
    • Young Adults
    • Adults
    • Serve with Us
    • Midweek Meditations Sign-Up
    • Christ Church of the Deaf
    • Concerts and Recitals
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
    • Latest News
    • Services and Sermon Audio
    • COVID-19: Prayers of the Church
    • Calvary Calendar
    • Bi-Monthly Newsletter
    • Roadmap to 2020
    • 75th Anniversary
  • ALL IN CAMPAIGN
  • Give

Latest News

You are here: Home » Latest News » Resources » Latest News » General

November 2, 2016
02 Nov 2016

by Pastor Mike Middaugh

Yesterday, November 1 was All Saints Day, here is a reflection for this sometimes overlooked day in the church calendar.

all-saintsWhen you got up yesterday morning, did you pour a cup of coffee and think about or plan all the saintly things you were going to do? If so, you are better than me. I knew it was All Saints Day, and yet some of my first thoughts were not so saintly (it was a rough morning in the Middarreal houshold).

But, this coming Sunday we will recognize the All Saints holiday with remembrance, gratitude and joy. We will sing of all those “who from their labors rest” and recall loved ones whose example made a difference in our lives, and appreciate the contributions of those who have carried out God’s work on this earth over the centuries.

All Saints Day is not just a remembrance of those who have gone on before us. But we are also reminded that we, the everyday people here in the 21st century, distracted by a nasty election cycle and other dissapointments, are saints as well. We may not feel like it sometimes, and it seems presumptuous to imagine ourselves alonside the likes of the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Mother Theresa, but the good news is that sainthood is not something we earn through our own endeavors. Author Nadia Bolz-Weber writes in “Accidental Saints”: “. . . it has been my experience that what makes us the saints of God is not our ability to be saintly but rather God’s ability to work through sinners. The title “saint” is always conferred, never earned. Or as the Saint Paul puts it, ‘For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.'” (Philippians 2:13)

So we can put both our guilt (at not living up to God’s call), and our modesty (in not wanting to think too much of ourselves) aside. We are saints. Get over it.

This All Saints’ Day is closely connected to our Reformation Sunday observance, as Martin Luther believed in “the priesthood of all believers” — that all Christians should have access to God through prayer and reading the Bible, without having to go through a priest. In Luther’s Large Catechism, he expresses his heart-felt conviction that God would continue to use his Word to speak to individuals and communities. He wrote: “God’s word is the treasure that makes everything holy . . . At whatever time God’s Word is taught, preached, heard, read, or pondered, there the person, the day, and the work is hallowed, not on account of the external work but on account of the Word that makes us all saints.”

We are Holy people, set apart for good work. Saints all. Now get on with the work God has appointed you.

Soli Deo Gloria. (To God Alone be the Glory)

in General /by Michael Middaugh

Categories

  • Advent (4)
  • Altar Flowers (1)
  • Discipleship (53)
  • Events (14)
  • Faith and Work (9)
  • General (260)
  • Justice (14)
  • Midweek Meditations (71)
  • Miracles (10)
  • Missions (15)
  • Sanctuary Construction Update (6)
  • Sermon Notes (6)
  • Serve with Us (1)
  • Videos (6)

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
← I Know Whose Winning This November (previous entry)
(next entry) For All the Saints Who Pay Their Taxes (a few thoughts on the election) →

Find Us At

9545 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring MD 20910
View our Contact Us page
for more information.

Sundays At Calvary

8:45am-12:00pm – Childcare Services
8:45am – Adult Bible Study
10:00am – Sunday Worship Service
10:15am – KidsChurch
11:30am – Fellowship

Latest News

  • Sunday Service and KidsChurch Bulletin for March 7, 2021
  • March 3, 2021; Lent Midweek Service
  • Sunday Service and KidsChurch Bulletin for Feb. 28, 2021
  • February 24, 2021; Lent Midweek Service
  • Sunday Service and KidsChurch Bulletin for Feb. 21, 2021
© Copyright - Calvary, Silver Spring - Wordpress Theme by Kriesi