Scripture: Romans 8:24-28
We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will. We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Thought for the Day: This is part of a sermon preached on All Saints’ Day in 1866, by Rev. Charles Frederick Mackenzie, a Bishop for the Church of England. He said to his congregation:
One good effect of this day upon our minds should be, that we more distinctly and more thankfully honor God for them. We are accustomed to thank God for His mercies vouchsafed to us–for all the means of grace; and why not also for the examples He has afforded us in the lives of faith, and deaths of constancy and peace, of His servants in past times?
We are more indebted to this support of our faith and love than many of us think, or than, perhaps, we are very willing to admit. Surely the fact that so many men, women, and children have lived in the faith of Christ, and died in hope, is an evidence of the truth of our religion, and one that appeals not only to our intellects, but to our hearts, drawing us, by the gentle force of sympathy, to be joined to the whole body of those who love the Lord. If we have, as we all certainly have, received encouragement or correction from the examples of any of the saints that have entered into their rest, should we not thankfully remember this benefit, and honor God, from whom these graces have proceeded?
As I suggested yesterday, we are a people whose faith does not belong to us alone. If you’re like me, there are dozens of people who have guided you along the journey of faith. And of course, each of those people had dozens of gracious saints who guided them, and each of them…
Prayer: Since I did not come to this faith alone, I give thanks to you the Source of All Inspiration. Holy God, we are blessed beyond measure for all the goodness you poured into people through which they helped others to be touched through faith. Amen.
THIS IS OUR PRAYER
FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS
If you did not get a door hanger
with this prayer on it,
let us know at the church
or pick one up next Sunday.
