We Remember

We remember and give thanks.

That’s what we do in the church. We remember …and we give thanks. We remember the divine story that stretches back through the ages and forward to embrace us, and we give thanks. We remember the story of Jesus Christ—his words and acts of truth and healing—and we remember how the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s ministry the ministry of the church.

We remember and give thanks.

This Sunday, All Saints’ Sunday, we will remember how the ministry we share now was embraced and lived by generations before us. We will celebrate the parade of the faithful that stretches the length of our story. We will remember the saints who walked Christ’s way of love and truth. And, no doubt, our minds will turn to others who touched our lives with God’s grace and showed us the way of faithful living.

We remember and give thanks.

This Sunday, we will also remember by name those of our Glenn family who in the past year entered the Communion of Saints. Names will be read, lives honored, and holy memories stirred. We cannot begin to describe the richness of their lives, but we can recall their place in our fellowship, the grace that was the foundation of their days, and the faith and ministry we share with them.

And before our service is done, we will remember the words of Jesus, “Do this in remembrance of me,” and share the sacrament of Holy Communion. In the mystery of time and eternity, we will give thanks for the life we share at the table now, and remember the heavenly banquet still to come.

The celebrated saints of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church are a part of the great story written in faith, told with courage, and shared with love. Their days were filled with routine and obligation, joy and exaltation, love and care, and in and through it all they were the church. To us they offered the gospel that is light and life, and by God’s amazing grace, you and I now are the church in our days.

It is all a gift. Remember to give thanks.