The Weekly GOOD NEWS Newsletter of All Souls
The weekly Newsletter of
ALL SOULS ECC
A Welcoming Family of Faith!
Thank you to everyone who came last week to help us celebrate All Saints and All Souls Sunday. Thank you also for those who participated in the Annual Meeting last week and letting your voice be heard on several issues.
We have kicked off our Blanket/Towel campaign! So bring in your new or gently used Blankets and Towels over the next few weeks so that we can donate them to the clients of Opportunity House.
We hope you enjoy this issue of the Good News – with this weeks scriptures, hymns, and other information. Feel free to share with friends and family.
This weeks readings and question of the week
Take time to mediate on God’s word and prepare for worship this Sunday. And as you meditate on them, consider the Question of the Week: What can I do to make myself a little more ready for the coming of the Lord?
Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalm 62: 2-8
Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, console one another with these words.
It appears that someone has conveyed to Paul the Thessalonians’ concern about those who have died (literally, “fallen asleep”) before the Lord’s coming (parousia) in victory. Scholars today are mainly agreed that the Thessalonians’ concern is not so much about the salvation of their loved ones as it is about community, about whether they will be eternally cut off from those they have loved, simply on account of a slip of timing.
Construing the underlying concern as one of community actually helps to bring this whole passage into focus. The vision of Christ’s triumph that Paul develops in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is one in which heaven and earth are suddenly and beautifully reconciled in an embrace (“caught up together”) that takes place in a newly opened space between heaven and earth (“in the air”) and which will never end (“and so we will be with the Lord forever”). The image gathers together Paul’s deepest beliefs about God’s reconciling purpose in Christ (see also 2 Corinthians 5:18-21),
Blanket & Towel Collection
We will be collecting blankets and towels (new or gently used) for Opportunity House clients through Thanksgiving.
As we move into the winter months and become more thoughtful and thankful that all that we have, please think of those with no home or bed and see what you are able to donate. THANK YOU.
How are you doing answering this past week’s question of the week?
What can I do to make someone feel that they belong again to the family of God’s people? Who among my beloved departed should I make a conscious effort to imitate because of their faithful lives?