Saints Alive

Greetings from the people of the Red Roof Church in Bulverde, Texas located near the exit of 1863 on highway 281.  I’m Lee Harder the senior pastor welcoming you to our regular weekly Blog.  I hope you check in with us every week at redroofchurch.org to see the latest edition.  We’re also on Facebook and YouTube.  If you are someone looking for a church to call your spiritual home, then I would like to invite you to join us for worship this Sunday at 8:30AM or 10:45AM.  Our friendly folks will make you feel welcomed and a important part of the St. Paul family.                                                                                          
This Sunday is a special day in the Christian Church.  It’s All Saints’ Sunday.  On this day across the Church, we remember and honor the saints, those men and women who were pillars of the Church by their examples of faith and devotion to God and discipleship in Jesus Christ.  They believed in Jesus as the source of our salvation and surrendered their lives before Him.  While we honor all that they did, we also recognize them as an inspiration for our own love of the Lord Jesus.                                               
Yet, as Christians we know there is more to the saints than those great names of biblical history and the Church in the past who have gone on to their heavenly rewards.  There are also those saints who have touched our lives by their commitment to Christ and the work of the Church they did while they lived among us.  Even more intimately connected to us, these are the people, family and friends, witnesses and examples of Christ-like living that were a model for our lives.  They not only inspired us, they became the guides and patterns by which we built our lives and relationships in the world and in the church.  I know that each of us have loved ones and people we care about that are still very much an influence on how we live our lives.  They, too, might be gone from this life, but they will never be gone from our personal lives because they are forever a part of us.                               
However, understanding the saints doesn’t even end there.  It can’t, because we also need to see ourselves as saints as well.  While we are still very much works in progress, we are saints.  And that’s what is so neat.  The Holy Spirit in His work of sanctification in each of us is making us holy, preparing us for heaven.  That process is a life long one.  It starts in our baptism and doesn’t come to a completion until we breath our last.  Let me explain with this:  Today, the Spirit of God is making me holy.  I am more holy today than I was yesterday, but not as holy as I will be tomorrow  —  A work in progress.  Simply, if we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are counted among the number of the saints and the Holy Spirit works within us.           
That’s fantastic!  It is also a little overwhelming since it means we are to be an example and an inspiration to those around us.  Being a saint carries with it an awesome responsibility.  Saints need to let others come to know Christ and the salvation He alone offers.  To accomplish that goal, people need to see Jesus living in us with the things we do, the things we say, and the way we  conduct ourselves.                                                                                                                                                                                    
So, to my fellow saints, I bid you God’s love and blessings.  Let the world see our love for Christ in everything we do.
And those are my thoughts.
Take care and God bless.
Pastor Lee