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All Saints’ Day 2026
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
November 1, 2026
Rev. 7 (2-8) 9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12
Sermons online:
Text and Audio: immanuelhamiltonchurch.com click “sermons”
Text: pastorjud.org
Audio: pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio: bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship
In movies and TV shows, a portal to another dimension is often depicted as a ring of fire or a hole surrounded by bright, rotating lights or crackling electrical bolts. Going through this portal gives you access to another dimension. But that is just Hollywood. What if there was a portal through which you had access to God? How amazing would it be if you could be united with God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Today is All Saints’ Day, the day we remember those who have gone before us to be with the Lord to wait for the day of the resurrection of the dead. All Saints’ Day. So, what is a saint? Who are… all the saints? A saint is holy, set apart for God… set apart by God. Paul greets the Corinthian church…1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV) 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:”
You are a saint. You are all saints. You, who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — you have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. Sanctified means, made holy. In your baptism, you received the Holy Spirit who makes you holy. The Holy Spirit lives in you — your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives you faith and the Spirit sanctifies you — He makes you Holy before God. The Holy Spirit makes you holy and continues to sanctify you by strengthening your faith and increasing the fruit of faith in your life.
There is a portal that gives you access to God. It is found in the gathering of the saints of God unified by the Holy Spirit. You confess your belief in this portal in the Apostles’ Creed. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. In Luther’s Large Catechism he writes, “The Creed calls the “holy Christian Church” a “communion of saints.” Both expressions, taken together, are identical.”[1]”
The holy Christian Church is not a building or an institution. The word here for “church” is always used for people. The Holy Christian Church is the gathering of the followers of Jesus. Luther writes that we should think of The Holy Christian Church as a Christian congregation – a Christian gathering.
The communion of saints describes further what this Christian gathering is. It is a congregation of the saints. This right here…is a Christian gathering of saints made holy by the Holy Spirit gathered to receive delivery of the forgiveness of sins. Luther writes, “I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ [Ephesians 1:22]. This group is called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with many different gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms [Ephesians 4:5–8, 11]. [52] I am also a part and member of this same group, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods it possesses [Romans 8:17]. I am brought to it and incorporated into it by the Holy Spirit through having heard and continuing to hear God’s Word[2]”
The buildings owned by the saints of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School provide a place for the gathering of the saints of God on Sunday and throughout the week. The saints gather for Bible study and Catechism class throughout the week — here and at North Campus. Monday through Friday, 227 students arrive here by car or bus or walking and begin each school day together in the gym with psalms, hymns, prayers, and a memory verses. In their classrooms throughout the day the saints of God learn about God and His creation, and have one period dedicated to the study of the Bible or the catechism. Wednesday is chapel day when the young saints of our school gather here in the pews, in their chapel families, to hear the Word of God and receive forgiveness of their sins. Two of the preschool classes come separately for chapel on Wednesdays.
Our chief gathering of the saints of Immanuel Lutheran is Sunday morning… right here… together for Divine Service, Sunday School and Bible Class. In the Divine Service, after the service of preparation, we process to the altar and light the candles top to bottom to remind us that God comes to be “God with Us” in our gathering. In this communion of the saints you receive the forgiveness of sins earned for you by Christ on the cross at Golgotha. Forgiveness is delivered to you through the water and words of Holy Baptism. It is delivered to you in the Word of God and in the Words of Holy Absolution. “I forgive you all your sins.” It is delivered to you in Holy Communion in the body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Here, you are again made pure and holy by Jesus through faith given by the Holy Spirit. You are a saint.
It would seem that since you are a saint and have been declared holy and pure that all your struggles would be over…and yet…you know that is not true.
What is the struggle then? Your holiness is trapped in flesh. Your flesh is infected with original sin and draws you toward sin. Your sinful flesh, inherited from Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve, is plagued with sin, and that brings mortality – sickness, injury, suffering and death. Your holiness is contained in a corrupted body. You are, at the same time, a saint, and a sinner.
To make things worse, your struggle is not just against your own sinful nature…you live in a decadent world full of evil and temptation that desperately wants you to join in and calls you evil and hateful if you don’t. And, even worse, as a holy follower of Jesus, the devil has a target on you. The Prince of Darkness is gunning for you and he knows all your weak spots. You are a holy saint of God in a dark world under attacked by Satan himself. You need help, so you gather each week with other struggling saints. And knowing your struggle all too well, you prepare for worship by getting on your knees and admitting who you are, and what you have done, repenting of your sins, and then hearing that your sins are forgiven. You are, once again, affirmed to be a holy saint of God.
Our reading today from Matthew is from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Here, Jesus teaches that life as a saint of God is difficult… and you are blessed. You have an eschatological blessing — a blessing for the last day. You are blessed for the last day when you will stand before the throne of God and you will be declared pure and holy because you wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness. That day is coming when you will go to live in the Heavenly City… but… for now, because you are a saint of God, life in this world is a challenge. Blessed are you who know you are not good enough and you cannot save yourself. Blessed are you who mourn the evil in the world and the evil in yourself. Blessed are you who humbly know you are not powerful. Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Blessed are you who live a life showing mercy to others as God shows mercy to you. Blessed are you who follow the true God. Blessed are you who bring the incomprehensible peace of God to various situations of life and to troubled people in this troubled world. Blessed are you when people revile you, and speak evil against you and persecute you because of you are with Jesus. Life as a saint of God in this world is a blessed life, but not an easy life.
In all of these struggles you look forward to the day when your struggles will end. As Paul writes…2 Corinthians 5:2 (ESV) 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,” Today we remember those whose struggles have ended. We remember those Saints who have gone before us and now rest from the labors. Their bodies are in the ground — their spirits are with the Lord. They are now safely separated from their sinful flesh — they are safe from the influences of the world and the devil’s arrows cannot find them. They wait with Jesus for the day of the resurrection of the body. We feebly struggle — they are at peace with Jesus. At the day of resurrection their bodies will be raised up in perfection, no longer infected by sin. As we read in…1 Corinthians 15:42–43 (ESV) 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.”
For now you are still in the flesh, in this world, tormented by the devil, and yet, in all of this, you are blessed. You are a holy saint of God destined for eternal life in the heavenly city. You will be one of the… Revelation 7:9–10 (ESV) 9 … great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV) 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” One day you will be fully in the presence of the Lamb of God, the light of the world. For now you have a portal to God, the Christian congregation, the gathering of the saints. Here, you are strengthened for your journey. Here, you commune with God and receive His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation. Here, you sing with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. “Holy, holy, holy.” Here, you are one in the sprit with all the saints here present, all around the world, and those who have gone before. Here, you receive the forgiveness of sins. Here, you learn again that you are destined for the resurrection of your body and life everlasting with Jesus and all the saints. You, are a holy saint of God. Amen.
[1]From “Article III” in The Large Catechism, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Pocket Edition. © 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
Source: https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/large-catechism/part_2/article_iii/
[2] From “Article III” in The Large Catechism, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Pocket Edition. © 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
Source: https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/large-catechism/part_2/article_iii/
