November is a month of remembrance for the Church and our nation. All Saints Sunday is November 6. On this day we remember the saints who have died and are now at rest awaiting the great resurrection.  We will lift up the names of those who have died since last All Saints Sunday who are connected with Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. As we offer thanks to God for their Christian witness, we will also pray for their friends and families who still mourn.

            On November 23 we will have a Thanksgiving Eve Eucharist.  On this occasion we give thanks to God for the founding of the United States of America and the many freedoms that we enjoy.  We remember the struggles our nation has endured. The service will include a liturgy of blessing on the bounty.  We ask that you bring one item or part of an item that will be used the next day in your Thanksgiving feast and place it on the table in the chancel so that it may be blessed.

Why do we use incense at Gloria Dei?  Incense is a biblical practice.  Incense was used in worship in the temple in Jerusalem in rites for purification, healing, and during prayer.  Christians incense the Altar during the Entrance Rite and before the liturgy of the Eucharist to prepare the space and people for worship of the Lord God.  Incense is used during the Intercessions and the Eucharistic because the smoke rising up is a symbol of prayers rising up to God.  Psalm 141: 2 says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.”

When we offer incense on earth, we imitate what is already happening in heaven.  Here are two Scriptures from the book of Revelation. Revelation 5:8 “…each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”  Revelation 8:3-4 “Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”

            Ralph R. Van Loon and S. Anita Stauffer write the following in the Worship Wordbook: A Practical Guide for Parish Worship, “Incense has been used in worship since pre-Christian times and is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament (Exodus 30:8, 37:29; Leviticus 16:12-13; 1 Chronicles 28:18).  Incense was burned in the Temple (I Kings 7:48-50; Luke 1:10).  Frankincense was one of the gifts brought by the magi to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11).”

            Our use of incense continues the biblical practices of worship.