September 29th is the day on the Church calendar that the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is celebrated. Because angels are mentioned numerous times in scripture, Christian belief in them crosses all denominational lines. Created by God, we consider them to be His agents – acting on His behalf, at His direction.
 
Today’s sermon from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre, Missouri discusses the various roles of angels ~
 
Messengers
Throughout the Bible God sent angels to deliver messages to man, particularly at critical moments in God’s dealings with mankind.

 
Worshipers
Choirs of angels sang God’s praises the night our Savior was born They’re mentioned again in Isaiah and the book of Revelation doing the same thing.
 
Warriors

Now this may disturb our image of angels as being rather soft, even effeminate, creatures, or else as cute little cherubs with rosy cheeks. No, those are not biblical ways of looking at angels. In the Bible, when angels are described, they can be fiery and frightening. Rather than “Touched by an Angel,” more likely would be “Torched by an Angel.” When angels appear to human beings, they startle and scare the people, so much so, that the angels invariably have to say, “Fear not,” “Do not be afraid.”

Which brings us to St. Michael. He’s the guy who does battle for us so that the old evil foe, the devil, does not have any power over us.

(Actually, that’s a statue of the archangel himself in the lower left of this web-page, “guarding” my blog )
 

The sermon elaborates ~

Michael the Archangel, as God’s appointed agent, acting with his authority, is one who is like God in his might. He is the one whom God uses to throw down Satan from his power over humanity.

Now we need to ask: How can Michael do this? On what basis? And here is where the gospel in all of this comes in. The reason Michael can defeat the devil in battle is because Christ has defeated him on the cross.

 
Today’s festival celebrates St. Michael and All Angels because they ~

… glorify the person and work of Christ and carry out the victory He has won for us. Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, has defeated the devil and all evil, and therefore (they) can act to throw down Satan and guard and protect the church[…]
 
The message from Michael today is this: We win. We Christians win the final victory because Jesus has redeemed us from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.

Be of good cheer. We know Who wins in the end!
 

 
Related:

Angels ~ and almost everything you want to know about them. Interesting article, posted at Full Homely Divinity (Anglican Resources)