November Newsletter

Every year, our country sets aside the fourth Thursday of November for a time of nationwide thanksgiving. It is my
favorite holiday each year for a number of reasons. First, the need to give thanks to God is Biblical. The Psalmist,
reflecting upon what the Lord has done, burst out in sincere thanksgiving:
Psalm116:1–5,17
1
I love the Lord, because He hears My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol
came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech You,
save my life!” 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. 17 To You I shall offer a
sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the Lord.
Christ followers will emulate the pattern of the Psalmist because God has done so much for us. Realizing
forgiveness of sins, every spiritual blessing that He has given us, and the promise of everlasting life, are facts that
give grateful hearts. It is the second reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday: because all of us SLOW
DOWN our lives for one day. Often we are so busy taking care of chores, leading our children, going to work, and
managing our homes that we have little margin in our lives to pause. We run from one item on our to do lists to the
next, and then collapse in bed at night from sheer exhaustion. Pausing to thank God is so necessary in our lives, but
it cannot be only one time a year.
Therefore, we have designed a month of thanksgiving for our church. On Sunday, November 19, the sermon will be
a thanksgiving oriented message leading up to the holiday. Then, every week day from November 20 through
Christmas Eve, there will be a daily devotional to do. For those with smart phones, we have an app to lead you
through a thoughtful way to give thanks each day. For those who do not have smart phones, we have a paper version
of the daily devotional for you to do. Each day you will be challenged to express thanks in new and creative ways
for a whole month. We are really excited to see how the Lord uses this month to help all of us cultivate thankful
hearts.
The third reason Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday is because it is not a commercial holiday. We’re not busy
buying presents or going to egg hunts or putting on some costume for it. Instead, the holiday is all about gathering as
family, one of our greatest reasons for thanksgiving.
I urge everyone to be in worship on November 19, to hear the challenge for the month of thanksgiving, to get the app
or paper devotional, and start off the month leading up to Christmas being thankful.
For His Glory,
Pastor Tom