From the Pulpit

Excerpts from messages being presented at area places of worship this weekend.

Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Beth El Synagogue

One of the first phrases we teach a child is “thank you,” in gratitude for the favors he/she enjoys. Our prayers teach us to also thank God for the blessings He bestows upon us daily. We err if we think that the offering of thanks to God is just a type of religious courtesy or politeness. The inability to be thankful causes us to forget the blessings we enjoy. On the contrary, being thankful allows us to count our blessings, and therefore helps us to live a happier life.

Thanksgiving is the holiday where people of different faiths, backgrounds, and ethnic and cultural origins can feel at home because we each have collective and personal reasons to give thanks.

A good Thanksgiving Day exercise might be to divide a sheet of paper into two columns. On one let us list all the things we desire to obtain. In the other column, let us detail all those things we own and could lose. We would probably find the first list much shorter than the second. How unfortunate that it often takes a serious threat to our blessings to make us aware of them.

On this Thanksgiving and every day, let us count our blessings and be thankful for them.

Dr. Arnold Peterson, Calvary Baptist Church, Glenwood, Iowa

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather as a family. Sadly, at time those gatherings become unpleasant due to arguments. Our text Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13, teaches us things about life in the church which could well be applied to families as well.

Timothy brought Paul a report which contained good news, an affirmation of their shared faith, their love for Paul, pleasant memories, a desire to see one another after long absences.

Paul responded that he was encouraged in difficult times and received joy from their faith and firm commitment to the Lord. His desire is that God will cause their love for one another to increase so much that it overflows to everyone else. If so, we will be able to stand before God in judgment, not because of our “purity” but because of our love for God and “everyone else.”

Especially for Christians, at Thanksgiving we ought to focus on the love which unites us rather than on the opinions which divide us.

Rev. Thomas Schmitt, Zion Lutheran Church

Luke 19:28-40

Happy New Year! The Christian Church begins a new year this Sunday, looking forward to the Advent (coming) of Jesus Christ to free us.

Our first story each new year is Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, a story we’ll hear again just before Jesus gives His life on Calvary’s cross to pay for the sins of the world.

Part of this story reads, “As the disciples were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Isn’t it something that even beasts of burden are freed when the true Lord comes to town!

How about you? Still laboring for the “lords” of wealth, status or fame? Still tied up to the “lords” of addictive substances or behaviors? Then make a new year’s resolution to have Christ untie your ropes! Yes, He has need of you, too, friend!

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