November 22, 2011

 

The Big Day

 

It’s the holiday season, and we’re all getting ready for the big day. This week it’s Thanksgiving, where we eat a lot and (God willing) share time with loved ones. We might even remember that we need to be thankful—the poorest of our poor are better off than most of the world’s people, and that’s no accident. God has blessed us richly! Yet there are other “big days” coming up. There are Christmas celebrations, and Christmas itself. But they pale in comparison with the biggest day of all: the day that Jesus comes again.

 

How might we prepare for that day? How might we be ready when the “master of the house” returns to his own? Perhaps our preparations for Christmas might point us in the right direction: a more charitable and loving heart, or at least a bit more toleration for things and people that otherwise annoy us, or a more giving spirit might be a start. Jesus likened our situation to servants who were watching for their master to return. What tasks and instructions did he leave us? Those will be our best preparation for a return that could be any day or even any moment!

 

Take a look at this week’s Scriptures as we approach the first Sunday of Advent:

Isaiah 64: 1-9; Mark 13: 24-37.

 

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Two Sides of Gratitude

                 

Todah, the Hebrew word for “giving thanks,” also means “admitting, confessing, acknowledging.” That might seem odd, but when we thank someone, we’re acknowledging we needed what they gave us. Rabbi Daniel Lapin explains we’re even confessing we were incomplete, or experiencing a shortcoming, beforehand.

 

Gratitude is so important for the Jewish life that the Hebrew root words for “giving thanks/confessing” and for “Jew” are closely related. A Jewish person, then is “one who both confesses and gives thanks”—actions crucial to the well-being of the receiver, even more than for the giver.

 

Christians, too, treat confession and thanksgiving as significant aspects of faith, prayer and worship. While we confess that we wholly depend on God for our life and salvation, we offer daily gratitude to God for his countless blessings.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

“I have never understood why anyone would roast the turkey and shuck the clams and crisp the crutons and shell the peas and candy the sweet potatoes and compote the cranberries and bake the pies and clear the table and wash the dishes and fall into bed exhausted when they could just as easily sit back and enjoy a hamburger or a pork sandwich.

                                                                                     --The Turkey

 

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 Reminders:

 

• Session meets on Tuesday the 29^th at 6:30 PM. Newly-elected elders are invited to attend.

 

• The Hanging of the Greens service will be on December 4^th at 5:00 PM in the sanctuary, followed by a covered-dish dinner. Come help decorate the sanctuary for the season! The groups that decorated different areas in last year’s ceremony are asked to take the same areas again this year.

 

• The Men of the Church will have a Pig-Pickin’ provided by Brad Kuegel on Monday evening, December 5^th, at 6:30 PM. Everyone is invited! Bring a side dish to share and $7.00 per person. Child care is provided.  Come and enjoy a great barbecue meal!

 

• The Presbyterian Women’s Christmas Dinner is on Monday, December 12 at 6:00 PM. Tickets will be available for $15.00 through Sunday, December 4. There will be an excellent meal followed by entertainment.  Child care will be provided.