Thanksgiving

Thankfulness for the Body of Christ

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

My wife and I enjoy doing puzzles together, so I was delighted to find an almost new 1,000-piece puzzle with a Thomas Kincade painting on the box for a dollar at a yard sale. As soon as I got home, I dumped the puzzle out and eagerly began working to piece it together. Because of the complexity of the design, I didn’t at first realize, but eventually it became clear that, though my puzzle was almost new, it had been put into the wrong box! That puzzle reminds me of how in spite of God’s design, we sometimes struggle to find where we fit. In today’s verse the Apostle Paul tells us that together we are the Body of Christ and each of us is a part. Fortunately for us, God puts the correct picture on the box, (the Bible) and second, we are each intricately designed to be put into exact the position for which God designed. Paul gets very detailed about those parts, calling some of us eyes, some ears and others, hands and feet. Some of us who suffer from low self-esteem are encouraged by realizing that we too are a valuable part. However, we also need to remember that discovering our usefulness also means finding how our being connected to others gives us the opportunity to serve them. Trying to find how we fit in the church, without being thankful for people around us, is like our putting our puzzle together with the wrong picture on the box!

Though, people will usually take time to thank God for their blessings, why not go beyond just being thankful for how we have been blessed and take the time to give thanks for how God has blessed others, who He has connected to us. We just might be amazed at how being thankful, will clear our vision and help us to see them as part of the beautiful puzzle that God has designed called the Body of Christ!

"The beginning of men's rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart." 
Francis Shaeffer
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Thanksgiving by Candlelight

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you! 1 Thessalonians 5:17

One Thanksgiving, when our sons were still teen-agers, Nancy had to work the first half of the day. To make things easier, she had prepared some of the food the night before, but the turkey was up to us guys to have cooked by the time she came home. So, while Nancy went off to her duties at the department store, I started wrestling with the bird and had the boys get the table set. Believe it or not the sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and cheesecake for desert were all ready by the time Nancy got home about four-thirty. As soon as she got in the door our boys anxiously started asking if they could watch a football game from the table. Nancy groaned inwardly, and said, “Not until we are at least done eating the main course, please!”

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Then as we sat down and bowed our heads to give thanks for another year, a funny thing happened. The lights went out! The day had been sunny and warm, by Northeastern Pennsylvanian standards. While the boys and I sat stunned, Nancy, with a huge grin, leapt into action and pulled out the candles from the cupboard. By flashlight, I found a nice pair of candlestick holders and then in the flickering light that kind of reminded me of Abraham Lincoln in his log cabin, we bowed again and laughed as we gave thanks. After a hearty “Amen!”, we dug into the most delicious holiday meal that I can ever remember! Then, just as we finished eating, the lights snapped back on. The game was eventually watched, and later we learned our mysterious blackout happened because someone’s pickup truck had knocked over a power pole. But whatever the explanation, I am convinced to this day that God in His own special timing, took us off schedule, to remind us that taking time together and being thankful to him is what a real Thanksgiving is all about!

In happy moments, praise God. In difficult moments, seek God. In quiet moments, worship God. In painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.”

Rick Warren

Time to Be Thankful by Peter Caligiuri

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15-16 KJV

We have time to eat turkey
And time to have our pie
Time to watch some football
And for buying stuff on line

But for everything God gave us
Will we take time to say “Thanks”
Or just argue over politics
And a film that stars Tom Hanks?

But if Jesus is the center
Of all we do and say
Then truly we can celebrate
This Good Thanksgiving Day!


It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors. - George Washington
Thankful for happy memories with my real Thanksgiving treasures!

Working all Things Together For Good

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NKJV

As you are preparing for Thanksgiving, you may be tracking down the family china, defrosting the turkey or running to the store for eggnog. The details of the day with its hustle and bustle sometimes muddle the point of the holiday for a moment. For Jesus and His disciples, the preparing for the Passover were very much the same. Special food had to be bought, a table laid out and certain decorations set in place. While we bring to mind the Pilgrims, the Native Americans and the Mayflower they were remembering their deliverance from Egypt. It was sort of what I like to call – The Jewish Thanksgiving.

And it struck me, that on that special night, that things were not what they appeared. Just beyond the candlelight of that table, the religious leaders were putting plans in motion to arrest Jesus and have him executed. Everything looked good while the disciples were at the table with Jesus, but the reality for Jesus was that the worst day of His life, lay straight ahead. Judas would betray Him, Peter deny Him and all of them whose feet He washed, would run away.

For Jesus, the song He sang with His disciples as they left for the Garden must have had some sadness to it. With the same bittersweet sense of loss that many of us face at Thanksgiving, Jesus still trusted His Father to work all things together for good. He couldn’t see it yet, but His betrayal, led to our salvation, His last meal would still be shared today, and His cross would give forgiveness of sins to hundreds of millions around the world. And when in times of grief or discouragement we wonder how all things are working together for good, remember that even Jesus cried out to His Father for another way. Yet, at His lowest point, Jesus surrendered to His Father’s will, “Not my will but Yours be done”. And His Father answered that prayer, but it was three days later. There God had completed working everything together for good. Then Jesus gave life in the place of death, eternal joy for temporary sorrows and a golden crown in the place of thorns! Why not crown Him Lord over all we are passing through today and believe with all our hearts that He is working all things together for our good?