“Lord with all my heart I thank you. I will sing your praises before the angels.”
Psalm 138:1
Dear Friends in Christ,
It’s hard to believe it’s November already. And yes, like most of you I’m hoping the Phillies are still playing baseball. November is more suited to Thanksgiving than baseball, at least in this part of the country. October was a very giving month at St. John’s. We had the Gift Bags for those suffering with cancer, the Food Pantry Drive to help those dealing with hunger, and the “Stuff the Truck” for the NALC Disaster Response for those dealing with catastrophic events. Along with all that, St. John’s moved forward with the Fund Raiser for the Gutter Replacement Building Project. If there is one thing that can be said about St. John’s, it’s that the people here are generous. That is very commendable. In light of that, we realize that God has blessed us all in His own way and you can’t outgive God.
At Thanksgiving we want to thank God with all our heart just like Psalm 138 declares. Thanksgiving should be a part of our lives all the time. As we thank God for material and spiritual blessings, we should also thank Him for answered prayer. Has God answered prayer in your life? Remember when you prayed, and asked God for strength, comfort, patience, protection, healing, help, and any other special need? His answers are always best even if it’s not what we wanted. We trust His wisdom and His ways. That’s faith.
It’s easy to complain, but if we think about what God has given, we realize we have so much to be thankful for and it’s only natural for the Christian to want to share those blessings with others. We have been given God’s love, forgiveness, kindness, mercy, justice, and salvation in Jesus. Even when life is difficult, we can always take time to count our blessings.
May you and yours have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
Pastor Dan