by Tim Bauer, Capstone Ministries

There is a popular expression amongst counseling groups today that says, “Hurt people hurt people.” As a result of their own hurts in life, some will turn around and hurt others. Their own inner strife and pain spills over into their relationships with others. With the help of compassionate people, in particular a Christian with the Spirit of counsel (Isaiah 11:2), and a desire to get help, they can be set free. In fact, this is God’s desire for them. He suffered and died to make this possible.

Another expression has come to my mind lately that is just as powerful, if not more. It is this: “Clean people clean people.” What I mean is that only a person cleansed by the blood of Jesus will possess what is necessary to cleanse others. We cannot give in the spiritual realm what we do not possess in the Spirit. This is why there is so much bondage within the church in America today. “Unclean” people are trying to clean people. The results are a church, and therefore a nation, bound up tight with little to show for its efforts. More times than not it’s the blind leading the blind.

In Leviticus 14 the Lord gave Moses the law for cleansing a leper. It required the blood of a sacrificial bird in an “earthen vessel” over “running” or “living” water. The Hebrew word for running is “chay.” It’s defined as “alive, fresh, strong, flowing.” The priest was to take another bird, a “live bird,” which is also interpreted from “chay,” together with cedar wood, scarlet string, and hyssop, all symbols of God’s redemption, and dip it in the blood of the bird that was slain. Afterward, he was to sprinkle the person with leprosy seven times in order to cleanse him, pronouncing him clean. Then he was to let the live bird go free.

The Hebrew for dip is “tabal.” It means “to dip, to plunge, to immerse.” This is also the definition for Christian baptism. When the blood of the slain sacrifice, Jesus Christ, is applied to us through our identification, our immersion in Him through a repentant heart, we become like the “live bird,” the “living creature,” that was set free. John 8:36 says “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed,” no longer a slave to the power of sin and death.

In Revelation 1:5, John speaks of “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood.” The Greek for released is “luo.” It is defined as “to loose one bound, to let go, to set free.” Like the live bird in Leviticus 14, after being dipped in the blood of Jesus Christ through repentance we are set free from the bondage of sin, able to soar up into higher realms over the “open field” (Leviticus 14:7).

In this lofty position, we are safe from the demonic, wild beasts that roam about below. From our new vantage point we have eyes to see that which was previously unseen, discerning by the Spirit of God the movements of the kingdom of darkness. This makes us a great threat to the devil. At that height we freely soar out of range of the devil’s flaming missiles with a much better view of the battlefield below. Greater visibility in the Spirit makes life extremely difficult for the demons. This is why Satan desires to bring us down through deceptive tactics to a place where he can overpower us, once again taking us captive to do his will instead of God’s (2 Timothy 2:26). May we all rise through a repentant heart, placing us in a cleansed position where we can be used to cleanse others. Amen.

Pastor Craig Carter
North Kent Community Church
1480 Indian Lakes Rd., Sparta, • Church Phone: 550-6398

I recently spent some time with a friend and his family. He shared a personal story about his son, who recently went through some legal difficulties. We had the privilege of praying for and encouraging his family and his son through these difficulties. Since that time, my friend’s story has profoundly touched my heart and life. It has reminded me of how much I need God and am dependent upon Him.
His story went on to include details about his son’s arrest. He shared that after having been arrested, his son appeared before the judge, where his bond was set.   His son had some money on him personally and was hoping to simply bond himself out of jail. Unfortunately, the judge set the bond amount for $12 more than he had on his person. He found himself $12 short! His financial shortfall required him to call his father for help. Of course, this was not want he wanted to do. His son’s desire was to just take care of his problem on his own.
Does this sound familiar? How many times in our lives as human beings have we tried to solve our problems on our own? We, like my friend’s son, respond the same way. We say, “I can take care of this myself.” The problem with this thought process is that God never intended for us to do things on our own. As a result, we too fall short. I do not like this feeling of “falling short.” It makes me feel inadequate and nobody likes that feeling. However, I have come to realize that is exactly how God planned it. Our “shortfalls” and inadequacies, if we let them, will cause us to rely on God for his help. The Apostle Paul knew this truth when he wrote, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom 3:22-24 –NIV). Paul reminds us that trust (faith) in Jesus Christ makes up the difference. We are redeemed from our sin, and our shortcomings, simply by trusting in God and His amazing grace. You cannot earn it, you must simply believe and receive it! In essence, God provides the $12 you need, but you have to ask Him for it. Have you ever asked God to make up the difference in your life? Have you ever acknowledged that you are a sinner and that you fall short? Even if you are a Christian, do you live with the realization that without God, you will always come up short of what you need?  Or do you live a self-reliant life? In another portion of scripture, the Apostle Paul said, “In Him I live and move and can’t get away from him (Acts 17:28 -The Message). We realize that without him we can do nothing. You have to come to realize that your self-reliant nature does not like this truth. That is what I have come to realize in this story.  My self–reliant nature always leaves me $12 dollars short of what I need. However, when I simply acknowledge my complete dependence upon God, He always makes up for what I lack. I just need to humble myself, like my friend’s son, and call my Heavenly Father.

Pastor Ryan Black
Cedar Springs Christian Church
340 West Pine Street, Cedar Springs

The New Year is often a place for fresh starts and new beginnings.  We look to make improvements in our personal lives for the good of ourselves, family, and those we love and care about. We set new goals and make pledges that include diet and exercise, better organization, spending more time with family, careful stewardship of financial resources, accountability and ridding ourselves of bad habits, just to name a few.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting and pursuing these goals. In fact, accomplishing these goals will more than likely improve your standard of living here in this world.
While these are great examples of ways to better our lives, there is one goal that I challenge everyone to take a hard look at as we start off this New Year. What I’m speaking of is improving your spiritual life and creating a better and stronger relationship with your Lord and Savior. I’m not speaking solely about increasing the number of times you go to church, although it is highly encouraged. I’m referring more about taking the time to pray (speak with God) daily along with studying your Bible, the Word of God. Take the time to know Jesus Christ at a deeper level. Look at it as building a personal relationship rather than just a religious commitment.
There are many out there who have a strong and confident relationship with God.  There are others who do not have a sound spiritual background and have not come to know or understand who Jesus is.  On the other hand, maybe some have grown up with a Christian background but somewhere along the road they have drifted away from it and no longer feel that strong connection with God. No matter where your level of spirituality is, each and every one of us can benefit from a fresh encounter with God.
What better time than now, at the start of a new year, to begin this fresh and exciting journey?  If you are at the point in your life where you are ready to make a personal commitment to follow Christ, all you have to do is reach out to Him now in prayer. He is listening and waiting to come into your heart and help you live a better life.
We invite you to visit any of the wonderful churches that we have in our Cedar Springs community in order to benefit from the spiritual guidance, the Christian fellowship and the encouragement they offer. A fresh start and a new beginning with God may be the best opportunity for personal improvement you could ever make. Who knows, a revitalized encounter with God may just be the catalyst you need to help you achieve some of those other resolutions as well!

Pastor Dick Nichols
Cedar Creek Community Church
2969 14 Mile Road, Sparta

A new year is much like running a foot race. In order to begin a new one, we need to put the old one behind us, because we can only participate in one at a time.
New Year’s is the time we like to make resolutions that we hope will make our future much better than the past we just left. There are always things we know we can do better; or maybe things we shouldn’t do at all; or maybe there is something we need to change to help us be more at peace in our personal lives.
Most people. whether they go to church or not, know the “Golden Rule.”  Let’s give it a try. Please complete the following sentence: “Do unto others as you __ __ __ __ __ __.” (Answer at bottom of article).  This is a part of our American culture, yet many people have no idea that it came from Jesus’ teaching. Following it, though, is another story.
We read Jesus words in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (New International Version).
We each have our own circumstances in life, where we should apply the Golden Rule, but just to help us better understand the application, let’s look at just one illustration today: forgiveness. Jesus talks to us about forgiveness in Matthew’s gospel in chapter 6, verses 14-15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (New International Version).
God is the God of relationships, and in order to begin a new year, we must first make peace with our past and the relationships that have been broken through a lack of forgiveness. Thank God that because of Jesus Christ and the fact that he is reaching out to us in love, whatever has happened to us in the past can be put behind us. If something happened to you in your youth or in your past or in some other relationship and it continues to hurt in your heart, then that resentment, that hurt, that brokenness is to some degree controlling your life, like a heavy burden that weighs you down.
The bible talks about how to get yesterday off your back. To paraphrase scripture, “forgive and you will be forgiven, if you don’t, you won’t.”  In Romans 12:18-19, the apostle Paul wrote; “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘it is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (New International Version).
From this we can see the purpose of God’s command to forgive others. The burden of unforgiveness is like carrying a 50-pound bag of garbage around all of the time. January 1st is one day, like any other day of the year. When we resolve to do what we can to ease this burden on New Year’s day, and then carry that same resolve into the next day, and the next day, and the next etc., we will find the truth of God’s word.
Now, if we will apply this same principle to other circumstances in life, just think of what your future in following Jesus could hold. Part of this good news is that this golden rule can be applied starting today, and then again tomorrow and so on,  and others did the same, can you even imagine what kind of world we might live in? May the peace of Jesus Christ dwell in you.
(Answer: fill in the blank:  “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”)

Pastor Barry Briggs
The Springs Church
135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs

If someone were to ask you, “What’s the easiest thing to lose?” what would you say? My keys, my cell phone, the TV remote? Do you know what the easiest thing to lose is?  Your joy. You can lose it just like that. One phone call, an email, a letter, a conversation and boom – it’s gone.
David prayed this in Psalm 51:12a (NIV) “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation…”
He had lost the joy. Maybe you have too.  If so, God wants to restore your joy. And one of the quickest ways to get your joy back, believe it or not, is by spreading joy. You can actually restore your joy by spreading joy.
I heard about a guy this Christmas who paid off someone’s lay-a-way bill at Kmart.  They came to pick up their stuff and found out it was all paid for. I’m sure that spread the joy!  How fun would that have been for the person who received it, and for the person who did it? It inspired another guy who heard the story and he went and paid off $2000 worth of lay-a-way items for people!
Don’t just take and take and take.  Find some way in life to give something back.  That will restore your joy.
The Bible says this in Acts 20:35b (TEV) “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.”
That’s absolutely true.  There’s more happiness in being the gift, than in getting a gift.  God says, “You need some joy?  Here’s what I want you to do, be the gift to someone this week. Spread some joy. Brighten up someone’s day.  It will brighten your day too.”
Here are 10 ways that you can spread joy this week:
1. Be positive.
With the down economy and bills falling behind this can be really tough to do; but being positive will encourage those around you and bring you joy in the process.
2. Smile at everyone you come in contact with.
Smiles are contagious! Someone can be going through a hard time, really discouraged, and you give them a big smile, and they can’t help but smile back. I love giving the gift of joy because this gift gets passed around so easily! Giving out smiles, looking people in the eye and being super friendly is something that we all are capable of doing.
3. Leave an encouraging sticky note on a few of your co-workers computers. Don’t sign it. Just do it.
4. Give a Thank You card to someone who has made a difference in your life.
5. Run errands for a new mom (or someone who is sick).
6. Say “Please” and “Thank you” – show sincere appreciation.
7. Invite a friend over for coffee or dessert.
8. Give kind words freely.
Honestly, after a day of “You didn’t accomplish this; and you got a D on that test; and your monthly projections were off by a long shot… blah, blah, blah…” we all need to hear something positive.
9. Thank our wonderful military personnel each and every time you see someone in uniform. Look them in the eyes and say “Thank you”.
10.    Write a note to your children expressing how proud you are of them.  Leave it on their pillow or in their lunch box.
There is something deep within us all that knows it is better to give than to receive.  There’s no joy like spreading joy! Start looking for opportunities to spread joy. When you do, you’ll see them pop up all over the place. This week do just one thing a day to spread the joy to the people around you. Each and every act of joy, regardless of what it is, will make a difference. It will give joy to others, and at the same time it will give joy to you.
You can make a difference!  The real question is—will you? How are you spreading joy?

Pastor Robert Eckert
Courtland-Oakfield United Methodist Church
10295 Myers Lake Ave., Rockford

“Whoever is not with me is against me . . . .” (from Matthew 12:30).
“Whoever is not against us is for us” (from Mark 9:39-40).

I’ve been hearing lately that a War on Christmas has been declared and I’m having trouble picking sides. The battlefields include public speech, government property, and retail businesses. One person’s “Merry Christmas” is another person’s “Season’s Greetings” and either will offend someone. An evergreen tree decorated with ornaments and lights by any other name, be it Christmas Tree or Holiday Tree, apparently doesn’t smell as sweet. And somehow a sacrilege is committed if Meijer starts selling candy canes and tinsel before Thanksgiving. (My favorite lament about early starts on holiday merchandising—ok, Christmas merchandising—was someone who said: “Now they’re advertising for Christmas before Halloween! Of course, I had all my shopping finished last spring.”)
The time of year that begins with Halloween, continues on to Thanksgiving, through Christmas and ends when the final BCS bowl game has been played is a complicated, contradictory mix of cultural, religious, commercial, and family traditions that finds more and more of us vying to have the final word on the “true meaning” of it all—especially the true meaning of Christmas.
We’re all familiar with the contenders for the title and how they tend to fall into either secular or sacred categories. There’s the spirit of giving, good cheer, and celebration of innocence side. Think of Francis Church telling Virginia that there is a Santa Clause in 1897: “Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus!…There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.”
And there’s the “Jesus is the reason for the season,” unto-you-a-savior-is-born, God-so-loved-the world side. This one has a couple subcategories. It can be as fully festive as any secular observance as long as celebrants remember that the party is for Jesus. Or it can point to a more somber aspect. Peter Roff, for example, of U.S. News and World Report writes, “It’s true that the remembrance of the Savior’s birth is a time for rejoicing, but his coming into the world is far less important than the how and the why He left it.” Remember the nasty business of the crucifixion?
Far be it from me to attempt settle the question of the true meaning of Christmas. It’s entirely up to us, collectively and individually, after all we invented it. My only question is what’s all the fuss? If I never even mention the name of Jesus but work extra hours to buy a present for someone I love, is God displeased? If I totally abstain from anything that can be remotely described as commercial for the entire month of December and focus instead on prayers of thanksgiving for Jesus, have I gained special favor in God’s eyes? If I give a gift anonymously; if I celebrate unabashedly; if I send a letter to an old friend, invite my family for dinner, or quietly meditate at a candlelight service … if there is anything joyful, hopeful, generous, or grateful in whatever any of us does during the holiday season, can it be other than good and true and godly?
I was always happy when my children played nice together. As far as I can tell, that’s what we do from Halloween to New Year’s, for a little while we play nice together.  Christmas is being co-opted by a secular culture? I wish! If only its joy and generosity really did infuse our increasingly cynical world. Christmas starts too early? It doesn’t come soon or often enough.
Peter Roff goes on to say, “If you believe Jesus is the light and the hope of the world, having someone wish you ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas’ doesn’t change that.”
If there’s a war on Christmas, let’s all take a deep breath and give peace a chance.

Pastor Jim Alblas
Pioneer Christian Reformed Church
3110 17 Mile Rd, Cedar Springs

In the coming weeks many of us will be quite busy. At this time of year some of us might find ourselves spending a great deal of time (and money) getting those last minute Christmas gifts for loved ones. Others, who manage to avoid the busyness of the stores, may find themselves busy in the kitchen preparing snacks and meals for family get togethers. Still others will spend lengthy stretches of time traveling in town or out of town to family functions, Christmas programs and New Years Eve parties. Andy Williams tells us in his classic song that this is the most wonderful time of the year, and the Christmas season certainly has its share of joy. But it can also be a rather hectic time. In light of this, I’ve written a poem that I hope will be helpful to you and will keep things in perspective during the sometimes overwhelming Christmas season.
When in December
When as you scrape the frost off your car and feel the cold in your face
and come to realize, you’ve just a few minutes to get to the workplace.
When there’s still gifts to be bought and cards to be sent
but you’re still trying to find the money for the monthly rent.
When the kids want you to help build the snow man and this year they want him with feet!
but your struggling to find time just to put those Christmas Cookies on the baking sheet.
When the dog needs to be walked and the tree still needs to be put up
and all the while you receive a call from a telemarketer who says “What’s up?”
When the Christmas play is at 6 and the Caroling is at 8
and your teenaged son wants the keys so he can go on his date.
When the busyness of this season, has you at wits end
Remember, our heavenly father and the Gift He did send.
When the days are cold and our windows full of frost
Remember Immanuel, God is with us; we’re never lost!
When the bills start to mount and we wonder how we’ll pay
Remember, that the Lord always makes a way.
When we start to lose our joy and can barely even talk
Turn your eyes to the one whose known as the Solid Rock.
When there’s much to do and not enough hours in the day
Never worry, because to Him we can always pray.
And in the sometimes hectic and pressure-filled December days
Always remember, by your side God always stays.

chad@thejourneychurch.net

I stood with a quiet gaze. Darkness swallowed dim light. Snow fell lonely. My eyes affixed to the child, broken momentarily by each bump of bodies pressing for a closer look. I furrowed my brow in suspicion. Dare I consider the immeasurable folded into human proportions, infinity fit in an envelop of skin, omniscience contracted to a central nervous system? Had God come once before, still leaving so much to do? The poor, the sick, the outcast and the oppressed; the righteous who pity them, and the powerful who exploit them.
An elderly woman stooped low to the child who drew my mind to wondering. Known by her prayers for His return, and her own likeness to Him in her service of the poor, she often gathered with a church on the outskirts of town. She had lived her life believing, truly, that God once smelled the scent of a mother’s milk, heard the lowing of ox and donkey, had once seen the far corners of the universe, yet blinked in a barn’s dim shadows. And now, she had come to visit, and this living nativity hushed in wait.
She quietly cried, “Now that you are with us we have but one question.” The child smiled as if to know already what it would be. “Tell us, Christ child, when will you arrive?” My mouth grew crooked with confusion. Only now, year’s later, do I understand her inquiry.
Philosophers and theologians ask what it means for someone to be with us. Does desire arise insofar as what we desire is absent? Or do we long for the arrival of someone only when that person has turned up? What if the presence of someone is precisely that which makes us yearn so deeply for them?
When we meet our beloved we will often feel that we were always looking for that person, that we were incomplete without them. The lover is one whose heart proclaims, “I had no need of you before I met you, but now I know I always needed you.” That being the case, our desire is not satisfied by the arrival of our beloved, but rather born there.
The people we meet are an interior world of infinite proportions, and how much more Him who constructed infinity. People we have known all our lives remain a mystery, even to themselves. Therefore, when the one we love arrives, we experience this person simultaneously as one who is still to come, not despite their presence but because of it. Thus, in the Incarnation, the mystery of God is deepened. In this Child, the mystery is not unmasked, but rather dwells with us, in our midst.
The God who has walked dusty roads and drank dark wine, has stroked the heads of children and touched the sores of lepers, has torn apart loaves and fish and overturned our tables of religiosity, has fingered words in the dirt and been kissed by our most reviled—this Child who comes to us in fragile frame testifies to our God’s absence, to the fact that He is always arriving. Our God is near and far in that, being infinite, we will never discover the last thing there is to know about Him. He has no limit. “Grant us, Lord, to know more of You.”
He made His dwelling among us that night (John 1:14), and by the cries of an elderly lady, I have begun, truly, to see His glory.

By Rev. Tom Holloway, Senior pastor
Solon Center Wesleyan Church
15671 Algoma, Cedar Springs
(just north of 19 Mile)

Do you have any expectations for the Christmas season this year? Does your family have any traditions at Christmas? Many people use the day after Thanksgiving for the tradition of rising early and battling the other shoppers at the big box stores for the hopes of a new TV, I-Pad 2, or some other electronic gadget at a bargain basement price.  I have to admit to doing some shopping on “Black Friday” this year, and though I didn’t get up early and wait in lines at 3:00 a.m., I must admit I have done it in the past and I really like watching that TV!
Our family has some other traditions that we like to do every Christmas, and one of them includes going out to a local tree farm and cutting down our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Some times when we do this the weather is warm, and sometimes it’s cold, and when we’re lucky there is snow on the ground. This year it was both unseasonably warm and dry. It didn’t start raining until after we had gotten the tree loaded up on top of the minivan, and got on the road. But now it’s up, lit, and decorated, and it looks awesome!
These are the traditions, and the expectations that are a joy to me. I must admit that I have a certain level of expectation when it comes to the Christmas season, and when all of my expectations are met life is good. However, I have found that often times my expectations go unmet. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and what I would expect and anticipate doesn’t always happen. I, like you, have had Christmas seasons that I would like to forget. Losing a loved one close to Christmas can make the season that I love the most very difficult. Unfortunately, I have lost two grandparents very close to Christmas, and those years were not filled with joy, but rather sorrow.
When we read the Christmas story from Luke, we meet some characters in the Bible.  One of them is Jesus’ mother, Mary. Mary has some expectations in her life. She is engaged to a man named Joseph. Joseph is from the family line of King David, the most powerful King in Israel’s history. The Messiah would come from this family line, and when Mary gets a visit from the angel Gabriel, she finds out that her expectations are about to change.
28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
When met with some unexpected news, Mary reacts in a way that many of us would, she is “greatly troubled.” Wouldn’t we all be? When we find out that our lives are going to change, and that our expectations are going to be altered, we are usually greatly troubled. It happens when we lose a job; when we receive bad news about an illness; when we lose a loved one; when we are downsized, etc. Life can throw us some real curveballs.
Gabriel gives Mary the best news though, because he tells her that God is with her. Life is going to change for Mary and Joseph; it will be difficult to deal with the news of this miraculous birth, because people will question the validity of it. People will question Mary’s character. Joseph will have to be brave.  Life is going to change and be more difficult, but even through it all, God will be with them.
So you might have some unexpected news this Christmas, and life may get altered. Life might throw you a curveball you didn’t see coming. But Jesus is there for you, and He’s not in the manger—He is with you to walk you through life’s difficulties. Expect and anticipate great things this Christmas season. As the angel tells Joseph, “Immanuel” means God with us!

Pastor Mary Ivanov
Cedar Springs United Methodist Church
140 S. Main St., Cedar Springs

“Thanks!”  I say this word more times than I can count in one day.  I write it on notes and type it many times as I finish an E-mail message.  It’s become a standard “sign-off” for us, but I was struck by some verses from First Thessalonians 5:16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (New International Version)
16 Always be joyful. 17Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (New Living Translation)
16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. (The Message)
These verses come from the end of a letter to the early church, probably one of the earliest writings in the New Testament (50’s AD).  The apostle Paul is writing to a congregation that he formed on his missionary journey to Thessalonica, and these words come at the close of his letter—advice from a church leader to other followers of Jesus Christ.
The call to be joyful, pray, and give thanks is not so surprising.  These are a part of Christian character and practice, but the instructions on how and how often are powerful!  We can’t just be joyful in the Lord when we feel like it—when life is going great for us. Our joy is deeper than our circumstances. We don’t pray just when we “need to,”when there’s a specific situation that drives us to ask God for help. Prayer is a gift of God that keeps us connected to God and to people around us.  And we don’t just give thanks on one particular Thursday in November.  Giving thanks is a way to live “in all circumstances.”
Perhaps you’ve heard verse 18 misquoted before. I’ve heard it read: “give thanks for all circumstances…” but that’s not the right word or the spirit of the Scripture!  That small word makes a big difference! God’s Word doesn’t call us to give thanks for the difficulties we face or the struggles we have, but to give thanks and recognize God’s presence in the midst of all of life.
So whatever you might be doing this Thanksgiving Day—whether sitting around a large table with family or friends, cooking for one or two, recovering from surgery or illness, grieving losses and missing loved ones, feeling overwhelmed with blessings, or not quite in the holiday spirit—know that the call to “give thanks” isn’t limited to one day. It’s a call on our life to show our faith in God who walks with us on every step of the journey. Giving thanks in all circumstances is a powerful witness to God’s presence and power in our lives and in the world!
If you don’t have a church home or have been away for a while, every day is the perfect time to get reconnected! Consider getting back to church or trying it out for the first time during this season of Thanksgiving leading up to Christmas. I invite you to worship with us this Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. or 11:30 a.m.  We also have a special Bible study beginning this Sunday, November 27 at 10:15 a.m. called “The Journey” where we’ll learn more about the people and places surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.  We share the love and hope of Jesus Christ!