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Give Thanks |
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Location: Blogs Brad's Blog |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 11/18/2009 10:03 AM | Greetings on this gloomy day,
Next week we celebrate my favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving. It’s not technically a religious holiday, but it probably should be. I love everything about Thanksgiving, the warmth and smell of the kitchen as amazing food is being cooked; the even more amazing tastes when we sat down at the table together; laying on the couches, chairs and floor in the living room after dinner to see how badly the Lions would lose in their annual Thanksgiving beatdown. (Okay, that’s not fair: there was a time when they actually had a chance to win on Thanksgiving Day…1963 comes to mind.) Depending on the weather, the later afternoon would either be taken up with a game of touch football or a snowball fight, either was okay. And then of course, the evening brought another round of food – is there anything better in the world than Thanksgiving leftovers?
But the biggest thing about Thanksgiving is that it is shared with people we care about. When I was a kid we spent most of our Thanksgivings with relatives. In the years since, Carol and I have traveled a lot at Thanksgiving to be with our families in our home states of Michigan or Rhode Island, but when we have spent our Thanksgivings away from our families, we have invited other “transplants” over to share the day and celebrate together. The common thread is that we are thankful for all the good things we have been given, especially the friends and relatives in our lives. Because those people are among the things I am most thankful for on Thanksgiving Day or any day. And I thank God every day for every one of them, and every one of you.
What are you most thankful for? Think about it and take that feeling of Thanksgiving to worship this Sunday, whether it is here at BCC or somewhere else. Go prepared to be with people who are thankful, too, and ready to praise God in thanksgiving for all that has been given to us.
This Sunday at BCC we will celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday by bringing canned goods and produce for our Thanksgiving Procession of the Bounty. At the beginning of the service, we will bring the bounty with which we have been blessed to present as an offering of thanks for all that we have been given. The bounty that we bring will be used by our Tweens to build Thanksgiving baskets for the families of the Interfaith Outreach Home, a ministry that serves families through the provision of transitional housing, job and life skills training. With your help, we can help make a wonderful Thanksgiving memory for the 10 families of the IOH.
We celebrate Thanksgiving because of all that has been given us, and this Sunday, we will also celebrate the most precious gift of all: the gift of Jesus Christ. Please make plans to join us as we raise our voices together in Thanksgiving to God. The scripture lesson will be Revelation 1: 4b-8 and the sermon is titled “Alpha and Omega.” Come and give thanks.
For an updated prayer list and list of upcoming evetns, please go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer list:
Alex Smith continues his slow progress in ICU at North Fulton Regional Hospital. Please keep the entire family in your prayers.
Judy Mowrey has gotten another good report from her surgeon following a cornea transplant. She thanks her BCC family for all the thoughts and prayers and looks forward to “seeing” you!
Ann Davis, mother of Helen Shorey’s closest childhood friend, has been diagnosed with a form of treatable, but not curable leukemia. Please keep Ann and her daughter Hettie in your prayers.
Please keep all those who are entering their first holiday season following the loss of a loved one. Pray that they might find strength as they seek peace in the season.
Upcoming events:
All hands on deck! Strong backs are needed this Saturday November 21st from 9:30 to 1:30 to set up the Christmas Tree lot! Please go to www.brookhavenchristian.org and click on the Christmas Tree to sign up. If you are planning on coming, please take the time to sign up so that the work can be planned accordingly. If you truly won’t know until the last minute if you can come, then by all means, just come…but if you know you are going to be there, please sign up. Thanks! (You can go to the same site to sign up to unload trees on Wednesday November 25 at 9:00 and to sign up to sell trees for the duration of the sale. If we all pitch in, we can make this the most successful and the most fun sale of all.)
There will be a meeting for Sunday School Teacher Training for December immediately following worship this Sunday. Contact Debbie Kinney for more information.
Don’t forget your canned goods and produce for our Procession of Bounty this Sunday!
See you this Sunday! Have a great rest of the week!
Be peaceful,
Brad | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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