November 2005
"GOD IS GOOD – WE ARE BLESSED"
As I drive around our community this morning with the sun beginning to rise, I looked out over open fields painted with patches of fog and saw the fall colors blazing in those first rays of sunlight. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of it all and one thought filled my mind. GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! What a precious moment before God.
In all the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we need to stop and clear our minds and just take a little time to look around us. Not to look at all the things that we need to get done, but at the beauty of what God has done (and is doing) in the world and in our lives. Every day we need to take that moment and be quiet before God and recognize the goodness of what God has given us and just say thanks.
November is a time of being thankful. We honor our veterans on November 11th for the sacrifices they have made for us as a nation and as individuals. They all have given of themselves and their time, while others have given everything for the benefit of their country and their people. We live safe and free because they saw the "experiment in democracy" that we call the United States of America worth sacrificing for. We honor their sacrifice by living to uphold the beliefs and the values that this great country was founded upon; as well as the God that they honored and served.
In November, the harvest is winding down and we celebrate the fruits of months of hard work and the providence of God hand on our lives. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we thank God for all that we have. As we share the meal, we remember the struggles of a group of Pilgrims and the native people who came to their aide and literally saved their lives. We look back over our years as a nation and give thanks for all that God has given us. Sure, we still have struggles, but we can be assured that God is with us.
We have been greatly blessed as a people. We are the wealthiest nation in the entire world. And with our wealth comes responsibility. John Wesley said that what we have beyond what we need has been given to us, as stewards of God’s blessing, to meet the needs of others. We, who have the means, are to make all we can; save all we can; and then give all we can. In other words, all who can are to be gainfully employed and not be wasteful of what we make, but are to wisely use what we have to meet the needs of our families and then do all we can to help meet the needs others.
We have been greatly blessed, but our blessings are hindered when we become caught up in the materialism and self interest of our culture. Let us each rediscover that our greatest blessing and joy comes when we set aside our wants to do all we can to help others in need; all to the glory of God. What better way to say thanks to the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe who knows us each by name and loves us each enough to have sent His Son to save us.
Grace and Peace, Pastor Rob
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