Announcements
CHRISTMAS OUTREACH: Be a blessing to a child whose parent is incarcerated at the Carroll County Detention Center by taking a tag from the tree located in the foyer. You may also help by donating money for the cost of Bibles or hams. Please place your donation in the offering designated for Christmas Outreach. For any questions, please contact Donna Dyson at 410-751-6526.
ANNUAL BUSSINESS MEETING: The Church’s annual business meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 1, following the service.
SUPER 60’s PROGRAM: entitled “Christmas - A Time for Singing” will take place on Thursday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. in the Great Room. Lunch will be served after the program and each person attending will receive a 2022 wall calendar. Please call the Church at 410-876-3838, ext. 307 to make your reservation.
NURSERY WORKERS: We are in need of six nursery workers for the Christmas Cantata service on Sunday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m. If you can help, please sign up at the Welcome Desk. For more information, contact Anne-Marie Albaugh at 443-375-2078.
LIVE NATIVITY: Our first “Live” walk-through/drive-through Nativity entitled “Creation to Calvary” will run for three days: Monday, December 20, Tuesday, December 21, and Thursday, December 23. We are in need of volunteers for this program, so please stop by the Welcome Desk to sign up if you can help. For more information, see Pastor Shutt.
From My Heart
This coming Thursday we celebrate another Thanksgiving Day. It was our first President, George Washington, who declared Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday. He said in his official declaration that the day was to be one of genuine thanksgiving and prayer. We have been celebrating Thanksgiving ever since his 1789 decree.
The word “thanks” in one form or another is found some 140 times in the Bible. David, in the Psalms, probably used it more than any other Bible character. The Apostle Paul seemed to constantly live in the arena of thankfulness and for him the giving of thanks was as natural as breathing.
Paul sang after being beaten and bound in stocks with his wrists in chains. He sang while going through that terrible shipwreck and as he floated on a piece of the ship for 3 days! He sang when he was beaten, when he was buried in a heap of stones and left for dead! The spirit of joy, praise, and thankfulness seemed to follow Paul throughout his days as he served the Lord.
To see how Paul felt about being thankful, all we have to do is look at his words in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Daniel was threatened by the rulers of Babylon, we are told he, “…prayed and gave thanks before his God.” They said, “Don’t pray,” but Daniel said, “I will pray!” When Jonah was being chastened of the Lord in the belly of the whale, he said, “I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.” (Jonah 2:9).
And then, of course, our wonderful Savior the Lord Jesus is the personification of praise and thanksgiving. He gave thanks for the bread and cup used in the Lord’s Supper. On another occasion, He prayed, “I thank thee O Father…because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
You will remember when the Lord Jesus took the 5 loaves of bread and the two little fishes from the little boy in order to feed the multitude, the Bible tells us, “He first gave thanks.” The Scriptures show us the giving of thanks is not only taught by precept, but also by the many times we see our Savior being a wonderful example of how to be thankful.
Let’s be thankful for the many blessings we have been given from the Lord. Let’s be thankful for our trials, for our illnesses, and for our heartaches! This Thursday is the day we have set aside for the purpose of being “thankful,” but let’s focus on being thankful every day! We will be happier if we approach each day as a thankful person.
I trust you and your family will have a blessed Thanksgiving day!
Pastor Norris