INovember at Taylorsville is usually a busy month. We start the month
with All Saints’ Sunday, then we get ready for the Christmas Bazaar, our
biggest fundraising and outreach event of the year. Then we get a little
break for Thanksgiving before ending the month with the first Sunday of
Advent. An already eventful month made more so with the beginning of
the new cooperative parish set to start the last Sunday of November.
There will be some groundwork and meetings that need to happen
before, I'm sure.
November always comes with the theme of thankfulness, but
thankfulness always comes with a challenge. All Saints’ Sunday reminds
us in our grief for those who have passed to also express thankfulness
for the lives that have come and gone. The souls who left an important
impression on us will always remain a part of who we are. We celebrate
them and miss them as parts of our family of faith.
The Bazaar is a time to connect with other people, fellowship and
celebrate and yes raise some needed funds. We are always grateful for
the hard work of everyone who makes this year's bazaar happen and for
the people who come to shop, fellowship, and meet us for the first time
or the 20th time.
And of course, Thanksgiving asks us to be thankful for family, for
friends, and for all the gifts God has given us throughout the year.
Some years may come with a mixture of hardships and blessings, but
every year has a blessing in it if we only try to find it. In your
Thanksgiving celebrations, look for that blessing that might be sitting in
plain sight for you to find.
And lastly, Advent begins inviting us to start the Christian year all over
again. Meet Christ for the first time all over again. This year's scriptures
don’t start with the familiar nativity but with prophets and John the
Baptist and an adult Christ before bringing us to the child Christ. It asks
us to consider why we need to receive the Christ in the first place.
This year's Advent study will be “Almost Christmas.” This study invites
us to enter the familiar Christian story along with John Wesley, the
founder of Methodism. Framed through his famous sermon “The Almost
Christian” encouraging us to follow Christ wholeheartedly. I hope you
will consider joining us or starting your own small group study this
season.
But through all the buisness of this season I hope and encourage us
all to seek and find many reasons to give thanks no matter what
circumstance we find ourselves in.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this
is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Pastor Josh
