A Pastoral Note of Thanksgiving and of Praise

 

Thank you! Thank you for being a church-community who loves God and who loves one another. Thank you for being faithful to your calling to God’s mission and ministry in Millstone these past ten years as you have searched and waited for your next installed minister. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your support. And thank you for the trust that you have placed in me by calling me to be your pastor. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

 

Psalm 100:4 reads, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name.” I love and am thankful for our Sunday morning worship. With thankful hearts, we open our service with a Call to Worship followed by a Song of Praise. “Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I love to sing your praises!” Still standing, we pray the Prayer of the Day, invoking God’s gracious presence in our midst. After a message to the children and some news and announcements, we remember that we find ourselves in the midst of the Sanctuary and before God’s presence. It is at this point that we Confess our sins to God and here the Assurance of Pardon; “thanks be to God!”

 

Why, exactly, do we do this? The assurance of God’s mercy toward us in Jesus Christ answers the “why” of the Psalmist call to “enter his gates with thanksgiving” and to “bless his name.” The Psalmist continues in verse 5, “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations.” We are thankful because God’s love and God’s faithfulness are never ending. We hear of God’s steadfast love in the Word, through the reading of Scripture and the Preaching of the Gospel. After receiving this Word from God, we respond with thanksgiving and praise. From the gifts that God has given to us, with thankful hearts, we turn back to God and give our Offering. And now, I am honored that as your Minister of Word and Sacrament, I may now preside at the Table and celebrate the Eucharist with you as part of our response to God’s great mercy. Eucharist, from eucharistia, means “thanksgiving.” This means that every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and “remember his death until he comes,” we are sharing a thanksgiving meal.

 

After sharing this thanksgiving meal, we then turn to God in Prayer, praying for ourselves, for our loved ones, and even for the world. It is in this moment that we begin to enact our calling to be ministers together toward one another and toward those who are outside our Sanctuary. Yes, you too are a minister of the Gospel! Having offered our Prayers of the People, we sing God’s praises, receive God’s blessing in the Benediction, and finally, go out into the world with a divine Charge to loving action.

 

This Thanksgiving, as you break bread with family and friends, offer your thanks and praise to God. Give thanks and praise for what God is doing in our midst as a church. Give thanks and praise for what God is doing in our surrounding community. Give thanks and praise for our traditions. Give thanks and praise for the new things God is doing. As we begin this journey, let us remain ever thankful. For it is in giving thanks that we remember just how gracious God is to us. And when we remember God’s love and mercy, we can begin to imagine just how gracious we can be to each other.

 

I love you! And I am so thankful that I get to be your pastor.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt

Thanksgiving, 2024