Thanksgiving

 As a nation, we have reason to be thankful. We have a goodly heritage. Our pilgrim fathers were searching for freedom of worship. With an extraordinary amount of courage they set out upon the little-known waters of the Atlantic.

With immeasurable personal sacrifice they endured the rigors of that first winter which drastically reduced their numbers. It could only have been their faith in God that sustained them in the face of what must have seemed like insurmountable odds. As we pause to reflect upon the beginnings of this great nation which we call our homeland, we need kneel in prayer and bow our heads in worship before the God of our fathers who is the Author of liberty. Each time I come to our church here in Seattle and see the flag of our country flying from the flagpole, which was installed on the church grounds this year, I am reminded of the many significant blessings which we enjoy every day.

  While it is true that we are both saddened and concerned about the fact that our nation is no longer on the course envisioned by its founding fathers, we still have many blessings which, by God's providence, we enjoy every day. We have the freedom to come to this place of worship, and we can gather every day of the week without first trying to secure the permission of governmental leaders. We have not known the confiscation of our churches, the imprisonment of our pastors, or the persecution of the worshippers.

We are at liberty to use the mails to distribute the printed word; the radio to broadcast the spoken word, and the speed of air travel to bring the living word to all parts of the globe. Opportunities to spread the gospel abound. 

 On my visits to Latvia, I have heard many reports of what it was like to live without freedom; to live in the fear of which person in the circle was an informer who would betray a friend or a relative for some meager special privilege. To hear of only three souls out of a congregation who braved the danger of coming to the church to worship the pastor, the organist and the caretaker. It seems incredible that this could ever be our lot. We have always been free! 

 But the Scriptural signs indicate that the end of all things is at hand. Peter, the apostle, urges: "..be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer. " 1 Peter 4: 7 Let us not take our blessings for granted but learn a lesson again from the descendants of Abraham who were carried away captive into Babylon.  They sat down by the rivers of that strange land and wept in remembrance of Zion. They prayed: "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy." Psalms 137 : 5,6

Lost blessings are often the ones upon which we place the greatest value. As long as we have them, we frequently abuse and do not use them.  Many times, we find that regret is the most painful part of the memory of blessings which we no longer possess. 

  As we prepare to celebrate another Thanksgiving, let us ask the Lord to awaken us anew to the realization of what a fortunate people we are. Possessing the knowledge of the living God and of His grace extended to sinners in His Son Jesus, we need to concern ourselves less with the things which are seen and more with the things which are not seen; the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

From the Archives of the late Pastor A.C. Holmgren from November 1993

Submitted by Pastor Stan