Pastor Brian and the staff here at Pacific Life Church will be on vacation from November 25th until December 3rd. We would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and encourage you to do something for someone who is in need. 

 

A Thanksgiving Message………..

The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so can you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.”

Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. “Like heck

they’re getting divorced,” she shouted, “I’ll take care of this.”

She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. “You are NOT getting

divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother

back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?”

 The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. “Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights.”

 

Even though it does not seem possible, once again Thanksgiving and the Christmas season is upon us. Even as I am preparing this sermon, I can smell the wonderful aroma of candy, banana bread and pumpkin bread coming from the kitchen.

These smells take me back to my childhood when the whole family would gather at my Grandparents home for dinner. I always spent the night before thanksgiving with them, and to this day some 35 years later, I can still smell the wonderful aroma that filled the house hour by hour as the turnkey would slow cook overnight. I can smell the pies that Grandma would spend all evening baking and I can taste them as they came out of the oven and Grandpa and I would get into one of them. If we got caught getting into the pie my Grandpa’s excuse to Grandma would be “have to check and make sure its good. Wouldn’t want any of our guests getting sick”.  My Grandma knew this game though and I am sure that she always made and extra pie just for us. On Thanksgiving itself, a steady stream of family would begin to arrive bearing their contributions to our feast. Grandma would lovingly set the dining room table and her silver service (Thanksgiving and Christmas were the only time these items were used). Once the table was set, everyone was shooed out of the kitchen so that she could put the finishing touches on dinner. While she did this, my Grandfather, my Dad and my Uncles would discuss where the Christmas tree would go and what furniture would need to be moved the next day and where the Christmas lights would go this year. This however was THE ONLY mention of Christmas brought up. Thanksgiving itself was its own Holiday…….  Once Grandma & mom gave the signal, people were allowed back in  the kitchen and began carrying out what seemed like an endless stream of entrees that filled the house with delicious aromas….

Even though I was young, I was inquisitive. I wanted to know WHY……. I knew it was Thanksgiving, and I knew that A LOT of great food was going to be cooked that was not normally cooked the rest of the year, but I wanted to know the reason WHY….. SO I did what I always did, I asked my Grandma….

She  explained that Thanksgiving to me is a day set aside every year to give thanks to God for all of His blessings, and read me a verse that Paul wrote in his letter to the Church in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 1:4

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.

 

Things have changed a lot since then………. Grandma has gone home to be with her Jesus,  Grandpa lives on the opposite side of the country from me and I now have my own family to look after, my Mom and my Dad live in different states,  but one of the many things that will stay with me, and will never change for the rest of my life, are the things that taught me about truly being a Christian, and many of those lessons can be traced back to those nights before Thanksgiving………

 

I learned patience –

I learned the value of being with family-

And most of all, I learned to be thankful for what I had/have, because no matter what I was going through there was/is someone who has it a lot worse than me….

 

Philippians 4:11

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Pastor Brian and all the Family here at Pacific Life Church