Minister’s Blog

We seem to live according to the seasons we have created in our imagination. During Easter we remember the resurrection of Jesus. On July 4, we celebrate the founding of our nation upon the principles of freedom and responsibility. Labor Day is a weekend we take a holiday from work to honor all who work. Halloween is the season to dress up in some humorous outfit to beg for sugar laden candy to satisfy our drive for sweetness. You guessed it, Thanksgiving is a catch-up for giving thanks we forgot or neglected to express in the other seasons of the year. Of course, Christmas is the season for remembering Jesus, the Divine Son of God, who became a human being in order to be the sacrifice for our sins. Since Jesus is our greatest gift, we give gifts to others to celebrate His birth.

I suppose we could never celebrate Easter, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas together every day and keep our sanity at the same time. For that reason we need our holiday seasons but thanksgiving is good for every season. Giving thanks is not a seasonal habit we practice for a few days and then return to the storage shelf until the next year. We never have a season that begins and ends to criticize our nation, church, friends, and family. Since we are always on alert to voice our opinions about what is not to our liking, we always need an amble supply of gratitude on hand to balance our criticism with thanks. If not, we will persist in grumbling and complaining to our own misery and the discomfort of everyone who knows us. First Thessalonians 5:18 instructs us to “give thanks in everything for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

In His Service,
Terry Jones, Senior Minister, Christ’s Church at Tiffin