The Voice
Of

Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

NOVEMBER
&
DECEMBER
2009

The Reverend Robert Lydick, Pastor

300 Clara Avenue

Panama City Beach, Florida 32407
(850)233-6249

Fax: (850)233-9900

E-Mail: christoursavior-pcb@knology.net

FROM THE PASTOR

The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who
sowed good seed in his field. [Matthew 13:24]

We may all recall the stories about the original
Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock. A starving immigrant
people saved by generous natives. A huge wild turkey
sitting in the middle of a table, surrounded by squash
and pumpkins and other vegetables. There was plenty
of food. There was plenty of companionship. There
were plenty of thanks, indeed.

Sometimes points of this are disputed. Artist
renderings are full of discrepancies. Accounts are as
much fictionalized as true. Yet one thing is certain:

The Thanksgiving at Plymouth was centered in
something that lingers into the present-Food.

Food figured into that original Thanksgiving and
it certainly figures into ours. But there is this
significant difference: Our Thanksgiving is centered
more in wondering just what we should serve, which
recipes we should follow, where will we put all the
heaping dishes and, above all else, just how much
incredibly delicious food can we consume without
becoming permanently comatose while we sit in front
of the TV.

Their Thanksgiving was primarily a harvest
festival. Their Thanksgiving was for the fact that there
would be enoughfood to keep them from starving. The
harvest had come, and there was plenty of food for all.
For that, they gave thanks.

However, the Good News goes deeper than
that, because the harvest proclaims the Planter
Himself. It tells us that beneath His generous work
there is an extremely generous heart of love. He sees
our physical need and answers it before we call.

The depth of the Good News is the generous
giver of all good things, who saw an even deeper
need. He has reached out to us and promised us a
place in His eternal harvest.

It is all, to use St. Paul's inspired words, a
"surpassing grace". It is a gracious God with love so
abundant that it manages to surpass even sin's
power. Indeed, it is so powerful, it turns weeds into
wheat, deniers into believers, sinners into saints, the
dead into the living, it turns us into Christians. How's
that for Good News? There is wheat in a world of
weeds only because of the surpassing grace of God in
Jesus, the Christ. Our Lord Jesus, the Sower, the
Planter, went out to be and to sow the good seed of
life and faith, and it is growing. It is growing in people
like us and in people all around the world.

The Planter's gracious love had transformed
weeds into wheat. He will harvest His wheat in that
final harvest day, take us to the safety of His granary,
and share every joy of heaven.

That will be a joyful celebration that makes
even our happiest Thanksgiving pale by comparison.

In Christ,
Pastor Lydick

Nancy, Jerri, Laura, and I would like to thank the
entire parish for their prayers, support, and kind
words at the death of Nancy's mother our sister
in Christ, Betty Brandenburg. Her husband Cecil is
progressing very well over his loss. We are drawn to
the Beatitudes, where Jesus, "opened His mouth and
taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive
mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called sons of god.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

"Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you."

These are the Gospels of Christ, not the law.
Therefore, we will all faithfully pray that these words
are meant for us too.

Thank you all for your support.

In Christ,

Pastor, Nancy, Jerri, Laura