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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
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