St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church Welcomes You!

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A Message From The Pastor

Greetings In The Name Of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

 Well. . .where do I begin. Children are back in school. The leaves have started to change telling us that fall is officially upon is. Our church year is quickly coming to a close on the longest season of the church year which last approx. six months. We have seen during the Pentecost season that Jesus has been teaching us by Word and example to follow him. That following can involve such things as faith and worship, prayer and thanksgiving, hearing God’s Word and sharing it, showing compassion, confronting those who oppose the Lord or who disobey him. We saw Jesus teaching and preaching, helping and healing, caring and sharing, and even stilling storms and raising people from the dead. It is the Lord of might and mercy who calls and equips us to be children of God, and sends us out into the world to be servants of God. We need to thank and praise God for the things he does is our lives and continues to do every day.

         This month we remember the Reformation. The festival of the reformation, October 31, commemorates the posting of the 95 theses, which goes back to the 17^th century. The Word Reformation means to reform or to change. November we close out the church year with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is a day on which we give thanks and praise to God for all the things he has done for us. But we do not have to wait for Thanksgiving to thank and praise God, we should always and everyday give thanks to the almighty God for all he has done. But when you come to think about it, we also need to remember those less fortunate. (2 Corinthians 9:6) “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” In taking his collection for poor people, Paul mainly appealed to the Christian responsibility to help those in need. But in this passage he details generosity's side effects. Giving actually enriches and benefits the giver, he says. Also, a gift can serve as an act of worship to God and can inspire other people's faith and thanksgiving. Remember . . . we can never out give the Lord. Try it, you’ll like it. Come December1, 2009 the new church year starts. I can’t believe how fast the year has gone by. On behalf of the Casaday family, I would like to wish the congregation a very Happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Pastor Tim