A Message From Our Pastor:

Pastor Stu & Family

Thanks-giving

Most of us associate the month of November with the holiday of Thanksgiving. We gather together and celebrate with family the great blessings that we have in this country. Our plates are filled to overflowing with all sorts of culinary treats. Our history as a nation tells us this, but it wasn’t that way the first year.

What they might not have taught you in school was that the Pilgrims were starving to death in their first year here in the New World. Many of them died of starvation, and if it wasn’t for the discovery of the Native American Indians store houses of feed corn even more would have perished. The first Thanksgiving started with the rationing of feed corn. Ask a farmer, I don’t care how you prepare it, it doesn’t taste good. Yet, the Pilgrims gave thanks.

In our lives, both physical and spiritual, have we grown too accustomed to the trimmings of this life we live? In our blessings, have we forgotten how to give thanks? Have we forgotten the lean years?

I hope not. Having the perspective of seeing where you came from is always a blessing to have. Knowing that we are not guaranteed anything ensures that we strive for what we need and want. We all need to remember where we came from and in doing so we remind ourselves what we need to leave behind and what to carry forward. Our church is being so incredibly blessed there is not a day that goes by that I can’t help but think about it. I meet people from our community who are still struggling with the closing of their churches. We know this all too well. Our church family is growing, and now is bearing fruit of growing on her own. It’s not because we advertise. It’s not because we are so visible. The location is kind of out of the way.

By the time you read this, we will be on charting new territory again. Our membership has grown to an all time high, and we still have new members to bring onto our rolls. The most important part about this isn’t necessarily in the new, but the old. Our members are returning to us, both in worship and in service. That in itself is something to take notice about. We need to continue to make room for growth. Growth in spirit, space, time, and love.

Just as in our traditional Thanksgiving, take a moment and think about the past year or two. Even if this is your first year with us at Middle, take the time to remember this year. I have no idea what God has in store for us in the upcoming year. I have no idea how many more will come to our doors looking to be fed God’s word. I have no idea what trials we will face, and what victories will be won. I feel more like a Pilgrim every year.

Give thanks. Let every Sunday be a time of Thanks-giving.

God’s blessing to you and your family!

All my love, 

Pastor Stu