Text Box: I attended a wake this week for a man who raised nine children. What a crowd of family and friends, who dropped by to pay their respects. Today, large families are rare in our culture. It has changed how Thanksgiving is celebrated by many. It use to be that almost everyone gathered with 25 or more relatives to eat turkey with all the trimmings. That experience if less common today. Last month we had Jews for Jesus with us for a Sunday service. As I reflect on the first Century Judaism that Jesus practiced, it was strongly family and community based. The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) was the Jewish equivalent to our Thanksgiving where they ate the fruit of the land and remembered the wandering in the wilderness. Because we are prone to complain, we need reminders to be thankful. Three times a year, first Century Jews were expected to all gather in Jerusalem for a week of worship, feasting, and celebration. In addition, every Sabbath evening, the family gathered for the best meal of the week as they worshiped and feasted with a large extended family. Consider the contrast to how so many followers of Jesus live today. We read our Bibles by our selves daily, slip in and out of a one to two hour service once a week, and often do not even know the name of people sitting near us in church. We eat fast food on the run and are comfortable with text message friendships. We have lost much of the community life spoken of in Scriptures. When the church started in Acts, we read, They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the Text Box: fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Acts 2:42-44 Let us remember the following during this Thanksgiving month: First, God is pro-family. Some of us need to invest time in family relationships, rebuild some broken lines of communication and move beyond the pain and disappointments of the past. Love begins at home and is often difficult. I Tim 5:8 says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Second, God is calling us to embrace Christian community. The church is where we learn and worship God, but it is also where we share with others in the journey of faith. I John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” Third, God would have us to be healthy enough to help others who are lonely in our culture. If we are blessed with rich relationships, it is in order that we can bless others less fortunate. I John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” I trust you enjoy your Thanksgiving season. May God continue to build healthy relationships in our families and in our church community. May our lives exalt Jesus this holiday season. -Pastor Rick Text Box: Thanksgiving and Community

Fort Lee Gospel Church

1625 Palisade Ave.      Fort Lee, NJ 07024           (201)947-1465 

 

Pastor:                        Rev. Rick Spenst  

                    

Web site: www.fortleegospel.org

E-mail:                 fortleegospel@juno.com

Gospel News
Text Box: November 2008

Scheduling Notes

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Angel Food

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Faith & Reason

2

November Events

3

Christmas Child

3

Thanksgiving

4

November Calendar