By Frank Lewis
Tim Throckmorton, pastor of Crossroads Church in Circleville says he tries to get his congregation into the very personal celebration of Thanksgiving.
“One of the things I always encourage our congregation to do is list as many things you are thankful for this years and share from that list during Thanksgiving day,” Throckmorton said. “Before, during or after the meal, this always engages conversation and brings to our minds what God is up to right now in our lives and how very thankful we should be.”
Throckmorton took the opportunity to reflect on the important Christian holiday. Throckmorton said there are moments people must hearken back to if they will effectively perpetuate their faith and trust in God to another generation. He said, thankfulness is not just taught but caught.
“Psalm 100:4 reads – ‘Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name,’” Throckmorton said.
Throckmorton said there are many facets to Thanksgiving.
“Certainly this reminds us of how God admonished His children throughout history of how they must remember their past and their God at work in their lives throughout their generations. I like to refer to Daniel Webster who said, ‘History is nothing more than God’s providence in human affairs,” Throckmorton said. “also Charles Kauffman, an early writer of history text books on our nation before the early 1900’s. ‘Notice that while the oppressors have carried out their plans in history there were other forces silently at work which in time undermined their plans as if a divine hand were directing the counter plan, whoever parouses the story of liberty without recognizing this feature will fail to fully understand the meaning of history’ In other words, If you don’t understand what God has been up to you won’t get the truth of history and just how thankful to God we should be.”
Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.
