{"id":4294,"date":"2022-10-09T12:26:56","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T17:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charleswoodunited.org\/2022_charleswoodunited\/wordpress\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2022-11-10T12:30:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T17:30:22","slug":"pastoral-letter-sunday-october-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charleswoodunited.org\/2022_charleswoodunited\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/09\/pastoral-letter-sunday-october-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastoral Letter: Sunday, October 9, 2022 \u2013 Thanksgiving Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watch this week\u2019s service on YouTube by clicking: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=arZmdEX6OVY&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n

Please join us for in-person worship Sundays at 10:00 (masks recommended)<\/p>\n

Our newest video for children video is available here: https:\/\/youtu.be\/AtS0TYzL1Cw<\/a><\/p>\n

Join us after church on Sundays for Hebrew\u2019s Caf\u00e9, coffee and fellowship following worship in the Van Roon Community Hall<\/p>\n

Did you know you can support this ministry by PayPal\/Visa, e-transfer, automatic withdrawal, and gifted securities, in addition to weekly or monthly cheques? For Offering Information please visit: www.charleswoodunited.org\/support<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for your generous support.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n

Welcome to worship for Sunday, October 9, 2022.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anytime we wish another person a Happy Thanksgiving, or in any way extoll the virtue of offering gratitude, it should come with a warning. Living with thanksgiving changes you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Offering thanks is a vulnerable act. It is an admission that we are a people in need. And that we recognize the times when others aid us in our need. In this sense thanksgiving is confessional. More than that, offering thanks is a profoundly connecting act, a recognition that we are in relationship with one another. Expressing gratitude binds one to the other and to something greater than ourselves. In this sense thanksgiving is sacramental.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the lesson and reflection that are part of both the online and in person service this week, I try to tease out a peculiar aspect revealed in the story of ten lepers who are healed but only one returns to give thanks. That idea is that thanksgiving doesn\u2019t change God. It changes us. The premise is that when Jesus offers healing it is always done so as an act of grace. It is offered freely and abundantly as though the sower has all the seed in the world to scatter and cares not<\/p>\n

where it lands for that is not the point. God will love whether we acknowledge God or not, ask for it or not, give thanks or not. There is nothing we can do, or not do that is going to make God love us anymore than God already does. As Paul says \u201cnothing can separate us from the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.\u201d I take great comfort in this but it does mean that God is not changed by my taking the time to offer gratitude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But living with thanksgiving, while not altering God, can have a profound affect on us. If we develop the practice of giving thanks, we will be disarmed of our arrogance. We will be opened to the goodness around us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We will be enriched by our common humanity. Giving thanks is a spiritual discipline. The more we practice it, the more we will be transformed in its likeness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You probably have known people in your life who have mastered the old proverb and, \u2018have a attitude of gratitude\u2019. Remember them and think of the joy in their life and the peace in their soul. In my experience they are not people who have had it any easier than anyone else. But the simple daily practice of bringing the things we have to be thankful for to the conscious mind can have a profound affect on our happiness and our capacity to move through sorrow and<\/p>\n

disappointment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a difficult year, at the end of a difficult period of history, I am thankful for you. Thank you for remaining connected and committed to the life of this church. Thank you for journeying with us in whatever way seemed best for you. Thank you for being hopeful and sharing the hope God has placed in you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thank you for being thankful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace,<\/p>\n

Michael<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P.S. There\u2019s a special Thanksgiving gift at the end of this week\u2019s online service. Even if you are coming to the in person service Sunday you may wish to take a peek.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This coming Friday, September 30, is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is more commonly known as Orange Shirt Day to honour the story of Phyllis Webstad who brought a new orange t-shirt to her Residential School in 1973 when she was six years old only to have it taken from her. Phyllis\u2019 story is but an entrance into the history and legacy of the Residential School System in Canada and a reminder of our collective responsibility to work for reconciliation today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pastoral-letters"},"yoast_head":"\nPastoral Letter: Sunday, October 9, 2022 \u2013 Thanksgiving Sunday - Charleswood United Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pastoral letter Sunday September 25, 2022\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charleswoodunited.org\/2022_charleswoodunited\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/09\/pastoral-letter-sunday-october-9\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pastoral Letter: Sunday, October 9, 2022 \u2013 Thanksgiving Sunday - 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