It hardly seems a year since Thanksgiving was last here, but that's the way time works. Still, this is not the season for lamenting the all-too-rapid passage of time. It is the time to be thankful. With that in mind, I'd like to share something with you which I may have mentioned before, but it is worth mentioning again.
Each year for the past nine years the churches in our community have an annual Thanksgiving service, usually held eight days before Thanksgiving itself. As of this year, we have five churches, five different denominations, coming together under one roof and together worship and praise the Lord. For the 364 other days of the year (sans leap year, of course), we often identify ourselves with the name out in front of our own congregation's building. But for that one day, the names are set aside and the only name that matters is put forth: Jesus.
Our community is very special in that the churches have a very unified relationship one with another. But during the Thanksgiving season we are extremely grateful for this unity. Jesus Himself prayed that His followers would be one, just as He and His Father were One. While the unity spirit is something we in our community seem to have all year round, it does something for the soul to look out into a large crowd and see not church-ES but THE CHURCH, made up of every blood-washed believer.
Some think that this oneness or things like unity services are when all the congregations of a particular denomination in a given area come together. This isn't unity; it's a conference. True unity comes when we lay aside all that separates us and focus instead on the one and only thing that matters. Jesus is the reason we're here, the reason every Christian church exists. Therefore, since we are one family in Christ, it's nice to share a spiritual meal together every once in a while.
We have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for so much that I can't even begin to make a list. But over these next few days, I will thank the Lord for the unity He provides for His family. If you haven't yet done it yourself, thank Him for that. If you haven't yet experienced it yourself, then look to other believers as true family, and let God bring you together in Spirit and in truth.
Have a great Thanksgiving this week, and may God bless you and yours!
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