LEAVE-TAKING

 

Autumn came early this year....cool mornings and evenings, however hot the afternoon sun.  Autumn rains have joined the breezes in bringing down the leaves.  The season of leaf color and pumpkins is upon us.

 

We are headed towards Thanksgiving with its annual check-up.  Just as we check the fingers and toes of a new-born, so at Thanksgiving we check all over to see if we've broken anything in the falls we've suffered in the past year.  We call it "Thanksgiving" when we report to God with a little amazement and more joy that we made it through another year.

 

Our check-up reveals that much has come and gone.  The summer with its vacations and reunions is but a memory.  The flowers and fresh tomatoes and corn are history.  The 10th or 15th, the 48th or 66th birthdays are never to be repeated.  The glory of the leaves yields to the wind and rake.

 

It comes to mind that the snowbirds are picking the date they'll leave.  The prospect of dating our checks "2009" flickers in our minds.

 

Much lost and being lost, but in prospect, pure white snows lit by Christmas lights, glow of star.

 

A rich season, almost overwhelming in its richness.

 

Jon Clifton

 

 

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REPORT FROM 6-9 GRADE PILGRIM FELLOWSHIP

 

God, they feel, is part of Thanksgiving.  Is He feasting in heaven with the Pilgrims?  Possibly He is at every thanks-giving table on earth.

 

No indecisiveness about Christmas, among these youngsters.  God is celebrating His Son's birthday.  We all ought to have a birthday cake.

 

At Easter God celebrates having saved our lives.

 

We all know what we do on holy-days.  The youngsters remind us to think about the activity of God.  The Cliftons will have a birthday cake this Christmas, because the kids make sense.

 

Jon Clifton

 

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BOTH....AND....AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

 

When we join Jesus and his friends, is it like joining his Red Rover team, grasping his hand and being grasped, daring life to send what it will?

 

When we join Jesus and his friends, is it the Father telling Jesus He'll give a great feast fit for a faithful son and Jesus can invite all his followers?

 

Parables and likenesses.  All are true and no single one exhausts the truth.

 

The truth is like a precious diamond that flashes light first one direction, then another as it is held up to the light.  The truth is "both...and...and much, much more."

 

 

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CAN YOU ANSWER 'YES' TO THESE QUESTIONS?

 

"Who is your Lord and Savior?"

 

"Will you be Christ's faithful disciple, obeying His Word and showing His love, to your life's end?"

 

 

WOULD YOU ACCEPT THIS PLEDGE FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS?

 

"Will you, the people of Christ's Church, welcome into your family and support with your love these who have pledged their vows before God and you?"

 

 

DO YOU FEEL THE BLESSING IN THIS CHARGE?

 

"Christ has commissioned you.  Be filled with gratitude.  Let the message of Christ dwell among you in all its richness.  Whatever you are doing, whether you speak or act, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  You are no longer aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people, members of God's household.  You are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the foundation stone.  In Him you, too, are being built with all the rest into a spiritual dwelling for God.

 

 

IF YOUR ANSWERS ARE "YES", YOU ARE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHRISTIAN WITH US.

 

 

 

Jon Clifton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The church window of Christ at prayer

faces the town, not the worshippers within.

Greetings and blessings to all who pass.