We Believe: The Human Condition
 
At first glance, a sermon on the third article of our statement of faith – the paragraph that baldly states we are all sinners by nature and by choice – seems out of place for Thanksgiving week. But, upon reflection, it contains bedrock truths that should drive us to thank God this week, and every day.
 
Thank God that you were created in His image. Thank God that you are a …

• Social being, made for community
• Moral being, with an innate sense of right and wrong
• Spiritual being, able to commune with an invisible God
• Intellectual being, capable of rational thought, complex language, scientific inquiry
• Creative being, expressed through art, music, literature, architecture, even cooking
• Dominative being, given the privilege and responsibility of dominion over creation

Meditate on how your life displays these attributes of God, and thank Him.
 
Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God’s command in the Garden, and we have followed in their footsteps. We are all sinners; you are a sinner. Your sin alienated you from God and cast you under His wrath. What if that were the end of the story? Thank God for His saving work in Jesus Christ! In Jesus, you are …

• Rescued from the terrible wrath you deserve
• Reconciled to God, your relationship with Him restored
• Renewed, increasingly in this life and one day, completely

Savor Christ’s constant work in your life, and thank Him.
 
Calvary Family
 
Pray that the Lord will be glorified in our Thanksgiving Eve service. Pray that many of us will be willing to share publicly what God has done and is doing in our lives.
 
Thanksgiving celebrations with extended family are not always the stuff of Hallmark movies. Conflict, frayed relationships, hurt feelings can lie just below the surface; differences in moral values and political views can make the atmosphere tense. If that is your situation this week, take time to pray for the people you are least looking forward to seeing. Ask God to help you see them as someone also made in the image of God and treat them as such.
 
Will you commit to praying for a child waiting to be adopted this Christmas season? This Sunday is the last day to pick up an ornament with the first name and age of a child available for adoption and waiting for a family, as well as suggestions on how to pray. Look for the ornaments, decorated by Calvary’s Sunday School kids, on the Fostering Hope table in the foyer.
 
Nancy Schraeder asks us to pray for Christians in Iran. For two months now, the nation has been embroiled in protests against the current regime after a young woman arrested for not wearing a proper hijab died in police custody. Pray for the estimated 1 million Christians in Iran, already severely persecuted, as they navigate the unrest. An Iranian Christian living in SoCal writes, “Christians are scared, worried, and angry. They grieve and mourn for the many people who have been killed. They cry out to God for an end to this evil and for a better government.” Read his article, “Iran’s Church Seeks God amid Protests,” here.
 
In Christ,
Carol Gilbert