| Dear Friends,It's hard to believe it's already late October. As we are now into the last quarter of the year, my mind has to start thinking about the holidays. Pastor Russ already gave us permission to blast away the Christmas music so I guess we are in the clear to begin talking about such things.Before we get to Christmas, we have a some other important holidays or "holy-days". Did you know that Halloween is one such day?Halloween gets its name from "All Hallows Eve", a night when Protestant Christians would dress up like ghosts and ghouls in order to mock the Devil. They were proclaiming that Christ has had victory over Satan's stranglehold on the church that sparked the Reformation. Puritans rejected this tradition. It so happens that All Hallows Day and Halloween are very close to Reformation Day. Reformation Day commemorates Martin Luther's nailing his ninety-five theses to the church door Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. Sitting side-by-side on the calendar, we have a secular and a religious holiday. I'm not trying to start a debate or proclaim a position on whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. However, I think many in our culture are uninformed on what these days mean and how they made their way into our culture.I will say that I think we should celebrate the Reformation because it was, and still is, a glorious movement in the Lord Jesus' Church to bring about revival. One way we can celebrate it is by showing Christian hospitality and giving free gifts to those around us. Another way is we accept the invitation by our sister church, Christ Presbyterian, and go to the Reformation Celebration Walk. See invitation here and details below.Next on the calendar is the often overlooked, but important, celebration of Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for and celebrate and so we will do so after church on Sunday, November 19th at Monte Sano Lodge. Please make plans to come.Finally, Christmas is coming! What a wonderful time of year it is at Cornerstone. Our Advent Sermon Series will be on Names of the Messiah - a study of the four titles or names given to Jesus in Isaiah 9:6. I'm looking forward to this time together.We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. But until then, I'm looking forward to worshipping with you on Sunday. See you then!by His grace and to His praise,Wilson |
|
