A Letter From The Pastor

       

   No longer are we splashing in the pool, playing on the beach, having picnics with hotdogs, cheeseburgers and corn on the cob. No more glasses of ice-cold lemonade or waiting for the ice cream truck playing his magical tunes for the kids. 

   Fall is here and now. We are now gearing up for the festivals that are fast approaching. Our first to come up is not Halloween, which some of you might be thinking. It was a good guess though, with all the ads on TV from M&M and Reese’s peanut butter cups. You also have the thousands of Halloween store pushing candy, blowup figures, and costumes. The festival I am speaking about is the reformation.  

   It all started when in 1515, Pope Leon X renewed his pledge of his predecessor to finance the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In doing so, in1516 he assigned Dominican Tetzel the campaign of indulgence sales (According to the Roman Catholic Doctrine indulgences were a means of shorting the journey of the dead in purgatory—by means of pilgrimage, prayers, and gifts to the church. This practice led to the abuse, especially the financial nature. Luther’s condemnation of such practices launched the reformation). Luther went further in his disapproval, with the 95 theses he himself nailed on the door of the church in the Castle of Wittenberg on the 31st of October 1517. Besides of violent criticism of indulgences, against which others had already spoken, Luther refused the theology of deeds: a sinner was not forgiven because of his deeds. Tormented by God’s justice who punished the sinner, Luther realized that man was justified (made just) by faith which is God given.

   In the church history the Reformation is the 16th century movement to restore the church (founded and formed by Christ; deformed mainly by the papacy) to its early condition; it resulted in the separation of a great part of the western church from the medieval church of Rome. 

   On October 29, 2022, the NJ District will be celebrating 50 years with a celebration service being held at the Chapel in Princeton University at 3:00Pm. Light refreshments will be served after the celebration. All are welcome to attend. Hope to see you there.

  Immediately after the reformation we turn our eyes to a worldly holiday know as thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is a national religious festival observed on the same day throughout the county since 1863.

   The Random House dictionary defines thanksgiving as "the act of giving thanks; or a prayer expressing gratitude." Is this also the Christian meaning of "thanksgiving"? What exactly should Christians give thanks for and why?  "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20). "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17). In the Old Testament, thanksgiving was fundamental in the life of God’s people. The temple liturgy offered offerings of thanksgiving and praise and sang psalms regularly of thanksgiving to God. In the New Testament, thanksgiving is the heart of the Church’s life. The word eucharist means thanksgiving, and the very center of the Church’s worship of God is when, in remembrance of all His salvific acts in Christ, the faithful “lift up their hearts” and “give thanks unto the Lord.” 

  For those of you visiting our website for the first time, welcome, and I hope this explains a little more about our up-coming festivals. If you are interested in attending our worship, we would be happy to have you. Hope to see you soon. 

 

God bless,

Reverend Tim Casaday, Autumn 2022