(Disciples of Christ)
Worship Time Change
Pittsboro Christian Church has begun their new worship time. We gather in praise, song, and inspirational sermon and the Lord's Supper at 9:15 AM. Following the service we have fellowship time.
Summit Life Church has begun worshipping in our sanctuary at 11:00 AM.
A Word from David Dickey
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
- 1Thessalonians 5:16-18
November is the month in our culture where we are encouraged to stop, if for just a moment, and try to be thankful for what we have and who we have in our lives. If we think about rhythms, cycles, and seasons, it fits pretty perfectly in the fall, as we watch the days grow shorter and resources grow more scarce, as we prepare for the long, cold, dark of winter. The month begins with remembering all of the saints and souls who have gone
before us and it ends with Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent, a period of quiet waiting for the new life that will be birthed and celebrated during Christmas and a new year when we can perceive the ever so slight increase in daylight and turn the corner towards Spring. This month, between Harvest and Christmas/New Year, is the month of Thankfulness as an act of preparation.
Healthy thankfulness doesn’t overrule all of our other emotions and responses, it rather holds them in itself, honors them as authentic parts of our experience, and only truly emerges once we’ve fully felt them and allowed them to do their work within us. I’m a fan of the science fiction television show made by the BBC, Doctor Who, and there is a classic episode where the Doctor talks about life being something of a pile of good things and a pile of bad things- and while it’s true that all of the good things don’t make the bad things fully go away, it’s also true that all of the bad things don’t mean the good things didn’t happen or aren’t real. I like that, I absolutely believe and affirm we should do as the old hymn tells us and count our many blessings each morning, naming them one by one and giving thanks to God for all that is going right in our lives in all circumstances; but we are also told to bring to God our frustration, our anger, our disappointment, our depression, and our grief… not necessarily to make them go away, but to ensure that these feelings that make us who we are have been spoken out loud-to remind us that they’ve been heard and felt by the God who sees all, feels all, and knows all-who has been called by many the “fellow sufferer who suffers alongside of us” in our sorrows. That, too, is something worth remembering and giving thanks for, in all circumstances.
God Bless, David
Giving thanks in all circumstances is a Christian calling, as the Apostle Paul writes in these verses and in the words of so many other biblical writers, teachers and prophets through the centuries. A spirit of thankfulness can be a bulwark against the cynicism and pessimism that all too easily infect our spirits through the trials and tragedies of life. At the same time, suggesting we stop and remember all that we have to be thankful for-even in the midst of
trial and tragedy can be a double edged sword. It is one of those many lessons that may be more than good to tell ourselves in the mirror, but can do unintended yet irreparable harm when demanded of others working through grief and discouragement. How many broken hearts have been even further broken by religious people telling them they need to focus on being thankful rather than grieving what they’ve lost…that somehow their sorrows
disrespect the gifts of God in their lives…that it’s somehow wrong to be upset over losing people and things? All of that is bad theology of the first order, the kind that qualifies as spiritual abuse and can rob people of their hope in the gospel and turn them away from the faith of those who seem so heartless and cold in offering such advice. It is a bad way to love our neighbors. It also doesn’t jive with how grief and healing work in reality. We know this is true because we know how grief has worked in our own hearts in the times we have faced it. Yes, on the other side thankfulness emerges-thankfulness for the time we did have with that person, or in that job, or among that community; and that thankfulness eventually replaces much of the grief over the loss of those things; but if we’re honest with ourselves we know we had to go all the way through the grief in order to get to thankfulness, and that the people we are on the other side is shaped just as much through the grief as it is through the
thankfulness.
Pittsboro Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
209. N. Meridian St.; PO Box 215
Pittsboro IN 46167—317-892-3245
Church Staff:
Rev. Donna Herring & David Dickey: Worship Leaders
Judy Parker, Secretary: Monday through Friday: 9:30 AM-3:00 PM
Kathy Kern, Musician
Rev. Donna Herring, Song Leader
Shirley Boles, Nursery Staff
“Demonstrating the Love of God”
Sunday Worship – 9:15 AM
(Fellowship time to follow)
How to Reach Us
at Pittsboro Christian Church
209 N Meridian St
PO Box 215
Pittsboro, IN 46167
Parking available on the west side of the building off of Meridian Street
across from Pittsboro Elementary School.
(317) 892-3245