The Glenwood post., 1906-12-01
CHURCHES UNITE
IN SERVICE
Thanksgiving Sermon Preached by
Rev. B. |. Rice at Methodist
ChurCh--Rev. hester Con-
ducts Praise Service
LARGE NUMBER ENJOY OCCASION

The Presbyterian and Methodist
churches held union service Thanks
giving Day at the NJ. E. church. Rev.
Bernard l.. Rice, pastor of the Pres
byterian church. delivering the SER
mon. Rev. Kester led the praise ser.
vice during which the choir rendered
a special anthem.
A large crowd gathered to enjoy
the sermon which was in part AS fol
lows:
Subject; The Christians Thanks
giving.
Text The Lord is my Shepherd:
| shall not want Psa 23:l.
The occasion on which we are gath
cred here today is one that should
call forth the genuine gratitude of de-
voted hearts. As Americans, we are
heirs to the most favored of all ma
tions;' as Coloradoans, we can boast
section of territory and people in
the forefront of the march of Goth
century civilization; as citizens of
NaSh h"oou WC hdNC bSdllH
and home in the beauty spot Of the
beautiful Rockies
Thanksgiving Day O. the memo.
ries it brings of homecomings and
separations; of rejoicing and sorrow
And then we think of nation.
tragic winning, and those sturdy fore
fathers who conquered the wilderness
for u.s. In the midst of burying
their dead, of repelling bloodtnirsty
savages. and fighting wild beasts of
the forest, the Pilgrims at Plymouth
in the autumn of 1921 are preparing
to CELEBRATE the granting by Almighty
God of the first harvest in America.
We look again; and see the great
hearted, railsplitter president issuing
the first president S proclamation of
day for giving thanks in 1868. Then
we read the last Thanksgiving procla-
mat ions as sent out by our honored
and vigorous chief executive of to
day, and by the present governor of
Colorado; and we thank God for men
who in the midst of the duties of
state are ready to turn Thought to
the duty of praising the Giver of all
good.
Since the Lord is my shepherd, Is
shall not want l interpret this to
mean that absolutely nothing needful
to my highest welfare can possibly be
lacking. We would be indeed blind
if we should fail to observe the fact
that the rain falls upon the just and
the unjust. and that the unpleasant
things of life are the portion of both
Christian and sinner. Other things
being equal mean ability for money
making, opportunity, etc - the
Christian enjoys the same and suffers
the same as the man out OF the fold of
Christ. How then can he see the ad-
vantage of following Christi How
can he obey the command of Paul to
the people of Thessalonica 'In
everything give thanks; for this Is the
will of God in Christ Jesus to you
ward The answer to this perplex-
ity is found in the epistle to the Ro-
mans, the eighth chapter and twenty.
eighth verse, "And We know that to
them that love God all things work
together for good. Satan sends only
evil, and God sends ouIy good but
God is still on the throne: and for his
own children. destined to dwell in
world of pain, he transforms the curse
into blessing, he gathers together
all things, both pleasant and distaste-
full. and causes them to sweep us in
one mighty current of blessings to-
ward that far off divine event toward
which the whole creation moves.
This is the Christians Thanksgiv
ing, a Thanksgiving in which love of
God is the magic lamp which turns all
things into gold. His guardian is
the Good Shepherd. and the Good
Shepherd never lost sheep. Sad it
is that because of unwillingness to
enter the fold some must suffer alone.
A part of the human race is unable to
say. "The Lord is my shepherd; 1
shall not want"
In counting our blessings then. this
day. We dare not leave out one of the
multitude of conditions and happen
ings that crowd our daily life. All
are bountiss in the end, for all go to
make us what the plan of God con
templates for as. Count your many
blessings and the day is not long
enough to enumerate them. Classi-
fed, We will attempt to name them