The Mustard Seed November 2012 Meditation on Giving Thanksgiving According to Romans 1: 21 man does not glorify God as God nor give God thanks. Therefore giving thanks is a particular evidence that a person is a child of God. The Book of Psalms closes with five Psalms each beginning and ending with Hallelujah which means Praise Yahweh or as normally translated Praise the Lord. From Psalm 146 through Psalm 150 there is a crescendo of praise. Psalm 146 speaks of the one who trusts God and trusts in Him for help. The Psalm then speaks of the help Yahweh gives and to whom. Psalm 147 speaks of Yahweh's acts in creation and His word whereby He sustains His creation and reveals Himself to His people. All of Creation, addressed in Psalm 148, is to praise Yahweh for He alone creates, sustains, and is worthy to be praised. The assembly of the Saints, in Psalm 149, is to sing a new song for Yahweh is the one who redeems, judges, and gives saints privileges. The zenith of praise is found in Psalm 150. It is this Psalm that will be our meditation. The Psalm first introduces the person to be praised, Yahweh. Yahweh by this great name God sets forth his majesty. The name of Yahweh was had more reverence among the Jews than any other name of God. It signifies God s self-sufficiency, eternity, independence, and immutability (Malachi. 3: 6; James 1: 17). If God be Yahweh, the fountain of being, who can do what he will, let us fear him. ( That thou may fear this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh. Deuteronomy 28:58) God is described by his relative goodness; thy God. Had he called himself Yahweh only, it might have terrified us, and made us flee from him; but when he says, thy God, it allures and draws us to him. This, though a preface to the law, is pure gospel (Exodus 20:1,2). The word Eloeha, thy God, is so sweet, that we can never suck all the honey out of it. I am thy God, not only by creation, but by election. This word, thy God, though it was spoken to Israel, is a charter which belongs to all the saints. The Psalm then moves to speak of the place / location of praise. First we are to praise Yahweh in His sanctuary. The sanctuary is the place of refuge, the place for Holy objects. The sanctuary is the particular abode of the peculiar people the Royal priesthood. The Psalmist moves to speak of praising Yahweh in the expanse of the heavens For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (Romans 1: 20). Furthermore Psalm 19 reminds us that all creation speaks of Yahweh's glory (Psalm 19: 1-6). The mighty acts that ought to call forth this praise are Creation and Redemption. Great was the work of creation, but greater was the work of redemption. As it was said, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former (Haggai 2: 9). So the glory of the redemption was greater than the glory of the creation. It cost more to redeem than to create us. In creation it was but speaking a word (Psalm 148: 5); in redeeming there was shedding of blood. (1 Pet 1:19). Creation was the work of God s fingers, (Psalm 8: 3), redemption was the work of his arm (Luke 1: 51; Psalm 98: 1,2; Isaiah 40: 10). In creation, God gave us ourselves; in redemption, He gave us Himself. By creation, we have life in Adam; by redemption, we have life in Christ (Colossians 3: 1-4). By creation, we had a right to an earthly paradise: by redemption, we have a title to a heavenly kingdom. Having spoken of the one to be praised, where we are to praise Him and why we are to praise Him, the Psalmist addresses the how of praise. Yahweh is to be praised with: Sound of Trumpet as heralds announcing the coming of the King. The King of all the earth reigns and is to return (Psalm 2; Matthew 28:18 20; Acts 1: 10, 11) Harp and lyre in repose (David playing on his harp ). The saints have peace with God therefore our lives and lips should evidence the peace of God since we serve the Prince of Peace (Romans 5: 1; Philippians 4: 7; Col 3: 15; Isaiah 9: 6). Tambourine and dancing in Community. Our faith is not individual but corporate, the Church is one body made up of many members. The joy of the Lord is to be our strength and we, the people of God, are to anticipate the marriage supper of the Lamb when all things will have been made new ( I Corinthians 12: 12 31; Nehemiah 8: 10;Revelation 19: 9; II Corinthians 5: 17; Revelation 21: 5) Continued on Pg. 2
PAGE 2 THE MUSTARD SEED Meditation on Giving Thanksgiving Continued from Pg. 1 Clash of cymbals instantaneous and loudly (Psalm 33: 3; 98: 4; Luke 1: 42; 17: 15) Resounding cymbals continuous and loudly (Philippians 4:4 ; Romans 12: 12; Psalm 34: 1; 71: 6, 14; Hebrews 13: 15). The Psalmist has one more item to address, that is who is to lift this praise to Yahweh. Every living being is to praise Yahweh. Jesus noted that even the inanimate stones would break forth in praise if those who were praising were to be hushed (Luke 19: 40). Let us then, as saints of God, continually, loudly, in community, as we rest in Him, and anticipate His return, praise Yahweh our creator /redeemer. Hallelujah Pastor Russell Stewardship Campaign letters will be going out soon. Please prayerfully consider your tithes and offerings to the Church. Thank you to those who were able to help during the Fall Church Clean-up. The were a big help outside. Your Stewardship Committee Pot Luck Luncheon Diaconate invites you to join together on the 3rd Sunday of the month for a meal & time of fellowship together as a church family. Next potluck is Sunday, November 18th. Bring a dish to share for our gathering. Thanks! Our theme this year Sacrifice of Praise based on Hebrews 13:15, 16 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased
Growing In Our Faith In Jesus Christ & Sharing It With Others PAGE 3 Greetings from the Diaconate As you know the Church has been operating under a different structure the last two years. January 2013 at our Annual Meeting we will be voting on the future structure of the Church. In anticipation of this vote we developed a questionnaire to see what the congregation would like for our future. After much prayer for wisdom and guidance along with the suggestions on the questionnaire we proposed the following at Church Council on October 22nd: Proposed having three committees, Diaconate, Stewardship and Missions, plus Officers - Moderator, Church Clerk, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer. Each committee will have seven members with a minimum of five. Diaconate will oversee Christian Ed, Flowers and Music. Stewardship will oversee the maintenance/usage of the building, budget, Tellers, Memorial Gifts and music equipment. Missions will oversee the Missionaries, share information with congregation, distribute the Missions funds according to guidelines in the Missions policy adopted in March 2012. Also proposed how to form a nominating committee to seek those gifted / willing to serve the church body. Proposal is to have two members each from the current Stewardship and Diaconate committees, the Pastor and two members from Church Council (the congregation). Several names were put forth for the Church Council representatives and it was decided to have the Congregation vote after service on November 4th. It was a unanimous vote in favor of the three committees and the formation of the nominating committee. What a wonderful demonstration of God s people working together in unity to the Glory of God. In His Service, the Diaconate The youth group hosted a Pumpkin Carving contest on October 28th. They invited the Cub and along with the congregation. A fun time was had by all. There were about 30 people in attendance and some very creative pumpkin carving! Pictures are up on our website if you would like to see for yourself or if you are a friend on facebook some are posted there too! A movie night is in the works with the Scouts and the Youth Group. November Coffee Hour Schedule November 4 - Flowers, Missions and Friends November 11 - Music Ministry and Friends November 18 - Pot Luck Luncheon November 25 - Diaconate
PAGE 4 THE MUSTARD SEED The Cub Scouts Well the year is off and running. Some Cubs went camping a week during the summer and those who went had a great time. We started the year with sign up night for any boys looking to join the cub scouts. We had several new boys join. It will be a great learning experience with fun and adventure for them. The Cub Scouts had a great time in their first camp out with the pack at Camp Forty Acres. It was a little rainy and cool, but that did not stop the activities of the day. Games, hiking, cooking dinner foil style on the hot coals of the camp fire and more. The night ended with a movie and snack. Sunday it was breakfast and off to church for most. What a fun time for all. The Cub Scouts are busy with their fund raiser selling popcorn of all sorts. This helps the cost of many of the events and expenses throughout the year. Hope you can support them by buying popcorn from any Cub Scout. They will be selling popcorn at the Church Fair on November 10th. The Many Boys Scouts went camping for a week over the summer at WAHTUTCA. It was a fun and rewarding experience for all who attended. A few boys are working on their Eagle Scout badge which is the highest achievement a Scout can earn. It involves leadership, organization, planning, and completing a major project from start to finish. Congratulations to these young men for their hard work and great efforts for these projects. They are a great example of what instills in you. If you know a Eagle Scout, then you realize how hard it is to achieve this goal. Each and every Boy Scout is proud to be a part of the program. Scouts come in all sizes and shapes, but one thing is always the same. They love scouting and everything it teaches. They all work together to help each other. What a great thing to witness when you see the older boys working with the younger boys. They, along with Jose and my self. will be camping on Nov. 3. Jose is working toward his arrows of light badge and will soon step from Cub Scouts to become a Boy scout. He is very excited about scouting and is proud that he is joining Troop 56 from our own church. I hope all support and encourage him along with the others in scouting. The boy scouts are looking forward to helping out with the fall clean up. We are planning a movie night with the scouts and youth of our church. Hoping it will be the first of many events together. Thank You Lord Jesus for allowing us to be mentors for these young boys and thank you for all the hard work the Scout leaders do in giving of them selves. Submitted By Committee Member: Peter James Other Charter Member Representatives: Chairman: Dick Grinder Committee Member: Steve Lyons PS: Any one that would like to check out Jonathan MacKinnon s Eagle Scout Project you can see it behind the Methodist Church where he attends. It is a beautiful Prayer Garden.
4 Communion Sunday NOVEMBER 2012 21 22 Happy Thanksgiving! 24 Men s Breakfast CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN WILMINGTON Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 Daylight Savings Ends followed by Fair Mtg. 5:00 pm-light Youth Group 11 Veteran s Day 18 25 Followed by Pot Luck Lunch 5:00 m-light Youth Group 5 6:00 pm - Cub Scout Committee Mtg. 12 6:00 pm - Boy Scout Committee Mtg. -Diaconate 19 -Stewardship 26 6 13 20 27 Church Council 7 14 28 6:00 pm -Choir -Cub Scouts 6:00 pm -Choir -Cub Scouts 6:00 pm -Choir -Cub Scouts 1:00 pm-missions 6:30 pm-handbell 8 6:30 pm - Handbell 15 Set-up Tables for 6:30 pm - Handbell 29 Office Closed 6:30 pm - Handbell 9 Set-up for Fair 16 23 30 Office Closed Phone: 978-658-2264 E-mail: office@wilcong.org Website: www.wilcong.org Don t forget to turn your clocks back before bed! 10 Fall Church Fair 17 Boy Scout Wreath Day & Study 8:00 am
Congregational Church in Wilmington (EFCA) 220 Middlesex Avenue Wilmington, MA 01887 Moving? Please notify the church office of any address change. Please help us keep our mailing list up-to-date. Thank you! Pastor: Russell Kent Secretary: Heidi Kumm Office Hours Mon.-Thurs. - 9:00-3:00 pm Phone: 978-658-2264 E-mail: office@wilcong.org www.wilcong.org December Newsletter Deadline November20, 2012 Turn back your clocks Saturday, November 3rd The Mustard Seed-A publication of the Congregational Church in Wilmington, 220 Middlesex Avenue, Wilmington, MA 01887. Editor: Heidi Kumm. The Mustard Seed is published monthly, excluding the month of August, to keep members and friends informed of programs of the church and to report news about the congregation. Deadline for copy: Third Wednesday of the month.