Where do you keep your Bible? Is it on a shelf in your home? Or by your nightstand? Do you have one that you keep in a special place that is your go to? Or a whole bookshelf of different translations? I think that if I did a survey of 100 people and asked where they keep their Holy book, I would get 100 different answers. And though we come from different backgrounds and different translations, different interpretations in the Christian faith we all give thanks for this book. We may give thanks in different ways and see different things, but each of us hold space in our community for this book. This month at Middletown Community United Methodist we are practicing thankfulness and gratitude, this week we will spend time giving thanks for scripture and the ways that it has impacted our lives.
When we take the opportunity to give thanks for Scripture, we are taking the opportunity to give thanks for God’s relationship with humanity, with those who have gone on before us. How many times in your life have you been in a place of challenge or confusion and picked up a Bible? How many times have you flipped through the page of this Holy book to hear those ancient words? The scripture reading from Matthew 22 will invite us to examine the ways that we are called into love with one another, and how by giving thanks for Scripture we can also give thanks for a God who loves so deeply that he sent his son to dwell among us. When we love God and love one another, we are living as we were made to live. Every command of God to us is founded on this love – God loves us, and invites us into that pure love. It is my hope that this week we will celebrate that love, and the way that it impacts the transformation of the world through scripture.
Please join us in Middletown at 11 a.m. as we give thanks for those who have come before us and for scripture. All Are Welcome.
Melissa Hurley is Pastor at Middletown Community United Methodist Church.
