November 22nd, 2014

The FIRST THANKSGIVING  (in honor of Thanksgiving, the theme of this Sunday’s worship will be on giving thanks)
     Do you think the first pilgrims who came to this country were complainers? No, they wanted to be free to worship God. They worked hard to start a new life in this land.
     The harvest of 1621 was abundant. Governor Bradford declared a Day of Thanksgiving and invited the local Indian chief. It was a shock when he arrived with ninety other Indians! They celebrated this first harvest in 1621 with three days of feasting, games, and prayers. But the food supply was greatly depleted later by thirty-five colonists who arrived by ship with no food or extra clothing.
     Many people died that winter from sickness and lack of food. By the following spring, the Pilgrims were starving. The harvest in this second year was a failure. By the spring of 1623, daily rations were reduced to 5 kernels of corn a day! Twelve weeks of drought dried up their crops that spring and summer.  One day the desperate Pilgrims fasted and prayed for eight hours straight. The next morning, God answered their prayers with a gentle rain that continued for fourteen days and saved the crops.
     At a Thanksgiving celebration that fall, the first course was different: An empty plate with 5 kernels of corn was placed before each person. The pilgrims stood up one by one and shared five things for which they were thankful.  
     *For what/whom are you thankful?