LIVERMORE FALLS — On Sunday, Nov. 20, the First Baptist Church of Livermore Falls celebrated the holiday of Thanksgiving! Parishioners listened to morning worship followed by a shared Thanksgiving meal prepared by Paula Wade and others.
Pastor Russ Thayer had other obligations and he and his wife, Carol, were not with the congregation. Instead, we were very blessed to have Kay King Watson in the pulpit for the Thanksgiving celebration. Kay is a gifted and dynamic preacher as well as our Song leader, and we lenjoyed hearing her message. Before the service, Maggie Houlihan fed our souls with beautiful hymns as she played the pipe organ.
The Worship Service began with the Welcome and Announcements, followed by two Praise Songs, led by Kay: “He Has Made Me Glad” and “Come Ye Thankful People, Come”. Then, Kay read the Call to Worship from Psalm 95, Verses 1 – 3 and led us in Prayer Time as we pray for others, followed by The Lord’s Prayer. Our first Hymn was “We Gather Together”. During the gathering of Tithes and Offerings, Maggie and Margaret played “Give Thanks” on the piano and organ. Randall Pond blessed us with Special Music as he sang “Bless This House”, accompanied by Maggie.
Kay chose to read scripture from Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 4 – 7. Her Sermon was titled, “Thanksgiving Every Day”. I feel she is correct in feeling that way: if you love the Lord, every day he gives us is new, every day we can find reasons to thank God for the blessings He has given to us and to others. There are many bad things going on in our world today, but if we look deeper into our personal lives, we can thank God for our families, for our friends, for our church, and, if we take the time, we can find beauty all around us, even in unexpected people, places and things. So, rather than dwelling on the negatives in our lives, we need to look around and thank God for blessings He has lovingly given us……the beauty in our own lives!
Our final Hymn was “In Thanksgiving Let Us Praise Him”. After the Benediction, we sang “Lord Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing”.
Announcements: 1. Thanksgiving Dinner was served directly after the Worship Service on Sunday. 2. Sunday School for all ages is available each Sunday. 3. There is a weekly Bible Study for all every Tuesday at 10 a.m. 4. The Ladies of our church meet every Thursday at 11:30 a.m., to enjoy lunch with Mary King, a well-loved lady of our congregation. All ladies are welcome. 5.The Worship Team rehearses each Thursday, after Mary’s Lunch, at 1:00pm. 6. Our next Soap ‘N More Store will take place on Saturday, November 26, from 9 a.m. to Noon. 7.The “Hanging of the Greens” Ceremony will take place later in the day, November 26, at 6 p.m. We are a busy church, serving God and enjoying our church family. We invite all who would like to enter our church and find joy with our family!
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