Pastor Paul Miller told about 50 people attending community Thanksgiving service Sunday evening thanks was due God because “He first forgave our transgressions.”
The service, a function of the Iola Area Ministerial Association, was hosted by Pastor Daren Baldwin at First Church of the Nazarene.
“Sin has a way of building up,” Miller said, allowing that he and everyone else were “still broken and falling.”
Sin overwhelms individuals, he added, and “we need to invite God into our lives. God never turns away a plea for mercy. He hears our cry.
“When we say, ‘God you’re in charge,’ we get the gift of forgiveness,” Miller said.
He encouraged those in the congregation “to draw nearer to the Father” and live in his presence. “Choose to live life by pleasing Him.
“Thanksgiving is a response to God,” to show gratefulness “for all His good works,” Miller concluded.
Music was a part of the service. Soloist Marian Wilson opened the event with a haunting version of “The Statue of Liberty” and the Nazarene praise team preceded Miller’s sermon with a rousing rendition of “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nation.”
Higher power drives church’s Thanksgiving service
