The Thanksgiving holiday has come once again with the appropriate trimmings. It is once again a time when the world will somewhat focus upon a general idea of God. This can be a good thing – at least as a start. God is truly worthy of our thanksgiving and remembrance and the Bible has several passages which emphasize the idea of thanksgiving.
The move for our family to Utah is coming upon us all. With this imminent great change in our lives, there is a mixture of thoughts and a mixture of emotions. There is reflection upon the memories that we have collected from over 11 years here in Redding. There is the look ahead to what is to come, and the new opportunities of the future. There is also a blending of joy and sadness; a bittersweet feeling common to times of major change. It is with such a heart I want to wish our great thanks to all here in this congregation.
One of the not often stated wonders of the New Testament the transformative ability it had over language itself. Written in Koine (Common) Greek of the 1^st^ Century, many of the powerful words and ideas we are familiar with (e.g. love, grace, peace, etc.) were not new words per se, but were given new meaning when placed within the context of the wonder of the Gospel of Christ.