Dear ,                                          

                    LINCOLN'S 1863 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. 
                                                                                           A. Lincoln
                                                                                           October 3, 1863
It still seems appropriate, since God has continued to give His blessings to us, that we who live 146 years later, pause at the Season of the year to offer our Thanksgiving. We can do this daily as we pray. We should offer our thanksgiving prayers as we gather around the table on Thanksgiving Day. We will have opportunities to offer our prayers of thanksgiving corporately as we worship on Sunday, November 22, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Take advantage of these opportunities on November 22:
8:45 and 11:15 AM Worship in the Sanctuary- Dick Reese, preaching.
10:00 AM Sunday School classes for all age groups.
11:15 AM Worship in the Anchor (Fellowship Hall)- Wayne Racz, preaching.
7:00 PM Community Thanksgiving Service, St. James Catholic Church, Frank Parr, preaching.
"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:1)
I hope to see you in worship on Sunday!
                                                                                             Dick Reese