Thankful for the Church

Written by Pastor Charles Areson, Tell City First Church of the Nazarene for From the Pastor's Desk

As we enter a season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, our hearts normally turn toward the things for which we are thankful and the gifts we have given and received. In that spirit, I would like to ask you to think of the church, specifically, the churches of Tell City.

Are the churches perfect, no of course not, but neither are our schools, our workplaces, our first responders, nor our government? Our community is made up of people and people even the best are not perfect. We hope to get better, but we aren’t there yet. This is not the point, if you’re looking for perfection outside of God himself, then you will never be happy.

However, when we see the churches of Tell City there is much to be thankful for. For many, they serve as a place of community and support through life’s roughest times. In death, heartache, sickness, the church has reached out to many and stood beside them. We have seen the church reach out with the Great Day of Service to improve the look of our community. In times of need, the church has served as a place of help to the poor and needy. Most know of the Widows Barrel and other smaller food pantries operated by volunteers from the churches of this community giving food to those who are hungry.  If I listed all the works of Catholic Charities does for this community then I could take up an entire page. No one can honestly deny; the church is a force for Good in Tell City.

Are needs still out there, yes, but Jesus seemed to indicate we would always have the poor with us. However, our community would be much, much poorer without the giving and love of our churches.  I doubt we could count the tangible ways the churches of Tell City have assisted this community, let alone the intangible support which has been given. Therefore, in this time of thanks and of giving, let us be thankful for the churches of Tell City.