Grace and Peace to you!
Do you like to watch war movies? I grew up watching stars like John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen in The Longest Day, The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. A generation before me, it was Roy Rogers or Gene Autry or John Wayne also - in Westerns. Why is there such a fascination with these movies? I think it is because we long to see heroes, people that inspire us. We enjoy seeing victory over insurmountable odds. Today much of that sense of victory in war is transferred to sports - and for many today their heroes are heroes on the sporting battlefield.
Sunday, November 11th is Veteran’s Day, a day in which we can celebrate heroes among us. Veteran’s Day is a holiday on our calendars but a day that we often look past and sometimes neglect in the church as we can easily dismiss it as a secular holiday.
This year marks a special anniversary of this holiday. This year we celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the major hostilities of WW I were formally ended.
In 1938, the 11th of November of each year became a legal holiday – a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." But in 1954, the wording was changed to be Veteran’s Day and November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
What do we learn when we honor our veterans? We learn to remember the price of freedom. We also learn to honor those who served to keep and sometimes had to fight for our freedoms.
As we think about veterans, don’t just be thankful as you remember their service. I would encourage you to consider the next step – think about how you can show them honor! The first and most basic way is to thank them. When you see a veteran, thank him or her. And yes, I say her, because there are many women veterans as well as men, and they also deserve our honor and respect and gratitude. If you see a person in uniform, even when it’s not Veteran’s Day, go up to them and let them know you appreciate their serving our country.
As a nation we honor our Veterans and during our worship services, we are more than happy to honor all our armed service veterans. They deserve both recognition and honor. During our worship services on November 11th, we will take a few moments to recognize and remember and honor our veterans. We will also, as we do on Sundays, recognize and remember and honor the One who gave us freedom over sin, death, and the power of the devil – Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Pastor Bakker
Psalm 46:8a,9-11 (NRSV)
8Come, behold the works of the Lord; … 9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” 11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
PS. On Wednesday, November 21st, at 7:30pm, Trinity Lutheran will be hosting a community Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service. Once again, a feature of this service will be a community choir offering several selections throughout the worship service. I look forward to seeing you there!
Grace and Peace to you!
Do you like to watch war movies? I grew up watching stars like John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen in The Longest Day, The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. A generation before me, it was Roy Rogers or Gene Autry or John Wayne also - in Westerns. Why is there such a fascination with these movies? I think it is because we long to see heroes, people that inspire us. We enjoy seeing victory over insurmountable odds. Today much of that sense of victory in war is transferred to sports - and for many today their heroes are heroes on the sporting battlefield.
Sunday, November 11th is Veteran’s Day, a day in which we can celebrate heroes among us. Veteran’s Day is a holiday on our calendars but a day that we often look past and sometimes neglect in the church as we can easily dismiss it as a secular holiday.
This year marks a special anniversary of this holiday. This year we celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the major hostilities of WW I were formally ended.
In 1938, the 11th of November of each year became a legal holiday – a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." But in 1954, the wording was changed to be Veteran’s Day and November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
What do we learn when we honor our veterans? We learn to remember the price of freedom. We also learn to honor those who served to keep and sometimes had to fight for our freedoms.
As we think about veterans, don’t just be thankful as you remember their service. I would encourage you to consider the next step – think about how you can show them honor! The first and most basic way is to thank them. When you see a veteran, thank him or her. And yes, I say her, because there are many women veterans as well as men, and they also deserve our honor and respect and gratitude. If you see a person in uniform, even when it’s not Veteran’s Day, go up to them and let them know you appreciate their serving our country.
As a nation we honor our Veterans and during our worship services, we are more than happy to honor all our armed service veterans. They deserve both recognition and honor. During our worship services on November 11th, we will take a few moments to recognize and remember and honor our veterans. We will also, as we do on Sundays, recognize and remember and honor the One who gave us freedom over sin, death, and the power of the devil – Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Pastor Bakker
Psalm 46:8a,9-11 (NRSV)
8Come, behold the works of the Lord; … 9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” 11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
PS. On Wednesday, November 21st, at 7:30pm, Trinity Lutheran will be hosting a community Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service. Once again, a feature of this service will be a community choir offering several selections throughout the worship service. I look forward to seeing you there!
