It Is Good To Give Thanks!

Psalm 92: 1-5

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.
For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
How great are Your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep."

It is indeed good to give thanks to God. Why?
1. For His Lovingkindness--How have you experienced His love towards you lately? Was it through the love of a friend? Through a good experience? Through salvation given in His Son Jesus Christ? We love because God first loved us!
2. For His Faithfulness--Keep your eyes open to how God is faithful to you. Consider what He has promised in the Bible and how He has been faithful to those promises. And give thanks!
3. Because He has made you glad. God's actions make us glad. Every good thing is from God. What has made you glad lately? It is a gift from God. Give Him thanks.
4. For His works. God works in marvelous ways still. Aimee and I have seen this first hand. Consider the amazing works of God. They may happen regularly (the sun does rise each day!) or they may be less frequent. Either way, keep your eyes open to how God is at work and then give thanks!

These are really just a few reasons to give thanks. Keep reading through other Psalms and you will find many more reasons to give thanks. My prayer is that your Thanksgiving holiday is full of thankfulness to God. It is good to give thanks to Him.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Please join us on Thursday for a traditional Thanksgiving meal! Anyone is welcome! Consider your friends and co-workers in the barracks, those whose have a spouse deployed, or anyone else that would enjoy a home-cooked meal. Dinner is at 5:00 pm. Brian will be on post at the CMR at 4:30 in our blue VW van to give a ride to those who need it (if you are planning be at the CMR, give him a call so that he will be sure to look for you). After dinner we will watch some football, play games, put together puzzles, or whatever your Thanksgiving tradition is! Feel free to bring any games or puzzles you enjoy.

If you are planning to attend but have not let us know, please call or email so that we have an idea for numbers. However, no RSVP is required so you can always join us at the last minute. If you would like to bring something, just bring your favorite side dish to share. Again, there is no requirement or expectation for you to bring anything.

Don’t forget that on Saturday we will be going to a Medieval Christmas Market in Guteneck. We will meet at the Graf Chapel parking lot at 1:00 and caravan! Attached is a rough translation of their web-page .

We look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Weekend Events

This Friday we will have our first Friday Night Dinner and Study! We will have a potluck dinner at 6:30 followed by worship and a lesson on God's Love for Us at 8:00 . Please bring an Italian-themed dish to share for dinner. (If you are single you do not have to bring a dish!) Childcare will be provided from 6:30 to 9:30 but please bring your kids fed as dinner is for adults only.

Then join us on Saturday (1:00-4:00) as Brian's parents will be hosting a craft and baking day. They are bringing years of experience with them to teach you how to do such things as make your own sourdough, create fun Christmas bags, and several other fun projects. You are welcome to bring your creative projects and skills to share with the group as well. Childcare will be provided from 1:00-4:00.

Don't forget we will be hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner on the 27th!

St. Martin's Day Parade

Our town celebrated St. Martin's Day this evening and Jacob and Owen's Kindergarten had a parade downtown.  They both made lanterns at school and then sing songs and walk through town with their class.  Here are a couple clips and photos from the night.

Our Patriotic Boys!

Much Fun

We had a great time this Saturday as we opened this new Hospitality House with a BBQ and dedication. Thanks to everyone (about 75!) who joined us for some great fellowship, burgers, dogs, and weather that was about 20 degrees above the forecast! We are especially grateful for those who helped cook, clean, and our wonderful musicians (thanks Phil, Susan, and Cydney)!

This Saturday we will be showing the movie "Amazing Grace" at 7:00 PM. We will also have a babysitter and movie going for the kids. We look forward to seeing you then!

A little info from the Amazing Grace Movie website:

Amazing Grace, based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, is directed by Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough, Coal Miner's Daughter) from an original screenplay written by Academy Award® nominee Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things).

The film stars Ioan Gruffudd (Black Hawk Down), Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich), Romola Garai (Vanity Fair), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Benedict Cumberbatch (Hawking), Rufus Sewell (Legend of Zorro), Ciaran Hinds (Rome) and introduces Youssou N'Dour.

Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Albert Finney plays John Newton, a confidante of Wilberforce who inspires him to pursue a life of service to humanity. Benedict Cumberbatch is William Pitt the Younger, England's youngest ever Prime Minister at the age of 24, who encourages his friend Wilberforce to take up the fight to outlaw slavery and supports him in his struggles in Parliament.

Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21, and on his way to a successful political career, Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment and persuaded those in power to end the inhumane trade of slavery.

Romola Garai plays Barbara Spooner, a beautiful and headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce's passion for reform, and who becomes his wife after a whirlwind courtship. Youssou N'Dour is Olaudah Equiano. Born in Africa and sent as a slave to the Colonies, Equiano bought his freedom and made his home in London, where he wrote a best-selling account of his life and became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow countrymen.

Open House and Dedication

This Saturday (1 Nov) we will be having an Open House from 1500-2000. Please come see the wonderful house God has provided for His work. Addtionally, we will be serving dinner at 1730 followed by a short dedication of the house to God for his use.

Address:
Jahnstrasse 47
92676 Eschenbach

Directions:
From the only stoplight in Eschenbach...
Go up the hill through downtown.
At the top of the hill, turn left immediately before the church and then turn immediately right on Jahnstrasse.
Go past the hospital on your left until the road splits. Where the road splits our gate is on the right (yellow 47 on the sign). Park outside the gate near the large, 3-building school and walk in!

Phone: 0151-5467-8686

Swimming in Weiden

Here's the scoop on swimming this Saturday:

We will meet at 1300 at the pool and you can stay as long as you want. Waterslides for the kids and much fun to be had. And my handy-dandy computer translator told me their web-site says the following:

"For children the Weidener Thermenwelt is a true paradise! Gigantic water children's slide, Plantschbecken and white-water canal are only some of the highlights which must try out intrepid three cheese highs absolutely. The quite small dwarfs go it with mummy and daddy of course a little more quietly in. Indeed become the small water rats be from our toddler washbasin (33 °C) with play of water garden only more very much hard herauszulocken!"

So come be "small water rats" with us and have a lot of fun!

Cost for Adults
1-hr 3.50
2-hr 4.50
3-hr 5.50
5-hr 7.50
All Day 9.00

Cost for Children
1-hr 2.00
2-hr 2.50
3-hr 3.00
5-hr 4.00
All Day 5.00

Adults exceeding the time-limit are charged an additional fee of 1,00 € and youths 0,50 € for each additional half started.


Click here for a map.
Click here for the website for the pool.

Address:
Freizeitzentrum Weiden
Weidener Thermenwelt
Raiffeisenstraße 7
92637 Weiden i. d. OPf.

House Happenings...

We had a great with about 30 people on Saturday at Pottenstein. The weather was a little cold at first but once the fog burned off it was a gorgeous day. We hiked up to the castle and ate lunch while looking around the grounds. Then 1/2 of us took a hike through the countryside to the rodelbahn (alpine slide) while the rest hiked down and drove. The slides were very fast and fun! A few of us did the cave tour but most of us will have to do it again another time! Pictures will come shortly.

This Saturday (25th) we will be going to the indoor pool in Weiden. We will meet there at 1300. Check back on here mid-week to get directions and details on cost. See you there!

Financial Disarray

Good words to consider in these times of financial disarray...
Matthew 6:19-33

MT 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

MT 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

MT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

MT 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

MT 6:28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Pottenstein--Little Swiss!

We will be going to Pottenstein next Saturday (Oct. 18th) to enjoy all the leaves changing color. This is a great little town with lots to do (castle with museum, cave with 1-hour guided tours, alpine slide down the hills, and lots of hiking). It should be beautiful next weekend with the leaves changing so bring a lunch or some money to buy lunch. We can hike to the castle or you can park near it if you don't want to hike. The museum is 4.50 Euros for adults and 2.50 Euros for kids. The alpine slide is 2.00 Euros per ride.

So meet us on Saturday at 1000 in the parking lot at the Graf Chapel (we will be in the dark blue 9-passenger VW van--its pretty hard to miss us!). We will caravan from there as it is about a 45 minute drive. Here is an English website I found about Pottenstein.

Call with questions or email (Cell: 0151 5467 8686 or briankleager@yahoo.com)

We hope to see you there!

First Day of School

Owen's Backpack!


Owen and Brian with our friend's son Daniel.


Jacob crawling over the gators at Playmobil Land!


On their way to school!