Juntos faremos um grande coral com esta música (clic no link abaixo para ouví-la) para agradecer ao nosso Senhor e Salvador Jesus Cristo... Será maravilhoso, faça parte deste coral. Deus os abençoe!!
Betinho e Márcia
Thanksgiving is Coming...
Está chegando o dia da nossa tão esperada celebração de Thanksgiving, um dia de agradecimento ao nosso Senhor por tudo o que Ele tem feito a todos nós.
Venha celebrar conosco e traga seus amigos neste proximo dia 24 de Novembro às 7:30PM na CCO.
Deus os abençoe!!
Betinho e Márcia
Um pouco de história...
Thanksgiving nos EUA
Os primeiros Dias de Ação de Graças nos EUA, então Nova Inglaterra, eram festivais de gratidão a Deus, em agradecimento às boas colheitas anuais. Por esta razão, o Dia de Ação de Graças é festejado no Outono após a colheita ter sido recolhida e é comemorado na quarta quinta-feira do mês de Novembro.
O primeiro deles foi celebrado em Plymouth, Massachusetts, pelos colonos que fundaram a vila em 1620. Após péssimas colheitas e um inverno rigoroso, os colonos tiveram uma boa colheita de milho no verão de 1621.
Por ordem do governador da vila, em homenagem ao progresso desta em relação a anos anteriores, uma festividade foi marcada no início do outono de 1621. Os homens de Plymouth mataram patos e perus. Outras comidas que fizeram parte do cardápio foram peixes e milho. Cerca de noventa índios também participaram da festividade. Todos comeram ao ar livre em grandes mesas.
Porém, por muitos anos, o Dia de Ação de Graças não foi instituído como feriado nacional, sendo observado como tal em apenas certos estados americanos, como New York, Massachusetts e Virgínia. Em 1863, o então presidente dos Estados Unidos, Abraham Lincoln, declarou que a quarta quinta-feira do mês de novembro seria o Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças.
Mas, em 1939, o presidente Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituiu que esse dia seria celebrado na terceira semana de novembro, com o intuito de ajudar o comércio, aumentando o tempo disponível para propagandas e compras antes do Natal. Na época, era considerado inapropriado fazer propagandas de produtos à venda antes do Dia de Ação de Graças.
Como a declaração de Roosevelt não era mandatória, 23 estados adotaram a medida instituída por Roosevelt e 22 não o fizeram, com o restante tomando ambas as quintas-feiras, a da terceira e a da quarta semana de novembro, como Dia de Ação de Graças.
O Congresso americano, para resolver este impasse, instituiu então que o Dia de Ação de Graças seria comemorado definitivamente na Quinta-Feira da quarta semana de Novembro e que seria um feriado nacional.
Thanksgiving no Brasil
Apesar de muitos não saberem, no Brasil o presidente Gaspar Dutra instituiu o Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças, através da lei 78V1SK, de 17 de agosto de 1949, por sugestão do embaixador Joaquim Nabuco, entusiasmado com as comemorações que vira em 1909, na Catedral de São Patrício, quando embaixador em Washington.
Em 1966, a lei 5110 estabeleceu que a comemoração de Ação de Graças se daria na quarta quinta-feira de novembro. Esta data ainda é comemorada por muitas famílias de origem americana, igrejas cristãs, universidades confessionais metodistas e cursos de inglês.
Se quiser saber mais sobre a vinda dos Pilgrims nos EUA, clic neste LINK
Grace of God
Como crentes, nós prontamente atribuímos nossa salvação à graça de Deus, mas o que significa "graça esta na qual estamos firmes" para nós hoje? Rm. 5:2
Como é que funciona na vida cotidiana, especialmente quando estamos passando por momentos de provação ou sofrimento?
1. A graça do Senhor libera o Seu poder sobrenatural dentro de nós para que possamos suportar as dificuldades da vida com uma atitude piedosa. Na verdade, seremos capazes de nos alegrarmos no que Ele está fazendo em nós através das adversidades.
2. A graça pressupõe a nossa confiança no Senhor e em Sua soberania. Nada parece impossível quando nos concentramos n'Ele em vez dos nossos problemas.
3. Descobrimos a garantia da presença e sustentação de Deus enquanto Ele caminha conosco em cada passo de nossas vidas.
4. Porque nós já experimentamos Seu cuidado por nós, somos capazes de demonstrar empatia e amor aos outros que enfrentam tempos difíceis.
5. Durante nossas provas de fogo, a graça trabalha para transformar o nosso caráter para que outros possam ver Jesus refletido em nós.
Dificuldades na vida são inevitáveis. Por isso precisamos de uma dose diária da graça de Deus uma vez que estamos caminhando através das provações diárias e na certeza de que há grande recompensa no outro lado. Se confiarmos em nossa própria força, no entanto, obstáculos intransponíveis aparecerão, deixando-nos desencorajados e pronto para desistir.Muitas vezes os crentes confiam em Cristo para sua salvação, mas tentam andar sozinhos. Se a graça de Deus foi necessária para salvar-nos, então a lógica diz que também precisamos dela para o resto de nossos dias.
Apenas através de uma infusão contínua de Seu poder sustentador poderemos viver uma vida cristã vitoriosa. Leia a Bíblia e faça oração!!
Tenham todos um dia abençoado!!
Betinho e Márcia
Excerpt from C. Stanley Ministries
Veteran's Day
History of Veterans Day
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect.
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."
President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts.
On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.
In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.
The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.
The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.
Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
Be Alert on November 9th.!
On Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct a nationwide live test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for the first time in the history of the EAS.This test should last between 30 seconds and 1 minute.
Listeners and viewers of these broadcast systems will not need to take any action because of this test.
By activating the EAS system for this test, all radio and TV broadcasts, including Cable TV and Satellite TV/Radio services, will be interrupted during the test period. The test will be accompanied by the same audio message across all media which will state that it is a test. Viewers of video services will see a message crawl that will give an indication that an Emergency Action Notification has been requested but it will not state that it is a test. This is an automatic feature of the type of live message code being used to initiate the system however viewers may see a background slide inserted by local broadcasters that will state that it is a test.
Due to technical message length restrictions NOAA Weather Radio will not carry this type of EAS message or test.
For more information regarding the EAS and this test, please go to: http://www.fema.gov/eastest/
Pr. Betinho