Local Churches Join In Thanksgiving Service

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Members of many community churches gathered on Tuesday evening, Nov. 21, at the Moapa Christian Church for a multi-denominational service. The service was held to show and give thanks to God during the season of thanksgiving.

Members and leaders of the different local congregations all took a part in the service, which combined musical selections with words of inspiration and testimony. Pastor Wayne Evans from the New Hope Christian Church in Overton gave the sermon for the evening.

The service was very well attended. Almost every seat was filled in the large sanctuary located on the Moapa Paiute Reservation.

The meeting was conducted by Pastor Scott Adams from the Lake Mead Baptist church. An invocation given by Pastor Paul Howard of the hosting Moapa Christian Church.

Pastor Howard was followed by a congregational musical number led by Richard and Rosita Fisher from Moapa Christian. The Fishers followed that number with a touching number in which Rosita sang a song that had special significance to her.
“This song is very special to me because it is the first song I learned in my language,” Rosita Fisher said. “I learned it from my mother. I am working now to learn the 3rd verse.”

The song repeated the words, “Jesus, I will trust you in my heart; Jesus, I will love you in my heart.”
The Fishers were followed by a special musical number presented by Lapita Cordova, Tonya and Regan Sekinger, and Johnathon Granados, also from Moapa Christian. During their presentation, the group shared their various thoughts and testimony as well as their music.
“I’m especially grateful for those who gave up their lives so we could have the freedom to worship like this,” Regan Sekinger said.

“God keeps reminding me that He will provide everything and not to worry,” Cordova added. “Our storms produce faith that help see us through.”
The next presentation was by members of the Calvary Community Church in Overton. Calvary Community Pastor Jason Ham took over on stage playing the guitar, with Matt Hastings on the drums and John Andersen and David Learned singing.

The group started out with a kids song for both the young and the young-at-heart in the audience, who all sang along enthusiastically. The group then moved on to other songs as well. This was followed by a testimony by Dennis Harris who pointed out that another word for “thankful” is “grateful.”

Members of the Lake Mead Baptist Church participated next, led by Pastor Adams. “I love the fact that we can get together as different churches and worship together,” Adams said. “Our different churches worship differently and our worship music and style is different, but it is wonderful that we can get together united in purpose and enjoy each other.”

The Lake Mead choir then performed a beautiful number by choir members including Pastor Adams, Abbie Brill, Rita Rodgers, Bria Scatterday, Sarah Adams, Dana Utgard, and Mary Beth Adams. The choir continued on to sing an offering song as an offering was collected from the congregation. Pastor Adams encouraged attendees to give generously and explained that 100% of the offering collected that evening would go to the food bank at Cappalappa Family Resource Center.

Tuston Brown from New Hope Christian Church spoke next and shared his testimony about how God had changed his life. He shared experiences from his youth that affected him greatly, concluding, “I know God’s love; I know God’s power; I know God’s light. I know that God loves us all.”

Pastor Wayne Evans of New Hope gave the sermon for the evening. He began by reading several psalms that spoke of giving thanks and outlined different ways that thanks can be given. He pointed out that prayer, sacrifice, and praise were all part of giving thanks. He told the story from Luke 17 of the ten lepers, pointing out that only one turned back to give thanks.

“Although all these lepers were likely thankful, what separated the one that turned back from the others was a feeling of true gratitude,” Evans said. “Thankfulness is a feeling, but gratitude is an action. Gratitude is an uncommon thankfulness and we need to have an attitude of gratitude.”

Evans continued by pointing out that everyone present was different. But, like the lepers, they were all united in their affliction, with that affliction being imperfectness instead of leprosy. They were also united in their faith and belief in Jesus. “We have lots of differences, but our belief in Jesus is what brings us together,” Evans concluded. “Our uncommon thankfulness to Him is gratitude.”

The meeting closed with a congregational song led by the Moapa Christian musical group again and a benediction by Pastor Ham. The congregation was then invited to a nearby building to enjoy a bountiful spread of treats and refreshments together.

Reaction to the service and the evening spent together was overwhelmingly positive. “It was awesome and amazing!” Moapa Community Church Pastor Paul Howard said. “It’s a great gathering and fellowship of believers and a chance to express our gratitude together at this time of year.”
Dana Utgard from Lake Mead Baptist agreed, saying, “It’s a blessing to get together with the other Christian churches in the valley and share our gratitude to God together.”

Pastor Scott Adams summed up the evening, saying, “I love this service every year. We’re so diverse but we have the same Savior. I just love the way God doesn’t use cookie cutters to make us all the same and allows us opportunities like this to celebrate our diversity while giving thanks to Him for all our blessings.”