You are invited to the Thanksgiving Service on November 23 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441 Meeting ID: 965 881 6441
You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Thanksgiving Sunday
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 10 am
Bring a dish to share!
Children’s Time “Most Beautiful Words You Can Utter” Pastor John
Choir Anthem
Canticle of Thanksgiving
Words by Herbert Brokering; Music by Dale Wood
based on the Welsh Tune: The Ash Grove
Message “Unfinished American Revolution” Rev. John Song
This is the conclusion of the 2-part sermon series on “The American Revolution” with a Thanksgiving twist.
Ken Burns’ documentary series “The American Revolution”—is a gift to America in that it challenges us to celebrate the American Revolution with “the good, the bad, and the ugly” in all its complexities. Arriving amid fierce debates over how we remember our past, its release feels especially urgent.
We are gifted by our founders The Declaration of Independence (1776), that begins with the philosophical foundation of American democracy:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The founders inscribed lofty ideals on paper but left it to future generations to realize and defend them. This film invites Americans to broaden and deepen our understanding of our origins and the ideals that continue to shape and bind us together.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order,
confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.”
~ Melody Beattie, an American author
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.”
~ Meister Eckhart, the 14th century German mystic and theologian
