SOMETIMES I HAVE THESE THOUGHTS … like, I wonder if God is peeking down upon us and seeing us as grateful children. Or does He shake His head at the spoiled brats we can be sometimes? Maybe He thinks we’ll never stop complaining! With Thanksgiving just around the corner, our thoughts should turn – more than ever - to having thankful hearts and expressing our gratitude – and showing appreciation. Actually, living in a spirit of thankfulness should be our way of life, right? After all, we are children of the living God, and for that reason alone, we have so much to be thankful for that we could write until we ran out of paper and our pens went dry. We should be able to make the Guinness Book of World Records for how long we could keep our list going! Sadly, in the world we live in today, showing gratitude is practiced less and less. How about for this Thanksgiving … and in all the days to come thereafter, we make a new commitment to keep “thanks – giving” on the tip of our tongues. Just how many things can we find to be thankful for in a day’s time? Start checking on yourself – beginning today! And when you start to complain or whine – stop yourself dead in your tracks. Rewind to a place of thanking God for something …in every circumstance! Voice it, express it, don’t miss the opportunity! You’ll be surprised how others start responding to you when you take the time and effort to thank them for something, even if it is just something small. And smile when you show your gratitude. Hearts will be warmed, and soon changed. Giving out thanks only returns in positive ways! It automatically pays extra dividends, and soon it multiplies, and then the ripple-effect begins. When you show gratitude, it starts to rub off on others. It’s just like your attitude – after all, I believe that gratitude IS an attitude! It is contagious! Which scenario makes you want to do more for someone? When you share or give or do something out of the goodness of your heart – and not even a simple “thank you” is expressed? Your feel a little taken for granted, right? Or when you do the littlest thing for someone – and they thank you over and over and are so appreciative? That just spurs you on to do something even more the next time, right? Let’s face it. While we should never do things for the thanks … it’s just nice to be appreciated! And I believe God’s Word gives us such great examples of showing gratitude. Let’s check out a few! I absolutely LOVE this one: “Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.” Philippians 1:3-4, (The Message Bible) And Colossians 1:3, expresses gratitude this way: “Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you!” In I Thessalonians, chapter 1 and verse 2, Paul writes, “Every time we think of you, we thank God for you.” How would that make you feel if someone told you that the next time they see you? And how could you make someone else feel if the next time you saw them, you genuinely told them, “Every time I see you, I thank God for you!” It would probably bring tears to their eyes. And they would never forget it. I remember being told that Mary Kay Ash once said, “Look at others as if they have a sign hung around their neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’” You see, we all have a need, a deep longing to be cared about. And part of that need is fulfilled when others show gratitude to us. And that gratitude can come in any size, shape, or style! The possibilities are endless! Try being creative with how you show others that you are thankful for them. And of course, we shouldn’t make it just about others. Even more importantly, let’s tell the Lord Jesus Christ just how thankful we are for Him coming to the earth – for us! Let’s let Him know how it makes us feel that if we were the only person on this earth – He would have still gone to the Cross for us so that we could have the opportunity to live with Him forever! Unworthy … that’s us, but ever so grateful!!! We should consider ourselves on “special assignment” to thank God in ways that touch His heart. And those ways, whatever they might be, should be as unique as we are. God never gets stuck in a rut. We do. He loves the simple expressions. The honest ones. The ones from way deep down in our heart. While we can never surprise Him – He loves our efforts to make Him feel loved and appreciated! After all, we’re His kids … and what parent doesn’t love to have their children say, “Thank you, Mom! Thank you, Dad!” So, Father God, Poppa, Daddy … in our simplistic, but heartfelt way, we want to tell you that we love You more than we can put into words. Our thankful hearts are nearly bursting with appreciation for all You’ve done for us – yesterday, today, and what You will continue to do for us in all our tomorrows! Who could have chosen a more incredible Father for us than YOU?! We are blessed, indeed, for God our Savior, and for a million other blessings besides!!!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- IT’S AWAYS AMAZING … that no matter what kind of a week we’ve had – when we choose to walk into God’s House and gather with His people in worship and praise, because our focus is on the Lord God of Israel – who is also the Lord God of US … we discover that peace that defies description! It’s a peace like no other! We were challenged by Pastor D’s message, “Growing Your Faith” to step out and walk into the places God has called us to – even when we cannot see what is ahead! God will always empower us to do what He’s called us to do!
- A SPECIAL WELCOME to Corey who came to worship with us Sunday for the first time; we hope you felt the love of Jesus and ours, too! May each of your days be blessed, Corey!
- THIS WEEK IS FILLED with lots of birthday celebrations: Belated wishes for Spencer on the 17th, Mary on the 21st, Tina on the 23rd, Connie on the 24th, and Christian on the 25th! May each of you experience rich blessings all year long from Your Father above! We appreciate all of you!
- A GREAT BIG THANKS to EVERYONE who helped in any way with the “Giant Sale” of everything from A to Z this weekend! We appreciate all of the many donations of items, and as always … the monetary donations that come in will allow Elevation North to further its ministry and outreach in this community!
- - LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH: 10:00 A.M. – SPECIAL THANKSGIVING PRAISE & WORSHIP WITH COMMUNION in our new location at 217 North Main in Medford! Come and join us as our praises ring out in song – and come and drink in from Pastor Doug’s message straight from God’s Word about “Gratitude is Greatly Under-rated!” Let’s see how important God’s Word says it is!
- 12:00 NOON – THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON at the church following worship – for our entire church family and every visitor who joins us today! It’s not too late to plan to bring something! The table service will be provided. So come and eat and fellowship and be blessed! We’ll have a great time as we show our appreciation for each other in the body of Christ!
- ARE YOU PRAYING for Tarike and Daouda every day? They are our sponsored children from Ethiopia and Senegal … and they are counting on us, someone they’ve never seen, to bring them hope through our support each month. Just drop your offerings in the container at the Welcome Center ... it only takes ALL of us giving $35 a month to help make a huge difference in their lives! Take time to write them a note, too!
- WHAT A GREAT GOD WE SERVE! Did you know that He’s bigger than all our problems? Well, He IS! He is big enough to take care of Julia’s son-in-law, Kevin; of Shirley, Tina, Gerard, Jimmy, Elsie; of Johnny & Cherry, each of our young people, our evangelists & missionaries, our families, our military and our leaders. Let’s pray!
- REMEMBER . . . “One simple concept can get us through the most stressful times. It’s called gratitude. We learn to say “thank you” for the way things are.” ~ Melodie Beattie
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
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