Over on Crestview’s site, we have a Gratitude Guide that provides prompts for thankfulness to God in this upcoming season. The guide started today and I’d love for you to engage with the content. I’m also posting daily on Insta (which feeds into FB). Click the link to get this content and let’s orient our hearts heavenward as we consider all that God has done for us and do the good thing: giving thanks to Him.
We enjoyed a wonderful day yesterday at Crestview celebrating Thanksgiving. We continue to use our 2021 Gratitude Guide to reflect on God’s goodness and how we have reason to give thanks. My sermon on 11/21/21, I Thank God (Luke 18:9-14), dug into the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector to give us some diagnostic questions to consider as we think about our gratitude to God.
If you don’t follow the church’s facebook or instagram accounts, check them out. We opened our dinner last night thinking about Psalm 92:1, It is good to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praise unto Your name, O Most High. We had time for people to give thanks and we also opened by singing praise to God’s name as we sang the Doxology together. Here’s the video:
Have a great Thanksgiving week, giving thanks to God for His many blessings.
1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
This past Sunday, we sang the Getty’s song My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness. We also prayed this prayer from Thomas Cranmer…
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
We, your unworthy servants, give humble and hearty thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all people;
we bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life;
but, above all, for your amazing love
in the redemption of the world through our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace;
and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us that due sense of all your mercies,
that our hearts may be truly thankful
and that we may declare your praise
not only with our lips but in our lives,
by giving up ourselves to your service,
and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory,
now and forever. Amen.
Some other articles that I’ve found helpful are here from CCEF:
Thankful People by David Powlison
“Gratitude happens when you take to heart a good gift that brings you great pleasure. In what follows, I offer you old, seasoned gifts: a hymn, a prayer, and a poem. Each intends to prime the pump of your thankfulness.”
I Am Not Giving Thanks by Ed Welch
“We do not give thanks for oppression or victimization, and we do not give thanks for cancer, spinal cord injuries, or even more innocuous things like headaches.”
Instilling Gratitude in Your Family by Julie Lowe
“Gratitude does not come naturally to us, but it can be cultivated. It acknowledges that no matter my condition, my possessions, my sufferings, or my blessings, we are rich in the ways the world cannot quantify.”
Have a great Thanksgiving week!
I hope you’re having a great Thanksgiving Week. We are enjoying some reconnection with family this week. I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see what I’ve been working on these past few days. It will culminate on Thanksgiving Day. Beginning last year, I encouraged our church to use a Gratitude Guide. This showcased some reasons to be thankful to God, especially for the good news about Him. So, I’m uploading it here. It’s not too late to engage this content. Take some time tonight or this week to think of ways you can express gratitude to God for how His kindness is seen in the Gospel. I hope this encourages and blesses you. And, special thanks to Elizabeth Wood for the design.
Happy Thanksgiving. While this day will have all kinds of fun with family, friends, football, and food, don’t forget to give thanks to the Lord. I’ve enjoyed using a Gratitude Guide that I wrote for Crestview this season. I hope it encourages you to give thanks to the Lord. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Hope you have a great day celebrating thanksgiving…
Our church took the Lord’s Supper together yesterday, 11/24/13. Taking the Lord’s Supper always seemed like a meaningless add-on in worship to me growing up. I knew it meant something serious spiritually speaking, but couldn’t make the connection to why that rhythm was needed and I feel I’m just getting to a point where I’m starting to understand it.
Having the Lord’s Supper during the week of Thanksgiving is terrific. Some traditions call the Lord’s Supper or Communion the Eucharist, which means to give thanks. This thought originated as Jesus took the bread and gave thanks, then broke it for the disciples. When we come to the Lord’s Supper table together, we should come thankful for all that is ours in the Gospel. Because Jesus gave His life and blood for me, I know forgiveness, grace, hope and am set apart to worship forever.
This week as you gather with your family to give thanks think of the work of Jesus Christ, sinless Godman, who came to earth to seek and save the lost. He came for us and that is something for which we can be forever grateful.
From The Valley of Vision:
O My God,
You fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
My heart admires, adores, loves You,
For my little vessel is as full as it can be,
And I would pour out all that fullness before You in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with You
Ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
Ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
Ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
Crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless You for the soul You have created,
For adorning it, for sanctifying it,
Though it is fixed in barren soil;
For the body You have given me,
For preserving its strength and vigor,
For providing senses to enjoy delights,
For the ease and freedom of limbs,
For hands, eyes, ears that do Your bidding;
For Your royal bounty providing my daily support,
For a full table and overflowing cup,
For appetite, taste, sweetness,
For social joys of relatives and friends,
For ability to serve others,
For a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
For a mind to care for my fellow-men,
For opportunities of spreading happiness around,
For loved ones in the joys of heaven,
For my own expectation of seeing You clearly.
I love You above the powers of language to express,
For what You are to Your creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.
(HT: Challies)
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