Prayers for all People

November 19, 2024 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Thanksgiving Organ and Tissue Donation Sunday Prayers for all People Year B Prelude Greeting Call to Worship L: Come, let us celebrate the wondrous gifts that God has given us. P: Throughout all our lives, God has blessed us with love and hope. L: Praise be to God who provides for us. P: May our hearts be truly grateful, and may we show our gratitude by the ways in which we live and care for others. L: Hallelujah! P: AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer Lord of bounty and blessing, we come to you this day in gratitude for all that we have been given. We are grateful for the blessings and for the opportunities to be of service to others in your holy Name. Bless each of us here, that we may become truly blessings to others. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Great is Thy Faithfulness UMH 140 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Message What is an organ? A musical instrument? What is a tissue? Something in which to sneeze or to wrap a gift? And what is a donor? In The United Methodist Church, we celebrate Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday. In this case, an organ is a group of tissues in a living organism that has a specific form and function. Examples are your heart, kidneys and lungs. Sometimes, perhaps because of disease, a person’s organ quits working effectively, and they become very sick. That’s where the word “donor” comes in. A donor is an individual who shares an organ or tissue so that someone else can have a fuller life. On Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday, United Methodists encourage people to help others in this way. Newsletter Nugget “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.” —Ruth 4:15, NRSVUE Most of us take our health and our bodies for granted. We check that little organ-donation box on our driver’s license and, most likely, forget about it. But when we, or someone we love, is in need of an organ, cornea or tissue transplant, the situation becomes personal. That’s why Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday is so important. One of five special days without a churchwide offering, Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday is viewed as a time for United Methodists to come together around the issues of life and thanksgiving. Congregations are encouraged to include the topic in their worship services. Worship resources are available from nonprofit donor programs in the United States. Jesus said, “I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest” (John 10:10b CEB). Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday is an opportunity to consider new ways to follow Jesus and to help others find abundant life. Adapted from Donate Life America website. Prayer of Thanksgiving (note that the prayer is in bold) Bounteous God, you have lavished your finest gifts on each one of us. We thank you for the many ways in which you have blessed our lives--with love, hope, friends, our church, and so many other things that we cherish. Help us be a blessing for others--that they may come to know you and rejoice in your love. Give us hearts of courage and confidence to step out into the world in service, bringing hope where there is doubt, peace where there is strife, love where there is discord. These things we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Scripture 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Sermon Prayers for all People Thanksgiving did not become a national holiday for the United States until 1942, when president Roosevelt declared it as the 4th Thursday of November. I am told that he did that for economic reasons, so that Christmas shopping could begin the next day. So not only did he start Thanksgiving, but also black Friday. By the way, it is also no accident that election day is always in November. It was established in 1842 to have elections after harvest time. On a Tuesday, so that farmers had time to travel to the polls after church on Sunday. But back to the harvest festival - We know that it was president Lincoln who introduced the idea of thanksgiving to the nation. In 1863 I think he made a proclamation of a national day of prayer and thanksgiving. Yet did you know that a national day of prayer and thanksgiving goes all the way back to our first president, George Washington. First National Thanksgiving Proclamation Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!" Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country. George Washington, 1779. Washington declared that We are a safe and happy nation under God, that God is the protector of our country, so we should have a public say of Prayer and Thanksgiving. Today – I think that we do well with the Thanks part of the holiday. We remember to say thank you to those around us. We even do well with the giving part. This is the beginning of giving season. We remember those in need, we make sure everyone has a table to go to on thanksgiving. It is the time of year to remember end of the year giving for the organizations that we care about. But I wonder how we are doing with the prayer part of Thanksgiving. Other than the grace, how much do we pray at Thanksgiving? Giving Meaningful Thanks I have noticed that at Thanksgiving time it is difficult for people to give God thanks and praise. You hear people say on that day that they are grateful but that is where it ends. They rarely direct their thankfulness to God. One year my daughter's school had a Thanksgiving day program for the parents. I was so saddened that during the program all they could sing about was "Tom Turkey." You would have thought that it was a poultry holiday. Not only is it difficult for us to give thanks, but it seems that we can not graciously receive thanks. If we listen carefully to various conversations we will notice that sometimes someone will say, "Thank you," only to have the other person say, "No, thank you." Obviously, giving thanks has become a meaningless exercise for many people. We have reduced it to the level of telling one another to "have a nice day." This is nothing new; in our text Jesus was having the same problem. So was one young mother who was preparing a dinner party at her home. She had spent all day in preparations for the big event. She was nervous and wanted everything to be just right for her guests. She had cleaned the house from top to bottom, polished the silver, arranged the flowers, and even made little name cards for each guest. Finally, the guests arrived and were eventually seated at the dinner table. The young mother turned to her daughter and asked her to offer the prayer. The daughter said that she did not know what to pray. "Just pray what Mommy would pray," the mother said. The little girl thought for a moment and then prayed, "Dear Lord, why did I invite all these people to dinner?"" John R. Steward, Lectionary Tales For The... Our scripture reminds us to pray for all people. To bring everything to God in prayer. This year I am sure that there are a lot of people who will bring our nation to God in prayer. There will be lots of discussions around the table about God overseeing our nation. But let us remember to bring all of our petitions to God. Before gathering, before the food, while we are alone, when we start our day – let us start our day in relationship with God. To put it easily, someone said The attitude of gratitude is important for several reasons: Thankfulness acknowledges that God is our provider. Thankfulness prevents a complaining spirit. Thankfulness creates a positive outlook on life Thankfulness invites joy to dwell in our hearts. Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, pp. 161. 1 Timothy reminds us that there is only one God, On mediator, and at the heart of the matter, we are one people when we come together in prayer. At its heart and beginning, Thanksgiving is a political holiday. My prayer is that God spares us all from political talk at the thanksgiving table this year. But let us remember, that when we bring everything in prayer to God – we are all loved, protected, and united. Let us pray….. Song Come, Ye Thankful People, Come UMH 694 Pastoral Prayer God of infinite patience and power, how it must try your patience to watch us hurl ourselves into a season of greed and grumbling. Your blessings, your bounty, have been poured out to us that we may be strengthened to be your people in service to others. Yet we persist in attaching ourselves to the great “gimmies” of our world--“gimmie toys, gimmie wealth, gimmie power.” Today we have gathered here with an opportunity to step out of the race to possess, to praise you and thank you for the wonderful ways in which you have blessed our lives. We spend a lot of time looking for the big blessings, when all around us are the delightful blessings of everyday living--family, home, friends, the ability to enjoy laughter and share tears. There are so many ways in which you have touched our lives with your love. Help us develop for all of our lives an attitude of gratitude, never failing to thank you each day for your love and your blessings. Help us reach out to one another and to all those in need with this compassionate love. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name, AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Special Presentation by Traci Brownlee (check spelling) Stewardship Moment On this Thanksgiving Sunday, perhaps someone in your congregation who attended a Disciple school could invite people to share a special day offering to support the work of Disciple colleges and seminaries. Or, you could use resources from Disciples Mission Fund by clicking here. Or, ask 3 different people to each share 1 minute to finish this sentence: “I give money to this congregation because I’m thankful for _________.” and share a closing sentence – “with thankful hearts, please share your financial gift as a sign of your gratitude for the ministry of this congregation.” Prayer of Thanksgiving With gratitude for all the blessings you pour into our lives, Generous God, we offer these gifts back to you. We pray they will be used to increase your Realm of peace. Bless all who have given gifts this day, that they may truly be part of the Way you showed to a yearning world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, Ruler of all. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook One: Go into the world showing a gentle attitude toward everyone. Be joyful and thankful! Fill your mind with those things that are good and deserve praise: things true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what you have heard here. And may the God who gives peace be with each of you. All: We go in the peace of Christ to love and serve all creation. (ReWorship.com, Kevin Little) Community Time – Joys and Concerns BENEDICTION Beloved of God, place your whole trust in God’s absolute abundant love. Feel the powerful presence of God in your life and know that God’s blessings are with you. Go in peace, and may God’s peace always be with you. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener - In All Things Be Thankful - Ephesians 5:20 Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject of Thanksgiving in deference to the human misery all about them. After all, what was there was to be thankful for? But it was Dr. William L. Stiger, pastor of a large congregation in the city that rallied the group. This was not the time, he suggested, to give mere passing mention to Thanksgiving, just the opposite. This was the time for the nation to get matters in perspective and thank God for blessings always present, but perhaps suppressed due to intense hardship. I suggest to you the ministers struck upon something. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound. Think of the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving. Half their number dead, men without a country, but still there was thanksgiving to God. Their gratitude was not for something but in something. It was that same sense of gratitude that lead Abraham Lincoln to formally establish the first Thanksgiving Day in the midst of national civil war, when the butcher's list of casualties seemed to have no end and the very nation struggled for survival. Perhaps in your own life, right now, there is intense hardship. You are experiencing your own personal Great Depression. Why should you be thankful this day? May I suggest three things? 1. We must learn to be thankful or we become bitter. 2. We must learn to be thankful or we will become discouraged. 3. We must learn to be thankful or we will grow arrogant and self-satisfied. ____________________ How to Be a Pilgrim The Pilgrims had the courage to act on their commitments, no matter what. Do we? Sociologist Robert Bellah, author of Habits of the Heart, is impressed by the power of religion. He once said, "We should not underestimate the significance of the small group of people who have a new vision of a just and gentle world. The quality of a culture may be changed when two percent of its people have a new vision (and act on it)." Christians make up far more than two percent of our town, far more than two percent of Massachusetts, far more than two percent of Americans. So, why don’t we have a greater effect: on issues of the environment, on justice for the needy, on the quality of life on Cape Cod? Could it be we need more courage to act on our commitments? To be a Pilgrim means to stand up for what you believe, no matter what. To be a Pilgrim also means sharing what you have, and turning thanks into giving. The Pilgrim colonists willingly shared all they had. During their first three years, all property was held in common. At one point, they were down to five kernels of corn per day for food. Still, they divided the corn kernels up equally. And, the original group of fifty that survived the first winter shared their limited food with the sixty newcomers who arrived in the spring. One of their finest moments came in 1623, at the first real Thanksgiving. The small colony hosted over ninety Native American braves for three days. There was eating and drinking, wrestling, footraces, and gun and arrow-shooting competitions. It was the Pilgrims’ way of saying "Thank you" to God, and to the Native Americans who had helped them survive. To be a Pilgrim means sharing and turning thanks into giving. How thankful and giving are we? Alex A. Gondola, Jr., Holidays Are Holy Days: Sermons for Special Sundays, CSS Publishing Company __________________ The Source of Thanksgiving I will remind you of that wonderful Children's holiday classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." It was released a few years ago as a movie staring Jim Carrey. You'll recall in the story how the Grinch enters all the homes by way of their chimneys disguised as Santa Clause. He takes all the presents and ornaments, the trees and stockings, and even their food down to the last morsel. He drags his loot up to his mountain and then looks down upon Whoville with a sinister grin. He is listening for the cries and wailings of the people to start as they wake up on Christmas morning to discover a Christmas lost. What he hears instead surprises him. Up from the town of the Whos comes a joyful Christmas carol. They are singing. "Why?" he asks. It is because, he learns, Christmas resides not in things but in the heart which is thankful. He could not steal their gratitude. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com Too Much Turkey In 1953, the Swanson food company found themselves with too much turkey on their hands after disappointing Thanksgiving sales. One innovative employee came up with the idea of packaging individual servings of turkey and vegetables in an oven-safe aluminum tray. Thus was born the first TV dinner. Reader’s Digest, June 2003, p. 26. Thanksgiving Sermon Opener This morning I would like to hold up for you three different scenes. The strange thing about these scenarios is that when you first hear them you will be hard pressed to understand why I selected these stories to exemplify Thanksgiving. On the surface they will seem to be the antithesis of Thanksgiving. Yet, I am convinced that at the heart of these stories is the real Biblical understanding of what it means to be thankful. The first scene comes from the Old Testament. It is the familiar story of Job. Job has come to represent for us the epitome of suffering. Near the end of the story we see that all of his children have been killed in an accident; he is facing financial ruin; he has been stricken with illness. In fact, it seems that if any person is justified in saying: Let's just skip Thanksgiving this year it would be Job. Yet, in the midst of all of this immeasurable suffering the voice of God comes to Job and says to him a very interesting statement. We read it in the 37th chapter the 14th verse. God says to Job: "Hear this O Job. Stop and consider the wondrous works of God." From all outward circumstances it seems as though Job has nothing at all to be thankful for yet here is God coming to him in the midst of it all and saying in effect, Job, it's time to count your blessings. Let's leave that story for a moment and take a look at a second. This one comes from the New Testament, the book of Ephesians. The Apostle Paul now finds himself squarely in the midst of a dingy Roman prison and facing serious charges. Things seem very bad indeed for Paul. But this is only one of a series of mishaps that has occurred during his stormy ministry. He has been shipwrecked, beaten nearly to death, imprisoned, and even many of his fellow Christians are now openly opposing him. Now he faces what surely seems to be a death sentence. In the midst of this situation Paul writes the Christians in Ephesus. Listen to what he has to say, "Thanks be to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every blessing." Strange words from a man facing execution. Like Job, we are forced to ask the question What has he to be thankful for? Staff, www.eSermons.com Helping Others, Showing Gratitude A man named John Canuso made a deal with God. His nine-year-old daughter, Babe, had just been diagnosed with leukemia, and as he knelt at her bed, he swore: "You save my kid, I'll dedicate my life." God did indeed save his daughter. Babe is now 26, married and the mother of a one-year-old boy, a child she thought she'd never have, after all the radiation and chemotherapy. John kept his promise. John was a builder by trade. In 1974, the year his daughter became ill, he reached into his own pocket to renovate and furnish a rundown Philadelphia home that became the first Ronald McDonald House, a place where families could stay while their youngsters were being treated at Children's Hospital. John said, "Thank you, Lord. I'm glad you asked me to do something in my profession." Helping others was John's way of saying "thank you." King Duncan, ChristianGlobe Illustrations

God Gives us Bread From Heaven

November 20, 2022 Thanksgiving Sunday John 6:25-35 God gives us bread from heaven Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship We dwell in a land God has loaned to us Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth. We come with gladness to worship God. We enter God’s presence with joyous song. The first fruits of our labor belong to God Rejoice in the privilege of sharing God’s bounty. God has made us, and we belong to God. We are the sheep of God’s pasture. The God of peace greets us in this time of worship Enter with thanksgiving and heartfelt praise. We thank God for steadfast love to sustain us. We praise God for faithfulness to all generations. (Gathered by Love, Lavon Bayler) Song Come Ye Thankful People Come UMH 694 Children’s Sermon Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Needed: nothing Children’s Sermon Greet children with, Happy Thanksgiving! And, of course, Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks, isn’t it? We thank God for all the good things He’s done for us. What are some things that you want to thank God for this year? (Share something that you’re thankful for.) I want to play a little game today. Because the Apostle Paul wrote that we should… (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18.) “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” “Give thanks in all circumstances.” That means we should thank God when things are good and when things are bad. Let’s practice. Let’s pretend that you’re all on a sports team and I’m your coach. If our team just won a game, what could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for letting us win.) But what if our team lost? Then, what could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for letting us play well and have fun together.) Okay. Second example: What if it was a beautiful, sunshiny day outside? What could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for the nice weather.) But what if it was rainy all day? What could we thank God for, then? (We could thank Him for the rain to help the grass and other plants grow.) Okay. Last example: What if someone was sick, and we prayed that they would get better and then, they did get better? What could we thank God for in that situation? (We could thank God for healing the sick person and making them healthy again.) But what if we prayed, and God didn’t heal the person? What if the person died? What could we thank God for, then? (We could thank God for the good life the person had and that we’ll see them in Heaven again someday.) See? Whether things are good or bad, we can always thank God for something. That’s why Paul tells us to “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Let’s pray and give thanks now. Closing Prayer Father God, we thank You for being a good God. You are so good that no matter what happens, we can always thank You for something. Help us to see the good in every situation so that we can always give You thanks. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. (Rev. Stephen R. Wilson) Scripture John 6:25-35 Sermon – God gives us Bread from Heaven Have You Taken Inventory Lately? The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled., he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "It’s that time of the year again, it’s time to take inventory." Dr. McLennon Wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had--from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why? "Well, responded the owner, its easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have." That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don’t have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately? What I am suggesting here is not some shallow "count your blessings" platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us. Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the children's poem that says: "Count your blessings one by one, and you might be surprised what the Lord has done." Staff, www.eSermons.com I think that is one of the most important things that we can do for Thanksgiving is to take account of our blessings. There are some years when it may take a moment. But we have to realize that God is there for us in the midst of our lives. Sometimes we have to do it like Robinson Coruso – who when stuck on a desert island, would write down all of the bad things in his life, but for each bad thing he would also write a good thing. He was amazed to realize that he really did have good things happen to him. His list of good and bad was always balanced. Then there is the story of John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the declaration of independence. He was also president of the College of New Jersey at Princeton. He was also a presbyterian minister. One day he was in his office, when his neighbor burst in to tell him of a horrific accident that he had had. His horse had bolted, his buggy was smashed and he narrowly escaped injury. He wanted Witherspoon to pray with him to thank god for sparring his life. John Witherspoon indeed prayed, but before he did so, he told his neighbor that he had a far greater testimony. He told his neighbor that he too rode his buggy over that same road this morning. But not one things went wrong. His horse was calm and his buggy was okay. He too narrowly escaped death. He thanked God for being with him and keeping him safe. God got us all safely here today. God has been with us this morning, God has been with us all of our lives. And yet how many of us thank God daily for bringing us through and allowing us to go about our daily life. When things go wrong, we don’t have a problem asking why me. Yet when we have a feast and things are going well, how many of us ask why me? Why have you blessed me so extravagantly – and yet we are blessed by God each and every day. So today what is it that we have to be thankful for? How has God blessed us today? What is it that we have to be thankful for as a church? What is it that we have to be thankful for as a world. One big thing that we can be thankful for – we all survived a pandemic. We all know that the pandemic is not over, but we can be thankful that the world has found the courage to move on. For the first time in a long time, this thanksgiving we are free to make plans, to be with family, to move and go where we want to. This year we have a lot to be grateful for. Thanksgiving of course is a national holiday, and yet it is not considered a Christian holiday. There is nothing in the bible that tells us to get together as a nation in order to say thank you. And yet the bible is full of stories of thanksgiving, of celebrations, and of living a life of gratitude. John 6 is a story of gratitude. In chapter 5, and the beginning of chapter 6 – Jesus was on the beach teaching when 5000 men and their families showed up to listen to him, and he realized that they were listening to his words, they had been there all day, and that they must be hungry. This is the story of the feeding of the 5000 – where Jesus talks 5 loaves of bread and some fish and everyone has something to be thankful for that day. This is the first major gathering of what are called rice Christians. I would imagine that you have never heard of that term. A rice Christian is someone who only shows up for something religious when food is being served. We all would like to believe that we are such good people – and that we are so in live with God. But the reality is food is always a major draw for any gathering on any day. We are having a full meal for coffee hour – today should be a good day for us all. I don’t have a problem admitting that I am a rice Christian – I love food. I love the idea of eating. Every Saturday – I spend my whole day watching channel 11 – because they have cooking shows on all day. I don’t even bother to make the recipes, I just love watching food on tv. There is this soul food restaurant in Georgia – every day at 7am they do a video of their buffet, highlighting all of the food that they have and they put it on Facebook. OMG – watching this video is the highlight of my day, it has become my daily devotion. Now I will never drive to Georgia just to eat at this restaurant – Chicago has plenty of soul food restaurants- But somehow just watching their food feeds my spirit. So in John 6 – Jesus feeds the 5000. But he also chastises them for thinking that the gospel is just about food – even though it really is. Jesus tells us – you came to listen to me, not because you were looking for spiritual miracles, but because you ate all of the food you wanted. He doesn’t say that that is a bad thing, he ways that we shouldn’t be in search of food that does not last. Jesus doesn’t have a problem feeding us, he just reminds us that there is more to life than food. He gives us food, but he also gives us life. There are 3 lessons for us in the book of John – Jesus is the provider of our bread, Jesus is the bread of life because he is the word of God, and that Jesus is the bread of the church – communion and baptism. Jesus does not just feed us, Jesus encourages us to think beyond our needs and the needs of the world for something more. In the book of John, Jesus tells us that he is the living bread and that he is the living water of life. When we take communion and take his bread and his juice, we get so much more than food. Living water is water that moves an has a life of its own – like a river. Living bread on the other hand – is bread that has yeast. Yeast is what makes the bread rise, and gives you the power to make all difference kinds of bread. The metaphor of Jesus, the Bread of Life, is a metaphor that meets hungering humans where we think we are empty in our stomachs but then points us to where our real emptiness lies in our souls. Jesus' image goes through our stomachs to get to our souls. One thing that makes bread such a good medium and metaphor to convey the image of soul-sustaining nourishment is the life-giving process it goes through to become a fragrant loaf. Except for a few special unleavened varieties, what really makes bread for most of us is yeast. A tiny one-celled organism that grows and metabolizes its own food with great speed, yeast organisms "work" in the dough, slightly fermenting and releasing gases so that the bread begins to rise. This natural process is common in many foods yeast organisms often get into and ferment many things we didn't plan on. Ever find yourself spitting out a big swig of too-old orange juice? The taste that tingled on your tongue was produced by yeast. Yeast is ubiquitous. Indeed, part of the challenge of Passover preparations is to create completely unleavened bread (matzo) for the celebration. Part of the pre-festival celebration involves a ritual "search" through the house with a feather, to seek out and sweep away any yeast that may remain inside and could contaminate the matzo. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is energized in each one of us by divine yeast by the Spirit of the living God, who sent Christ to be among us, to be for us, to be in us. To benefit fully from this Bread of Life, we must keep our lives, our spirits, "yeasty" vital and ever growing. What can you do to create "yeast" in your soul? Here's one suggestion. Try using "y-e-a-s-t" as an acronym for your spiritual attitude. "Yes." Are you saying "yes" to nourishing possibilities the Bread of Life is offering you? You've heard of the "placebo" effect. It's when your body thinks it's getting something helpful and healing, and so generates a helpful and healing response throughout your system. But scientists are now talking equally about the flip side of the "placebo" effect. They're calling it the "nocebo" effect. It's when your inability to think "yes," your negative mood and outlook, your worried fixation on worst-case scenarios, can keep the "nocebo" effect working in your physiology. (For more on the "nocebo" effect, see the recent book of Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson, Timeless Healing [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996].) Because of the "Seven First Words of the Christian" "I can do all things through Christ" a yeasty spirit thinks "YES." "Energize." Why is it that the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going is always going somewhere else the night the lights go out and you dig out your flashlight?! Unlike batteries, however, a properly maintained yeast colony can keep going and going and going. Ever make sourdough bread using "sourdough starter"? "Starter" is really a combination of yeast cultures, water and flour. You dip out what you need for the day's biscuits, bread or pancakes, give the rest of the starter a stir, "feed" it more flour and water, and tuck it back in your frig. In pioneer days, women treasured their "starter" and nurtured it along for years. Sometimes one starter was passed on from mother to daughter to granddaughter. That's perpetual energy. And that is what the Bread of Life can bring to your own spirit. "Access." In order to be continually fed by the Bread of Life, we must keep in constant touch with the source of life's true energy supply. Living out of the stored power of the Spirit enables us to be fed by Christ's gift any time we need it. We can access this always available power reserve in various ways. For some of us, direct intercessory prayer brings us the closest to God's Spirit and God's love. For others, music opens the soul and sets it resonating with the Spirit. For many, creating and/or contemplating works of art, form within us the prayers that enable us to reach out and grab the gift of life. Stanly Kunitz once called "art" the "chalice into which we pour transcendence" (As quoted by R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense [St.Louis: Chalice Press], 83). Find your own unique way of accessing the energy of bread ... and you will never go hungry. "Search." Today's crowds thought they were seeking the Bread of Life. All they were really looking for was a free lunch. Jesus' words to them, his corrections and counsel, were intended to make the hungering crowd search their spirits for their true motives and desires. Likewise, when we feel filled-up with power or contentments we should search our own spirits to make certain we are feasting on what God provides, not on what our own egos or selfish desires have cooked up. "Trust." If we are filling up on the Bread of Life, we should be able to trust in the Spirit's presence and power in our lives. It is that trust that allows us to take what appears to others as "risks." Trusting in the Spirit lets us "go for it" when conventional wisdom or cautious hedging would advise us to sit on the sidelines. When our spirits are resting in trust, they can do anything. For we know no matter where we go, no matter what difficulties we may encounter, a constant food supply is always at hand, always guaranteed. Only Jesus can satisfy the hungry heart. Only Jesus has the Words of Eternal Life. We are all rice Christians, in search of something that is going to fill us up. I listened to a sermon by Zan Holmes, who is a retired Methodist minister – who said that the good news is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. The only place to find living bread that will last forever is in Jesus christ. I hope that you are hungry this morning – today we have plenty of food – food for our bellies, but also food for our spirit. We can be grateful for what God has done for us. But gratefulness is only the beginning of our faith. It gives us that faith to feed others. Or at least to tell them where they can get a good piece of bread. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow rice Christians. May we find an abundance of gratitude in our lives this week. Just as I look forward everyday to watching that soul food buffet, I will use that as my cue to go to God in prayer and devotion – to take account of all that God has done for me that day. I hope that we all remember to say thank you everyday for what God has done for us. Amen. Song – Now Thank We All our God UMH 102 Prayer God of infinite patience and power, how it must try your patience to watch us hurl ourselves into a season of greed and grumbling. Your blessings, your bounty, have been poured out to us that we may be strengthened to be your people in service to others. Yet we persist in attaching ourselves to the great “gimmies” of our world--“gimmie toys, gimmie wealth, gimmie power.” Today we have gathered here with an opportunity to step out of the race to possess, to praise you and thank you for the wonderful ways in which you have blessed our lives. We spend a lot of time looking for the big blessings, when all around us are the delightful blessings of everyday living--family, home, friends, the ability to enjoy laughter and share tears. There are so many ways in which you have touched our lives with your love. Help us develop for all of our lives an attitude of gratitude, never failing to thank you each day for your love and your blessings. Help us reach out to one another and to all those in need with this compassionate love. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name, AMEN. ( United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (do not Print) Almighty, Creator God, we humbly bring our gifts to you this day. On Calvary’s cross, your son redefined for the world what it meant to rule, what it meant to be a king. In his life, teaching and interacting with people, Jesus redefined what it means to give in a way that pleases God. May we in this season live and give in a way that reflects the reign over us and the one who lives within us. In the exalted name of Christ, we pray. Amen. (Luke 23:33-43) (Discipleship Ministries) Prayer of Thanksgiving For all the ways you love us, we say THANK YOU! For the ways you provide for us, we say THANK YOU! For the opportunity to give, we say THANK YOU! For the kingdom work this offering will do, we say THANK YOU! For letting us be a part of your work, we say THANK YOU! May the thankful words on our lips ( ReWorship Blogspot) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook The bread of heaven gives life to the believer. Receive the bread, eat and live. We will turn to God daily for nourishment. We will give thanks with grateful hearts. The bread of heaven gives life to the church. Share the bread; share your stories. We will gather in the community of faith. We will share the bread and share our lives. The bread of heaven gives life to the world. Pass on the gift with joy to neighbors near and far. We will bless the world with acts of love. This is our highest thanksgiving to God. Amen. Amen. ( Gathered by Love, Lavon Baylor) Community Time Benediction Beloved of God, place your whole trust in God’s absolute abundant love. Feel the powerful presence of God in your life and know that God’s blessings are with you. Go in peace, and may God’s peace always be with you. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Humor: We're Getting a Divorce An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Then he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own fares." Traditional Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject Thanksgiving in deference to the human misery all about them. After all, there was to be thankful for. But it was Dr. William L. Stiger, pastor of a large congregation in the city that rallied the group. This was not the time, he suggested, to give mere passing mention to Thanksgiving, just the opposite. This was the time for the nation to get matters in perspective and thank God for blessings always present, but perhaps suppressed due to intense hardship. I suggest to you the ministers struck upon something. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound. Think of the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving. Half their number dead, men without a country, but still there was thanksgiving to God. Their gratitude was not for something but in something. It was that same sense of gratitude that lead Abraham Lincoln to formally establish the first Thanksgiving Day in the midst of national civil war, when the butcher’s list of casualties seemed to have no end and the very nation struggled for survival. Perhaps in your own life, right now, intense hardship. You are experiencing your own personal Great Depression. Why should you be thankful this day? May I suggest three things? 1. We must learn to be thankful or we become bitter. 2. We must learn to be thankful or we will become discouraged. 3. We must learn to be thankful or we will grow arrogant and self-satisfied. The Gratitude Attitude In A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special. As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn't know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, "Do you mean this?" The boy said, "Yes, sir. If you're just going to throw it away, I would like it." The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, "Sir, I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again, and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me." When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing that I've ever heard but you can't have this flower because it's not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best." Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet." That's the thankful spirit. That's the gratitude attitude. And it's that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy's granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn't even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally. John R. Ramsey, Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Adapted by Billy D. Strayhorn, “The Gratitude Attitude" The Source of Thanksgiving I will remind you of that wonderful Children's holiday classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." It was released a few years ago as a movie staring Jim Carrey. You'll recall in the story how the Grinch enters all the homes by way of their chimneys disguised as Santa Clause. He takes all the presents and ornaments, the trees and stockings, and even their food down to the last morsel. He drags his loot up to his mountain and then looks down upon Whoville with a sinister grin. He is listening for the cries and wailings of the people to start as they wake up on Christmas morning to discover a Christmas lost. What he hears instead surprises him. Up from the town of the Whos comes a joyful Christmas carol. They are singing. "Why?" he asks. It is because, he learns, Christmas resides not in things but in the heart which is thankful. He could not steal their gratitude. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com First National Thanksgiving Proclamation Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!" Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country. George Washington, 1779. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is energized in each one of us by divine yeast by the Spirit of the living God, who sent Christ to be among us, to be for us, to be in us. To benefit fully from this Bread of Life, we must keep our lives, our spirits, "yeasty" vital and ever growing. What can you do to create "yeast" in your soul? Here's one suggestion. Try using "y-e-a-s-t" as an acronym for your spiritual attitude. "Yes." Are you saying "yes" to nourishing possibilities the Bread of Life is offering you? You've heard of the "placebo" effect. It's when your body thinks it's getting something helpful and healing, and so generates a helpful and healing response throughout your system. But scientists are now talking equally about the flip side of the "placebo" effect. They're calling it the "nocebo" effect. It's when your inability to think "yes," your negative mood and outlook, your worried fixation on worst-case scenarios, can keep the "nocebo" effect working in your physiology. (For more on the "nocebo" effect, see the recent book of Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson, Timeless Healing [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996].) Because of the "Seven First Words of the Christian" "I can do all things through Christ" a yeasty spirit thinks "YES." "Energize." Why is it that the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going is always going somewhere else the night the lights go out and you dig out your flashlight?! Unlike batteries, however, a properly maintained yeast colony can keep going and going and going. Ever make sourdough bread using "sourdough starter"? "Starter" is really a combination of yeast cultures, water and flour. You dip out what you need for the day's biscuits, bread or pancakes, give the rest of the starter a stir, "feed" it more flour and water, and tuck it back in your frig. In pioneer days, women treasured their "starter" and nurtured it along for years. Sometimes one starter was passed on from mother to daughter to granddaughter. That's perpetual energy. And that is what the Bread of Life can bring to your own spirit. "Access." In order to be continually fed by the Bread of Life, we must keep in constant touch with the source of life's true energy supply. Living out of the stored power of the Spirit enables us to be fed by Christ's gift any time we need it. We can access this always available power reserve in various ways. For some of us, direct intercessory prayer brings us the closest to God's Spirit and God's love. For others, music opens the soul and sets it resonating with the Spirit. For many, creating and/or contemplating works of art, form within us the prayers that enable us to reach out and grab the gift of life. Stanly Kunitz once called "art" the "chalice into which we pour transcendence" (As quoted by R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense [St.Louis: Chalice Press], 83). Find your own unique way of accessing the energy of bread ... and you will never go hungry. "Search." Today's crowds thought they were seeking the Bread of Life. All they were really looking for was a free lunch. Jesus' words to them, his corrections and counsel, were intended to make the hungering crowd search their spirits for their true motives and desires. Likewise, when we feel filled-up with power or contentments we should search our own spirits to make certain we are feasting on what God provides, not on what our own egos or selfish desires have cooked up. "Trust." If we are filling up on the Bread of Life, we should be able to trust in the Spirit's presence and power in our lives. It is that trust that allows us to take what appears to others as "risks." Trusting in the Spirit lets us "go for it" when conventional wisdom or cautious hedging would advise us to sit on the sidelines. When our spirits are resting in trust, they can do anything. For we know no matter where we go, no matter what difficulties we may encounter, a constant food supply is always at hand, always guaranteed. Only Jesus can satisfy the hungry heart. Only Jesus has the Words of Eternal Life.

Something to Be Thankful for

Community Thanksgiving Service November 21, 2021 Matthew 6:25-33 Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous businessman who ran a small business that he had started himself. “I need someone with an accounting degree,” the businessman said. “But mainly, I’m looking for someone to do my worrying for me.” “Excuse me?” the accountant said. “I worry about a lot of things,” the business man said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.” “I see,” the accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?” “I’ll start you at eighty thousand,” said the businessman. “Eighty thousand dollars!” the accountant exclaimed. “How can such a small business afford a sum like that?” “That,” the businessman said, “is your first worry.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could pay somebody to do our worrying for us? It is amazing how many things we can find to stress us out--even at Thanksgiving. Or maybe--for those of you responsible for cooking for a large family or those who are entertaining relatives--we find ways to stress out especially at Thanksgiving. I think that we can all agree that there is a lot for us to worry about this year, we still have not overcome the COVID pandemic, people are still getting very sick every day, it has wreaked havoc on our lives, it affects our families, it affects our jobs, it still affects our abilities to even gather for basic reasons, and as winter and Christmas is approaching stores do not have things in stock, business and other organizations are not able to stay open. And as we look forward into the future – there seems to be no end in sight, each season brings with it a new set of challenges. Like I said there is a lot for us to worry about. But I also want to remind you that Thanksgiving did not develop as a time of celebration. It was a time when the early settlers were digging more graves than huts to live in. And in the midst of their suffering, that made an intentional decision that they needed to come together, to gather in unity with neighbors and friends. As the harvest started to come in they realized that they had to acknowledge the presence of God and to take account of what they had in life. The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled, he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "It's that time of the year again, it's time to take inventory." Dr. McLennon wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why? "Well," responded the owner, "it's easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have." That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don't have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately? When we take time to think back on our lives, when we think about the last 18 months. I am sure all of us have had some challenges, some horrible things to happen. But when we look back, I am sure that somewhere in the midst of our struggle, we have also seen God. There have been some blessings, some unexpected grace, some new lessons, some new visions. When we take account of the times in our lives – it always helps us to see God more clearly. Thanksgiving is a time for us to count our blessings. We were not able to gather for community Thanksgiving service last year. That is why I think this service is more important than ever this year. For us to gather as the community of Christ and to take account of what God has done in our churches and in our community. And then again, when we think of our churches – there are things that we still have to worry about. The church has changed over the last 18 months – if it wasn’t in the midst of change way before then.\ There is an old Irish poem by an unknown author that goes like this: “Why worry? In life there are only two things to worry about: Whether you are well, or whether you are sick. Now if you are well, you have nothing to worry about. And if you are sick, you only have two things to worry about: whether you get better, or whether you die. If you get better, you have nothing to worry about. And if you die, you only have two things to worry about: whether you go to heaven, or whether you go to hell. Now, if you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about. And if you go to hell, you’ll be too busy shaking hands with your friends that you won’t have time to worry. So why worry?” But our scripture – Matthew 6 reminds us that the antidote to worry is gratfuleness. And you cant have gratefulness with the presence of God. What do atheist and those who don’t believe in God do when they are grateful and they have no one to thank. One family that didn’t go to church gathered together and when it came time to eat – they thanked Paine and Webber for the meal. Their employer may have provided the money for the meal – but they did not truly provide everything that went into preparing that meal. When you look to God, you are never without blessing. Not only is being grateful the antidote to worrying, it also keeps the blessing flowing in our lives. A recent study found that people who jot down what they are thankful for each week feel more optimistic about their lives, exercise more, and even have fewer visits to the doctor than people who write down things that annoy them or even neutral events. There is something about the spirit of gratitude that is healing to the body and the soul. When University of Connecticut psychologist Glenn Affleck interviewed 287 people recovering from a heart attack, he discovered that people who found some positive benefit from their attack were less likely to suffer another attack within eight years. He recommends that each day we write down one or more things we are grateful for, and read the journal once a week. (1) You may have heard of the three sisters in planting. Native Americans would plant corn, beans and squash together. The three crops would support one another and keep important nurtients in the soil. Well there are three sisters in faith as well. I’m no master gardener, but in my small-scale gardening, I’ve learned about companion planting. Some flowers, vegetables, and herbs grow better together. They don’t just tolerate one another; they encourage one another’s health and fruitfulness. But some plants can’t grow together. One steals nutrients, blocks the sun, or entices pests that hinder the growth of other plants. The same is true in our life. Faith, humility, and thankfulness are companion practices, supporting and sustaining one another. As one increases, so do the others. But unbelief and boasting choke out the tiniest seedlings of thankfulness. Whereas humility and gratitude feed off each other, gratitude and pride cannot coexist in proximity. Either we’ll view ourselves as the source of good things and take the credit, or we’ll acknowledge God behind everything we have and redirect the glory to Him. As our lives center on God, gratitude grows. When self-focus sprouts and spreads, gratefulness withers.4 —Dustin Crowe, The Grumbler’s Guide to Giving Thanks: Reclaiming the Gifts of a Lost Spiritual Discipline This year as we gather together tonight in faith – may this moment lead to beautiful things in the coming days in our churches, in the community because of us, and in our own lives. Covid has changed us, COVID has changed the way we do church. Many people who were worshipping with us are not in the pews tonight or any Sunday. There are more young people facing the struggles of growing up with no knowledge of faith. People who we saw last year are disillusioned with the church, but they are still present in the community. We have to remember God and we have to live out our faith in tough times, so that the doors can be open and others feel safe to return to God and bring others with them. In our community of 5000 1250 of those people have no church home and may not know the power of putting God first in their lives. Our work is cut out for us to make sure that next thanksgiving they know the power of thanking God for all that we have. But it start right here, right now with our own faith. With our ability to be grateful and to know that God is present when we live life with a grtful heart and take inventory of what God has given us. An estimated 1.5 million people are living today after bouts with breast cancer. Every time I forget to feel grateful to be among them, I hear the voice of an eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, “I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!” The kid is right.5 —Erma Bombeck, quoted in 10,000 Sermon Illustrations I long to be like that girl and know that as long as I have God – I have everything. Did you know that humans are the only cretrures capable of worrying. We are the only creatures capable of praise. Said the Robin to the Sparrow: “There is one thing I would really like to know, Why these anxious human beings Rush about and worry so.” Said the Sparrow to the Robin: “Friend, I think that it must be That they have no heavenly Father Such as cares for you and me.” Matthew 6 where our scripture comes from is the sermon on the mount. Those who are listening are used to struggle. They worked tirelessly, but there was never enough. Life was a challenge, if they survived today – that was no guarantee about tomorrow. And yet Jesus stands before them and tells them not to worry. If God takes care of the Robin and the Sparrow, then surely God will take care of us. They believed them. Do we ? There is an old Irish poem by an unknown author that goes like this: “Why worry? In life there are only two things to worry about: Whether you are well, or whether you are sick. Now if you are well, you have nothing to worry about. And if you are sick, you only have two things to worry about: whether you get better, or whether you die. If you get better, you have nothing to worry about. And if you die, you only have two things to worry about: whether you go to heaven, or whether you go to hell. Now, if you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about. And if you go to hell, you’ll be too busy shaking hands with your friends that you won’t have time to worry. So why worry?” Don’t worry – be holy. Practice your faith, find gratitude in every day. Look for God in every circumstance This thanksgiving I wish you healing, restoration and joy. But don’t stop there – find God in everyday afterwards. Here are 12 suggestions to building thanksgiving into your everyday life. – write thank you notes, make a monthly call to someone, surprise your spouse and other family members with a second thanksgiving, just because, spend a day a week in prayer, write notes to those who have really influenced you, at work – sponsor a thank you break, wherevery one is free to take a break and be grateful, help neighbors in need, start a journal, go to church, be active in your faith and the life of the church. As we are intentional about our faith, may we encourage others to do the same and to come back to church with us. And one day we will all be one in the kingdom of God. Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this." It is not always going to be like this. One day in Christ it will be so much better. Peace. Sermon Opener - In All Things Be Thankful - Ephesians 5:20 Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject of Thanksgiving in deference to the human misery all about them. After all, what was there was to be thankful for? But it was Dr. William L. Stiger, pastor of a large congregation in the city that rallied the group. This was not the time, he suggested, to give mere passing mention to Thanksgiving, just the opposite. This was the time for the nation to get matters in perspective and thank God for blessings always present, but perhaps suppressed due to intense hardship. I suggest to you the ministers struck upon something. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound. Think of the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving. Half their number dead, men without a country, but still there was thanksgiving to God. Their gratitude was not for something but in something. It was that same sense of gratitude that lead Abraham Lincoln to formally establish the first Thanksgiving Day in the midst of national civil war, when the butcher's list of casualties seemed to have no end and the very nation struggled for survival. Perhaps in your own life, right now, there is intense hardship. You are experiencing your own personal Great Depression. Why should you be thankful this day? May I suggest three things? 1. We must learn to be thankful or we become bitter. 2. We must learn to be thankful or we will become discouraged. 3. We must learn to be thankful or we will grow arrogant and self-satisfied. How to Be a Pilgrim The Pilgrims had the courage to act on their commitments, no matter what. Do we? Sociologist Robert Bellah, author of Habits of the Heart, is impressed by the power of religion. He once said, "We should not underestimate the significance of the small group of people who have a new vision of a just and gentle world. The quality of a culture may be changed when two percent of its people have a new vision (and act on it)." Christians make up far more than two percent of our town, far more than two percent of Massachusetts, far more than two percent of Americans. So, why don’t we have a greater effect: on issues of the environment, on justice for the needy, on the quality of life on Cape Cod? Could it be we need more courage to act on our commitments? To be a Pilgrim means to stand up for what you believe, no matter what. To be a Pilgrim also means sharing what you have, and turning thanks into giving. The Pilgrim colonists willingly shared all they had. During their first three years, all property was held in common. At one point, they were down to five kernels of corn per day for food. Still, they divided the corn kernels up equally. And, the original group of fifty that survived the first winter shared their limited food with the sixty newcomers who arrived in the spring. One of their finest moments came in 1623, at the first real Thanksgiving. The small colony hosted over ninety Native American braves for three days. There was eating and drinking, wrestling, footraces, and gun and arrow-shooting competitions. It was the Pilgrims’ way of saying "Thank you" to God, and to the Native Americans who had helped them survive. To be a Pilgrim means sharing and turning thanks into giving. How thankful and giving are we? Alex A. Gondola, Jr., Holidays Are Holy Days: Sermons for Special Sundays, CSS Publishing Company With Heart and Hand and Voices Martin Rinkert was a minister in the little town of Eilenburg in Germany some 350 years ago. He was the son of a poor coppersmith, but somehow, he managed to work his way through an education. Finally, in the year 1617, he was offered the post of Archdeacon in his hometown parish. A year later, what has come to be known as the Thirty-Years-War broke out. His town was caught right in the middle. In 1637, the massive plague that swept across the continent hit Eilenburg... people died at the rate of fifty a day and the man called upon to bury most of them was Martin Rinkert. In all, over 8,000 people died, including Martin's own wife. His labors finally came to an end about 11 years later, just one year after the conclusion of the war. His ministry spanned 32 years, all but the first and the last overwhelmed by the great conflict that engulfed his town. Tough circumstances in which to be thankful. But he managed. And he wrote these words: Now thank we all our God With heart and hands and voices; Who wondrous things hath done, In whom his world rejoices. It takes a magnificent spirit to come through such hardship and express gratitude. Here is a great lesson. Surrounded by tremendous adversity, thanksgiving will deliver you...with heart and hand and voices. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com Better Not Bitter If we are not thankful then we can become bitter. If we are not thankful, then it becomes too easy to sit around and ponder the question: why me? Dr. Jim Moore, retired pastor of St. Luke’s UMC in Houston wrote a book entitled "You Can Grow Bitter or You Can Grow Better". He writes that he got the idea for the title from a young woman who once came to him in a most tragic moment in her life. She had tears in her eyes and her knuckles were white as she twisted a handkerchief. She had just received word that her twenty-six year old husband had been killed in a farming accident, leaving her alone with three pre-school age children. One moment he was alive and vibrant, the next moment gone. "I don't know how I am going to be able to get along without him," she sobbed. "But I do know one thing. I can either get bitter or I can get better." One way that we can get better rather than bitter is to develop a thankful heart. We must learn to be grateful to the Lord with whom we shall spend eternity. Our morning prayer should always begin: O Thou who has given me so much, I pray that you give me yet one more thing--a grateful heart. Staff, www.eSermons.com God’s Provision The words "harvest" and "thanksgiving" are linked together in many cultures. Most who till the soil know that our feeble human efforts do not produce crops; crops require sun and rain and other variables that are beyond our control. The early settlers and the indigenous people they found here also recognized the importance of God's provision for survival. Hundreds of years later, a commemorative meal serves as a reminder for us to thank God for those things necessary for our survival. Safiyah Fosua 3. HOW TO BE A PILGRIM The Pilgrims had the courage to act on their commitments, no matter what. Do we? Sociologist Robert Bellah, author of Habits of the Heart, is impressed by the power of religion. He once said, "We should not underestimate the significance of the small group of people who have a new vision of a just and gentle world. The quality of a culture may be changed when two percent of its people have a new vision (and act on it)." Christians make up far more than two percent of most town, far more than two percent of Americans. So, why don't we have a greater effect: on issues of the environment, on justice for the needy, on the quality of life in our own city? Could it be we need more courage to act on our commitments? To be a Pilgrim means to stand up for what you believe, no matter what. To be a Pilgrim also means sharing what you have, and turning thanks into giving. The Pilgrim colonists willingly shared all they had. During their first three years, all property was held in common. At one point, they were down to five kernels of corn per day for food. Still, they divided the corn kernels up equally. And, the original group of fifty that survived the first winter shared their limited food with the sixty newcomers who arrived in the spring. One of their finest moments came in 1623, at the first real Thanksgiving. The small colony hosted over ninety Native American braves for three days. There was eating and drinking, wrestling, footraces, and gun and arrow-shooting competitions. It was the Pilgrims' way of saying "Thank you" to God, and to the Native Americans who had helped them survive. To be a Pilgrim means sharing and turning thanks into giving. How thankful and giving are we? 22. SEVEN THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR Seven things to be grateful for: For automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family come in for their after-dinner snacks. For husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big enough to call in professionals. For the bathtub the one place the family allows Mom some time to herself. For children who put away their things and clean up after themselves. They're such a joy you hate to see them go home to their own parents. For gardening. It's a relief to deal with dirt outside the house for a change. For teenagers. They give parents an opportunity to learn a second language. For smoke alarms. They let you know when the turkey's done. 23. HAVE YOU TAKEN INVENTORY LATELY? The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled, he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "It's that time of the year again, it's time to take inventory." Dr. McLennon wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why? "Well," responded the owner, "it's easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have." That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don't have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately? What I am suggesting here is not some shallow "count your blessings" platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us. Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the children's poem that says: "Count your blessings one by one, and you might be surprised what the Lord has done." 28. GOD IN THE ORDINARY Once upon a time, there was a far-away land that was ruled by a vicious king. His iron hand reached into every corner of his subjects' lives. Every corner - except one. Try as he might, he couldn't destroy their belief in God. In his frustration, he finally summoned his advisors and asked them: "Where can I hide God so the people will end up forgetting about him?" One suggested hiding God on the dark side of the moon. This idea was debated, but was voted down because the advisors feared that their scientists would one day discover a way to travel into space travel and God would be discovered again. Another suggested burying God in the deepest part of the ocean. But there was the same problem with this idea, so it was voted down. One idea after another was suggested and debated and rejected. Until finally the oldest and wisest advisor had a flash of insight. "I know," he said, "why don't we hide God where no one will ever even think to look?" And he explained, "If we hide God in the ordinary events of people's everyday lives, they'll never find him!" And so it was done. And they say people in that land are still looking for God - even today. 31. TOO MUCH TURKEY In 1953, the Swanson food company found themselves with too much turkey on their hands after disappointing Thanksgiving sales. One innovative employee came up with the idea of packaging individual servings of turkey and vegetables in an oven-safe aluminum tray. Thus was born the first TV dinner. 49. THANKSGIVING DAY - DO NOT WORRY It is interesting that on Thanksgiving Day, our lesson from the Gospel should be on being anxious. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Interesting text for Thanksgiving, isn’t it? On the other hand, maybe it’s right on target. After all, gratitude is the perfect antidote for anxiety. Looking over the total scope of your life, hasn’t God been good to you? Do you think the future will be any different? A man invited a friend to go hear a preacher, saying, “I want you to hear the most thankful preacher I’ve ever heard.” The two men weathered a storm to hear him preach. On the way they thought nobody would be there; that even the preacher wouldn’t come. But when they got to the little country church, there was the preacher seated on the platform. The stranger said to his friend, “He has nobody to preach to. There’s a storm outside. It looks like we will have a flood. He won’t have anything to be thankful for tonight.” “Yes, he will. He’ll thank God for something.” When the preacher stood up, he bowed his head and prayed, “Dear Lord, it is stormy outside. It looks as if the roads will wash away before we can get out of the church tonight. It’s an awful storm. But we’re thankful that it’s not always this way.” The only way you can thank God for “all things” is to couple the “all things” of Ephesians 5:20 with the “all things” of Romans 8:28: “And we know that ALL THINGS work together for good to them that love God. . . .” If you really believe that, you can thank God even for the bad things in life.8 Few Americans have had more setbacks than the Pilgrims who made seven times more graves than huts. They still set aside a day for giving thanks.

Thanksgiving Service

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington November 25, 2020 Psalm 100 Thanksgiving Prayer Service I want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I know that this is a strange celebration like no other, but we still have many things in life to be thankful. Thanksgiving is an uniquely American secular holiday, started by the presidents, not the priest and pastors. But we all know that Thankgiving has deep roots in religion. We also know that everything that we have to be thankful in life comes from God. So God should be the center of all that we do on that day. I know that last Sunday’s service was a Thanksgiving service, I thought that it was important for us to start our Thursday celebrations off thinking of God. First I want to share with you some scripture - Psalm 100 - enter into his gates with Thanksgiving I know that we are familiar with the five kernel story. Supposedly the first year that the pilgrims were here, was a difficult year. Sometimes all that they had to eat was five kernels a day for each person. So when they had the first Thanksgiving – they symbolically bought those five kernels to dinner. Those five kernels could represent: 1. God’s love for us, 2. God provides for us, 3. We have friends in our life, 4. We have those who love us. 5 God hears our prayers. I wanted to share with you that there are also five blessings of being thankful in life. 1. Those who are thankful are stress free and happy. 2. Thankfulness increases immunity 3. Thankfulness lowers blood pressure 4. Thankfulness improves relationships with others and 5. Thankfulness helps us to age gracefully. So when I wish you Happy thanksgiving this year – I truly wish you happiness – spiritually and physically. I want to share with you this Thanksgiving prayer by Father John Martin. God Almighty, this has been a terrible year. So much death. So much illness. So much misery, all around the world, for every human being. I can hardly believe it. And I certainly don’t understand it. It breaks my heart to think of how many people have lost family members, spent hours worried about sick friends in the hospital, not been able to attend funerals, been laid off from their jobs, seen their businesses closed and agonized over whether to send their children to school or not. Sometimes the only prayer I can say is the prayer of the psalmist: “How long, O Lord?” And now it’s Thanksgiving, when I’m supposed to be thankful. How, O Lord? Maybe the only prayer I can utter this Thanksgiving is: Teach me to be grateful. each me to be grateful for what I still have. Help me to see where you are blessing me, even in the midst of this pandemic. Give me a new pair of eyes, so I can more clearly see your grace: Let me see the generosity of health care workers on the front lines as a sign of your love. My prayer for you is that God may help you to count your blessings. May God be with you in all circumstances, and family situations. May you see God in all things, and may you have many things to be grateful for. Finally we are approaching the Advent season. This is the time of year where one day it is fall and the next it is Christmas. Advent is the season of waiting. This year may we truly prepare our hearts for the day when we can be a church again. Grace, Peace, Love go with you in both season! Peace Out!

In all Things Give Thanks

Thanksgiving Weekend November 22, 2020 Deuteronomy 8:7-18 Year A Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer O Holy God, maker of every thought and thing, open our hearts this day, that we may know your presence in this time and place. Restore us now, so we may see the special gift and calling that you have for each of us. Masterful potter of life, mold us into the vessels you would have us be. Help us be ready for your promised return, when you will be among us and within us with new, creative, healing energy. Amen. Stewardship Moment Invitation to the Offering (Isaiah 64, Mark 13) During this late harvest time, when fruit and grain are gathered in and many are preparing for the cold of winter, God invites us to share what we have gathered so others may have enough. The Holy One, the gracious, giving source of comfort, shapes us into vessels of compassion and invites us to give of our bounty so that others may be fed and clothed and healed and loved. Let us be generous and joyful in our giving. Offering Prayer (Mark 13) Holy God, triumphant liberating savior of all, receive these gifts and the hopeful hearts that offer them as part of your bountiful harvest. Strengthen and sustain us through our hungers and our fears until your unexpected advent. Help us as we wait to know each day that we are a part of your generous, expectant household, the body of Christ. Amen. Scripture Deuteronomy 8:7-18 Common English Bible 7 because the LORD your God is bringing you to a wonderful land, a land with streams of water, springs, and wells that gush up in the valleys and on the hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without any shortage—you won’t lack a thing there—a land where stone is hard as iron and where you will mine copper from the hills. 10 You will eat, you will be satisfied, and you will bless the LORD your God in the wonderful land that he’s given you. Against wealth and overconfidence 11 But watch yourself! Don’t forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commands or his case laws or his regulations that I am commanding you right now. 12 When you eat, get full, build nice houses, and settle down, 13 and when your herds and your flocks are growing large, your silver and gold are multiplying, and everything you have is thriving, 14 don’t become arrogant, forgetting the LORD your God: the one who rescued you from Egypt, from the house of slavery; 15 the one who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water; the one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock; 16 the one who fed you manna in the wilderness, which your ancestors had never experienced, in order to humble and test you, but in order to do good to you in the end. 17 Don’t think to yourself, My own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. 18 Remember the LORD your God! He’s the one who gives you the strength to be prosperous in order to establish the covenant he made with your ancestors—and that’s how things stand right now. Sermon In All Things Give Thanks For those who are not Facebook friends with me, this is my inspiration piece for my dining room table. Every month I decorate the table with a different theme. Instances where attention is a dangerous thing, because lately they have gotten pretty elaborate – because people from all over the country look forward to the table. But you may not have noticed that at the center of every setting is this sign – In Everything give thanks. I started decorating my table in 2001 – I was a campus minister at UIC, since I wasn’t in a church I couldn’t light an advent candle, so I created an advent wreath at home. Then it grew from there, to where I set the table every month. I happened to notice this sign in a Christian store – and decided that this would be my centerpiece to decorate around no matter what. This sign spoke to me – because of an incident a few years before. I gave my first sermon in Aurora. And I met a little girl about 12 who was excited for me to be her pastor, she sat in the front row with her parents. And after the sermon, she laughed at me and told me that was the dumbest sermon she ever heard. You preached about it being Thanksgiving – who celebrates Thanksgiving in July. My feeling were hurt, I felt obviously she didn’t get the point of my sermon – to be thankful all of the time, in every season. But today – we are approaching the Thanksgiving holiday – and it is a timely message to remind us to count our blessings. It has been a tough year – but still it is a time to be thankful. Have You Taken Inventory Lately? The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled., he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "It’s that time of the year again, it’s time to take inventory." Dr. McLennon Wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had--from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why? "Well, responded the owner, its easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have." That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don’t have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately? What I am suggesting here is not some shallow "count your blessings" platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us. Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the children's poem that says: "Count your blessings one by one, and you might be surprised what the Lord has done." Staff, www.eSermons.com An Inventory of Blessings Perhaps Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. The first thing that Crusoe did when he found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list. On one side of the list he wrote down all his problems. On the other side of the list he wrote down all of his blessings. On one side he wrote: I do not have any clothes. On the other side he wrote: But it's warm and I don't really need any. On one side he wrote: All of the provisions were lost. On the other side he wrote: But there's plenty of fresh fruit and water on the island. And on down the list he went. In this fashion he discovered that for every negative aspect about his situation, there was a positive aspect, something to be thankful for. It is easy to find ourselves on an island of despair. Perhaps it is time that we sit down and take an inventory of our blessings. I well imagine that there are some of us here this morning that are long, long overdue in expressing our thanks to God. Sermons.com Staff, ChristianGlobe Illustrations So speaking of counting out blessings, Deuteronomy is the perfect story for us this morning. We have been following the story of the Hebrews and how moses led them out of slavery into the wilderness in search of the promisedland. We have been following their struggles as a people. This by the way is the last story that we will hear in that journey. This is the last Sunday of the lectionary year. Next week is the first Sunday of advent and we start reading the book of Isaiah. In this passage, Moses calls the community together for a lesson on remembering God. Deuteronomy was actually written much later than Moses, but it is written in the voice of Moses. In this passage the people have arrived to the land of milk and honey, the promise has been fulfilled, and they are living in peace and happiness. Usually when things are going well, that is the time that we forget about God. We forget to be faithful. We start to rely on our own power to do everything. There was a man who noticed that a bus of young people was stranded on the side of the road. They were on their way to a mission trip and the bus broke down. Being a Christian himself, the man offered to take them to his church, let them sleep for the night, he ordered pizza for them and made sure they slept and got another church member to come and fix the bus. As they were ready to continue their journey – one of the leaders said – I sure thank God for all that God did for us last night. The man thought to himself – God didn’t do anything – I did all of the work. You should thank me. When you are salt of the earth people – you learn to rely on yourself. You work hard, you do what you can, you move forward in life and you stay faithful. The temptation in that is not so much forgetting about God, but in being self reliant – thinking that you are responsible for your own destiny. It was your hard work that got you where you are – not God. And sometimes it takes something, or some event or somebody to remind us that it is time to count our blessings. Moses calls the community together to remind them to count their blessings. He reminds them of all that God has brought them through. He tells them not to forget God, not to forget their history, not to forget that we did anything to be God’s chosen people, and not to forget that everything that we have is a gift from God – even our self reliance. Moses says – don’t think to yourself, my own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. Remember the lord your God! He is the one who gives you the strength to be prosperous. We can give thanks to God in all things at anytime – whether it is July or November. Everyday is Thanksgiving. It has taken me this long in life to realize Thanksgiving is an American holiday. Canada has thanksgiving – their harvest time is a little earlier, so it is in October. But no other country celebrates. And that first thanksgiving was actually 1942 – not during the time of the pilgrims. I think it was Roosevelt who declared that thanksgiving would be the third Thursday of November. George Washington declared a national thanksgiving, and then abraham Lincoln made a proclamation that we could have a national holiday in November giving thanks. And finally Roosevelt declared the exact time and stopped the presidential proclamations. And the rest his history. Of course this is a very strange time in history for our country and for the world. This thanksgiving, instead of telling us to gather together and be family, told to stay apart and be safe. And yet even in these circumstances, we can take the time to count our blessings and to give glory to God for what we have. The concept of thanksgiving is timeless. It is a good time to remember gratitude, grace and generosity. IT is a good time to remember God as the source of everything good in our lives. A little later, we will sing the song now thank we all our God. It is a staple of the thanksgiving season. The song was written in the 1600’s by a Lutheran pastor in Germany. The country was at war and he lived in small walled village. The village become a safe haven for many who came for safety and security. Soon the town because crowded with people. We all know what happens when you walk into a crowd. – there is the potential that if one get sick, everyone does. That is what happened, there was a plague and famine that killed many people. Soon he was the only pastor in town. He buried over 4000 people that year, including his wife and family. Instead of falling into despair – he wrote the words to this song. It was a perfect time to stop and to count his blessings – and to thank God for all things in life. In everything give thanks to God – God is the source of all good things. Let us pray….. Thanksgiving Prayer Prayer for Pandemic Gratitude Inspired by Deuteronomy 8:7-18 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 O God, bring us to that good land full of your living water and the abundance of good things. Bring us to that place where we might be full and satisfied because this nagging feeling is exhausting. This constant agonizing feeling that nothing will get better and nobody cares because we can't agree on what love looks like now just needs to stop. We are not cheerful. Don't ask that of us, O God, because we don't have that in us. Sorry. It's true. Skip ahead to the part where we give to the poor and multiply the seeds for the farmers and bread bakers except that we've confused what we can do in this great and terrible pandemic wilderness with what you can do. Remind us that gratitude doesn't have to turn over every table but only had to turn our hearts to notice the indescribable wonder of living in your love. O God, with every breath in our bodies, help us to live in our love enough to praise you with thanksgiving. Amen. Song for Reflection Now Thank We all Our God UMH 102 Announcements Last Sunday of the year. Next week is advent – start reading the book of Mark. Advent discipline is to read a chapter of Mark a day. Receiving worship bags to help with advent and Christmas. More details about that in days to come. Next week our reading is Mark 13:24-37 song People Look East UMH 202 Happy Thanksgiving – be happy, be safe, be grateful Benediction 1 Community Time Benediction 2 As we go out to meet a hungry world, know that God will give us what we need. We go forth to make ready as we wait. The Holy One, whose love turns fear aside, will show us what to do. Keep watch! The risen Christ is on the way! Amen. Children’s Sermon Object: A dictionary Good morning, boys and girls. The gift of speech is one of the most precious gifts in the world. Once upon a time, a few years ago, all you could say was, "Da-da" and "Ma-ma." But most of you now speak about 18,000 words a day. Can you believe that? 18,000 words--and you still won't use most of the words in this dictionary. Eighteen thousand words a day. Have you ever thought how many of those words are good words, and how many are not so good? I hope most of your words are good words. I want to point out the most important word in this dictionary. It's over on page ( ). It is spelled, T-H-A-N-K-S. What did I just spell? That's right, thanks. One of the best things you can do in life is to learn to say thanks. It helps people like you better. And it shows that you do appreciate the nice things other people do for you. I don't know a more important word. And I don't know anybody who deserves our thanks more than God. Why? Because God gave us everything we have. Sunshine, air, rain, food to eat, people who love us, and much, much more. So let's not forget, especially when we are saying our prayers, to say the most important word in the dictionary. What is it? That's right, Thanks! And thank you for being here this morning. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Additional Illustrations The Gratitude Attitude In A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special. As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn't know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, "Do you mean this?" The boy said, "Yes, sir. If you're just going to throw it away, I would like it." The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, "Sir, I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again, and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me." When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing that I've ever heard but you can't have this flower because it's not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best." Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet." That's the thankful spirit. That's the gratitude attitude. And it's that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy's granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn't even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally. John R. Ramsey, Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Adapted by Billy D. Strayhorn, “The Gratitude Attitude" Better Not Bitter If we are not thankful then we can become bitter. If we are not thankful, then it becomes too easy to sit around and ponder the question: why me? Dr. Jim Moore, retired pastor of St. Luke’s UMC in Houston wrote a book entitled "You Can Grow Bitter or You Can Grow Better". He writes that he got the idea for the title from a young woman who once came to him in a most tragic moment in her life. She had tears in her eyes and her knuckles were white as she twisted a handkerchief. She had just received word that her twenty-six year old husband had been killed in a farming accident, leaving her alone with three pre-school age children. One moment he was alive and vibrant, the next moment gone. "I don't know how I am going to be able to get along without him," she sobbed. "But I do know one thing. I can either get bitter or I can get better." One way that we can get better rather than bitter is to develop a thankful heart. We must learn to be grateful to the Lord with whom we shall spend eternity. Our morning prayer should always begin: O Thou who has given me so much, I pray that you give me yet one more thing--a grateful heart. Staff, www.eSermons.com God’s Provision The words "harvest" and "thanksgiving" are linked together in many cultures. Most who till the soil know that our feeble human efforts do not produce crops; crops require sun and rain and other variables that are beyond our control. The early settlers and the indigenous people they found here also recognized the importance of God's provision for survival. Hundreds of years later, a commemorative meal serves as a reminder for us to thank God for those things necessary for our survival. Safiyah Fosua Thankful In All Things Our forefathers were not so much thankful for something as they were thankful in something. In bounty or in want they were thankful. In feast or in famine they were thankful. In joy or in misery they were thankful. There is a big difference between being thankful for things and being thankful in all things. Our closing hymn this morning was carefully selected. It was written in 1607 by a German by the name of Martin Reinkardht. The name of the hymn is "Now Thank We All Our God." In the year that Rinkardht wrote that hymn it is interesting to note that over 6000 persons in his German village, including his wife and his children, died of pestilence. Yet, in the midst of that catastrophic social and personal loss Reinkardht set down to pen this great hymn of praise: Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices.' The Christian faith affirms that in the midst of everything--in death, in loss, in hardship--we are to turn to God in praise. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com First National Thanksgiving Proclamation Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!" Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country. George Washington, 1779. The attitude of gratitude is important for several reasons: Thankfulness acknowledges that God is our provider. Thankfulness prevents a complaining spirit. Thankfulness creates a positive outlook on life Thankfulness invites joy to dwell in our hearts. Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, pp. 161. Thanksgiving Sermon Opener This morning I would like to hold up for you three different scenes. The strange thing about these scenarios is that when you first hear them you will be hard pressed to understand why I selected these stories to exemplify Thanksgiving. On the surface they will seem to be the antithesis of Thanksgiving. Yet, I am convinced that at the heart of these stories is the real Biblical understanding of what it means to be thankful. The first scene comes from the Old Testament. It is the familiar story of Job. Job has come to represent for us the epitome of suffering. Near the end of the story we see that all of his children have been killed in an accident; he is facing financial ruin; he has been stricken with illness. In fact, it seems that if any person is justified in saying: Let's just skip Thanksgiving this year it would be Job. Yet, in the midst of all of this immeasurable suffering the voice of God comes to Job and says to him a very interesting statement. We read it in the 37th chapter the 14th verse. God says to Job: "Hear this O Job. Stop and consider the wondrous works of God." From all outward circumstances it seems as though Job has nothing at all to be thankful for yet here is God coming to him in the midst of it all and saying in effect, Job, it's time to count your blessings. Let's leave that story for a moment and take a look at a second. This one comes from the New Testament, the book of Ephesians. The Apostle Paul now finds himself squarely in the midst of a dingy Roman prison and facing serious charges. Things seem very bad indeed for Paul. But this is only one of a series of mishaps that has occurred during his stormy ministry. He has been shipwrecked, beaten nearly to death, imprisoned, and even many of his fellow Christians are now openly opposing him. Now he faces what surely seems to be a death sentence. In the midst of this situation Paul writes the Christians in Ephesus. Listen to what he has to say, "Thanks be to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every blessing." Strange words from a man facing execution. Like Job, we are forced to ask the question What has he to be thankful for? Staff, www.eSermons.com Now Thank We All Our God You can even be thankful during the most difficult of circumstances in life. It's true! We see an especially inspiring example of a brave and thankful heart in the story behind one of the church's most popular hymns, "Now Thank We All Our God." This particularly hymn was written during the Thirty Years War in Germany, in the early 1600s. Its author was Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony. Now, Eilenburg was a walled city, so it became a haven for refugees seeking safety from the fighting. But soon, the city became too crowded and food was in short supply. Then, a famine hit and a terrible plague and Eilenburg became a giant morgue. In one year alone, Pastor Rinkart conducted funerals for 4,500 people, including his own wife. The war dragged on; the suffering continued. Yet through it all, he never lost courage or faith and even during the darkest days of Eilenburg's agony, he was able to write this hymn: Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, In whom the world rejoices ...[So] keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills, in this world and the next. Even when he was waist deep in destruction, Pastor Rinkart was able to lift his sights to a higher plane. He kept his mind on God's love when the world was filled with hate. He kept his mind on God's promises of heaven when the earth was a living hell. Can we not do the same - we whose lives are almost trouble-free, compared with the man who wrote that hymn? Whom can you say "thank you" to? Erskine White, Together in Christ __________________________________ An Inventory of Blessings Perhaps Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. The first thing that Crusoe did when he found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list. On one side of the list he wrote down all his problems. On the other side of the list he wrote down all of his blessings. On one side he wrote: I do not have any clothes. On the other side he wrote: But it's warm and I don't really need any. On one side he wrote: All of the provisions were lost. On the other side he wrote: But there's plenty of fresh fruit and water on the island. And on down the list he went. In this fashion he discovered that for every negative aspect about his situation, there was a positive aspect, something to be thankful for. It is easy to find ourselves on an island of despair. Perhaps it is time that we sit down and take an inventory of our blessings. I well imagine that there are some of us here this morning that are long, long overdue in expressing our thanks to God. Sermons.com Staff, ChristianGlobe Illustrations Deuteronomy 8:7-18