Courageous Thanksgiving
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
At first glance, the words “courageous” and “thanksgiving” don’t seem to go together. But when we remember that Paul wrote these words from prison – uncertain that he would survive – and still found a way to express thanksgiving to God, we see that perhaps these words do belong together!
What does it mean to offer thanksgiving “in everything?” How can Paul be thankful while he is in prison? How can we be thankful when we face uncertainty or pain? How can we be thankful when the cornucopia isn’t quite so full? It means that we are to be “courageously thankful!” That is, we are to trust that God is unfailingly good even when his goodness seems hidden from our eyes. It means to intentionally cultivate an attitude of the heart that allows us to be grateful even during the most difficult of circumstances.
When I think of this kind of gratitude, I always remember the example of Matthew Henry, a 19th century Biblical scholar, who was once robbed by street thugs. He later wrote in his journal,
“Let me be thankful; first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my wallet, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”
That’s courageous thanksgiving!
This weekend we will celebrate thanksgiving as a church family. We won’t be carving a turkey or feasting on pumpkin pie – that will come next week as we celebrate in our homes. But we are going to give thanks! Our services this weekend will not feature a sermon (but that’s NOT the reason to be thankful!) – but rather a time when we will share with each other – and with the Lord – our spiritual thanksgiving for what he has done and is doing in our lives. Come prepared to share your personal words of thanksgiving – or a passage of scripture that has been particularly meaningful to you in recent days.
Let me start by expressing my thanksgiving to God for the love of a wonderful wife and four healthy sons, and for the great privilege of belonging to and leading this church family!
Pastor Brian
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2 comments:
We are not sure if this is the right place, but my son had wanted to share something he was thankful for, and the service ran out of time. He is Ryan Taylor. I am his Dad, Craig Taylor.
I'm am thankful for my dad for fixing our dining room because it is so slanted that if we had wheels on the bottom of the chairs and the table then you would be on the other end of the room by the end of the meal. So I am also thankful for my dad let me go and break down the cieling and we had a little foamish beam and I got to tear it down so I am very, very thankful for my dad.
I'm leaving a message about things that we're thankful for.
I'm very grateful for God's gift of music in my life. I feel that God has spoken to me and other people through music in ways that normal words cannot possibly portray. I thank Him for the opportunities I've had in music. I'm also grateful that he put me in a church with such a phenomenal music program. I'm grateful for Angie and Joshua and everyone else who leades worship.
~Josh Taylor
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