Dear Church Family Members,
During worship every Sunday we sing the words: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” We have so many blessings from God that expressing praise and gratitude should be part of our daily routine; but sometimes we don’t know where to begin. We may feel like the musician Andrae Crouch, who wrote:
“How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me –
Things so undeserved, yet You give to prove Your love for me?
The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude.
All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.
To God be the glory for the things He has done.”
In recent years, many of us have reassessed our values and lifstyles, and have become more focused on the basic necessities of life, rather than the frills. Jesus tells us that our heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask him (Matthew 6:8) and the Apostle Paul wrote that God will meet all of our needs (Philippians 4:19). How comforting these words are. A favorite hymn by Johnson Oatman Jr. encourages us to count our blessings:
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will keep singing as the days go by.
Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
What is God doing in your life? How is God blessing you? When we take the time to seriously consider these questions, we may be amazed at what we discover. We may find God present in almost all of our daily activities and encounters – more than we ever realized. So this Thanksgiving, I encourage each of you to take a few moments each day and reflect on how you experience God in your life. And may we all proclaim the following words from the Thanksgiving hymn by Matthias Claudias and translated by Jane M. Campbell, “We Plow the Fields”:
All good gifts around us Are sent from Heaven above
So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love…
We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good;
The seed-time and the harvest, our life, our health, our food;
No gifts have we to offer for all Thy love imparts,
But that which you desire now: our humble thankful hearts!
A special offering envelope is available in church and in a letter sent to you, if you would like to give a tangible “thank you” gift to God through our church this Thanksgiving season.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Martha Dominy