Church Thanksgiving Service 2022

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. On Thanksgiving Day, we often look back with gratitude on how the LORD has blessed the work of our hands.

What naturally abounds in your life? Gratitude or grumbling? Is your prayer of thanksgiving consistent with your life of thanksgiving?
Finally, thanksgiving is the secret to a happy Christian life. Key to contentment and wholeness for the Christian is learning how to express thanks; not complaining, criticizing or grumbling. For many people the first response is criticism or grumbling. That’s the sign of an ungrateful heart. If God uses everything to work together for good, how can we not be thankful? When trials come and work for our spiritual maturity, how can we not count it all joy?
Paul said being thankful, along with rejoicing always and praying without ceasing, is God’s will for our lives.

As we turn to the text before us, we see that for Paul, thanksgiving was no mere formality. Nor was it conditioned only by some material or tangible benefit or gift that he received. It was for him the appropriate and necessary and inevitable heartfelt response in recognition of the grace of God.

Brothers, Sisters and Friends , if we're to cultivate a similar kind or the same kind of thanksgiving that the Scriptures would have us do as Paul does in the passage before us. Well, that means we have to turn our eyes away from our frequent obsession with what we lack and learn instead to appreciate the grace of God in our lives. Grace that persists in our highs and lows, and grace that demands a response that goes well beyond formality.