This Thanksgiving & Christmas Season 2018: Let Us Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart, Because God Is With Us!
As we approach the ending of another year [2018], for Christians, nothing touches the heart of God more, than to see His children showing the God-centered gratitude, that our Lord demands and deserves; a sincere form of appreciation for who He is and for what He has done through us and for us.
This [November] month, we know it best as Thanksgiving, a time of expressing profound gratefulness for His tender mercies, comfort, and spiritual guidance, as revealed in 2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Tender mercies and the God of all comfort.”
So, this Thanksgiving, in the midst of all the age-old traditions that we as Americans have grown accustom too, such as, the great food feast at the family dinner, football, etc., let us not neglect to give our Heavenly Father thanks for, biblical truth, salvation, and real families who make a difference.
[Prayer:] Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you most humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving kindness to us, and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your boundless love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and the hope of glory. Give us, we pray, such a sense of all your mercies that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, for ever and ever. AMEN. [1]
HAPPY THANKSGIVING – EVERYONE!
[And] for this Christmas season, many people see Christmas as a time to think of the baby Jesus in a manger. And in a humbling manner, there’s nothing wrong with that thought process: but the central truth of the Christmas story is this: God wrapped Himself in human flesh as an infant, in a manger.
So, this Christmas, let’s think of the great truths of the Incarnation. It’s remembering the birth of Christ and the mystery of the Incarnation, that’s found in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Let’s be found giving Him reverent worship. Remember, the shepherds were seen glorifying and praised God for the birth of Christ Jesus the Messiah. In scripture, we see them rejoicing, when the angels proclaimed that in Bethlehem was born a Savior, Christ the Lord – of all and over all.
And finally, this is the time of the year when people tend to be more open to the gospel during the Christmas holidays. We should take advantage of their sensitivity and witness to them of the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ to forgive sin.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
I look forward to sharing more ‘Spiritual Nuggets’ through the ministry newsletter, in 2019.
[1] This version of the General Thanksgiving is taken from An American Prayer Book (2009). The General Thanksgiving was the contribution of the Puritan Edward Reynolds to The Book of Common Prayer of 1662.