What is the very first thing you think of when you think of November? Well, if you're like most other Americans, you probably think of Thanksgiving. I think it is only right and proper that we should immediately think of Thanksgiving when November rolls around. Why, you ask? Well, I believe the harvest time with all the bounty of the crops and the beauty of the landscape with its bright and glowing colors ought to bring "Thanksgiving" from us to our great God who is responsible for all these amazing and wonderful things! What could be more appropriate than to respond with a heart-felt thanksgiving to God?
As you contemplate what you are thankful for and how to give thanks and show your appreciation to God for those things, I would like to hopefully challenge you in some new ways. If you were asked what you are thankful for, you would likely answer: God, family, children, home, job, vehicle, church family, friends, and so on. These are all good answers and certainly valid reasons to be thankful. But I want to challenge you to go deeper! I want us to appreciate our relationship with God in Christ more deeply and show it to God and others in more meaningful ways!
I will be preaching sermons throughout this month that are geared toward the reasons we ALL should be thankful to God for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ! I want to challenge each and every one of us who has been transformed by the power of God through the Gospel to fulfill the Lord's call for us to be His witnesses to the whole world beginning in our own home, neighborhood, community, town, etc.! I want to fulfill what the writer to the Hebrews exhorted us to do: "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24 NKJV) Why? Well, let's allow the Apostle Paul to answer that: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17 NKJV).
Just as we gather together with earthly family to "Give Thanks" on Thanksgiving Day with a variety of amazing things like turkey dinners with all the trimmings, pumpkin pie, watching football, visiting with family, etc. Likewise, as a church family, we show our love, appreciation, and thankfulness to God for his blessings by celebrating with a "Welcome Home Sunday" which will be held on November 26th with Neil and Sam Gilliland coming to share with us! This promises to be a wonderful time! Please plan to attend and bring someone with you, especially someone that may have been missing from the assembly of the saints in recent weeks, months, or even years!
In closing, I can't encourage you enough to take this wonderful opportunity that the month of November brings to praise God and give Him thanks! Most of all, consider these words of the Apostle Paul that refer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ found in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" Yes, consider what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ and "Give Thanks"!!!
In His Loving Service,
Vernon