Christian teaching

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. As a kid I remember being thankful for the four f’s – family, food, free from school and football. But not necessarily in that order. I think I have a broader perspective now and a better set of priorities.

In our congregational meeting today one of the things you will be asked to do is list five strengths of our congregation. You will also be asked to list two weaknesses. The difference in number is intentional because we are much better as a church at finding our faults than in seeing our strengths. At least, this is my observation in various conversations I have been in or heard. But we also need to acknowledge and give thanks for those things that God has blessed us with as a congregation. And these will help us to see, I believe, what God wants to do through us. Perhaps as I share today, this will prime the pump for your sharing later in the meeting.

To set the tone, we begin by looking at –

Paul’s congregational thanksgivings

In his letters to various churches he almost always has a thanksgiving section at the beginning where he talks about some good things in the congregation. These are things he gives thanks for as he prays for them. Let’s look at some of these.

Romans 1:8 – “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” He goes on to talk about his desire that there might be a mutual sharing of faith between them, if he can come and visit with them.

1 Corinthians 1:4 – “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.” He seems to be thinking in particular about various gifts or abilities that God has given to them.

Ephesians 1:15-16 – “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you.” He is grateful for their faith and  also their love for fellow believers.

Philippians 1:3-5 – “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” They were faithful givers to support him as he did his mission work. This is what partnership means.

Colossians 1:3-4 – “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints . . .” This is very similar to what he said in Ephesians, a focus on faith and love.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 – “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here we have the familiar faith, hope and love. There is an emphasis on their work of faith and labor of love, and their continuing hope in Jesus despite being persecuted.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 – “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” Here the emphasis is on the increase in both their faith and love, and also again their steadfastness in trials.

So Paul knew of their weaknesses and he dealt with these in his letters. But he was also constantly giving thanks for these congregations and their good qualities in his times of prayer. And we should also be focused on seeing the good and giving thanks to God for how God has blessed us. So let me share with you today some of –

My congregational thanksgivings

1. Like Paul, I am thankful for our faith in Christ. As I have been a shepherd here I have seen a number of you go through some really difficult times. And I have been encouraged to see your faith expressed and acted on; to see you endure and stay strong in your faith.

I have also heard some of your life stories and testimonies and how you have trusted God’s promises and how God has come through for you. In our personal conversations and in our praise time, I so often hear of how your faith is strong and growing and I thank God for this.

2. I am grateful for the love that we have for one another. God has given us each other to encourage and support one another and to care for one another; to lift each other up and carry each other’s burdens.

And we do this. Time and again when needs are expressed people respond and rally around to help – taking a meal, working on projects to bless a family, visits, checking in on each other, praying for one another, encouraging one another. What a blessing it is to be in a group that share’s Christ’s love with one another.

3. I give thanks for hard workers in our congregation. So many people with servant hearts, who are willing to work behind the scenes.

I have been in churches where there are few workers and it is difficult. Do you understand how truly blessed we are in this way? Let me mention just a few names. Jeryl, our treasurer, takes care of our finances and does an excellent job. Alvin who is almost always here early working in various ways with sound, power point and other things. Gene and Fern who come early and make coffee and bring snacks. All our children’s Sunday school teachers and leaders Melanie and Cindy. Our trustees, Les Martin, Al Shands, Mike Martin who do a ton of work behind the scenes. And our food committee who has been busy of late, and is making a meal for us today – Dorothy Hoover, Linda Martin and Amy Zinn.

These are just a few. I am very grateful.

4. I give thanks to God for good leaders among us. I don’t carry the whole weight of the congregation. We have many very fine leaders who I work with. We have much wisdom and leadership skills on our Elder team, our Deacon team and our church council. And this is a blessing. And we have always had a good rapport.

Along these same lines I am grateful for our youth leaders and also the former pastors who are a part of our congregation.

5. I praise God for our worship team and all our musicians and singers here – whether you are on the worship tead or only do special music or prelude. God has blessed this congregation with musical gifts. I have been a part of churches where this was not so. And although God loves a joyful noise, it is also nice to have beautiful praise to offer up to God.

We have people who are gifted in leading worship and in putting together worship services that lead us into the presence of God. And the worship team puts in a ton of work coming an hour early every Sunday and also have extra practices from time to time.

6. I love it that we are an intergenerational congregation. We have people of all ages here. So we have the wisdom of the older generation and the energy and life of the younger generations. We can get input from each other and help each other out. And this gives us balance. We aren’t just focused on one group, but have a place for anyone to fit in.

7. I am grateful that God has blessed us with resources. Yes, I am talking about finances. God has blessed many of you in your jobs and businesses and you have been generous.

Our building is paid off. We made it through the recession intact. And I am blessed that you support me full-time. Thank you! We also have resources to put toward the work of the kingdom as we think of the future.

8. I thank God for the stability of this congregation. You are steadfast and even keel. You don’t get too excited about things or too nervous when there is a problem. Being a pastor here is not like being on a rollercoaster. You have deep roots and deep relationships.

So I share all this to get us started thinking along these lines for our meeting today. But also, along with all the other things that you give thanks for this thanksgiving, include your thanks for this congregation that God has given to each of us.

William Higgins