Isaiah 8:10-16, Matthew 11:2-11 and Luke 1:46b-55

At the very least, family members will send Christmas cards to each other. At the most, families will gather in groups from 2 to 200 or more! And if there be few family members, friends like family come together to enjoy each other’s company.

Our two New Testament scriptures for our Third Sunday in Advent have two cousins speaking and asking questions about the overlapping work of God in their lives. Mary and second cousin John the Baptist both declare that Jesus is special. Jesus does not hesitate to say they are correct. Even so, Mary and John the Baptist ask questions of Jesus and have their moments of uncertainty and deep suffering with their beloved family member. Sounds like family doesn’t it?!

For all the joy that Mary has in her bearing the Messiah, she faces what we all face as followers of the Lord: the cost of discipleship. A wonderful and abundant life, but still challenging spiritually, emotionally, and for some, physically painful. John will be executed. Mary will suffer as a mother when her Son is also executed.

The family story is deep and wide, full of life, full of sorrow, and costs everyone something as they stay family for “the long haul.” God’s story is “family” writ large from beginning to end.

This Sunday we will celebrate the joyful journey that we, today, continue that Mary and cousin John participated in generations long before us! A good group of relatives to be a part of!

Happy Advent….Merry Christmas almost!

Pastor Barry

The ungrateful see little of His great love; but the grateful feel their heart is a shore and His love is a sea that never stops coming in. – Ann Voscamp

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 5 of 5.
• Journal
• Tell Stories
• Serve
• Create
• Sing
• Connect
• Remember. Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Take some time to remember the history of this holiday. Watch Peanuts The Mayflower Voyage with your kids (you can rent it from the library or pick it up from the store and make it a yearly family tradition). This surprisingly informative movie tells the story of the dangerous and difficult voyage made by the Pilgrims and the challenges they faced when they arrived in America. Talk with your kids about God’s provision for the pilgrims.

Remember also how God has and is caring for us. How true are the words of, William Jennings Bryan, “On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.” We all have stories. God has brought us through valleys. He’s been with us in joy and sadness. And he will be with us in the days ahead.

Not only will intentional gratitude enrich Thanksgiving, it will help us as we look forward to the season of Christmas, where the desire for stuff can run high. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to battle this cultural trend by cultivating thankful hearts in our families now, hearts of profound and simply joy?

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. – W.J. Cameron

Let us be actively thankful this Thanksgiving, remembering how we’ve been loved. Pick one or two of the above suggestions you think would bless your family and lean into the loveliness of this season.

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:57

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 4 of 5.
• Journal
• Tell Stories
• Serve
• Create
• Sing. The beautiful thing about song is that it will find its way into our hearts and overflow into our minds and upon our lips when we least expect it. Once a song finds a home, it greets you when you’re making breakfast, brushing your teeth, doing chores, or just walking down the street. Have your kids pick a song/hymn about thankfulness and sing it before dinner or while you’re cleaning dishes. Some classics to consider: Now Thank We All Our God, Praise to the Lord The Almighty, Give Thanks (with a grateful heart), My Heart is Filled With Thankfulness. (You can listen to the song online to get the tune right or print the lyrics, if necessary.)
• Connect. Take time during dinnertime in November to connect. Tell your kids about your Thanksgiving memories and traditions when you were a kid, with whom you celebrated, what you ate, games you played, places you went, etc. Ask your family or friends who may be sharing a meal with you to finish this statement, “It really doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving to me without …”

Chaplain Rob

Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name . . .– Psalm 30:4

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 3 of 5.

• Journal
• Tell Stories
• Serve… together as a family. Collect canned goods, rake leaves for your neighbors, volunteer in a soup kitchen, or invite an outsider (maybe a college student, a single person from church, or someone who is new to the area) to celebrate Thanksgiving with you. Ask your kids to think of someone from their school whom they might like to bless with a basketful of goodies. Start a “giving jar” where you put spare change or extra dollars with the goal of giving to someone in need. Ask your kids if they have any ideas regarding service. Get creative. The possibilities are endless.
• Create. Have your kids make creative place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of just cards with names, have them write, ‘I’m thankful for Grandma.’ Or be even more specific, ‘I’m thankful for Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.’ ‘I’m thankful for Dad’s funny stories.’ ‘I’m thankful for trips to the fire station with Uncle Joe.’ This will cultivate a thankful heart in your children and bless the people who are sharing the meal with you. (Even if you’re not hosting Thanksgiving dinner, volunteer to bring place cards even if you don’t normally use them).

Tomorrow, part 4

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

A grateful heart is one that finds the countless blessings of God in the seemingly mundane everyday life.

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 2 of 5.

1. Journal
2. Tell Stories. Share the story of Pastor Martin Rinkart with your family.

In 1636 the Thirty Years’ War was raging. Death, disease, and economic collapse enveloped Europe in a fog of terror. One German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year, an average of fifteen people daily! Yet under the shadow of death and amidst a crucible of chaos, Rinkart penned this beautiful table grace for his children:

Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things had done
In whom His world rejoices.
Who, from our mother’s arms
Hath led us on our way
With countless gifts of love
And still is ours today.

Talk about this with your family. Was this man in denial? Out of touch? Hardly. Rinkart was a person of audacious faith. He knew thanksgiving flows from love of God, not outward circumstance. Share this story and sing the table grace he wrote for his children.

Tomorrow, part 3.

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. – Henry Clay

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 1 of 5.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

Thanksgiving is too wonderful a holiday to let slip by without some intentional, active gratitude. But unless we’re deliberate, that’s exactly what will happen. Already busy lives seem to be compounded this time of year, right? By the time Thanksgiving Day arrives, we can be so emotionally and physically tired from all the prep or travel that the actual “giving thanks” gets lost.

But the Christian heart is a heart of gratitude. And to the extent that we express gratitude, we reflect the heart of our Savior and brother, Jesus Christ. God’s word implores us:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100).

We were made to worship and enjoy the triune God who has set his love upon us and lavished us with good gifts. Yet where or how do we begin this journey into the very heart of Christ? Here are some thoughts to assist you in cultivating a thankful spirit within your family this season!

1. Journal. In the beginning of November or a few days prior to Thanksgiving Day, place a journal on your kitchen counter (or a highly trafficked area) or attach a paper to your refrigerator. At the top of the page you can write or print, I’m thankful for… Then encourage your family to fill out the journal as things come to mind during this season. Include anything and everything that comes to mind from the simple pleasures of life, I’m thankful for hot coffee! To the profound, I’m thankful that God’s mercies are new every morning. Have the thankful person be sure to include his or her name next to the line of gratitude. Tell little ones who cannot write to simply share with someone in your home who can record it for him/her. On Thanksgiving Day, select a person to read the list or pass it around the table giving each person a chance to read.

Chaplain Rob