Expressing Gratitude
By Janet Nordlund --
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100
This Sunday is Community Sunday, and our theme is Gratitude!! We get to remember and celebrate our Big God together as a whole faith community. We will have a six minute time of community sharing where anyone is invited to express Gratitude out loud for Jesus and who He is for us, with us, and in us.
As a Community Sunday Team, we want to invite everyone to give some intentional thought and prayer, in advance, to expressing gratitude to Jesus. We recently did a simple Prayerful Gratitude Exercise as a team and want to pass it along to all of you to try before Sunday.
Find a space where you can focus on God, and do this on your own or together, like we did!
1. Take a moment to think of as many things as you can for which you are Thankful to God that are in the “GOOD” category. Once you have compiled your mental list, pray out loud your thanks to God for these things. If praying in a group, pray out loud one or two things each.
2. Now, take a moment to thank God for the things in your life that are in the “BAD” category. Once you are done, pray out loud your thanks to God for these things. If praying in a group, pray out loud one or two things each.
If your experience is anything like ours, you will find your heart, mind and soul FULL of GRATITUDE to our Great God!!!
Thank you for taking the time to pray and intentionally prepare your thoughts for what you may share with all of us this Sunday. We know we do not have time to hear from everyone that morning, but our hope is to hear as much Gratitude from as many members of our faith community as we can. Please be intentional and mindful of this in your preparation and come prepared to share in a word or a couple sentences, specific Gratitude from your life with God.
We are grateful to God for all of you, and we look forward to experiencing Gratitude of our amazing God together as a faith community at our next Community Sunday!
Janet for your Community Sunday Team