The Grace of Gratitude
Worship
Bright Intervals
40 Brief Worship Services and Meditations for Any Occasion
Object:
Greeting and Call To Worship
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted the people, and will have compassion on all those who suffer.
Opening Prayer
Great God, we offer to you our praise and thanksgiving for the wondrous blessings in our lives. Most especially, we praise you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, who brings us not only forgiveness for our sins, but also newness of life. Give us, we pray, the gift of thankful and grateful hearts for all your goodness to us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"Now Thank We All Our God"
This is an amazing hymn when you consider the suffering of the pastor who wrote these words about giving thanks to God. Martin Rinkart became the pastor of the church in Eilenburg, Saxony, in Germany at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1617. Because Eilenburg was a walled city, thousands of refugees swarmed into the city. The other two pastors in the city died and Rinkart was the only pastor available. He was sometimes called upon to bury up to forty or fifty people on some days. One year, 8,000 persons, including Rinkart's own wife, died in Eilenburg. It was in this time of suffering and personal heartbreak that Martin Rinkart was inspired to write this great hymn of thanks and praise to God. No doubt he recalled Paul's words about "giving thanks in everything."
Scripture Reading
Luke 17:11-19
Meditation
A man whose father had been a pastor recalls his dad's announcing that he would preach one Sunday night on the subject, "The Worst Sin Of All." A larger than usual crowd gathered that night, wondering what human failure would the pastor label as the "worst sin." Would it be unbelief? Would it be adultery or blasphemy? The boy remembered his father speaking to a hushed and attentive congregation as he told them that ingratitude to God was the worst of all sins -- because there is no room for God in an ungrateful heart.
The Bible would seem to agree with that pastor. Look at Adam and Eve. Was it not ingratitude that spoiled paradise for them? God had given them everything they possibly could want in the Garden of Eden, but their ungrateful hearts yearned for more. Or consider this incident recorded by Luke of the ten lepers who were victims of a disease so terrible that they were considered "the living dead." Yet, when Jesus miraculously heals them with the power of God, only ONE comes back to give thanks to Jesus for his new life!
Lest you think ingratitude is some ancient biblical sin that we moderns have overcome, let me tell you of a student at Northwestern University who was walking along the shores of Lake Michigan when he saw a crowded passenger ship founder near the shore. Seeing a woman clinging to a piece of wreckage, the young student threw off his heavy coat and plunged into the icy water to save her. He not only rescued that woman, but sixteen other people before help arrived. But do you know, not a single one of those seventeen people ever wrote, called, or bothered to express their thanks to those who risked their own lives to save them!
What is gratitude? The dictionary says that gratitude is "a feeling of thankful appreciation for blessings received." Now notice that word "feeling." Gratitude is more a motion of the heart than a notion of the mind. It's not gratitude when we try to force thankfulness out of our children by saying, "Now just look at all I have done for you." Gratitude, to be real, has to be heartfelt. There was a picture on a Thanksgiving card which showed a Pilgrim family on their way to worship. A grandmother showed the card to her grandson, saying, "Look at this. The Pilgrim children liked going to church with their parents." The grandson studied the card, and then said, "If they enjoyed it so much, why is the father carrying that great big rifle on his shoulder?"
Gratitude may seem like such a simple thing, but a word of thanks and appreciation can transform our relationships with others. Think for a moment how many friendships would have new life breathed into them by someone saying, "I really appreciate you." Or think of how a word of gratitude could lighten the load of that person who empties a bedpan for us, or assists us in getting dressed, or that relative who comes to visit us?
You see, gratitude for a Christian is the recognition that we owe everything we have and everything we are to the God who gave us not only the breath of life, but the wondrous gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. That means that even in times of suffering and hardship we can still give thanks.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Touch somebody's life with your life. Touch somebody's heart with yours. Share the gift of God's love with everyone you meet. Touch somebody's life with yours. Amen.
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted the people, and will have compassion on all those who suffer.
Opening Prayer
Great God, we offer to you our praise and thanksgiving for the wondrous blessings in our lives. Most especially, we praise you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, who brings us not only forgiveness for our sins, but also newness of life. Give us, we pray, the gift of thankful and grateful hearts for all your goodness to us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"Now Thank We All Our God"
This is an amazing hymn when you consider the suffering of the pastor who wrote these words about giving thanks to God. Martin Rinkart became the pastor of the church in Eilenburg, Saxony, in Germany at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1617. Because Eilenburg was a walled city, thousands of refugees swarmed into the city. The other two pastors in the city died and Rinkart was the only pastor available. He was sometimes called upon to bury up to forty or fifty people on some days. One year, 8,000 persons, including Rinkart's own wife, died in Eilenburg. It was in this time of suffering and personal heartbreak that Martin Rinkart was inspired to write this great hymn of thanks and praise to God. No doubt he recalled Paul's words about "giving thanks in everything."
Scripture Reading
Luke 17:11-19
Meditation
A man whose father had been a pastor recalls his dad's announcing that he would preach one Sunday night on the subject, "The Worst Sin Of All." A larger than usual crowd gathered that night, wondering what human failure would the pastor label as the "worst sin." Would it be unbelief? Would it be adultery or blasphemy? The boy remembered his father speaking to a hushed and attentive congregation as he told them that ingratitude to God was the worst of all sins -- because there is no room for God in an ungrateful heart.
The Bible would seem to agree with that pastor. Look at Adam and Eve. Was it not ingratitude that spoiled paradise for them? God had given them everything they possibly could want in the Garden of Eden, but their ungrateful hearts yearned for more. Or consider this incident recorded by Luke of the ten lepers who were victims of a disease so terrible that they were considered "the living dead." Yet, when Jesus miraculously heals them with the power of God, only ONE comes back to give thanks to Jesus for his new life!
Lest you think ingratitude is some ancient biblical sin that we moderns have overcome, let me tell you of a student at Northwestern University who was walking along the shores of Lake Michigan when he saw a crowded passenger ship founder near the shore. Seeing a woman clinging to a piece of wreckage, the young student threw off his heavy coat and plunged into the icy water to save her. He not only rescued that woman, but sixteen other people before help arrived. But do you know, not a single one of those seventeen people ever wrote, called, or bothered to express their thanks to those who risked their own lives to save them!
What is gratitude? The dictionary says that gratitude is "a feeling of thankful appreciation for blessings received." Now notice that word "feeling." Gratitude is more a motion of the heart than a notion of the mind. It's not gratitude when we try to force thankfulness out of our children by saying, "Now just look at all I have done for you." Gratitude, to be real, has to be heartfelt. There was a picture on a Thanksgiving card which showed a Pilgrim family on their way to worship. A grandmother showed the card to her grandson, saying, "Look at this. The Pilgrim children liked going to church with their parents." The grandson studied the card, and then said, "If they enjoyed it so much, why is the father carrying that great big rifle on his shoulder?"
Gratitude may seem like such a simple thing, but a word of thanks and appreciation can transform our relationships with others. Think for a moment how many friendships would have new life breathed into them by someone saying, "I really appreciate you." Or think of how a word of gratitude could lighten the load of that person who empties a bedpan for us, or assists us in getting dressed, or that relative who comes to visit us?
You see, gratitude for a Christian is the recognition that we owe everything we have and everything we are to the God who gave us not only the breath of life, but the wondrous gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. That means that even in times of suffering and hardship we can still give thanks.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Touch somebody's life with your life. Touch somebody's heart with yours. Share the gift of God's love with everyone you meet. Touch somebody's life with yours. Amen.
