Sermon: "The One Who Came Back" by Randy Roberts

Prayer: Genevieve Koh Isidro

Pastoral Welcome: Tim Gillespie

Baptism: Robinson R. Massey - Randy Roberts

Child Dedication: Brady Anderson, Klaire Elizabeth Schnepper - Randy Roberts

Children’s Feature: Jackie Bishop

Meditation:

Whatever we have, we have because God in his grace and generosity has given it to us.  When we realize this, there comes into our lives a joyful gratitude for what we do have, and we are freed from resentment and anxiety over what we don’t have. – Ben Patterson 

Gratitude is from the same root word as “grace,” which signifies the free and boundless mercy of God.  Thanksgiving is from the same root work as “think,” so that to think is to thank. – Willis P. King

Responsive Reading: "Give Thanks to the Lord"(SDA Hymnal, No. 702) - Eric and Christine Peterson

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON 

Thanksgiving!  I love this time of year!  It’s time for family and togetherness and eating together and memories and sharing and intentional recognition of God’s blessings in our lives.  There’s a chill in the air and (in some places) snow on the ground.  Christmas is not far away.  It’s a time of year that I treasure. 

Our sermon at this Thanksgiving time of year is based on a story from the life of Jesus – a story of gratitude and a lack thereof.  In preparation for this study, I offer three quotations for your consideration. 

From the mind of G. K. Chesterton: “The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.  The converse of this proposition is also true…  The great saint may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks.  All goods look better when they look like gifts…  It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be forever paying it…  He will be always throwing things away into a bottomless pit of unfathomable thanks.” 

Then from Henri Nouwen, whose writing has meant a great deal to me.  “To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections – that requires hard spiritual work.  Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say ‘thank you’ to all that has brought us to the present moment.  As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.  Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.” 

And finally, these words from the pen of H. W. Westermeyer put things into their proper perspective:  “The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts … nevertheless, [they] set aside a day of thanksgiving.” 

Hopefully, pondering such thoughts will help us all prepare for a service that is rich in thanksgiving to God for all of his gracious benefits on our behalf. 

Yours with a thankful heart. 

Randy Roberts
        Senior Pastor

Note: Child dedications and baptisms are in the extras section of the DVD

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