WIEST MEMORIAL CHURCH
Serving Our Community
48 South King Street
Schoeneck, Pa 17578
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COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE November 16, 2017
Music Leading Us to Worship
WELCOME
It is with joy and thanks that I welcome you to our
Thanksgiving worship service. It is not OUR service, but our
community’s service. We pause to give thanks to our Creator
for the abundant gifts God has given to us as we feast
around the table. As these gifts are blessings to us, help us
to be a blessing to others. Let us begin our worship with
song.
*Worship Music Come Now is the Time
*OPENING HYMN Come, Ye Faithful People Come # 694
(Verses 1, 2 & 4)
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Pastor: You are the hope of everyone on earth. Even
those who live at the farthest ends of the earth stand in awe
of your wonders.
People: What mighty praise belongs to You, O God!
Pastor: From where the sun rises to where it sets,
You inspire shouts of joy.
People: What mighty praise belongs to You, O God!
Opening Prayer:
Open our hearts to your word and your will this day, O Lord.
As we count our blessings around the table, help us to
remember those who dwell in lands of poverty and war.
Help us find ways to reach out to them in ministries of hope
and peace. This we pray in Jesus’ Name. AMEN!
THE LORD’S LITTLE PEOPLE
A Thanks-Giving Life
Object: a thank-you card
The Point: Thanksgiving Day reminds us to live a "thanks giving life."
The Lesson:
Good evening, boys and girls. I am thankful that you chose to come up front with me, and that we can share this time together. Thank you.
I brought a card with me today. Can you see what kind of card it is? (Get responses) That's right, a thank-you card. Giving "thanks" is an important part of life. It is so important that President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November for the nation to stop and give thanks to God for all his blessings to us. In his Thanksgiving proclamation President Lincoln invited everyone to give thanks and praise to our Father in heaven, to God.
We can give thanks to God by thanking others for the blessings they give us in life. We can tell them or we can send them a thank-you card. We can also give thanks to God by telling him in our prayers and in our worship that we are thankful for the gift of air we breathe and the food we have to eat and the family that watches over us and for our friends who bring us joy and fun. We can thank God our heavenly Father for Jesus whose love gives us the gift of eternal life.
Jesus told us a story about ten people who were very sick. In it, Jesus heals all ten of them. Then Jesus told us that only one of the ten who were healed returned to thank him. To the one who returned to say "thank you," Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well." To tell Jesus "thank you" is to reveal your faith in him.
Every day look for a reason to give someone a "thank you." And don't let a day go by that you don't say, "Thank you, Jesus." May the hand of Jesus rest upon you to give you his healing grace and saving love.
Closing Prayer: In thanksgiving let us unite our lives in prayer. Lord Jesus, our hearts are filled with thanksgiving. We thank you for forgiveness and hope, for life and salvation, for all the good things that flow from your hand. Thank you Jesus for these your children. Bless them and us. In your holy name, Jesus, we give thanks and pray. Amen.
SPECIAL MUSIC Chubb Weidler
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Deuteronomy 8: 7-18
Deuteronomy 8: 7-18 (NRSV)
7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.
11 Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous[b] snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, 16 and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. 17 Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evilone. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
SHARING OF OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY INVITATION:
Lord, as we have received so much from your bounty, let us
return tokens of these gifts that they may be used to help
others in this broken world. AMEN.
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY #95
*OFFERTORY PRAYER
Bless these gifts, O God and cause these gifts to work
bringing hope and peace to this world on this day of
Thanksgiving. AMEN.
CHOIR ANTHEM Praise Medley
HYMN OF PREPARATION We Gather Together #131
THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 17: 11 - 19
(NRSV)
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
THANKSGIVING MESSAGE An Attitude of Gratitude
Pastor Lyle
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An Attitude of Gratitude
A schoolteacher asked her students to make a list of the things for which they were thankful. Right at the top of Chad's list was the word "glasses." Some children resent having to wear glasses but evidently not Chad! She asked him about it. Why was he thankful that he wore glasses?
"Well," he said, "my glasses keep the boys from hitting me and the girls from kissing me."
There is a lesson to be learned from that boy! Even the things we might consider less than beneficial might be reasons for thanks.
There will be a lot of cute expressions of thankfulness today. From open microphones passed around congregations to personal notes scribbled on slips of paper and collected as "Thank Offerings," the sublime and the simple will be noted and nodded in gratitude.
However, there is a deeper matter at stake in our celebrations today as well. In the most profound sense, thanksgiving and dependence go hand in hand. My faith in God is not just some polite thanks for the goodies and trinkets that I think the Lord has given me. No, it's the other way around. My thankfulness is the cornerstone of my faith. I'm not thankful just because I believe God has given me things. Rather, I believe because it is right to give God thanks even when I can't point to anything specific and even when the chips are down -- even when I'm surrounded by trouble.
This is very important for worship leaders to remember, since many who gather today will be calling to mind friends who have died in the past year, tragedies that have uprooted families, and the pinch of lingering recession. A blithe call to thanks for multiplied visible blessings might miss the need to recognize that it is not things that produce thankfulness but thankfulness that is the essential language of faith.
In 1637, Eilenberg, Saxony, was surrounded by the dark night of the soul. Europe was at war. Eilenberg was tossed back and forth by the armies. Three times during that year it was attacked and severely damaged. When the armies left, refugees poured in by the thousands. Diseases ran rampant. Food was scarce.
There was only one pastor in the city, a fellow named Martin Rinkart. His journal for 1637 indicates that he conducted over 4,500 funerals that year and sometimes as many as forty or fifty a day. Life was a constant death and each morning stank of disaster.
Somehow, even today, 1637 is important for nearly every Thanksgiving celebration around the world. For Christians still sing the song Pastor Rinkart wrote that year. They sing it with gusto. They sing it with faith. They sing it not because it catalogues a list of reasons for thanksgiving but because thankfulness is all that is left when the bottom drops out of the world.
Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
Only the grateful believe!
Today's lectionary readings echo that. Moses reminds the Israelites that God's love is not something they have earned because of their greatness but it is instead the source of their identity.And the gospel lesson gives us the familiar story of grace with limited thankfulness in which Jesus makes certain that we know the truth of it: only the grateful believe.
Someone asked Dr. Ed Dowey, emeritus professor of Princeton Seminary, what was the greatest difficulty he had in his Christian life. He responded, "Let me tell you a story. Suppose I'm walking down the street today, just minding my own business, and suppose I meet someone walking toward me, someone I don't even know. Suppose for some reason, out of the clear blue, she gives me the gift of a smile. Now my heart is suddenly warmed. What happens but a smile pops out of my heart and onto my lips too! That's grace!
"But then suppose that the next day I happen to be out there walking again and I see the same woman strolling toward me. Do you know what happens? Before she even catches sight of my face today, there's a smile on my face! This time, however, in my heart I'm hoping I can get her to smile at me! That's legalism!"
Professor Dowey's message couches in it the same warning that Moses issued to Israel before he died. One day you find the delight of a relationship, even for a brief moment, and it makes you break out with beauty! That energy causes you to feel strong and powerful, as if the grace given you actually flowed out of your own initiatives. For that reason the next day you try to work that relationship so that it makes you feel good again and it turns you into someone you really don't want to be.
Israel was not loved by Yahweh because she was worthy of some great capabilities or power or achievement; instead, she was made worthy because Yahweh loved her. In telling this, Moses made clear that only the grateful believe. Once they forgot, they would lose their faith. Or once they lost their faith, they would no longer be thankful. It all amounts to the same thing.
Luke tells the story of Jesus’s healing of the ten lepers. On his way to Jerusalem, he heard their pleas and stopped to heal them. One of the them, a Samaritan, returned to give him thanks.
So we have both encouragement and a warning that we need to be grateful.
Today we’re told, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself." And while it can be hard to avoid self-pity entirely, mentally strong people choose to exchange self-pity for gratitude. Whether you choose to write a few sentences in a gratitude journal, or simply take a moment to silently acknowledge all that you have, giving thanks can transform your life.
Amy Morin, a psychotherapist, and bestselling author lists
7 scientifically proven benefits:
Gratitude opens the door to more relationships. Not only does saying “thank you” constitute good manners, but showing appreciation can help you win new friends, according to a 2014 study published in Emotion. The study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship. So whether you thank a stranger for holding the door or send a thank-you note to that colleague who helped you with a project, acknowledging other people’s contributions can lead to new opportunities.
Gratitude improves physical health. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than other people, according to a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences. Not surprisingly, grateful people are also more likely to take care of their health. They exercise more often and are more likely to attend regular check-ups, which is likely to contribute to further longevity.
Gratitude improves psychological health. Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. Robert Emmons, a leading gratitude researcher, has conducted multiple studies on the link between gratitude and well-being. His research confirms that gratitude effectively increases happiness and reduces depression.
Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression. Grateful people are more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, even when others behave less kindly, according to a 2012 study by the University of Kentucky. Study participants who ranked higher on gratitude scales were less likely to retaliate against others, even when given negative feedback. They experienced more sensitivity and empathy toward other people and a decreased desire to seek revenge.
Grateful people sleep better. Writing in a gratitude journal improves sleep, according to a 2011 study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. Spend just 15 minutes jotting down a few grateful sentiments before bed, and you may sleep better and longer.
Gratitude improves self-esteem. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that gratitude increased athletes’ self-esteem, an essential component to optimal performance. Other studies have shown that gratitude reduces social comparisons. Rather than becoming resentful toward people who have more money or better jobs—a major factor in reduced self-esteem—grateful people are able to appreciate other people’s accomplishments.
Gratitude increases mental strength. For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. A 2006 study published in Behavior Research and Therapy found that Vietnam War veterans with higher levels of gratitude experienced lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude was a major contributor to resilience following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Recognizing all that you have to be thankful for —even during the worst times—fosters resilience.
We see things not as they are, but as we are. As we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, let us pause to reflect on what we are thankful for. Not only is it healthy, but it honors the God who has equipped us with blessings beyond measure. AMEN.
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