Gratitude
Gratitude by George Welty
Your generosity and your kind words this weekend blew us all away.
I hope you have noticed a common theme in the sermons over the past few months at Northwest. The past few series have all centered around the idea of love. Joel and I preached a series called Love Lives Here. Then Joel added to that topic with a series called A Love That Works. The past few weeks we have been in a series on James called A Faith That Works, and so much of James can be boiled down to loving God well and loving each other well is the best way we can apply our faith in the real world.
This past Sunday was Ministry Staff Appreciation Sunday, and I want to say on behalf of the entire staff - THANK YOU. We were overwhelmed with the kind words, the notes of affirmation, the generosity of this church, and the Spirit of God we see in each of you. This church has loved us well.
There are some folks in this world who start gearing up for Christmas the day after Halloween. Some of you might be some of those people. I’m not judging. Live your best life. But in my family, we wait until after Thanksgiving. We do this because we love Thanksgiving so much. We love the idea of gathering around a table, expressing gratitude for our blessings and for each other, and eating a lot of great food. Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday.
G. K. Chesterton says,
“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
This Sunday was a great way for us to start the holiday season. We are grateful for this church. We are grateful for the way our members have persevered during a difficult time. We are grateful for all of the ways you have inspired us to keep going and to keep fighting for the Kingdom, even through the difficult days of the pandemic. We are grateful for the eldership and the volunteers at this church who kept us moving forward no matter the obstacle. We are grateful for the way the members of Northwest kept finding ways to be together and experience unity, even when we had to keep our distance. We hold all of these things in sacred trust. We hold all of these things with gratitude.
More than anything we praise God for his steadfast love, for reconciling us to himself, and we can’t wait to see how God leads us into the future.