Sermon Notes Oct. 19 I Thes. 1:1-10 Thanking

Oct 19 I Thes. 1:1-10-     

Forgive me if I told this story before. Fred Rogers, ordained presbyterian minister to be misterrogers spoke at the emmy awards for a lifetime achievement award. He asked the bejeweled crowd to stop for a moment in silence to think of someone important in their lives. He then stopped and told them he would watch the time.Everyone of us has people who have loved us into being, who have cared for us, who helped make us who we are. how pleased they must be to see who you have become.such smiles greeted him and a warm standing ovation with more than a few tears.tim Robbins seemed to struggle with his composure in presenting the award/ Before we do the same thing during prayer. Take fifteen seconds and consider someone who helped make you the person you are today.

Again Esquire magazine asked a variety of people to mention someone who made them who they became. One of them was Kenny Rogers who was here recently for a concert. He spoke of his father’s drinking but he spoke of a man who played in a jazz group who saw potential in him and told him that show business was not all wet towels and naked women, that it was a business and would eat you alive if your did not approach it as such.

Paul does a similar thing here; he thanks God for them. I was struck by how many people

I suppose I should not single people out as that can cause people to feel left out, so this is a corporate prayer of thanks.

Grace and gratitude have been said to be hallmark religious values. Gratitude opens up the self.Paul makes is teaching a way of life here. gratitude, thanksgiving do not come naturally to us. I myself have used the Psalms as a template to teach me how to pray gratitude, to pray with thanksgiving. this is a prayer after all. i give thanks to God for you. I don;t have any problem with people such as Oprah touting the benefits of gratitude. Christians can appropriate it as well. what we cannot give up is the direction of gratitude toward God, god the source of all creation Of course, it could also be a salutary spiritual exercise to go over what we are not grateful for as well. when I get bombarded with email requests I am not particularly grateful to that modern miracle.When rain and snow interfere with directV and i am watching a game, i am not grateful. Nothing attacks gratitude as a feeling of being oed, entitled, deserving something.

Gratitude is a virtue as it opens up the mind and heart toward a broader perspective. it moves us to see the gifts given that we may have not noticed. It may even allow us to see something that was bad or unfortunate into a new light with time and a considered response

I thank God for this space.

i thank God for the people who made this space possible.I thank god for music that  drives the creative arts into the very heart of worship, the core reason for church. i thank god for the foresight to have a good insurance policy. I thank God for the people who work with the Scripture diligently, penly, carefully, week after week. I thank god for people who allow me to enter a home or hospital room r lunch counter to pay with and for them.

I thank God for people who bring communion to folks, who work in the kitchen on the second Saturday of the month, who make food for the mercy lunches.