I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ~ Eph 1:16
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ~ Col 2:6-7
The light was just breaking in through the windows of the “Upper Room” at KUMC. It was Monday, 8am
as I clicked on the halo lights and checked the signup sheets for our Free Neighborhood Thanksgiving Dinner.
I gasped at what I saw on the lists - they were full.
All the slots asking for volunteer signups and all the slots asking for food donations were filled in with names.
My heart leapt with joy, and I gave thanks to God. Time after time, I have asked you, the congregation, to
respond to God’s love by giving of your times and resources, by reaching out to our neighbors and sharing Jesus. And you have consistently done such with faithfulness and enthusiasm. So in this season of Thanksgiving and Advent joy, I especially give thanks to God for you, the members and friends of Kenmore UMC.
The Apostle Paul regularly expressed thanks to God for the faith of the young Christian churches. His
thanksgivings can be read throughout Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians. One could
argue that gratitude was one of Paul’s spiritual practices. Now John Wesley didn’t specifically call practicing
gratitude a means of grace, nor did Walter Brueggemann name it in his book, Spiritual Practices. But there’s
nothing like counting your blessings and giving thanks to our Creator, the source of every good gift, to lift our
spirits and deepen our faith. So like Paul, I give thanks for your faith as I see it exemplified in:
Spiritual health – there is beautiful diversity among you; and a beautiful oneness together as the body of Christ.
You support one another as loving siblings in the household of God.
Loving ALL – you genuinely care for one another, and have compassion and respect for ALL God’s children,
where ALL means ALL. You rejoice with those who rejoice, and you mourn with those who mourn. What
happens to one part of KUMC, happens to us all.
Faith in actions – you serve our Lord Jesus Christ through countless ministries in response to God’s love for you
and all creation.
Generosity and Outreach – you continuously contribute your time, money, and your presence towards sharing
Jesus with our neighbors, seeing each one as a beloved child of God.
Trusting the Holy Spirit’s lead – you take risks on fresh and adaptive ways to connect and grow the church, and
the blessings of such actions are bearing fruit.
Sunday school - teaching and living out the Gospel is taken seriously. Children’s Bible Times, Youth Group, and
the adult classes are essential to growing and staying in love with God.
I continually give thanks to God for my appointment as your Pastor of Discipleship & Outreach. And in this
season of thanksgiving and Advent joy, I encourage us to foster a regular practice of gratitude for the many blessings and gifts we have at KUMC. Most of all, let us give thanks for the gift of the Christ child, our Savior, who is
more faithful than the rising sun, bringing light into the darkness of our world.
Counting our blessings together in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Becky
