Thanksgiving Message 2021
Dear Friends in Christ –
The first weekend of our Covid shutdown, Ken Carrington set up a camera in my study and so began what has developed into our online ministry. Once again, necessity birthed innovation as Second Church, and so many others have sought to be faithful exponents of the gospel because of it. The topic of the message that day in March 2020 was from Psalm 118:24. "This the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" This day… and every day. Here we are now, a year and a half later, and there is much to celebrate as we gather at homes and shelters near and far in gratitude for God’s presence.
A dear pal of mine, Hal Rosenberg, once said that, "gratitude is the royalty of emotions," and I agree. I am grateful for each of you and the work we share in obedience and joy as we regard and anticipate love incarnate.
I would like to share this Thanksgiving Prayer with you. It was prayed by Scott Black Johnston in a service two years ago at the Fifth Avenue Church Rebecca and I attended in New York. I share it again because… well, read it and it’s apparent. You may want to share it at your table.
Happy Thanksgiving –
Thanksgiving Prayer
We come before you, God, with thanksgiving.
For the world and its wonders, for super moons, pomegranate seeds and the color of an autumn oak, for the marvels of creation; we come before you, God...
For the world and its wonders, for super moons, pomegranate seeds and the color of an autumn oak, for the marvels of creation; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For communal life, for family, for friends, for church, for life shared, for hardships shouldered and laughter multiplied; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For work to do and strength to work; for purpose and dignity, for calling us your own; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For children; for their energy and curiosity, their brave play and sudden sympathies; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For young people; for their high hopes, their arched-eye irreverence, their solemn vows; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For growing up and growing old; for wisdom deepened by experience; and for time made precious by its passing; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For artists, for music and its attention to the holy, for choruses and conductors and composers, whose work causes our hearts to soar; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
Gracious God, we have so much to be thankful for. Help us to see our own bounty. Help us to see your face in the faces of all who hunger and thirst in this city and this world.
We come before you, God, with thanksgiving.
This week, we ask that you would surround those who will not be with friends or family this Thanksgiving with your abiding love and care. Bless soldiers, aid workers and government officials spread across the globe. We remember them with gratitude.
We come before you, God, with thanksgiving.
Guard and protect those who will travel in the week ahead. Even as we sit around Thanksgiving tables, sharing sweet potatoes with family members whose politics are different from our own, let us not feast on anger or anxiety. May our conversations move toward a common and hopeful vision, a vision rooted in your will for this world.
These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who loved to dine with his friends
With thanksgiving.
For communal life, for family, for friends, for church, for life shared, for hardships shouldered and laughter multiplied; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For work to do and strength to work; for purpose and dignity, for calling us your own; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For children; for their energy and curiosity, their brave play and sudden sympathies; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For young people; for their high hopes, their arched-eye irreverence, their solemn vows; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For growing up and growing old; for wisdom deepened by experience; and for time made precious by its passing; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
For artists, for music and its attention to the holy, for choruses and conductors and composers, whose work causes our hearts to soar; we come before you, God...
With thanksgiving.
Gracious God, we have so much to be thankful for. Help us to see our own bounty. Help us to see your face in the faces of all who hunger and thirst in this city and this world.
We come before you, God, with thanksgiving.
This week, we ask that you would surround those who will not be with friends or family this Thanksgiving with your abiding love and care. Bless soldiers, aid workers and government officials spread across the globe. We remember them with gratitude.
We come before you, God, with thanksgiving.
Guard and protect those who will travel in the week ahead. Even as we sit around Thanksgiving tables, sharing sweet potatoes with family members whose politics are different from our own, let us not feast on anger or anxiety. May our conversations move toward a common and hopeful vision, a vision rooted in your will for this world.
These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who loved to dine with his friends.
Amen.