Our Commitment Sunday was a great blessing. Many turned in commitment cards, and others will be doing so in the next couple of weeks. I hope that you have been challenged through these past several weeks to examine your own life and your own level of commitment to the Lord. We ask everyone in the weeks ahead and throughout the coming year to pray daily for the work of the Lord that goes on through this church family; to have a stake in this work by being involved in the ministry of God’s people here; and to give financially what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
This being Thanksgiving week, I have been thinking about the great connection there is between our level of gratitude and other important and critical aspects of our Christian walk. Here are a few of those.
Commitment—“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)
Forgiveness—“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Service—“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
Evangelism—“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others…For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died… All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:11, 18-21)
Love—“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)
“Thanks be to God for his indescribably gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)