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Questions in this GPS marked with Ø are particularly recommended for group discussion. Group leaders may add
other discussion questions, or substitute other questions for the marked ones, at their discretion.Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17,
2010 from Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/ten_ways_to_become_more_grateful1/
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"Giving thanks—central in Christian living"
Monday, 27 November 2017
1 Thessalonians 5:16 Always be joyful. 17 Pray regularly. 18 In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua., Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.
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Keep a Gratitude Journal. Establish a daily practice in which you remind yourself of the gifts, grace, benefits, and good things you enjoy. *Pastor Hamilton has encouraged all of us to memorize these two passages during this sermon series. The apostle Paul did not write this counsel from some abstract ivory tower, sheltered from all trouble or conflict. He was in prison when he wrote Philippians (cf. Philippians 1:13). When some “super apostles” scorned his
ministry in Corinth, he sent the Corinthian Christians a vivid portrait of his challenging path of service (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28). He knew well what it meant to “give thanks in every situation.”
Ø Artists and photographers know that often how we frame a picture alters what we focus on in it. Paul urged a kind of framing in Philippians 4. “When we bring the things that cause us stress into prayer, we put ourselves and our troubles inside a much bigger picture: the story of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ…. And that leads to thanksgiving.” ** What helps you remember to look at life’s big picture more than the unpleasant little details?
• To memorize key parts of the Bible takes the Bible’s message off the page and stores it in your mind and heart, where the Holy Spirit can call it to your attention at any moment of challenge or need. Which part(s) of today’s passages would you most like to keep handy in your mind, where you don’t even need a printed card or Bible in order to draw on their wisdom at a time of need?
Prayer: Lord, the Psalmist wrote, “I keep your word close, in my heart” (Psalm 119:11). I ask for your help as I, too, seek to keep your teaching close in my memory and my heart. Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
** Cynthia M. Campbell, sidebar article “Stress” in The CEB Women’s Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016, p. 1492.
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Roberta LyleRoberta Lyle has been on the Resurrection staff since 2006. She serves as the Program Director for Local Impact Ministries, concentrating on Education, Life Skills and Youth Focused Ministries.
I wish I could say that I always abide by today's Bible verse and faithfully bring my concerns to God then leave them there, trusting God will be beside me no matter what may come. But I don't. I tend to tell God about my worries then gather them back and stew over them some more. This tends to happen particularly when I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about something that's troubling me. That's when problems can really seem so big and insurmountable that shutting down my thoughts and getting back to sleep can be really hard.
Several years ago I learned a practice that actually takes my mind off whatever is bothering me and focus on peaceful thoughts. It's not a new or original practice. I imagine Paul probably did something similar on those nights when he awoke in his dreary prison cell and his mind turned to his probable fate. But my practice began after hearing a song that Irving Berlin wrote many years ago now. If you've seen the Christmas classic, White Christmas (c) Paramount Pictures, you probably remember hearing Bing Crosby sing "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" to Rosemary Clooney. Part of the lyrics are:
When I'm troubled and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings.
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings.
Turning my thoughts away from whatever is giving me insomnia and thinking about my many blessings quiets my mind and helps instill peace. I try to begin my day this way as well by writing in my gratitude journal every morning. I have a number things that I frequently mention but I also think back on the day before and try to remember something unique that happened that brought a moment of joy. I find that doing this helps me be more cognizant of those special fleeting moments that really enrich our lives. My husband and I are in a season of de-cluttering, a long-overdue task that can leave me feeling very anxious. Last week as I went through some drawers I came across a fill-in-the-blank letter that our younger son wrote many years ago where he stressed how nice I was and that if he could give me anything it would be a "hose in the country". Coming across that letter while in the midst of an onerous task was an unexpected, joyful blessing that made my day and triggered many happy memories.
As we enter the whirlwind holiday season I hope that the daily practice of noticing the little joys of life and recording my many blessings will help me remember that real peace comes from our ever faithful, always loving, eternal God.
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"Giving thanks for God’s bountiful creation"
Tuesday, 28 November 2017
Psalm 65:6 (5) It is just that you answer us with awesome deeds,
God of our salvation,
you in whom all put their trust,
to the ends of the earth and on distant seas.
7 (6) By your strength you set up the mountains.
You are clothed with power.
8 (7) You still the roaring of the seas,
their crashing waves, and the peoples’ turmoil.
9 (8) This is why those living at the ends of the earth
stand in awe of your signs.
The places where the sun rises and sets
you cause to sing for joy.
10 (9) You care for the earth and water it,
you enrich it greatly;
with the river of God, full of water,
you provide them grain and prepare the ground.
11 (10) Soaking its furrows and settling its soil,
you soften it with showers and bless its growth.
12 (11) You crown the year with your goodness,
your tracks overflow with richness.
13 (12) The desert pastures drip water,
the hills are wrapped with joy,
14 (13) the meadows are clothed with flocks
and the valleys blanketed with grain,
so they shout for joy and break into song.
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Come to Your Senses. Through our senses—the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive. *In the Psalms, we find a wide range of reasons for gratitude and praise. Psalm 65 directed the attention of those who sang or read it to the life-sustaining wonders of our world. The psalmist saw the rain that allows the fertile soil to bring forth nourishing crops, the crops and flocks and harvests that “crown the year,” as evidence of God’s sustaining love, for which we often have reason to give thanks.
• “Psalm 65 compares ‘the noise of the nations’ with the turmoil of the roaring seas. The daily news bombards us with that deafening reality…. How might we cut through the noise and recall all that God
does for us? What if we were to…be still and recognize the wonder of the world around us in a magnificent sunrise, the blessing of spring rain, or each of God’s unique creatures?” **
Ø Starting in verse 9, “God’s care for the land now becomes the focus of the psalmist’s meditation. The verb for ‘visit’ in verse 9 means ‘to attend to, to care for.’ As a result of God’s provision, the rains come and the earth is fruitful.” *** In what ways can you take your gratitude beyond words and into actions, and make wise choices to help God sustain our planet rather than acting in ways that deface or deplete it?
Prayer: O God, as I look at the wonderful world you created, with all its beauty and fruitfulness, help me to join in shouting to you with joy and gratitude. Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
** Laura Rasor, sidebar article “Silence” in The CEB Women’s Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016, p. 713.
*** Donald Williams, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 13: Psalms 1–72. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986, p. 473.
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"Giving thanks when we worship"
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Psalm 95:1 Come, let’s sing to Adonai!
Let’s shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation!
2 Let’s come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let’s shout for joy to him with songs of praise.
3 For Adonai is a great God,
a great king greater than all gods.
4 He holds the depths of the earth in his hands;
the mountain peaks too belong to him.
5 The sea is his — he made it —
and his hands shaped the dry land.
6 Come, let’s bow down and worship;
let’s kneel before Adonai who made us.
7 For he is our God, and we are the people
in his pasture, the sheep in his care.
If only today you would listen to his voice:
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Learn Prayers of Gratitude. In many spiritual traditions, prayers of gratitude are considered to be the most powerful form of prayer, because through these prayers people recognize the ultimate source of all they are and all they will ever be. * Israel developed and refined their understanding of the one God they worshiped over time. At certain points, they adapted language from the cultures around them, as in verse 3 of today’s reading. They tended to refer to all supernatural beings, who the New Testament and most Christians call “angels,” as “gods.” But God was the great person they worshiped and thanked, the “great king over all other gods.”
• One continual hazard of Israel’s sacrificial system was the temptation to see the sacrifices as a way to “buy off” God and win divine favor. Psalm 50:13-14 expressed the reality: God didn’t need people’s sacrifices, but valued them as an expression of gratitude for God’s gifts. How have you learned to “come before him with thanks” in your times of worship?
• Verse 7 echoes many other psalms (including the beloved Psalm 23) in identifying us as sheep for whom God cares as a shepherd. The image may have been clearer to pastoral Israelites than to
modern city dwellers. Sheep are utterly dependent on their shepherd to keep them fed, watered and safe. Left to their own devices, they tend to be helpless to ensure their own survival. How grateful are
you that in a big, complex universe you are one of God’s sheep, watched over with caring and love?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for promising to be the “good shepherd” who cares for me, who doesn’t run away in the face of trouble but is always there. I gratefully worship and praise you. Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
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"Giving thanks every day"
Thursday, 30 November 2017
Psalm 96:1 Sing to Adonai a new song!
Sing to Adonai, all the earth!
2 Sing to Adonai, bless his name!
Proclaim his victory day after day!
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Make a Vow to Practice Gratitude. Research shows that making an oath to perform a behavior increases the likelihood that the action will be executed. Therefore, write your own gratitude vow, which could be as simple as “I vow to count my blessings each day,” and post it somewhere where you will be reminded of it every day. * If we associate expressing gratitude to God only with “worship,” we might think that gratitude is a once-a week experience. Psalm 96 anticipated much of the modern psychological research we’ve reviewed
during this series, as it invited us to express gratitude for God’s saving work “every single day.” The apostle Paul similarly urged Colossian Christians to “overflow with thanksgiving” and “be thankful people” (cf. Colossians 2:7, 3:12-17).
• “96:2 the news: The Greek word that translates the underlying Hebrew is usually translated as ‘good news’ or ‘gospel.’ See Isaiah 52:7, where ‘good news’ is also associated with the proclamation of God’s rule.” * What are some ways (besides standing on a street-corner handing out tracts) you can share the good news of God’s saving work every day?
Ø Some of us are musically gifted, and we like the idea of “sing to the Lord a new song.” Others, of course, tend to suffer in silence through the singing parts of worship, whether traditional or
contemporary. Regardless of our musical aptitude or tastes, what is the heart attitude expressed by the poetic imagery of singing to the Lord a new song? How can all of us join in that spiritual experience?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, many more of us sing in the car or the shower than we do in public. Help my heart to overflow with inner songs of gratitude to you, no matter what kind of singing voice I have. Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
** J. Clinton McCann, study note on Psalm 96:2 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 946-947 OT.
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"Thanks for God’s forgiveness, healing, rescue and faithful love"
Friday, 1 December 2017
Psalm 103:1 (0) By David:
(1) Bless Adonai, my soul!
Everything in me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless Adonai, my soul,
and forget none of his benefits!
3 He forgives all your offenses,
he heals all your diseases,
4 he redeems your life from the pit,
he surrounds you with grace and compassion,
5 he contents you with good as long as you live,
so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6 Adonai brings vindication and justice
to all who are oppressed.
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Watch your Language. Grateful people have a particular linguistic style that uses the language of gifts, givers, blessings, blessed, fortune, fortunate, and abundance. * Sometimes even without a conscious intention (perhaps influenced by what we hear others saying), we adopt a "linguistic style” full of words like earned, deserved, produced, accomplished and achieved. There is nothing wrong with being conscientious workers, of course. But when the psalmist said, “Let my whole being bless the Lord,” it was not because of a belief that God should be grateful for what he had done, but because of gratitude for what God had done for him.
• Verses 3-4 strongly suggest that the psalmist had been through a hard time, perhaps a severe illness from which he could not deliver himself. What reasons for gratitude and praise has God helped you find in the wake of your painful experiences? How can you grieve life’s tragedies, personal or communal, and yet stay open to God’s healing Spirit and God’s pledge of a future free of terrible tragedies?
• 1 John 1:8 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” How does the first phrase of verse 3 in this psalm show that the psalmist felt no need for denial or deception about sin? How do God’s grace and compassion create a space in which moral honesty, with ourselves, others and God, is cleansing, rather than scary? In what area(s) are you particularly
grateful for God’s forgiveness?
Prayer: O God, grow my comfort and enjoyment of language that recognizes you, and not my own merits, as the ultimate source of so much of the good in my life. Thank you for your many gifts to me. Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
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"Giving thanks to God eternally"
Saturday, 2 December 2017
Revelation 7:9 After this, I looked; and there before me was a huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands; 10 and they shouted,
“Victory to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders and the four living beings; they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God, saying,
12 “Amen!
“Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks,
honor and power and strength
belong to our God forever and ever!
“Amen!”
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Go Through the Motions. If you go through grateful motions, the emotion of gratitude should be triggered. Grateful motions include smiling, saying thank you, and writing letters of gratitude. * A prisoner of conscience wrote the book of Revelation. The Romans exiled him for his faith on the small Mediterranean island of Patmos, isolated from the Christian churches he led and loved (cf. Revelation 1:9). Yet he produced (and somehow sent from the island) a work of awesome vision and praise. At its heart was the scene of “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” in the courts of heaven praising Jesus as the self-giving, saving Lamb of God. Gratitude isn’t limited to this life or this world, Revelation said. Gratitude to our God and Savior is the vocabulary of eternity.
Ø Jesus called his followers to have the same positive impact on our world as light in a dark place, or salt on flavorless food (Matthew 5:13-16). In what ways is your life brighter (not flawless, but brighter!) because of God’s love, forgiveness and presence with you? In what ways does the promise of an eternity of praise and gratitude shine into your life, your heart from day to day? How can you refract the light of God’s eternity in ways that brighten the lives of others, and add zest and joy to their world? Ask God to direct you to at least one person for whom you can be God’s gratitude-inspiring presence in this holiday season.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I offer blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might to you forever and always. (And when I don’t, please remind me.) Amen.
* Each day this week we’re sharing one tip from Robert Emmons, “Ten Ways to Become More Grateful.” November 17, 2010 from Greater Good Magazine.
Family Activity: Play “Penny Praise!” Get one or two rolls of pennies from the bank. (Warning: Pennies are a choking hazard, so if you have very small children in your home, use an item larger than pennies.) Hide individual pennies all over the house, in the car, in shoes, backpacks, etc. Gather the whole family, set a timer for two minutes, and go on a penny hunt, with each person finding as many pennies as possible. Every time someone finds a penny, they shout out a praise to God for something or someone they are thankful for. Your house will be filled with voices shouting praises to God simultaneously! When the timer sounds, come back together. Have everyone share the number of pennies they found and name a few of
the praises they shouted. Some pennies are probably still hiding, so continue the game all week, with everyone shouting a praise whenever they find a penny. Thank God for all the reasons to praise Him!
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Mary Fry and family on the death of her aunt Lavon Hill, 11/18
• Margaret Dack and family on the death of her sister Lola Charlene Prather, 11/18
• Gisele and Mike Shore and family on the death of their son Danny Shore, 11/14
• Ralph Waters and family on the death of his wife Jo Ann Waters, 11/14
• Carol Horsch and Debra Tidmore and family on the death of their mother Jo Ann Waters, 11/14
• Family and friends of Connie Hines on her death, 11/11
• Lacey Finley and family on the death of her father Paul Kaberline, 11/9
• Judy Bass and family on the death of her brother-in-law Donald R. “Don” Rogers, 11/8
• Family and friends of Georgia Walker on her death, 11/6
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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