Some of you are familiar with the work of Dr. Brene Brown, popular speaker and author of The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. In her chapter entitled Cultivating Gratitude and Joy, she offers this observation:  “Without exception, every person I interviewed who described living a joyful life or who described themselves as joyful, actively practiced gratitude and attributed their joyfulness to their gratitude practice.”

As I reflect upon Brown’s observation, the word that jumps out at me is the word “practice.” If you want to have more joy in your life, practice gratitude. Well, that’s exactly what we’ll do in our two part series of messages beginning November 15. I hope you will join us as we “practice gratitude.”

Sunday, November 22
For All God’s Blessings….|…. Luke 17:11-19….|…. Bulletin PDF

The Bible does not tell us their names, where they came from, or what their occupations were. We do know that they followed a star to Bethlehem believing that it would lead them to one who was destined to be king. Their desire was to seek him out and pay homage to him. That is precisely what they did; and, upon finding the Christ child, they worshiped him and offered their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, the Bible tells us that they went home a different way than they had come.

Isn’t that what you would expect? How could they travel down the same weary road of life after following the star to Bethlehem? They couldn’t, and neither can we!

As we embark upon our journey through advent, I want us to focus upon the gifts our Lord gives to us in this season. Each week we will give thanks for a different gift – one that will lead us to exclaim, “It is exactly what I needed!”

Sunday, November 29
Hope When Fear Is Crashing In….|…. Mark 13:24-37

Sunday, December 6
Love That Changes Our Hearts….|…. Mark 1:1-8

Sunday, December 13
Joy that Brings Life….|…. John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sunday, December 20
Peace Even in the Midst of Pain….|…. Luke 1:26-38

Register to worship with us in person in the sanctuary or join us online each Sunday at 11:15 am as we give thanks for God’s sustaining gifts in this season.