GBC Community Update: Give thanks for the hard things

​Good morning.  The church looks very festive as we get ready for Christmas. Thanks to all who stuck around to decorate it on Sunday afternoon.  We’re starting to decorate at home too and that’s always fun for me.  As Jacob talked about Sunday, what do you do to prepare for Christmas? Whatever it is you do, be sure you’re doing something as we prepare to celebrate the coming of the King!
 
 
Communion Service and Pot Luck on Sunday
This Sunday will our next family pot luck and evening communion service. Starting at 6pm, we will share a meal (please bring something to share- a main, salad or desert) and then transition to our time of communion. 
There will be an opportunity for people to share a verse, prayer, thought or request a song during the service. It will be the first Sunday of Advent, and so in the theme of preparing for the King our focus will be on Advent which anticipates the "coming of Christ" from three different perspectives: the physical nativity in Bethlehem, the reception of Christ in the heart of the believer, and the Second Coming.
 
 
Thought of the Day: How To Be Truly Thankful – Give Thanks for the Hard Things
On Thursday I shared about being humble before God in order to build a spirit of thankfulness.  As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been looking at this in perhaps a different way.  Today I’m going to take it up a notch- give thanks when things get hard!
James wrote this in the first chapter of his very practical look at living out the Christian faith: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Really? Do you? Do I????  Honestly, this is a struggle for me and not a default position when troubles come. Rather, I try to figure out how to correct or get through the situation. Rarely do I say, “Gee, thanks God for troubles!”
So, lets work on this together.
Joy isn’t the opposite of trouble, it’s a choice you have despite your trouble.
You can choose joy in the middle of a broken family, memories of a painful childhood, or even your own failing health.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, troubles might actually be your bridge to true thankfulness or a spiritual breakthrough that couldn’t come any other way.  I know this has been the case in my own experience.  Often times we don’t see that until after something is done. This is kind of a ‘theology of hindsight’.  What happens here is it gives something to consider the NEXT time trouble comes. So yes, this is a process, much like our spiritual journey. But when we can have this kind of mindset we can then be thankful no matter what.  In the meantime, as you go through troubles, the key is to remember whose hands you are in.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris