What are you thankful for regarding the topic of church? We hope you have been filling out the 21 days of thanksgiving chart. If you have an entry regarding the topic of church, please share it with us by adding a comment to this post.
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Nov 11, 2009
Salvation: What are you thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of salvation? We hope you have been... -
Nov 10, 2009
People: What are you Thankful for?
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Nov 09, 2009
Church: What are you Thankful for?
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Nov 07, 2009
Nature: What are you Thankful for?
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Nov 06, 2009
Material/Physical Blessings: What are you Thankful for?
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Other: What are you thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topics other than the ones listed?? We hope...
As I think back to the message of gratitude from this past Sunday, I am truly thankful for how God, through Pastor Ed, taught me how to rightly approach my past and my future. When I first came to Berkeley, I was under some level of devastation because I missed my brothers and sisters in Christ back at home too much and it ended up in negative consequences as I constantly tried to keep contact with them and ended up neglecting the new brothers and sisters that God has sent into my life here. I wasn’t able to fully give myself to love the brothers and sisters here until God taught me to be fully present in the present through the freshman discipleship class. It was then that I could truly invest my time in building up the relationship with my peers. There was also a time just one or two weeks ago in which I focused too much on planning the future out that I became not peaceful at heart and I really needed to remember that God is in control of my future. And from this past Sunday’s message, I have now learned how to approach the past and my precious memories with thankfulness, and also how to approach the future with hope and confidence. So I really want to thank this church and Pastor Ed for this past message and just every past lesson.
I’m thankful for all of the college student mentors who volunteer at InterHigh. InterHigh wouldn’t be InterHigh without the college students. At Rise and at the InterHigh monthlies, the college mentors provide a warm, exciting and welcoming environment.
I’m thankful for lifegroups – where we can share life together and pray for each other.
I’m thankful for the college ministry at church. Were it not for this ministry, I would not have experienced the love of God concretely through my leaders, various mesages at retreats, bible studies, on Sundays, made lasting friendships, and accept Christ my sophomore! And now that I’m on the other side of college ministry, trying to reach out to college students, I’m doubly thankful that I have this ministry to keep me accountable and which makes me want to grow up so that I can be a better minister to the students.
I’m thankful for SK2. I have been challenged to re-evaluate my values and to struggle over areas where my values do not align with God’s values, specifically, to base my significance on God only, to forgive completely, and to embrace the uncomfortable characteristics of God’s love. I’m thankful for Michelle SMN and all the discussion leaders for their hard work and prayers.
I am thankful for the many many zealous brothers and sisters at our church. As we plan on future church plants, I am so thankful that so many of us find it exciting and a privilege to be a part of a church planting team. I am so thankful that we have a missional outlook as a church, and that we are willing to let other things slide while we prioritize the fulfillment of God’s mission on earth.
I’m thankful for the retreats, whether it’s the Fall, Thanksgiving, or Winter Retreat. I’m thankful for Pastor Ed’s messages during these times and for all the brothers and sisters who share their testimonies. When I first started coming to Gracepoint, many of the testimonies at the Thanksgiving Retreat convicted me of my sinfulness, and Pastor Ed’s message about lordship at the Winter Retreat led me to surrender my life to God!
I’m thankful for interhigh ministry. As I was sitting in the room full of youth students the predominant sentiment was, “gosh I wish I had this when I was in high school.” I would’ve spared myself a lot of grief and I know I would’ve appreciated the intellectually stimulating topics being presented by Christians.
I am thankful for our church where the “giving our all” mentality is so natural and evident among the members. I am very thankful for the steadfast vision of our leaders to “never rest” here on earth until God’s mission is fulfilled.
Reflecting on Rom 16 this past week, I had a chance to consider once again how i too have such a blessed, rich life of many people whom i can consider ‘dear friends’, ‘fellow workers in Christ Jesus’…whom I find inspiration and challenge through.
I thank God for P Ed and Kelly for how they tirelessly pour out their hearts to build up God’s church and see God’s vision come to fruition collectively and personally for each member of our church. I’m thankful for the many other brothers and sisters i’ve had the privilege to co-labor along side of for over 10 years. So many of them haveloved me like their own son and younger brother. Their zeal and hard work in the Lord encourages and challenges me to press on. I feel privileged, honored and blessed to be joined together with all of them build God’s church.
I am thankful to be part of a church where gathering volunteers to serve in any areas of church is not a problem. Whether as a driver to drive the kids for ImpACT Sunday morning, or as part of the welcome team that cleans bathroom at Willard in preparation for Sunday worship service, or as camera operator during large group time in Joyland or on the video team that lays down cables. No job is too small and our volunteers accomplish them with cheerful heart and a big smile.
I am thankful for this church…for bringing me the precious gospel. It was 25 years ago at this church that i heard the gospel and responded to His love by committing to stay right here and join in the work of sharing the gospel for lost people. And as I look back, i am amazed at all that God has shown me…about himself, about me, about other who love me unconditionally, about all that is going on and where his heart is and where he is at…the list is endless. And i am amazed (and still perplexed) that he would want to use a sinner like me to spread the good news of the gospel!
I’m thankful for all the various ministries at our church that my children have been the direct beneficiaries of. All three of my kids are graduates of Joyland. Both Noah and Anna are currently in Element/Inter-high and Isaiah serves as a mentor there. Anna serves in Impact as a tutor Sunday mornings. In addition, Anna gets to babysit the likes of Sophie and Abbie, and in the process, learning what ministry feels like. On top of that, they’ve gained experience in acting, photoshop, video-editing, etc. They are also learning how be part of an open community as we’ve always had a home full of people, either living with us or just visiting and hanging out. I’m thankful for the richness they are part of!
As I am trying to introuduce gospel to the visitng scholars and I see that it’s not an easy task even to just do small presentation, I am so thankful for all the resources we have on how to teach bible study, archives of messages, courses on foundation of Christianity and all the trainings and wisdom I have received from this church.
I thank God for the structures that enable me to connect to God regularly, such as DT books & questions, prayer meetings and reflections. As an inherently disorganized and unstructured person, I appreciate it so much. Also, because I know how much it helps me, I can confidently exhort others to adhere to it.
I am thankful that I am part of a church where we can attempt something like Interhigh. I am thankful for all the volunteers, from the 60+ college mentors and others that just show up to help. Today was Interhigh 2 and we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without all the help that were present. We were printing, stapling and putting together DT for the next month until 9pm (just when the students were leaving) and these 2 particular college brothers (and others) basically were in the kitchen washing, cooking, and cleaning for the whole time. We debriefed at the end to share about our experiences and it was so encouraging to hear about the response of the high school/jr high students. I thought about many people who are working very hard for the Lord, but are doing this all on their own and don’t have the fellowship of like-minded christians to do God’s work together with, and was reminded once again that we indeed do have something special here at our church and we need to steward it well.
Thank God for InterHigh ministry and the vision we had for this ministry. Finishing off our second night, I am thankful for all the students who came. We had 94 students come outside of church. We had 46 new students come and 48 returnees. I’m thankful that our phd students could teach about fine tuning of the universe and the mentors could share about they overcame the lies of this world. Thankful to hear how so many students really enjoyed the time. I’m thankful for the support of the whole church especially all the prayers!
I’m thankful for all our brothers and sisters who tirelessly labored and are still laboring to build the Sierra Lodge. I’m thankful that we have a church that values giving it all and getting close.
I’m thankful that my life has become so rich through our church-just in terms of wisdom, life lessons, appreciation for books, music, art, history, etc. Through our church I was able to develop so many skills-from cooking to organizing events to photoshop, so that even my coworkers have commented and noticed how I am able to easily whip up a group event or dinner for a small group of people. Without our church’s value of extolling servanthood and faithfulness, I would be just be lazy and easily overwhelmed.
I’m thankful for the church. As a person who grew up as a lone-ranger Christian, who simply dismissed the church as a failed institution, I am amazed that God has shown me how the church could really be the body of Christ, embodying the love of God in a visible way on earth. I would have had no idea that my relationship with God could be this concrete — that I would experience the love and forgiveness of God through the church… that my spiritual life could be this dynamic, challenging and simply real.
As we had mission training yesterday, I am thankful that because of our church, because we are bonded through Christ, 44 of us can get together with a common vision and purpose. Most of us don’t know each other very well and we would have nothing to do with each other but for our church and the gospel that we share. The gospel gives us a reason to join together and go to a foreign country for an intense week and a half, where I know we’ll experience so much. Before Christ, I was so purposeless and had no motivation to do anything. But because of Christ, I can get close to so many people in such a short time, and that amazes me.
I’m thankful that our church has Sunday nights devoted to “family dinners” or “house dinners.” I’m thankful that we can eat a home-cooked meal together with my roommates and catch up with them. It is so hard to catch up normally because of our busy schedules. Through it I deepen in my relationship with my roommates, like through sharing about our personal highs and lows and our ministry highs and lows.
I have been really blessed by this church and all the aspects in which they are serving God. Even though I’m thankful for all the ministries, the impact program played a big role in my families life. I’m thankful for its heart for children in oakland and all the hard work that is poured into this ministry. My sisters used attend the impact program and I recently found out that it was because of that program, my family ended up living with this church. I lived in fostercare for five years. Through my sister the impact leads heard of our situation. Then one day I found my brothers and I living with pastor ed for 2 whole years. When I look back on the decision that they made to take my family in I’m just really grateful, because it really shaped my life and made me a better person. The material I learned in joyland such as obey your parents and john 3:16 really help me stay an obedient child to my mom. If joyland hadn’t taught me those things, then I would have probably ended up in jail. Without the help of this church all my brothers and sisters would be most likely be living in bad conditions and who knows what would have happened. In 2008 my brother vu and I went into fostercare again because something tragic had happened at our house in oakland. Praise the Lord that He helped Amy make the decision to stay with the church for long term. I really feel that he used Amy to be a blessing unto my little brother and I. If it wasn’t for that decision, one I wouldn’t have become a christian, two I probably would be living with discontentment and bitterness in my heart that all these things were happening to me and third I would of probably ended up on the streets or even in jail. For a second time, this church heard of our situation through Amy, and they made a second decision to take us in. I thank God for all the sacrifices that this church has made to really support our family. So as I reflect on all that happened in my life. I have come to find that It was God working in my life. I look at it in a new perspective. All these things happened for a reason, God never let me go, from the moment I was born I held me. I rejected him and went my own way, but he was there all along guiding me in this journey known as life even though I was unaware he has been there and is still here to this day till the ends of time.
Praise God
His Mercy Endures Forever
Another thing I’m thankful for is this gr8 youth group.
As I was able to build meaningful relationships with the people in this youth group I have found that I have become a new person.
Unlike b4 I am now willingly serving with a grateful heart because God has given me this youth group and my salvation so that I can hold unto. He has given me new life in this body of christ, despite all the things that I had done in my past and my rejection of Him, he has remained faithful always providing and giving what I need and more. I’m thankful for the messages that are given on fridays and saturdays. Also I’m thankful for the people who give it. This year interhigh was launch and it was a really good opportunity for me to serve God in this small way. I’m thankful for all the hard work that was poured into this new ministry by the teachers. If it wasn’t for them and there heart for the youth that drove them on, none of this wold be possible. I so thankful to be a part of such an amazing thing.
THANK YOU!!!
I’m thankful that we have so many opportunities to be trained in apologetics here. Whether it be the “Reason For God” book club a few summers ago, Advanced Course 101, Apologetics MYT, or one of the many guest speakers we’ve had…There is so much apologetics content out there that it can be daunting to start learning it on my own, so I’m thankful that we have people like Daniel Kim who are passionate and who do so much to train each of us. I don’t have to be afraid of the intellectual questions people might ask me as I try to share the gospel because I have been trained and have so many resources available to find the answers.
I’m thankful for all of the background helpers who put together the different elements of our Sunday Worship Service. From the set up people, the sound, stage and lighting people, the cleanup people, the chair set up people, the video team, the praise team, etc. All of these things really help me experience God so much more, thanks!
I am thankful for the church in how it is an inviting place to everyone. Despite being who I am, I am known and loved. I am thankful for just the clear picture of forgiveness and acceptance is. I don’t have to out-perform anyone, I don’t have to try to get noticed, but I am loved for who I am.
I’m so thankful that this church has been a constant presence in my life, since the age of 5 when I was in the Children’s Dept, till now, serving in Praxis at Gracepoint Davis. I’m so thankful for God’s tenacious and active love, concretely lived out through his church, the countless messages, prayer meetings, counseling from leaders, my peers. It’s amazing that next year, will be my 20th year at Gracepoint. God has really pursued me all these years through this church and I commit to doing whatever I can to serve, because I have been the recipient of a relentless God who actively worked through this church to draw me closer to him.
I am really thankful for Auntie Jeannie and Uncle Patrick. Every time I thank God for his faithfulness in my life I always am so thankful for my foster parents because they were, along with many others, God’s hands and feet in my life. I am really thankful that they have stuck with me these past 10 years, loved me even though I caused them so much heart ache and at many times rejected them. I am so thankful that even though I have been emancipated from foster care that they still treat me as their own daughter. I remember before I went off to college I was feeling insecure about how my relationship with their family will turn out. A. Jeannie sat me down and said, “You are apart of our family. Just because you graduate it doesn’t mean that you are no longer. We are committed to you. This is your home. We expect you to come home on holidays and on breaks.” I remember crying and finding such security in those words of love. I’m a junior now in college and our relationships have only grown deeper. I am so thankful for their presence and support in my life. If it wasn’t for their support, and many others, during the toughest moments of my life I wouldn’t be here. Through them I am able to understand God’s committed and unconditional love in a deeper way.
In light of that, I am also really thankful for Uncle Tony, and Auntie Michelle who were once my foster parents and have now taken my two younger brothers in as their foster children. I am thankful for the way they willingly took in my brother and have been joyfully trying to love them. I am also very thankful for Pastor Ed, Kelly Smn, U. Sung and A. Hope, Eunice and Steve Kim and all the directors for all the ways they have supported my family in the past and even now.
Thank you to all the people who volunteered their time and energy for so many discipleship courses. I’m thankful that our church not only care about reaching out to new people, but also places a huge value into training up regular students and members. One of my most memorable time this year was attending the Praxis Members Discipleship Retreat, where we listened to a lot of personal testimonies and trained up to be people of integrity. We, as students are not always easy to teach… Thank you for your hard work as you lead discipleship retreats and/or teach Course 101/101X, Church 101, SK1, SK2, etc!
I am really thankful for our church, Gracepoint. Even though I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 12 in Korea, it was not until I came to Gracepoint that I learned what it mean to be a disciple and be a part of church. I have experienced love and discipline tangibly through our church and people. Without our church, I would still be very cynical about church and insist being a lone Christian.
I’m thankful for the spirit of volunteerism at our church! Last night a group of Praxis volunteers got together last-minute to work on props for our Thanksgiving Celebration skit. Mondays are sometimes the toughest bc it’s the start of the work week, but these bros & sis happily volunteered their evening and came pretty much right after work. I’m thankful to be in a community where taking ownership and volunteering is a part of who we are.
I’m so thankful for how God actually uses and works through the church. Just thinking on the past 1.5 years in Austin, all the people who have come through the doors and the incredible privilege to see God transform their lives in front of my own eyes makes me want to love harder, suffer harder, and pray harder. I had the privilege of seeing now 15+ salvation and lordship decisions in Austin. Before, I was so thankful for this church as I always asked myself the question “Where would I be had I not come to this church?” because I was only headed towards self-destruction. But now, I’m starting to ask myself “Where would THESE STUDENT be had I not come to this church?” and I am humbled to know that despite my sin and failures, God not only transformed my life, but used me to somehow partake in the transforming of other lives. Praise God for His goodness!
I’m so thankful that God is preparing our church to do three church plants this coming year 2010. It’s a bold move but we’ve been praying that God will help us to overcome our fears and not limit Him in anyway. Although we sometimes we feel like we are barely handling what he has already entrusted to us as we fight against our sinful natures and the limitations of living in a broken and fallen world, God seems to be entrusting more and more to us, recently with InterHigh and now with 3 new church plants in 2010.
“LORD, prepare us to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, we [(all the brothers and sisters of gracepoint)] will be a living sanctuary for you.”
i’m thankful that our church values truth more than feelings. i could imagine that this is a very rare trait, because in our touchy-feely culture of tolerance, people are too scared to take the risk and try to help someone see a blind spot and ultimately become a better person. this difficult but much needed experience has helped me to grow and struggle with a lot of my flaws. this has made me more able to understand myself, become a better follower of Christ, and accept forgiveness and unconditional love from God and others in this church.
I’m thankful that our church is aiming for God’s will and keeping in step with His Spirit, as our church gets ready to send out the church planting teams next year. Thankful that we have the built-in posture of being poised to be sent out, rather than burying the entrustment God has given us in the ground by just staying comfortable here in Berkeley. It’s so exciting to think about how God will stretch us and cause our entire body to grow!
I’m thankful for our joyland ministry and all the joyland teachers that prepare every sunday for our kids. Having two boys in Joyland, I’m thankful for their teachers who call them, who prepare dts that they understand and who my boys can look up to. Thank you joyland teachers for all that you do for our children!
I’m thankful for our church, for the brothers and sisters, older and younger, that I can together run this race. I’m thankful that we can do church together, live open lives, concretely experience what it means to have a ‘close-knit community’. I’m so thankful to be a part of a church that is serious about upholding God’s honor, eager to advance His kingdom, and as we pray about planting more churches like ours in other college campus towns, I’m so thankful and excited that we, as a church, can send out teams of people to share God’s love and Truth, through Reaching Out, Living It Out and Giving It Our All!
I am thankful that our church is engaged in Angel Tree and that this year we will have the party right before Joyland Christmas Celebration. I was heart-broken when I read one of the messages from a mother in prison to her daughter. It read something like this: Mommie loves you forever and ever no matter how long or far we are apart!
This is such a precious ministry that we are able to be a part of through prison fellowship and reminds me of the parable in Matthew 25 where we are called to concretely love the least and those in prison. May our hearts grow in compassion and share in God’s heart at a greater level through ministry opportunities like this!
I’m thankful for the open homes community of our church. Just this last sunday, I was able to invite two of my coworkers who are new to the bay area to a potluck dinner that many of the sisters were having. I didn’t have to worry about them feeling left out or feeling out of place because everyone was so warm, inviting and engaging to make them feel so welcome. I’m so thankful that I can share a glimpse this rich community with my coworkers and that I have such loving and open sisters~
I’m thankful for Interhigh (and slightly jealous I’m not a youth student right now!) I’m so thankful that our church stands up and takes notice of this particular generation who are really harrassed and helpless, instead of turning a blind eye and saying that they’ll just grow out of it. Looking back on my own jr high and high school days, I would have been saved from a lot of pain if I were a part of Interhigh. I’m so excited to see that already this ministry is thriving. I pray that our church will continue reaching out to youth kids so that they aren’t left on their own to fend off the destructive temptations they are faced with everyday.
I’m thankful that I’m able to receive accountability through this church and that we live such open lives with one another. Without accountability, I know that it would be really easy for me to live a compartmentalized life or compromise in certain areas of my life, so being at this church has given me a greater desire to strive to live a holy life.
I am thankful for DT groups!
sorry!
OKAY, I do admit that sometimes I ditch my DT families~
However there are so many things to thankful for!
1. because of the DT groups I am able to do DT everyday
2. during the DT sharing, by listening to other people’s DT reflections, I become more blessed by the DT text
3. I know what day it is today
4. because the DT sharing group is across all the home groups and all the classes, I get to know sisters from the different home groups and different classes! I love this!
I’m thankful that our church can put on something like TC and have trained so many people with so many different skills and talents to put on something like TC. I’m thankful for all the talented people at our church who bring a lot of joy through their performances and acts!
Thankful that our church values teaching and training to better equip ourselves for God’s work. Thankful that we have older brothers and sisters who are committed to teaching and training the younger ones in tech & arts, welcome team, food prep etc. Without this willingness to train, I can see how so many people could be missing out on opportunities to serve God in different capacities.
I’m thankful for all of the courses that are offered in our church, like c101 and survival kit. I’ve been the beneficiary of these courses before, and they’ve helped me so much to set a basic foundation in my life, and now being on the other side of it, leading others through it, I am so thankful for all the salvation and lordship decisions that have been made as people became convicted through this material. Thankful to the authors that they would invest time and energy of creating this and we have these kinds of resources of bringing people closer to Christ.
I’m thankful for the many ways our church at home has supported our church here in Hsinchu. For one, just the financial support, we never have to worry about whether or not we have the money to do what we do day in and day out. I often think about other missionaries past and present who have to constantly worry about raising funds to continue their work, they have to travel around and do speaking engagements just to get people to donate to their cause. But for us, we are so well taken care of. THANK YOU!
I am so thankful for the messages that Pastor Ed gives every week! I was reminded today through tonight’s Bible Study that I can’t pick and choose what I want to invest my time in but instead I need to learn to be faithful in everything that God has entrusted to me according to my season of life. I am thankful that in my moments of struggle, God is able to use the messages and the church to speak truth to me and challenge me.
I’m thankful that our church has so much going on. I can thus have a busier life and spend less time in idleness and sinful stuff.
I am thankful that we have a church that is committed to living out the word of God. I am thankful that there are many opportunities to obey God through our church. Without it, my christian life would be a mere talk.