M-Note 11.23.2021

1. It helps you be content.
 
Gratitude helps cultivate contentment with what is already present in our life – materially, relationally, and spiritually. We live in a world where we are constantly told that we need more. I find it strange that one day after Thanksgiving, the day we are supposed to show we are grateful for what we have, we are told to go out and buy more! Gratitude fights the urge to seek happiness in “more”--more things, more stuff to do, etc. This Christmas, The Gathering will continue our tradition of giving 100% of our Christmas Eve offering away to dig wells for clean water in Mozambique. We will invite our whole church to spend less on unnecessary stuff that will not matter in our lives and instead give that money on Christmas for a gift that will truly make a difference.
 
2. It opens your heart.
 
When we are grateful for what we have and resist the urge to need more, we suddenly have the margin to be generous to others, invest more in the people around us and most importantly we have more energy to offer to God to use for the sake of others. When we don’t keep every material resource for ourselves, we have more to give away to make a difference in the lives of others. Gratitude opens our hearts and leads us towards generosity. One way that so many of you practiced generosity recently was by making a commitment to give to the ministry of The Gathering over the next two years. Thank you! Our collective gratitude and generosity will make a huge impact through our church and in the lives of others. If you missed the last week of OPEN, check it out at the link below. It isn’t too late to make your commitment to support our church. I hope you will fill out an online commitment card below.

3. It expands your relationships.
 
In the Bible, gratitude is the practice of saying thank you to somebody. Of course, this is often other people in our lives that have made a difference for us. But, gratitude in scripture is also the practice of saying thank you to God, the source of our life. This source will expand our relationships in many ways. Worship each week is one way of building a rhythm of gratitude, weekly coming together to say thank you to God. There is no better time to be in worship than right now. This weekend, we will start our new Christmas series Good News. If it has been a while for you, it is the perfect time to restart a habit of worship. If you already plan to come, take the next step and offer the invitation to someone else. Worship helps us push back against the forces that leave us feeling isolated, stuck, or anxious. Your invitation could be a powerful bit of good news for someone else this season. We've made it easy to offer that invitation. Share this email or the link below.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember that gratitude isn’t reserved for a day. The practice of gratitude can be good news for us anytime.

Peace,