Thanksgiving 2017

This annual celebration brings families together for a moment to think of all the things we “should” be thankful.

Sunday’s sermon on Thanksgiving went deeper than any sermon I have heard onThanksgiving. Neither the scripture nor the message, was the typical warm Thanksgiving reminder.

For those who suffer with continual pain – physical, mental, emotional or relational – it is difficult to think about thanking God for that pain. For some of us it has been for most of our lives, for others it has been all of your life.

Dr. Jeff Hamm, Christ Church Presbyterian Atlanta, mentioned that many consider Romans as the “Magna Carta” of the Gospel. His starting verse was Romans 1: 21.

As he continued he reminded us the Apostle Paul begins with not what we expect in the American church.  Paul begins this “Magna Carta” with “awful news, with bad news.”

By the time Dr. Hamm finished I was in tears
as I realized I had never given thanks for my raging body,
which often makes me feel I’m going crazy.

 I thank the Triune God for the strength to keep moving forward when my body rages. I thank Him for giving me God sightings in the midst of my pain. I thanked Him for letting me feel His continual presence, even when my body makes me think I am terrified. Yet, I had never thanked Him for the internal terror that ravaged my body day after day.

Why should we thank God for painful circumstances?  I think its best if you listen to the sermon yourself 😊

THANKSGIVING   Dr. Jeff Hamm

Next page: A Difficult Beginning