NO. LIVERMORE — At the Nov. 19 North Livermore Baptist Church service, the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Invocation/Lord’s Prayer were recited. The hymns that were sung were “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”, “Count Your Blessings” and “Now Thank We All Our God”. The service ended with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist and Janet Diaz is the pianist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.
The sermon, titled “The Power of Gratitude” scripture from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Pastor Bonnie began by saying that throughout the Bible, God tells us that we should be grateful in every situation we are in. Sometimes when we are going through a difficult time, we let the situation take over and not be grateful that God is there with us. Scriptures say “in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you…, or “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father”. We may not understand the “why’s” of our situations on earth, but it will make sense when we get to Heaven.
Many people wonder why we should be grateful to God in everything. If we are grateful to God in everything, it makes us aware that we are walking in God’s presence, which in turns brings us closer to Him. Being grateful has us looking for God’s purpose in everything that happens and we will see the good that comes from it.
As we show how grateful we are to God through the hard times we endure, we are showing God that we are trusting in Him through and through. God wants us to be dependent on Him and when we show our gratitude towards Him, we are giving Him the praise He deserves.
Even though we may not understand why things happen in our lives, trusting in Him also shows Him our faithfulness to Him. God has told us to rejoice always in our lives, no mater what the circumstances are, and when we do, we are actually giving thanks to Him by being obedient to Him in all areas of our lives.
When we are showing gratitude to God, we are witnessing to others about how faithful our God is to us. Gratitude in our lives is a great way to explain our testimony. Going through hard times, being thankful takes away the anxiety we are having and it brings us peace in our lives.
Being thankful to God keeps us focus on Him and not on our situations we are in. When we focus on Him, we realize we are not alone, God is with us, that He loves us, we find gratitude in knowing that we are going to be with Him for eternity, that He walks with us, He will bring us through it, and that being faithful and thankful, He will bless us.
If we continue to focus on God, he will renew us physically, spiritually, and emotionally so we can continue be His servant on earth.
Being grateful to God in our lives, will glorify Him, helps us see Him work in our lives, keeps us in God’s Will, will bring us peace and closer to Him, brings us contentment and deepens our faith and it will lead us to joy in our lives for Him. If we show gratitude to God in our lives, we are keeping Satan away from us as we are focused on Him who has always loved us.
God wants us to have a thankful heart, that is why He tells us “In everything, give thanks.”
Announcements listed in the bulletin are that the congregation will be collecting canned Green Beans for the Food Pantry in November. Bible Study on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Tuesday’s from 9 a.m. to noon.
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