Grateful: A Letter To West Franklin

West Franklin Family,

Paul told the church in Philippi not to “worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6) That’s a good word anytime, especially this week. When I am in conversation with God, everything should be discussed with a posture of thanksgiving and gratefulness. It was Paul’s posture. It was the posture he called for the Philippian church. It is what I desire for myself and our church. And, my oh my, is there much to be grateful for.

You allow me the incredible privilege of opening the Scriptures with you each and every week.
We get to sing to and about the Lord Jesus each and every week.
We get to experience the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through partaking of the elements (we will do so again tomorrow morning).
Though many have had it and have experienced the loss of loved ones to COVID-19, we haven’t lost any members to the pandemic (which is pretty remarkable if you think about it).
We get to pray together.
We get to bear one another’s burdens.
We get to share one another’s blessings.
We have the assurance that we won’t have to face life’s difficulties alone.
We get to join God in what He is doing in the world . . . together.
We get to pray for one another.
We gather weekly in one of the most beautiful and wonderful cities in all the world.
We are able to regularly bless those who don’t have much.
We are able to laugh together.
We are able to cry together.
We are able to walk through life, together.
We are able to study the Word together in small groups.
We are able to give generously to engage whole people with the whole Gospel of Jesus – anywhere, anytime, with anybody.
We get to experience the presence of God, together, and anticipate how He is transforming each of us.
We get to carefully look for and call out in one another the ways the grace of God is working itself out in our lives, together.
We get to experience the mystery of the Gospel in bringing all ages and walks of life together for a unified purpose and mission.
We get to take meals to one another when we are unable to cook ourselves.
We get to share meals together and learn about one another around a table.
We get to learn – over and over and over and over again – how amazing the grace of Jesus really is.
We will get to experience Advent together.
We will get to be together on Christmas Eve.
We get to watch our children and grandchildren grow up, together.
We get to share with each other what God is doing in our lives.
We get to glean wisdom from one another concerning all areas of life.
We get to see people trust Christ, get baptized, and then grow in their faith.
We get to forgive one another.
We get to love one another.
We get to encourage one another.
We get to challenge one another.
We get to look at Philippians 4:15-23 tomorrow morning.
We get to hug one another (or fist bump. . . whatever you prefer).
We get to experience life, with God . . . together.