2 Corinthians 9: 11-12, 15 “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 

¹² This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God…¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about it. I love the smell (and taste) of my wife’s turkey. I love pumpkin pie. I love the relaxed enjoyment of friends and family, dozing lazily after the meal. I especially love the focused time to think about and recount all the incredible blessings of the past year. Last year at this time I was sick and in quarantine with Covid, but I still had so many things for which to be thankful. As the Apostle Paul attested, I have been enriched in every way. God’s generosity and yours has led to an overflowing of thanksgiving in my life. This week’s midweek meditation is naturally about thanksgiving, so I’d like to take the opportunity to recount just some of God’s kindnesses to our church. 

1. I am most thankful for God’s indescribable gift in the person of Jesus Christ. If the grace of Christ was the only blessing we ever received that would be enough to fill eternity with thanksgivings. 
2. I am thankful for the freedom to worship Christ openly and in accordance with our consciences. Millions of believers around the world must worship in secret or worship under the threat of political or physical violence. I pray that we would be faithful under such persecution, but I am thankful for the privilege of worshiping our Lord without fear or restriction. 
3. I am thankful faithfulness of our covenant members. You show up with your presence, you show up in your generosity, and you show up in your service. We may be a small church, but we have a bigger impact in ministry because of your faithfulness. 
4. I am thankful for our partners in mission. I am thankful for our own ministry of Bayseed which is planting and helping to revitalize churches in the Bay. I’m thankful for James and Desiree Westbrook who are planting Realm Church in Oakland, Real Options Pregnancy Center serving new parents in crisis, the Compassion Network—a ministry of the churches of the Tri-Cities that has ministered to over 21,000 people in need. I’m thankful for the International Mission Board which allows us to partner with over 3,500 missionaries serving the least reached people in the world with the gospel. I’m thankful for our family of churches in the CSBC. I’m thankful for unofficial partners like Donna Bixby and the ministry of Jonathan’s House in the Central African Republic and the families and churches that are impacted through her ministry. 
5.  I am thankful spiritual gifts that God has given our church. We have people who practice their gifts of service behind the scenes that make our church function. We have people with the gift of giving who generously give financial support to the ministry of the church. We have people with teaching gifts that serve our children, our congregation, and other churches in the area. We have people with gifts of administration that help us minister with order and integrity. We have people with gifts of encouragement, mercy, and faith that build up our people and challenge us to go forward in boldness. We have people with gifts in evangelism that share the gospel with joy. I’m thankful for the musical gifts God has blessed us with. God has given us all the gifts we need for the mission he has for us here.
6. I am thankful for the incredible spirit of unity we show as a church. We are a diverse church and yet we are one family. Your testimony of coming together as one church family, united in faith, mission and doctrine, has been an example to churches all across the Bay Area. This has required faith and sacrifice from so many of you, but your labor has not been in vain in the Lord. 
7. I am thankful that we have been called to be a light and a witness in the most unchurched place in America. It is a privilege to serve as ambassadors for the King of Kings in the Bay Area. The deeper the darkness, the brighter the light shines. Every day we bear the responsibility of carrying the Good News that Jesus is Lord to people who would never know, if it wasn’t for your presence in their lives. We have only begun to fulfill God’s purpose for us in this place. May we be faithful to complete it until he returns or calls us home. 

I speak for all the elders when I say that we are thankful to be called your pastors. It is not only a great privilege, but you make it a joyful and not a burdensome one. We are thankful for you. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

What are you thankful for? Take a moment to thank God and then reply to this email and let us know.