Make Thanking an Action

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17

This past week we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday and now we can finally start looking forward to the Christmas season(!)— but our thankfulness should never stop. While we Christians know we should always have a thankful spirit, we may not realize that in the Bible thankfulness is accompanied by action. In other words, we don’t just think thankful thoughts, we live thankful lives. As Paul told the church in Colossae, we thank God with our words and deeds in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Here at Eastern Hills, we have much to be thankful for. We have friends, stable finances, great activities, nice facilities, and, above all, we have the truth of Christ! So, in all these blessings, let us continue to live our thankfulness. Let us use these blessings to be a blessing to others. Let us open our friendships, our finances, our activities, our facilities, and, you guessed it, let us actively share the truth of Christ.

I’m going to beat this dead horse until it comes back to life — the Forest Hills neighborhood needs to be reached. If we are truly thankful for what God has given us here in the middle of this neighborhood, then we must bear the burden of reaching it. Demographic surveys claim that 51% of Montgomery is not actively involved in a Bible-teaching church. When this percentage is applied to the people living within a one-mile radius, that’s 4,000 people who are missing out on the truth of Christ! That is a number that falls squarely on the shoulders of this congregation called Eastern Hills.

Are you ready to put your thankfulness to action? Here’s what you can do: 1) Commit to pray regularly for the people in this neighborhood. 2) Commit to befriending one person who lives in this neighborhood over the next three months. How will you do that? As the church body makes an effort you make an individual effort. You talk to new visitors. As you get to know them, seek to spend time with them. Ask them to introduce you to some of their neighbors. Introduce those neighbors to some of your friends at Eastern Hills. Keep praying. I’m sure doors will open for you. 3) Help us with our community needs survey. On Sunday, December 16, we are going to canvass the neighborhood from 2:30 to 4:30 PM and ask a simple question, “How can Eastern Hills help you?” If 100 people will give two hours of their time that Sunday afternoon we can cover every house within a half mile of this church. If you can help, contact Sharon Myers, 334-224-9110, or sign up in Sunday School or at the entrance to the Sanctuary.

 I look forward to putting thankfulness into action with you!

 Pastor Josh

 

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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