“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