Repeated Thanksgivings: Simple Gratitude in Worship

I began by simply saying thank you—first to God, then to you. Gratitude is not a throwaway word; it is a way of seeing. It trains the eyes to notice mercy in places where fear and hurry try to blind us. Gratitude is not denial of pain; it is the practice of telling the truth about gifts in the same breath we tell the truth about wounds. When our attention changes, our affection changes, and when our affection changes, our actions follow. Gratitude reorders the heart.

I invited us into three movements. First, receive: life is gift before it is achievement. Naming this loosens our grip and quiets our pride. Second, return: send thanks back to God and to people, not in generalities but with names and details. Vague gratitude forms vague love; specific gratitude becomes embodied love. Third, release: let thanks become action—service, generosity, blessing—so the goodness you’ve received does not dead-end in you but continues its journey through you.

We also spoke about gratitude in hard seasons. Gratitude that cannot sit beside grief is too fragile to carry you. Scripture shows people who cry out and give thanks in the same prayer. The cup Jesus shares holds both sorrow and joy, and learning to bless in the dark is not pretending; it is trusting that God meets us there. So we practice small, honest thank-yous: for the breath we just took, the friend who checked in, the lesson we didn’t want but needed.

Finally, I invited us to work this into daily life: a simple examen at day’s end (Where did I receive? Where can I return? What will I release?), a specific note of thanks to someone you’ve taken for granted, a weekly table where each person names one gift and one grief, and a quiet blessing for the unseen person who serves you. Ten small thank-yous this week—spoken, written, prayed—can become ten new openings for grace.

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Gratitude is resistance, not denial. Gratitude confronts fear and scarcity by training the heart to notice grace precisely where anxiety shouts the loudest. It does not erase pain; it refuses to let pain be the only story. Attention is the steering wheel of the soul, and gratitude hands it back to God. Practice saying one honest thank-you in the very place that feels most uncertain. [00:00]
• 2. Receive, return, release—practice the flow. First, receive life as gift so you don’t live clenched. Second, return thanks to God and to people, naming specifics so your heart remembers what your mind wants to rush past. Third, release gratitude into action—generosity, service, advocacy—so grace keeps moving. These three movements keep the soul from stagnation. [00:02]
• 3. Name people, not just blessings. Gratitude matures when it has a face. Tell someone exactly how their presence became God’s provision to you—what they did, when it mattered, and how it changed you. Apologize for taking them for granted, and honor the unseen servants in your life. This is how thanksgiving becomes love. [00:04]
• 4. Hold grief and gratitude together. If you can only be thankful when life is tidy, you will wait forever. Bring both the ache and the gift to God; they are often intertwined. Choosing to bless in the dark is an act of trust, not performance, and it keeps your heart open to receive the next mercy. Lament is not the enemy of gratitude; it is its companion. [00:06]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:10] - Opening Thanks to God and Church
• [03:05] - Why Gratitude Is Resistance
• [06:20] - Not Denial: Gratitude in Hard Times
• [09:45] - Attention Shapes Affection
• [12:30] - Three Movements: Receive, Return, Release
• [16:15] - Naming Specific Gifts and People
• [20:40] - Practices: Examen, Notes, Table Sharing
• [25:05] - Gratitude That Becomes Generosity
• [29:30] - Holding Lament and Thanks Together
• [34:00] - Community Prayer of Thanksgiving
• [38:25] - Weekly Invitation and Benediction

Bible reading (ESV)

- Colossians 3:15–17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 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.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

- Luke 17:11–19
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Observation questions (3–4)

1. In Colossians 3:16–17 what concrete practices are connected to thankfulness? What does Paul say thankfulness should look like in daily speech and action?
2. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18. Which short commands are given there, and how does “give thanks in all circumstances” sit next to “rejoice always” and “pray without ceasing”?
3. In Luke 17:11–19 who returned to give thanks and what did he do when he returned? What contrast does Jesus point out about the others?
4. The sermon invited the community into three movements: receive, return, release. What does each movement mean in plain terms, and which one felt most immediate to you? [00:02]

Interpretation questions (3–4)

1. If life is first received as a gift rather than achieved, how would that change common measures of success (work, status, productivity) in a believer’s life? [00:02]
2. What does naming people, not just blessings, do to the shape of gratitude? How might naming change the relationship between gratitude and love? [00:04]
3. How can the command to “give thanks in all circumstances” be understood without denying real grief and anxiety? What does it mean for gratitude to be “resistance, not denial”? [00:03]
4. What practical tensions arise when trying to hold lament and gratitude together? In what ways might lament actually deepen, rather than weaken, genuine thanksgiving? [00:06]

Application questions (4–7)

1. Tonight use a brief examen: Where did I receive? Where can I return? What will I release? What did you notice in that exercise about what you pay attention to during the day? [00:25]
2. Identify one person you have taken for granted. Write one specific sentence that names what they did, when it mattered, and how it changed you. When will you send or say that sentence this week? [00:20]
3. Pick one place in your life where fear or scarcity feels loud (finances, loneliness, future plans). Practice saying one honest thank-you in that place this week—what will you thank God for, even if it’s small? [00:03]
4. Make a plan to bless an unseen servant (cleaner, caregiver, server, neighbor) with a quiet word, a note, or a small gift. Who will you bless and how will you follow through? [00:20]
5. At your next family or household meal, invite everyone to name one gift and one grief. How can this weekly practice change the way your table holds truth and grace? [00:25]
6. Commit to offering ten small thank-yous this week (spoken, written, or prayed). Where will you start, and how will you keep yourself accountable? [00:25]