Thursday, November 27, 2008

Daily Encouragement (11/27/08) "A Thanksgiving Prayer"

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving clipart
A local community paper placed this Thanksgiving proclamation on their front page.

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"A Thanksgiving Prayer"

Today we want to share a prayer we earnestly pray for our family, friends and readers.
It is from Colossians 1:3-14 with slight adaptation.

ListenListen to this prayer on your audio player.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus

and of the love you have for all the saints

the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven

and that you have already heard about in the Word of Truth,

the gospel that has come to you.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing,

just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it

and understood God's grace in all its truth.

You learned it from faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you

and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord

and may please Him in every way:

bearing fruit in every good work,

growing in the knowledge of God,

being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might

so that you may have great endurance and patience,

and joyfully giving thanks to the Father,

who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness

and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.



Since our extended family is spread all over the country it will just be the three of us for Thanksgiving dinner today.  This Saturday my brother Pat and his family will be joining us for a meal, driving down from the Lehigh Valley about 100 miles northeast of us.

For newer readers both sets of our parents have gone on to be with the Lord. Brooksyne has two brothers, Jody and Jerry, in Oklahoma and a sister Elaine in Texas and in addition to my brother Pat, I have a brother, Mike, in California and a sister, Genelle, in North Carolina.


Today's suggested Music
and Supplemental Resources

(Click on the link to open and play)

"Blessed Assurance"  Video  We heard this version on the radio the other day and really liked it.

"Now Thank We All Our God"  Audio hymnstory prepared and read by Brooksyne with an instrumental background.

"Thanksgiving Medley"  Video  



Special Thanksgiving Resources
We want to offer these ideas to families and church leaders
to enrich the spiritual impact of the Thanksgiving holiday.
(We'll be posting these resources all week.)


Thorns"Thankful For The Thorns" - A family reading and exercise that is a wonderful way to give a thoughtful focus around your Thankgiving Table (webpage) Most every year our Thanksgiving celebration is first and foremost the turkey and trimmings. Lots of food with little meaningful conversation. Why not add some stimulating discussion about the ways God has worked in your life over the past year! Some of you are not in charge and are only visitors at your Thanksgiving gathering, but if it is possible share together around the table the theme of "Thankful for the Thorns" or the questionnaire we've provided in the link below.  Perhaps you could just use it as a discussion guide to provide stimulus for other's reflections.

CD label for "Stories of Great Hymns""Hymns of Hope" Brooksyne has compiled eleven hymns that deal with the recurring theme of loss and ongoing trial and titled it "Hymns of Hope" based on Romans 12:12,  "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Amber Martin plays the hymns on the keyboard and Lauren Gingrich accompanies her on six of the hymns with the viola. Tracks 12-22 play each hymn softly in the background while Brooksyne shares a personal devotional thought, the biographical setting of the hymn text, and an intercessory prayer. We recorded this in the very modest and limited computerized recording studio of Daily Encouragement so that we could make this ministry project available to all who are in need of such encouragement without huge overhead expense.  Thus we realize the audio quality is not what most are accustomed to. You can go to this site to listen to the songs. You can download one song at a time if you find this to be of special blessing or know someone whose spirit might be lifted by listening to these meditative hymns.

A Thankgiving prayer - (written by Joe Sherer, pastor of the Mount Joy Mennonite Church, and shared as the benediction at our community Thanksgiving Eve service last year.)  Webpage  For those who enjoy written prayers this would be a beautiful prayer to read together at the Thanksgiving table.

A Thanksgiving Scripture reading -
A selection of Old and New Testament readings dealing with thankfulness appropriate for church, family and personal readings. (pdf) (Suitable for printing out and copying.)


A Thanksgiving family exercise - We have used this questionnaire as a stimulus for discussion among family members in the past. We encourage you to share results around the table at Thanksgiving before or after the meal.  (pdf)

A Day of Rest in Plimouth Colony - This is a summary of a chapter in the lives of the pilgrims that Brooksyne uses to teach about their Sunday worship.  (pdf)

"ThanksLiving" Bob Southard  shares a weekly online sermon. Here's a pdf version of his thanksgiving sermon.

Resources
used in Brooksyne's research on the Pilgrims:
Saints & Strangers  By Vision Video
Three Young Pilgrims  By Cheryl Harness / Simon & Schuster

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Stephen and Brooksyne Weber
"We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!"

Personal Ministry Update
Revised 10/21/08

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2008 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net through 11/25/08: $18,446.00)

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Our other blogs:
"A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message!
"Clear Minded" -
Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church.
"A Little Foolishness" - A humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!)  I haven't had time or "inspiration" for this for awhile but it has several stories that get regular page views.
"Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. We are distributing this CD without charge in our ministry. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. If any reader in this series would like a CD merely write us and request one.


Christianbook.comDaily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD!

Personal Mission Statement
"I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

Four Spiritual Laws

How to become a child of God



Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.


© Copyright 2008 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved

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