A Thanksgiving Prayer

Blessed Lord,

the only living and true God,

the Creator and Preserver of all things,

We live by you;

and our whole dependence is upon you,

for all the good that we either have or hope for.

We now desire to bless your name for those mercies,

which in so large a measure you have generously given us.

Worthy are you, O Lord our God,

to receive all honor and glory,

all thanks and praise, and love and obedience,

as in the courts of heaven,

so in all the assemblies of your servants upon earth;

for you are great, and you do wondrous things;

you are God alone.

You have looked favorably on your land,

and you have dealt graciously with us.

Instead of giving us over to all the calamities that we feared,

you have multiplied your mercies towards us,

for which we are now called to solemnize a day of thanksgiving.

How sweet and wonderful is it to recount all the instances of your

patience with us, and your blessings to us!

O what shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits!

O let not our hearts be stingy towards you,

whose hand has been so open and generous unto us.

But do enlarge these hearts of ours,and fill them with more love

and thankfulness to the gracious Giver of all our good things.

- Charles Simeon, 1850, adapted

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving ... What better time to stop and give thanks for the goodness our God bestows on us. We're giving space for folks to do just that and hope that what has been written will be a blessing to all who read this blog. To add your thanks, please send an email to cmoore2659@wowway.com and it will be added.

"I'm so thankful that my brother Jim has been sober for more than three years now and is gainfully employed. In July he got his driver's license restored (restricted for now) but that has taken a BIG load off me, although I was more than willing to taxi him around. My prayer now is that he will come to the Lord. I always thought he would come to the Lord first and then stop drinking but I guess our Lord had other plans. Thanks for your prayers.

Sandy H."

"First of all for my savior and all He has done in my life. His word tells us He has a plan for our life, to do us good and not harm us. That's not to say that bad things will not happen to us, but that our Lord is always there to see us through and make something good come out of it. These past few weeks have been very stressful for us with our son Greg having to have his kidney removed and finding it was cancerous. But the Lord in his mercy saw to it that the cancer was contained in the kidney and he should be fine now. Through this our relationship with he and our daughter-in-law is much improved (PTL) and we have been able to see our grandson again. Even though this was a bad thing, good has come out of it just as the Lord promised. Another big thing I'm thankful for is my husband. As of Tuesday, Nov. 25, we will have been married 48 years. WOW, how did so many years pass so quickly. God knew what He was doing when He brought us together on a blind date almost 50 years ago. I could go on and on but will save it for another time.

God Bless each of you who read this and Happy Thanksgiving.

Camilla"

"This year the Connell's are especially thankful for the Lord bringing us to be a part of the Grace Bible Church family. Yes, we've been here over three years now, but we continue to delight in how our Lord binds our ties tighter and tighter. You are a joy and a delight to us. We are so proud of our congregation wherever we go, and brag about you (well, brag about what our God is doing in and through you) to all who will listen. The people we tell say we are blessed, too! We are so appreciative for all of those gifts God has given you that you put into service: encouraging, serving, helping, giving, and teaching.

Let us go forward boldly in the power of God to accomplish all He wants us to do!

Happy Thanksgiving from Pastor Bill, Nancy, James & Donny"

"As for Chris and me, we are truly blessed by the Lord bringing Sarah into our lives. With each passing day, week, month, and year both of us are amazed at the progress that she is making. We are also thankful that Sarah thoroughly enjoys people - whether at school, church, or at the grocery store - she is a "people person". And we are very thankful at all of those at Grace Bible who have extended themselves in making Sarah feel welcomed and loved.

Sam and Chris Plaza"

"We have everything to be thankful for, even the hard times are blessings waiting to be revealed and they help teach us to more fully trust the One who has redeemed us. I am thankful for my family and thankful God in His mercy has given me all these extra years to see my sons grow up and have children of their own. I am thankful for Clyde and his caring for me as he does. I am thankful for each day God gives me to wake once more here. I am thankful for the safety of our country and thankful for the men and women who have served and are serving in our military to keep us safe. I am thankful for Grace Bible Church and the teachers we have who teach the uncompromised Word of God. We are a blessed people and need to remind ourselves and others of the truth that our God reigns over all.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with God's wonder, grace and mercy.

Louise Moore"

"I really don't know where to begin. I'm thankful for my family, church family, and most of all for my Heavenly Father, and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Since my trip to the hospital last spring I've had to make adjustments, and it's hard for me to slow down and pace mself. But God is faithful and helping me to be patient which is a difficult job!! To one and all a Blessed Thanksgiving. Evelyn Farris"