CrossPointe Community Church

Month: November 2018

  • Being Thankful Revisited

    Luke 17:11-19
    I Thessalonians 5:14-18

    In Making Grateful Kids, psychologist Jeffey Froh summarizes his team’s research on the benefits of gratitude among adolescents:

    We’ve found that grateful young adolescents (ages 11-13), compared to their less grateful counterparts, are happier; are more optimistic; have better social support from friends and family; are more satisfied with their school, family, community, friends, and themselves; and give more emotional support to others. They’re also physically healthier and report fewer physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and runny noses. We’ve also found that grateful teens (ages 14-19), compared to less grateful teens, are more satisfied with their lives, use their strengths to better their community, are more engaged in their schoolwork and hobbies, have higher grades, and are less envious, depressed, and materialistic. 1

    I have two stories to tell about giving thanks in everything.

    The barracks where Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsy, were kept in the Nazi concentration camp, Ravensbruck, were terribly overcrowded and flea-infested. They had been able to miraculously smuggle a Bible into the camp, and in that Bible they had read that in all things they were to give thanks and that God can use anything for good. Betsy decided that this meant thanking God for the fleas. This was too much for Corrie, who said she could do no such thing. Betsy insisted, so Corrie gave in and prayed, thanking God even for fleas. Over the next several months a wonderful, but curious, thing happened: They found that the guards never entered their barracks. This meant that the women were not assaulted. It also meant that they were able to do the unthinkable, which was to hold open Bible studies and prayer meetings in the heart of a Nazi concentration camp. Through this, countless numbers of women came to faith in Christ. Only at the end did they discover why the guards had left them alone and would not enter into their barracks: It was because of the fleas.

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  • I Thank God for You

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    Ephesians 1:15-23
    1 Corinthians 1:4-5

    Asked to write a composition entitled, What I am thankful for on Thanksgiving, little Johnny wrote, “I am thankful that I’m not a turkey.”

    Shawn Achor, a psychologist who teaches at Harvard, suggests that we can train our brains to become more grateful by setting aside just five minutes a day for practicing gratitude. He cites a study in which people were asked to take five minutes a day, at the same time every day, to write down three things they were thankful for. They didn’t have to be big things, but they had to be concrete and specific, such as, “I’m thankful for the delicious Thai take-out dinner I had last night.” Or, “I’m thankful that my daughter gave me a hug.” Or, “I’m thankful that my boss complimented my work.” The participants simply expressed thanks for three specific things at the same time every day. At the end of just one month, the researchers followed up and found that those who practiced gratitude were happier and less depressed. Remarkably, even after six months, the participants were still more joyful, less anxious, and less depressed. The researchers hypothesized that the simple practice of writing down three thanksgivings a day primed the participants’ minds to search for the good in their lives.

    Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life. It lowers blood pressure, improves immune function and facilitates more efficient sleep.

    One recent study from the University of California San Diego’s School of Medicine found that people who were more grateful actually had better heart health, specifically less inflammation and healthier heart rhythms.

    And finally stress hormones like cortisol are 23 percent lower in grateful people.

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  • Not As They Should Be

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    Genesis 1:1, 31
    Romans 8:18-24
    Revelation 21:1-7

    Things are not always as they should be.

    A young couple had been experiencing what they thought were major problems with their three year-old son. It reached the point where they invited their pastor to their home to get his council on how they as parents could improve. They were a little anxious about having their pastor over because whenever the urge would strike him, he would just shout out, “I gotta whiz!”

    So just before the clergyman was due, the boy’s father said, “Son, please don’t shout out that you’ve got to whiz; whisper!”

    So the pastor arrives they all sit down and begin to talk and the pastor notes that the longer they talk the antsier the boy becomes. Finally, the minister says to the boy, “What’s the matter, son?”

    The boy looks at his dad and says, “I’ve gotta whisper!”

    The Pastor says, “Well, that’s okay my boy, go ahead and whisper in my ear.”

    I do not believe that I have to remind you that things are not as they should be.

    Not a day goes by without me being reminded that things are not as they should be. Every time I watch the evening news, (or read my google news feed) I am reminded that things are not as they should be. Every time I feel a twinge here, a pain there, I am reminded that things are not as they should be. Every time I forget something that I should have recalled, I am reminded that things are not as they should be. Every time I receive a call or an e-mail from someone asking me to pray for someone who is either ill, or in some kind of trouble, I am reminded that things are not as they should be. And especially every time I read the obituaries, I am reminded that things are not as they should be.

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  • All the Saints Salute You!

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    II Corinthians 1:1-2, 13:11-14
    Hebrews 11 (selected)
    Hebrews 12:1-2

    How many saints are with us today?

    One of the great 19th century preachers was a Scottish Presbyterian, Alexander Whyte, a much loved and respected pastor but who had a good sense of who he was. One day a lovely lady in his congregation came to his office and said, “Dr. Whyte, I just love being in your presence; you are so saintly.”

    Alexander Whyte looked at her with great seriousness and said, “Madam, if you could look into my soul, what you would see would make you spit in my face.” 1

    The reluctance on the part of many Christians to claim saint status stems from two things: first, the fact that the two words translated as ‘saints’ literally mean ‘holy ones’ or ones who are set apart for God’s use. And who among us, with Rev. Whyte, is willing to claim that we are holy? And secondly, it stems from the propensity of the Catholic Church to confer sainthood on a select few who have to meet stringent requirements for holiness.

    And so, it can be a little confusing when we read the letters of Paul and in the salutation, he writes: this letter is from Paul sent to all the saints in Ephesus or Corinth. And we kind of feel left out because after all he’s only addressing the saints and I’m surely not a saint so why should I even pay attention? But wait a minute, I thought the Bible was written for everyone. What’s going on here?

    And the answer is he is addressing anyone and everyone who has been justified by grace through faith.

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