“What you are doing is much more than a service that supplies God’s people with what they need. It is something that will make many others thank God. The way in which you have proved yourselves by this service will bring honor and praise to God. You believed the message about Christ, and you obeyed it by sharing generously with God’s people and with everyone else. Now they are praying for you and want to see you, because God used you to bless them so very much. Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!”
Have you ever been amazed by the kindness of someone? What did it do inside of you? Maybe it moved you to tears. Maybe it caused you to smile. Or perhaps you felt compelled to tell others about what you had witnessed. What Paul decided to do in his letter to the church in Corinth was to acknowledge and thank those who he knew were living so generously. Everyone likes for their effort to be acknowledged. That may not be the reason why we do what we do, but it helps to know that our efforts were not in vain. That they achieved something. Their purpose had been actualized.
Today, I want to leave you and each member of your family with a challenge. To thank the person that invested their time, effort, money, and energy in your spiritual formation. This can be a current or former Sunday school teacher, youth pastor, friend, parent, spouse, neighbor, current or former pastor, sibling, or maybe even your child. Someone that walked alongside of you. Stepped into your story in a meaningful way and journeyed with you. Someone who taught you what it meant to follow Jesus. Let them know the outcome of their commitment to obedience. There is something about gratitude that brings wholeness to our hearts and completed joy to theirs.
The ways you can go about thanking them are many. Consider writing a handwritten note and sending it to them in the mail. Maybe you give them a call or write them an email. Post something on social media. Leave a sign on their lawn or write a note in chalk on their driveway. Maybe your kids write a note to your person thanking them for sharing Jesus with mommy because now mommy has been able to share Jesus with them. Then they will know that their faithfulness had exponential effects! Get creative with it. But make sure it is meaningful and heartfelt.
When you and your family are done thanking your people, let us know who they are! We want to put together a video montage to honor those who have so thoughtfully invested their lives. Video yourself and anyone else in your family saying two things:
The name of the person who you would like to thank.
A one sentence reason as to why you want to thank them.
So your video might sound like this: “Thank you Dave Lorenz for teaching me that true joy comes from knowing Jesus.”
Please send your video(s) to info@fccbrea.org so that they can be included in this very special video montage. We look forward to hearing about all the people that have shaped our church family!
Click here to watch last night’s family service and see a video message thanking all of our teachers.
-Pastor Tyler Lemen
Associate Pastor of Family Ministries at Friends Community Church